Here are the last TWENTY starting PG's on championship teams: Jrue Murray Curry Jrue Rondo Lowry/FVV Curry Curry Kyrie Curry Tony Parker Chalmers Chalmers 36-yr old Kidd Derek Fisher Derek Fisher Rondo Parker Chalmers Parker Most of these guys are all super SAFE with the ball, mediocre athleticism and give maximum effort on defense. They are not taking lots of risks. They don't have much of an ego about who has the highest usage. Most of these PG's are making 3's, safe passes and giving maximum defensive effort. LOTS of maturity obviously, a lot of them are quite old when they win these titles. The winner mindset is more important at PG than any other position even if your F/C is running the offense. You should change your perception of wanting to invest maximum salary at the PG position or behaving as though a very creative passer is the solution for us. I think a Lamelo Ball at PG is a risk we don't need to take. Wasting Amen's defensive talents at the smallest position on the court is also not a good idea in my books, he shouldn't be guarding the 1. IMO if we let FVV walk without acquiring a proven and mature replacement, we'll wish we had a younger FVV to play 30 minutes. For me, re-signing him at a discount and bringing him off the bench is crucial unless we need his $44m salary to solve some real problems: bring in an ELITE big shooter (Durant) or ELITE rim protector (JJJ). Otherwise, I want him back as our 6th man. That list should also make you really want to cheer for Sheppard's growth because he fits beautifully in the mold of a championship PG. Wish we had some more certainty about his abilities heading into next season, but next season we can't bet on potential anymore. We have to show up with a roster that believes they can win it all.
Good post. I agree with most of this. FVV would be ideal coming off the bench. Amen is unique in that he can be a point forward or point guard. He should be guarding the best perimeter player on the other team regardless of position. PF is absolutely the biggest waste of his talent. Amen and Jalen will be a terrific starting backcourt, but they both need competent backups, hopefully FVV is part of the answer coming off the bench at a reasonable contract. My biggest concern is whether Ime is capable of making that decision. Signing FVV as the backup at a reasonable contract and finding a PF/C that plays defense, rebounds, and shoots decent from 3 would make us the deepest team in the league, that could play a variety of styles.
Where did you get the 10 mil a year figure from? Schroeder got 12 mil plus a year from Toronto in 23-24. Lonzo Ball also got around 10 mil. Both these guys had shorter deals and neither are more productive than Fred at this point in their careers. Schroeder isn’t even a starter and Ball didn’t play for 2 years. This would also be around the rookie scale contracts for lottery pick players. Amen and Reed both get around this figure. Also Considering the 10% salary cap increase next year and some teams that might be in the market for a vet starting pg (suns, kings, wizards etc) on a short deal why would he get 10 mil or less? McConnell couldn’t run an offense for 4 quarters and can’t shoot 3s this is why Philly relegated him to the bench. Pritchard can’t run a halfcourt set full game either or defend and is simply a microwave bench scorer. Let’s not devalue and underestimate the position. PG is more than simply shooting or scoring.
reed aint no starter next year that’s for sure. likely a 3 yr project. Amen simply can’t shoot beyond 10-12 ft. thats why Fred has been our most steady pg. if not Fred the other guys simply arent good enough. thats the problem with this team. Unless they somehow get another vet on a short modest contract Fred is the man.
Unless we luck into the #2 pick to draft Dylan Harper or some bizarre trade happens in the off-season, I foresee a boring off-season for us where FVV will come back to the Rockets on like a 35m/year deal.
I think the other problem with Amen as PG is his turnover ratio. Most facilitators on the court at PG have a far far better ASST/TO ratio. Van Vleet has twice as many assists per turnover, and there are only 7 more starting point guards with a better ratio than that. You'd have to scroll down well below 40 point guards to find one with a worse ASST/TO ratio than Amen.
I think if Amen could play the PG position FULL TIME, that would not be the case. Think of it like this, PG is like playing QB in the NFL. If they have you playing PG one week, next WR, next week RB, of course your stats are going to be screwed, because you are not concentrating on one position. It's simple!
Amen will improve. Amen will also allow Jalen to improve his 3 point shooting by creating opportunities for him. FVV’s inability to drive and dish forces Jalen to create his own space and leads to way too many step back 3’s. Amen and Sengun can be really good facilitators for Jalen.Jabari and Dillon (if he continues to be a consistent 3 pt threat). We should also look to add more 3 point shooters to our bench. Ime has made a mistake by virtually never playing a lineup of Amen, Jalen, Jabari, Tari, and Sengun to prepare for next year. Dillon and FVV coming off the bench would be a pretty good start to building elite depth.
Great post, agreed completely. I want nothing to do with Ja Morant, LaMelo Ball--injury-prone, bad fits with our team culture, too many turnovers, too redundant with what Amen and Jalen already do for us. Trae Young might be available... he at least stays reasonably healthy and available, but man his decisionmaking sucks (4.8 turnovers per game and shoots so many bad contested/ultra-deep threes, which is why his 3P% hasn't been that good most years). And he plays NO defense. I actually liked the Fox fit a little bit better because he is less turnover-prone and has been more available, and I don't see him as a massive defensive liability, just kinda meh. But he has the same problem of being redundant, and that ship has sailed anyway. The top point guards where I actually think they're a clear, dramatic upgrade over FVV are all probably untouchable. Luka, SGA, Brunson, Haliburton, etc. I would keep tabs on Haliburton's possible availability but most likely they aren't willing to trade him. The others I'd say aren't even worth wasting a phonecall except for what already happened with Luka (so you never know). Other than that I'm mostly just waiting to see if/when Ant Edwards gets fed up and demands a trade.
Again that’s not realistic for an 8 plus year vet with the projected salary cap for 25-26. Fred is still one of the better starting pg’s in this league. Starter. This excludes bench guys like McConnell, Pritchard.
No one signs 2 yr contracts except 2 way players or min deals. Its usually a 3 yr contract with 3rd year team option.
Nothing other than also being an "upgrade the backcourt" guy. I'm just saying I'd rather wait and see if he hits the trade market rather than blow our wad on a point guard who doesn't fit and isn't a true superstar. The list of guys I'd actually trade a large haul of assets for (multiple FRPs, one or more members of the young core) is actually fairly short. Off the top of my head, about 15 dudes: Spoiler Jokic SGA Tatum Doncic Edwards Brunson Wemby Cade Haliburton Mobley JJJ Wagner Maxey Holmgren maybe Giannis If I'm Stone, I'm holding onto the majority of our trade assets for one of those to become available. However, I do think he should pick up a shooter this offseason who doesn't cost much (like one FRP, or depending on who he can get, just the MLE?) I guess I could maybe see a consolidation trade sending out one of the lower-rung members of the young core if the Phoenix pick somehow lands top 4?
