I don't think Turiaf was overpaid. I like Turiaf, but I just like Landry more even though he'll never be a good shotblocker.
If u just look at it, its like u get a guy that backs up the 4 for 2m and backs up the 5 for 2m. Landry can only play 1 spot and has a knee history. BTW, when he was a little gimpy, he was as effective as chuck. Not to mention it looks like he's a slow healer. Say what u will, Turiaf is a solid player that is right about where he should get paid.
4yr/17mil is not really overpaying for Turiaf. He plays good defense, moves the ball well, and is athletic. Sure he needs to rebound better, but he's a solid guy. I live in LA and watch all the laker games if that makes a difference. Chuck Hayes gets 2mil/yr and that's fine. Turiaf gets 4.25mil/yr and he's overpaid? Honestly, how much do you guys think he's worth? If he's only worth 3mil/yr in your minds, then he doesn't deserve all these "OMG! OVERPAID!" sentiments I'm seeing over a lousy extra 1mil/yr .
He is worth 2M/year, a little bit higher than Deke and Hayes. 1.0 M for his size, age and potential, 0.5M for his hustle, 0.5M for his bench acting. He is at center like Rafer at PG. offensively, he can run up and down fiercely but just can not put the ball in the basket in whatever ways. defensively, he hustles a lot but he is a terrible rebounder. in playoffs, he could not even bring his cheer leading from the bench.
and it's about where landry should be paid as well. i don't understand all of the people thinking landry is worth only $2M/yr. chuck hayes makes $2M/yr and he's worth that, at least, given his 1 on 1 defense and rebounding. yes, scola only makes $3M/yr, but he's underpaid for what he brings (a 12/8 type starting PF). that shouldn't hold landry's salary down. turiaf's salary is fairly in line with his ability. landry is better than turiaf, by raw stats, and i assume has a fairly healthy lead in PER (where landry is 20+ and was near that in the playoffs). landry has more of a risk b/c of his knee and only playing 40 games. but you can't find finishers and rebounders of landry's caliber for just $2M/yr. if we have to pay him 4-5M, i wouldn't be against it. the guy is a very quality role player. take out the injuries and he's easily worth MLE money. now it would be great if we got him for $2-3M/yr, but it would seem surprising if he doesn't end up higher.
Dang, it's all over the internet. Turiaf signs with Golden State Warriors. Expect the Lakers to come after Landry now.
or expect the lakers to match. whoever doesn't get him might come after landry, but the most they can offer is the MLE and the rockets can match.
Lakers are in tax territory, so I think for them, matching will cost $34 million over 4 years. Now that would give them pause.
if that's the case, then i really doubt they match. also, i would make an offer to vujacic and see if they want to match double his pay.
