Because he's terrible at it and the PG of the future is already on the roster. The team is better off with him being the best player he can be rather than trying to force something that makes him worse.
The way he's playing right now he won't be eligible for the supermax because he won't have made All-NBA or DPOY. So that's currently a moot point, but could change as the rest of the season plays out. If he improves his play so much that he wins either of those honors, I think he'd certainly be worthy of, at very least, more than the regular max. As far as whether he's worth normal max money; I highly doubt that we'd regret giving him such a deal. Hypothetically, I could see him agreeing to something similar to Sengun's deal if he wants to help the team stay below the apron(s), but that's the way I'd pitch it to him if I were the front office and seeking to get him to take less. If he demands the max I think we'll end up giving it to him. The downside if he never significantly improves is that you're overpaying an elite roleplayer by about 10 million or so. The upside still remains strong for him to take a leap and become a top 10 player.
He’ll be just fine with Sengun money. Can split the taking care of the family bills with his rich brother.
I can agree with your point but I just don’t see how we build a championship team paying amen, alpi and KD max/near max money. We still have to pay tari and reed and even that may not be enough.
The good news is a possible future Reed extension shouldn't kick in until KD's deal is done, and likely at that point he will be retired. If I remember correctly, it's doable to barely stay under the first apron with Sengun, Amen, Jabari, and Tari all on extensions, depending on the specific number for Tari's contract.
I think this extension will really show who's a true fan of Amen. I suspect a lot of people love him because he was played like an underdog scrappy role player. What people don't get is we know for a fact a lot of GM's see him as a potential superstar and so do Amen and his agent. It really sucks when you're a star and you accept your coach's request to play like a role player and when you exceed expectations you get treated like a role player rather than get promoted. Classic corporate problem. If you don't reward this with a promotion, then you're creating a situation where people become selfish and don't care about the team. The only leverage we have is we can max him a year earlier. He may give us a tiny discount in order to secure that early but nothing like the discount Sengun had to give. Anything less than that he'll feel betrayed. IMO he's a max player in the right system (Giannis-type system).
This team has been built a certain way. Essentially every single player on a non-rookie non-minimum contract has taken less than they could have gotten on the open market: Sengun, KD, Fred, Jabari, Adams, DFS. Our cap sheet has a hierarchy. The highest paid guys are the guys with the most stature/importance. KD, Sengun, FVV, Jabari in that order. It's a big part of why the vibes in the locker room and the team dynamic are so good. If Amen is clearly behind KD and Sengun and he doesn't ascend from where is right now, the truth is he's not getting a max here. The org and the other players will expect him to be in alignment with the program and go with something a little less than Sengun's number, maybe ~$35M/yr. Yeah he could potentially go to RFA if he wants and get more, but so could've everybody else. They didn't because they value being here. I'm as big an Amen fan as anyone, but if this current version of Amen is holding out for a max without progressing, he probably won't be in Houston for it. To be clear I don't think he would. I think he's into what this group is doing as much as anyone and will be here for most or all of his career.
Except Tari, Tari is one of the only ones trying to play with fire, his agent I assume. Amen seems to be like a bad ass on the court, but is he a bad arse at the negotiation table......one shall see. By now, all the players should have heard about what Tari did with his extension.
And before Williams, it was Anthony Edwards. Before him, it was Evan Mobley. There's no Amen for less than the max. Every coach and GM in the NBA can see the only reason he's somewhat struggling is because he's learning a new position on a reshuffled team and the coach has the most packed paint in the NBA (for his non-shooting star). They will happily take a guy who's already a star point forward and a budding star PG. 10 GM's are going to call his agent and tell him he's an idiot if he accepts a dime below the max. ALL teams with the cap space will offer it to him. They're not going to nitpick over $5m. Lakers, Clippers, Heat, Suns will pursue him aggressively in SnT. Bickerstaff is dumb about spacing too, he will happily pursue a Amen/Ausar/Cade core. It's a total myth Amen is overrated here. He's rated far higher everywhere else - including in NBA front offices. You need to go for a walk outside this board and see what's being discussed in the world.
Leaving aside extension players since it's pointless to talk about taking less money when you could only negotiate with one team, FVV literally could not have gotten more than $25mil from other teams since only the Nets and Pistons had they gutted their team even had that much money. He made $10mil more than what any other non-Nets/Pistons team could've offered. And neither of those teams would've gone after him. Adams re-upped for the 2nd biggest center contract in the offseason after Myles Turner nearly at the non-tax MLE line. DFS signed for nearly the non-tax MLE and was the highest 2nd highest paid FA that wasn't re-signed. Not sure who came up with the idea that the Rockets are somehow this super awesome destination where they can underpay everyone cause they are just happy to be here. They pay sticker price like everyone else except the Lakers.
It’s a good thing you are not a GM of any sports team…. Teams absolutely would pay max money for him at this point in his career… His shot is developing, I think he going to turn into a ok to descent shooter in a few years because he has that drive to want to improve his game…. That drive to improve, drive to win, being a student of the game, a player that plays winning basketball, a player that can set a culture of a team…. yeah no… He’s a core guy here.
Smh. Amen will get the max no matter what people say or no matter how much you don't like it. As much as I hate that Amen is a non-shooter, teams pay a premium for that one of a kind athleticism and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone with that kind of God given skills around the league. Amen is the type of player you can easily surround with shooters and let him do his thing. For anyone saying he doesn't deserve the max, are you willing to do a tip jar bet if you're sure he doesn't get a max offer in RFA?
