he showed some promise his 2nd year, then really regressed last year. Not a fan of his, would have traded him or let him walk, 30/year for him is laughable (then again its the knicks so it checks out)
Well, the casuals only see that he scored 20 points a game, but yeah, his career TS% is .511, worse than KPJ's has ever been. For sure IMO it's an insane contract, but that's kind of the point I've been making, the market for starting guards is pretty ridiculous. That's why a long term deal for KPJ at something like 18 mil a year would be an absolute steal. It's also probably why he'd likely want more.
Ya both have been negative players so far, you would certainly hope for more before giving a guy more then a mid level deal, but young high draft picks get paid by dumb teams this made me chuckle: Barrett's one of only five players in NBA history to amass 3,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 3-pointers before his 22nd birthday, joining Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
The Knicks bid against themselves for this contract, because RJ Barrett is not a 120/4 year player. They are giving him a contract now because: They are worried Barrett will get a max offer from another team should he significantly exceed his performance next season. The Knicks have literally never retained a FRP past their rookie season since 1999. The Knicks are clearly desperate, with bloated untradeable contracts (Randle), and with RJ Barrett being their closest "star" potential player. They clearly want to maintain a positive relationship with Barrett amidst the trade talks that are going nowhere. They have no better moves to make, they cannot afford to lose Barret, but they cannot give him a max either. So they are paying him above market price. The Rockets are nowhere near as desperate as the Knicks are. They have plenty of other high performing young players to consider building around other than KPJ, and they absolutely can afford to lose KPJ for nothing if it happens.
seems a stretch to say he really regressed. he absolutely became much more inefficient. But still only his 3rd year, and importantly, he effectively switched from SG to SF - he is a hybrid but 20/21 played a lot more (and majority) SG vs 21/21 where he played mostly SF. Could have impacted the quality of his shots, ability to shoot over people, etc, etc. I don't watch enough Knicks to know whether he can be a long-term SG or SF, but he seemed better at SG. Bringing in Fournier, and Thibs year 2+ decline (which seems like a standard for him now) seem to have played a role. Don't get me wrong, that's an overpay. I'm assuming he was also going to be restricted next year, so if you're going to pay that much, its worth the risk to just let someone else overpay and decide to match or not - yes, it's not the greatest FA market it seems, so someone might overpay, but how much more above $30 a year would someone really overpay? That being said, I am on board with paying KPJ $20 a year right now for sure. The ONLY reason i wouldn't is because you don't know what will happen to him mentally once he gets that - he's clearly putting in the work this offseason... it's a contract year. But you have that risk whenever he gets the deal, and if he has a better year this year (say 21/5/7 on better efficiency), someone is going to pay way up for that, and you still have the "what happens when he gets his money" risk.
While the Rockets are not anywhere near as desperate as the Knicks, they absolutely cannot afford to lose KPJ for nothing. It would set the rebuild back several years, something you really, really don't want to do.... and especially not just to be cheap. If you could lock KPJ up for 15-18 mill a year, it's a no brainer. If it takes 20, they should still do it. With the way these nba contacts are going, 20 is the new 5.
I have a sneaky suspicion you are right. The league threw a brutal schedule to start the season to brake the morale of these you kids.....but Tate, Tari, Jabari, Josh Christopher and Sengun are fighters that hate to lose. Jalen Green hates losing and wants to be compared to the greats of the game like Kobe and MJ....knows that people will check the stats on sites like basketball-reference.com and he doesn't want loser stats making him look bad. Silas can't survive another worst record season. He's going to turn these kids loose. And Porter jr is ready to throw down (or throw something). That's for those on either side of the fence we may find ourselves.
Well said. Also, despite our differing views on KPJ, I want Jim to succeed. I'll happily eat crow and admit I was wrong if it leads to our success. We all want the Rockets to win sooner rather than later
I'm not quite sold on that. If we're successful then that means our young talent is playing up to or exceeding expectations. That works for me. That's saying Green and Sengun took the next step, KPJ is a player in the rotation and Eason and Smith played well as rookies. I love next year's draft so I understand that position but if we are good I certainly won't be complaining
The Knicks now have the only two players in NBA history to get a $100M contract without even making an All-Star game.
I'm sure that comes into their decision making. They can gauge other teams' value of him and compare that to what they've already invested and how much additional they will have to package with him. It still comes out as an overpay, but they might have figured the better play was overpaying him and keeping assets rather than giving him up for a more expensive player and depleting their assets.
It would still suck in the long run if we win a bunch of games this season, no matter the leap that green takes. Anything over 25 will be pretty rough, i'd even be willing to sit guys if that's what it takes. Trust the process and don't shortchange it
Specially this year when KPJ starts to blossom into that Superstar that DD and Bobby predict will happen.
