Pretty simple question, answer maybe not so easy. Everybody is ready to throw max deals at all these free agents this summer, but really? Kobe (and with his age/injury issues thats not a clear cut anymore for a 5 year max deal) and Wade are the only two on the court results warrant to me that amount of money. I'll throw it to James just on his pure talent, but ruining my salary cap on James really to me means I am not going to win a title. The rest of the wanna be's? they are either over the hill aka Pierce, or have not shown the ability to "win". Can anybody sell me on any of these others.... The reason I'm asking is with the CBA up next summer and rumors of maybe even a hard cap option being there. The way I look at some teams may be selling there souls for one year runs, after that there going to have to have bench's made up of all minimum contracts.... We all may hate our two free agents signings last summer but when all our young players are ready to go for that championship in say 2 years I just don't see any "super teams" being out there. But enough of my thinking aloud and back to the question. What free agents this summer actually deserve max money?
You gotta look at this strictly from a business perspective. Will signing that player result in the good things that will earn you more money than what you spend on that contract? If the answer is a Yes, then you give that guy a max contract. Kobe deserves one. He wins championships and ensures deep playoff runs. He is charismatic and sells jerseys tickets etc. LeBron doesn't win squat, but you'll make enough money that you won't care. So there's another max contract. The rest, including Wade, puh!
Well, you said it, only Wade and Lebron are max guys, even if they don't win a title, owners still get their money's worth. The other two guys I would give max deals, or very close are Melo and Chris Paul, the first one not only for what can give you on the court, but because of the merch and tickets he sells, the second because he's the best PG in the game and he makes every player on his team a lot better. He is a pretty big draw also. Others, not worth it. Bosh did nothing in Toronto, Amare plays no D and has problems with his knees and eyes, Dirk won't win any title if he is the best player on the team, Boozer has almost the same issues Amare has, Pierce is old. Who's left , David Lee? 10 mil is pushing it. Joe Johnson? I rather pay Gordon 10 mil a year, at least he shows up come playoff time.
Melo isn't even close to being worth max cash. He'll isn't capable of leading a team. At best, he's a #2 guy on a championship team. He may lead that team in scoring, but he ain't "leading" that team. I agree with everbody else that you had mentioned.
I think a team can win a title with Melo as their best player,not the leader, but the best player. They were one bad pass away from knocking out the Lakers in the West Finals a couple of season ago, that or Billups showing up when it mattered the most. And he also makes sense from a business perspective.
I agree with the most posted except the last part about Johnson. I rather have him than Bengo. And no max for Melo. How about Ming? He might give you two-three games a year but he also gives you the whole chinese market. Dunno how much it means in money since I guess 99 percent of the merchandise sold there is fake but 1 percent of a gazillion shirts is thousand million trillion shirts. And you'll have an all star no matter how he performs!
I remember having this discussion around the time German O'Nell (Jermaine O'Neal) signed his max contract. Some thought he deserved it.
the first isn't good enough at both ends of the court and one is to young for my taste to make the call (is he the next kobe or the next mcgrady)
If I were Denver, I'd go it without Melo, as he won't win you anything. Time to look at other options over there. Plus their other stars are coming off injuries or are getting old with expiring contracts.
That team is terrible without Melo. If you were Denver you'd rather be in the lottery? That makes no sense. If I was Denver I might surround him with less volitile players and a front court that acutally holds up through a season. And did someone call Durant the next Gervin in a serious manner?
