Certainly more than 3 would be challenging unless we are willing to go deep into the second apron. Let's take 2027 - best case, Jalen blows up, and Amen continues to dominate. That would mean Jalen likely opts out and signs an 25% max extension that kicks in during the 2027 - 2028 season. Amen's likely rookie max also kicks in then, too. Sengun's contract will cost about 20% towards the cap. That's 70% of the cap right there and over half the way to the projected second apron limit of 228M. Then what if Amen hits a supermax escalator - that's another 5% gone the following season. Ideally, you want one supermax, 1 - 2 maxes, 1 - 2 large non-max contracts, then fill the rest of your roster with value contracts, rookies, and vet minimums if you want to stay under the second apron. Denver's a good example - one supermax (Joker), two maxes (Murray and MPJ), and one large non-max (Gordon).
Agreed. Not getting the love for Ausar. He has not shown the same skills or raw talent that his brother has. Also do not see the team’s need for Ausar, besides keeping Amen happy if that.
Yeah, I'm in the camp "stand pat till we have a better sense of what we have." Some of our young guys have very high ceiling. But none of them has reached it yet. Even Amen, who everyone is so high about, is still very raw. And none of them have played in the playoffs. We don't know how they will perform when teams game plan against them.
If we traded Eason and Cam for Ausar, where would he play? Starting him to be a nightmare for spacing. As a sixth man who wrecks havoc? I mean sure, but seems strange to trade Eason for Ausar when Eason is doing that job pretty well.
I don’t think we need to trade anybody this season with the way we’ve been playing. Why mess with the chemistry when it’s working wonders? Now, I may change my tune depending on what happens in the playoffs; how our young guys perform on the playoff stage will tell us a lot more about where this team is headed, i.e. if this is a team only built for regular season success. Play with house money this season and plan for the long term future - don’t sacrifice the future for immediate gratification.
Ausar is nice and all but blood clots are no joke. They retired Chris Bosh early. Cam and 1 of our own future 1sts is the most I'll do.
I don’t really want to move Reed or Cam, but we are going to have to allow these guys to flourish somewhere else if it means plugging in that last missing part. Crazy to even be jostling for position like this with future matchups in mind. What a ride. Like you said White fits our switch everything guard/wing mentality as a 6’6 combo guy and you don’t even mess with the starting lineup that got us here.
He’s owed a lot more guaranteed money than Jock. Detroit could view a straight swap as a cost-cutting measure.
