How many minutes per dollar? We paid $42M for Cato. Then we all decided he was a bust. Then some of us began to argue that our expectations had been too high and that $42M wasn't too much to pay for a half-decent legitimate center who gave us 25 minutes a night. We paid $48M for Taylor. Then Eddie Griffin turned out to be everything we had hoped for, and Kenny Thomas turned out to be more than we had hoped for. Now I see some people suggesting that Taylor can fit in and still leave enough minutes for Griffin and Thomas. A similar argument could be made about Moochie Norris, though I still think we paid too much for what he brings. How many minutes do we expect Cato and Taylor to play for the money we're paying them? How much money is it now reasonable to pay in the NBA for how many minutes of decent play? Does anyone here think we should begin to regard some of these contracts as reasonable, even if we don't end up playing some of these guys as many minutes as we (the BBS, not Rudy or CD) originally thought we would?
I understand what you're saying Will, my problem is the length and production. I guess in the market where PJ Brown got Cato money then I guess we agree. Taylor got half of what McGrady got so its fair to say he's half the player. I just look at staying flexible for the future. If you, the management thinks a player is going to contribute for a long time and you want to make him a staple, then give him a long term deal, if not shorten th deal up. Looking at the money both signed without competition kind of puzzled me. No one really wanted Taylor and the Rockets didn't even give anyone a chance with Cato. Its different with Steve because we know he's a franchise type of player, but the Cato's and taylors of the world kind of come and go. Ideally, if they offered Taylor 3yrs 24million and he didn't improve his play, you would only have 3 yrs to wait to get rid of him or come off your books. It works both ways because if he does improve then he'll still only be 28 and up for another contract for more money. Duncan worked it best and now after the Spurs start to suck he can just leave and won't be stuck on a declining team. The money seems a lot to regular people like us and I don't have a problem with that, it just the length i have issues with.