But what happens if they keep winning? Let's say - huge if - they win it all this year, have another great season and maybe make it to ECF/Finals next year... how can Wyc tell the fan base "We're going to make this trade to save money despite being a championship quality team"? How many teams winning at this level have downgraded for pure salary reasons?
DJ for Robey is a very hard one to beat (given what was obvious at the time about the qualities of each player)
Of course, but what is being a 1c worth? $40 million? $30million.?
I think any trade in a season or two from now will be to set themselves up for some flexibility to deal with inevitable aging curves of Jrue, KP, and, of course, Al Horford. It's too early to predict who, despite Brown being everyone's favorite trade candidate.
Should have been Henderson for Bias.
Or Bridges or MPJ(or any of the half dozen or so decent role players taken within a dozen spots of that pick). It was the right move (and I think the IT situation would've gotten very ugly), but there was some talent on the board.
A bit under the radar compared to the above, but getting Paul Silas for the rights to Charlie Scott was pretty important to the team's 12th and 13th titles.
I think these kind of evaluations have gotten harder in recent years, because movement of contracts has become as much a part of trades of veterans as movement of players and picks.
How about karmic pay back for "stealing" Tim Duncan from the Celts in the 1997 draft?
That team with White was still garbage. I love White as much as anyone here but he isn’t the type to drag a god awful team to respectably
Detroit I agree because he would be the first star (or maybe 1b next to Cade) for that dumpster fire. But Orlando would be a great fit next to Paolo and the rest of the rotation would complement those 2 very nicely. Probably just need to add more shooting and they would be a real threat to a Celtics team without DW.
DWhite is really good, and any ok team that pays a lot for him is going to be really, really happy.
Yeah I think White would be the perfect 3rd option on a playoff team. Durable, efficient, unselfish and an excellent defender. No clue what their cap situation is, but he'd fit in great in Orlando as a veteran leader in a starting lineup with Suggs/Wagner/Banchero/Carter jr.
Seems like a better fit than Dort or Giddey next to SGA, too, if you needed a veteran leader there as well.
White is the sort of player who could fit anywhere, but what OKC needs more than anything (other than experience) is to get bigger. Orlando already has an embarrassment of riches in that area, and could take Harris' sport without them missing a beat.
The problem is the max they can offer him is like $27 million a year. If he thought he'd get $30 mil on the open market maybe Brad could sell him on it, but if he's looking to even just get paid market value he'll have wait. I wish the max the C's could offer was closer to the Jrue number, in that case I think it could get done, I just can't see him possibly leaving $40+ million dollars out of his next contract
FWIW After all of White's incentives kicked in 6 weeks ago Bobby Marks tabulated that the max extension Brad can offer DW this Summer is $123M/4yrs
I know everyone is wired differently but a $123M extension would mean at the end of the contract he’d have $200M in career earnings. That said, playing out his currenr deal and betting on himself next season could mean an extra $50M Tough decision.
Agree that SAS would have still been bad with White but when you are tanking, every loss counts!
He's already the 3rd best player on the best fucking team in the league. He'd be great in Orlando, or Milwaukee, or NY, or the Lakers. Or most teams.
Yea. Most Top Players/Agents rarely make it to UFA and opt for large extensions early. Derrick seems pretty egoless compared to the modern NBA superstar and doesn't need a Free Agent contract to tell him he is a great player. I'm guessing $200M in career earnings with a $132M of that guaranteed a year early will float his boat.
He'd make every NBA team much better (esp. Orlando)
Yeah but most teams can't pay him and does DW really want to see which contenders have max cap space in 2025?
Link? People keep misquoting the amount, and I'd love to just have a handy reference to an authoritative number. Marks has been on it with respect to White for a while.
Yes, John, the 4th year does seem to have "some legitimate downside" - it's not high enough for us to extend him at the number he now deserves.
Thanks for the update.
While the topline seems silly given how White exploded in Boston..... most of that Hollinger is right on actually.
Front-loading obviously would have been better, and it's weird SA didn't do it, but "ugly" should be reserved for contracts that are negative assets, or barely breakeven. White was a positive value contract the day he extended, and quickly proved that by being traded for positive value soon after the deal started, without taking a significant leap.
I agree that White would flop as a #1 option. However, there are plenty of teams that need an elite 2B or 3A option who plays great defense, and they will pay for that guy.
Most teams who are under the 2nd apron could work out a S&T, and Boston would likely go along with one in that scenario. Cap room isn't much of a barrier to signing in these cases, because the player has the credible threat of signing with a cap space team, so the team losing the guy always takes picks rather than nothing.
So, I largely buy that other teams might be making a mistake if they were to outbid Boston for White in summer 2025. And I think your team-level analysis is on point (i.e., Orlando and OKC are the only teams who can get him who would meaningfully move up in their championship odds by doing so, with Philly perhaps a bit arguable depending on how the next 12 months go).
All good points.
I understand exactly what you're saying, and it's reasonable. I just think you artificially limited the number of suitors by excluding S&Ts, and maybe being a bit too bearish on White's ability to accentuate a wide variety of rosters.
I know what you are trying to say.
You're basically saying that DW has more value to BOS because of his fit than to many other teams. I think that's likely true. I also think that the corollary to this is also likely true - DW probably plays better because he is surrounded by 4 potential All-Stars than he would play in (for example) DET as option #2 or 1B (if they give him a max contract).
The bolded is absolutely true. DW doesn't seem to have the natural confidence that the other players at his level do. It's something that he has openly talked about.
