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Decisions nearing as deadline looms
As a few of our younger players are starting to reach their first contract years coming off their rookie deals we face an interesting conundrum many teams go through. Who do we keep and who do we move, while most of these guys are RFA the decision still remains whether we want to take on their contract in our cap or not. Last season we let go of Lonzo Ball as we had both Jarrett Allen and Lonzo to pay and we did not want both on the books, fortunately we made the correct decision in keeping Allen as Lonzo ended up a S&T and we would have lost him anyway and Jarrett Allen has become an All Star caliber center (As predicted, *subtle flex*). Our current crop of rookies have some gap between their contract years which gives me the chance to really hold them as long as possible before deciding who I perceive to have a better future and better fit with the roster.
Brandon Clarke vs Obi Toppin
Both are pretty limited as they can only play the 4 spot due to lack of ball handling and size to play C. Both are athletic beasts which 2k favour generously. Obi still has 2 years to run after this season and Clarke will be in his contract year after this season. Both guys are getting limited minutes and both interestingly putting up similar averages. Obi is caught behind a 20/10/5 player however has shown with minutes he can produce big numbers efficiently, elite athleticism and good footwork in the post in his limited sets. Clarke makes too many mistakes defensively to get the nod to run PF full time with the Grizzlies however off the bench is an immediate spark plug and does everything except shoot. This will be a tough decision between them as I expect their contracts to limit me going forward and will need to make a call on shipping 1 of them.
Both Obi and Clarke have been hot topics in our DMs but neither are on the table just yet.
Now for guys whose contracts end this season.
Malik Monk, Kyle Anderson, Kevin Knox
Coming off the books end of this year as UFA another interesting decision is to be made between these two. While they are not fighting for minutes against one another the thing that ties them together is both will demand more money next year and both are fringe starters. Anderson has been getting less run with the Grizzlies after a career year last season which is odd and either the emergence of Tillman has limited his minutes or Memphis is trying to keep the value low to bring him back cheaper with less competition. One thing for sure is Anderson has not been happy about the downgrade. Malik Monk coming off his rookie contract was renounced by Charlotte and walked to LA Lakers on a 1 year minimum, he has very subtly improved his scoring without a dip in efficiency however still cant guard anyone and looks to have no interest in improving his defense. Even still his 3pt scoring at 40% taking over 5 3 point shots a game is something a lot of teams would like the look of. I'm unsure of his market currently but I imagine him demanding the MLE at the minimum.
We expect to be able to bring both guys back end of this season with owning their bird rights and the only 2 coming off the books this year. However we could also look at potentially trading them before deadline.
Kevin Knox has been interesting to say the least. He's done his usual thing where he shows flashes of being something and then goes right back to looking like he will be out of the league. As he is an RFA and probably won't be paid much if he remains in the league we will likely bring him back. At 6'10 it's hard to look past him if he gets to the right situation, at only 22 there is so much growth to still be had and it's a hard band-aid to rip off.
Extensive trade rumours have swirled about Ohio native C.J. McCollum, while it is true he is on the block he isn't available cheaply. Front office is looking for a young talent, picks for his services and any less will see him remain in Cleveland. Andrew Wiggins has also been in the rumours but Wiggins is not currently on the block and Jarrett Allen is untouchable. All that remain on our roster are available for the right price.
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