I'm sure Hawes weighed his salary vs winning vs living in LA and it all factored into him taking a pay cut to sign with the Clippers. It's not like he didn't know he could get $8-10M per season on some other team. That said, the Clippers still need to convince the Cavs to do a sign and trade so they can preserve their mid-level exception for Paul Pierce. And yes, Paul Pierce could get a lot more money from other teams, but would join the Clippers for other reasons.
Who did he unearth last year? No one that could contribute to advancing out of the first round. He had the Room Exception available last year and didn't use it. Having real money to play with doesn't mean that much when there's no one available to spend it on.
not coming, and if we pay him the max we're locking ourselves up into a bad investment and taking $$$ we could be paying vet players to bolster the bench. Love is the only stretch 4 I'd pay the max for because he still has a lot of years.
I am guessing that the "safety school" stretch 4 option if the team fails to secure a top level guy may be Ersan Ilyasova. Had a bad year last season with injuries, and is owed enough $ for the Bucks to consider trading. Would also fit salary-wise either in a trade involving Lin or in a deal involving the Omer Asik trade exception. When healthy during the years before last, Ersan was a productive guy who shot well from distance and rebounded at a high level.
Regarding an Ilyasova trade, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks took Jeremy Lin for him. The new owner is from NYC and the added viewership wouldn't hurt. Perhaps we could snag Nate "anti-turnover" Wolters as a safe backup PG in the process?
Hawes is a solid player. The problem with the clipps are 2/3 which is prbably the most important positions in the new nba. Getting players who can't get their own shot isn't gonna help them go anywhere.
I don't think 2/3 are the most important positions. If you look at the makeup of the Western Conference, it's most important to have a stud point guard and a power forward on the boards with some shooting range. 2's and 3's are mostly the role players who are specialty players like spot up shooters or shutdown defenders. I think Redick is perfect shooting guard for the Clippers offense as he moves really well without the ball, but they have a glut of small forwards that are all solid bench players at best. Granger was a big disappointment, Barnes is a great defender, but is too inconsistent on offense, Dudley was completely out of shape last year, and Bullock was just getting used to the speed of NBA.
Words of wisdom, accurate prediction once again Freak. Hawes would have been a great stretch 4 on this team. On a franchise with 2 players that are the best at their respective positions, the rockets don't need to delude themselves into thinking that they need another superstar. Its what is ****ing this team over continuously. Build a solid supporting cast, which includes a solid pg, bench, and stretch 4. You have franchise players already ffs. The sad part now is that we will overpay for crappy players like Ariza/Lin again.
This was probably the best signing of the offseason and unfortunately, to an already very strong team.
