Say we trade Bass and Green for another draft pick and some prospects and expirings
we will likely have 30-40 mil in cap space
1) Would any unrestricted max free agent want to come here? (15-20 mil per)
Aldridge ( Staying in Portland)
Gasol ( Not leaving Mem)
Hibbert (Might be attracted if Jeff Green is here )
Lopez ( Too injury prone, soft defense and rebounding)
Big Al ( While he has great skill offensively, he isn't the defense anchor we need)
Monroe ( Would fit very well in the rebuild, move him back to center where he belongs)
Jordan ( Not worth the max )
Dragic(He could be a great fit next to Smart and Bradley, Not sure if he is worth max?)
So to me out of this list it's Dragic, Hibbert and monroe who would be the best max contracts to go after ( or close to max)
Hibbert is only coming if we have Jeff Green, but I think Green will be gone , so main targets should be Dragic and Monroe for max players .
2) Restricted free agents who will get offered max contracts
Kawhi Leonard (Spurs will likely relent to a max contract )
Jimmy Butler ( Chicago likely matches a max as insurance for Rose)
Reggie Jackson ( Not worth it with Smart here )
I would throw max contracts at Leonard and Butler , but I see both the Spurs and Bulls matching.
3) Second-tier unrestricted free agents (8-14 mil per year)
Robin Lopez ( relatively young and good defender, c's likely have interest)
Omer Asik ( C's could have some interest )
Tobias Harris ( orlando likely matches , not a max player to overpay for )
David West ( Goes to a contender)
Paul Millsap ( could replace Green's scoring if we trade him, but likely goes to vet team)
Gerald Henderson (Already have money tied up in an average SG)
Aaron Aflflalo (Goes to a contender )
Kosta Koufus ( not worth tying money up in )
Brandon Wright ( C's could re-sign if he shows he is the real deal)
Amir Johnson ( pretty much the same player as Brandon Wright)
Wes Matthews ( to similar to Smart and AB)
Ernes Kanter ( is restricted , but might be able to get him in a S+t with a pick )
So to me our main targets should be
UFA Max Targets = Dragic, Hibbert, Monroe
RFA Max Targets = Khawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler
2nd tier Targets = R. Lopez, Asik, Kanter, Wright, Johnson
Does this look right? Who would you want from this list ?
Could potentially have a roster of
PG: Smart / AB
SG: Dragic / Young
SF: Top 5 pick /
PF: Sully / KO
C: Monroe / Zellar
Plus all our picks to land some more big fish ( including whatever other assets we end up with by the deadline)