Trade Sully, Young, Picks for Kawi

[LooseCannon]

the trade idea - a big maybe.

paying Leonard a max contract - ridiculous.

he is a very good player, but not a franchise player. yes, he was Finals MVP - to me, you could compare him as far as talent level and value as a player with Cedric Maxwell, who was very, very good and deserved a retired number and more credit than he ever received, but he was not the best player on the team worth a max (no pun intended).

I'd put Leonard as more deserving of the max than Jimmy Butler, who is worth more than Draymond Green.

Keep in mind that the max for Leonard is 25% of the cap, while a ten-year veteran has a max of 35% of the cap, so giving him the max would not mean paying him as much as whoever the top free agent ends up being.  Saying he is worth Chandler Parsons money doesn't mean he is worth Lebron James money.

[BornReady]

I wouldn't go out and pay kawhi the max
He is a very good player but he doesn't necassirly make us a contender by having him

Also consider what we would have to give up to sign and trade him
Would be 2 first rounders and some young players most likely smart, young and crowder

[BDeCosta26]

the trade idea - a big maybe.

paying Leonard a max contract - ridiculous.

he is a very good player, but not a franchise player. yes, he was Finals MVP - to me, you could compare him as far as talent level and value as a player with Cedric Maxwell, who was very, very good and deserved a retired number and more credit than he ever received, but he was not the best player on the team worth a max (no pun intended).

I'd put Leonard as more deserving of the max than Jimmy Butler, who is worth more than Draymond Green.

Keep in mind that the max for Leonard is 25% of the cap, while a ten-year veteran has a max of 35% of the cap, so giving him the max would not mean paying him as much as whoever the top free agent ends up being.  Saying he is worth Chandler Parsons money doesn't mean he is worth Lebron James money.

Exactly. It would be utterly ridiculous to say Kawhi Leonard doesn't deserve Gordon Haywood money. If he wasn't on the Spurs, his stat line would be FAR better. But it's not all about stat line. He's the Spurs franchise player right now. He's the contingency plan for the end of the Duncan/Parker/Manu era. The chance of us making an offer sheet is very high, the chance SA doesn't match it and let's him walk when their core players are all well north of 30 is next to zero.

That said, I love Kawhi. He fits this team perfectly. And quite honestly, anyone who says that guy doesn't have star potential, or deserve a contract like Haywood's, doesn't know basketball.

Btw OP. I like Sullinger more than most people around here. Having him probably would have won us that game last night.  But if we were gonna trade him for someone like MKG, we're not getting a pick from CHA on top of that. We're giving one up, at least one. If you wanna post trade scenarios, make them realistic.

If you want MKG, try something like Sullinger, the DAL pick, a PHI pick and a BOS 2nd rounder. That's more realistic.

[BDeCosta26]

I wouldn't go out and pay kawhi the max
He is a very good player but he doesn't necassirly make us a contender by having him

Also consider what we would have to give up to sign and trade him
Would be 2 first rounders and some young players most likely smart, young and crowder

A sign and trade, even with a RFA, is done to help the sending team not lose their player for nothing and helps the receiving team sign the player for more dollars and years. Their only done when leaving is more or less a foregone conclusion. Danny Ainge would NEVER trade anything remotely as valuable as Smart or multiple Boston/Brooklyn firsts in a sign and trade. If you do that, signing a FA like Kawhi goes from a huge plus to an almost lateral move. He's not gonna give up major assets to sign a free agent, even a good young one. Those are for draft/trade moves. Wasting them on a FA is silly.

[tarheelsxxiii]

the trade idea - a big maybe.

paying Leonard a max contract - ridiculous.

he is a very good player, but not a franchise player. yes, he was Finals MVP - to me, you could compare him as far as talent level and value as a player with Cedric Maxwell, who was very, very good and deserved a retired number and more credit than he ever received, but he was not the best player on the team worth a max (no pun intended).

I'd put Leonard as more deserving of the max than Jimmy Butler, who is worth more than Draymond Green.

Keep in mind that the max for Leonard is 25% of the cap, while a ten-year veteran has a max of 35% of the cap, so giving him the max would not mean paying him as much as whoever the top free agent ends up being.  Saying he is worth Chandler Parsons money doesn't mean he is worth Lebron James money.

I like Kawhi a lot. I was rooting for him to get MVP as much as anybody. But I'd give Butler a max over Kawhi 5/7 days of the week.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

the trade idea - a big maybe.

paying Leonard a max contract - ridiculous.

he is a very good player, but not a franchise player. yes, he was Finals MVP - to me, you could compare him as far as talent level and value as a player with Cedric Maxwell, who was very, very good and deserved a retired number and more credit than he ever received, but he was not the best player on the team worth a max (no pun intended).

He's definitely worth the current max under the new cap. He's the best on ball defender in the NBA, can create his own shot without stopping the ball and can shoot. Now the last one of those he's regressed a bit, but he's such a hard worker that's the kinda guy you gamble on getting back to where he was from 3.

[TheTruthFot18]

I do not understand the hype here.

Great player, yes no doubt. But look where he is playing, who he's playing with and mentored by every game, and who is coach is.

He could do well elsewhere where other top players are with him. I don't think he could lead a team on his own. Just my opinion.

That being said, I'd probably do that trade as long as the contract is not a max.

[boscel33]

Last summer, I was in the "keep Sully, don't trade him for Love" camp because I thought he could grow into our own Klove type player.  Guess not!  I'd look at this trad as long as somehow I'm prying Noel from Philly as well and our building blocks are now Thomas/Smart, Leonard, Noel, Bradley, KO as the core to this team.  Throw in Zeller to backup Noel and keep Crowder and this team could be really good.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Sully ,Young, and picks for Kawi is too much. Kawi could just be playing in a great system next to HOF and benefiting.

If it were me I would go after Tobias Harris over Kawi....with all things included I think that is the better move.

Also the Nets pick next year is in a heavy sf class.

[knuckleballer]

I wonder if Kawhi would consider leaving.  He's been in a great situation, but Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker are old.  Even Popovich is 66.  San Antonio could turn ugly quickly. 

[LGC88]

KL is 23 years old, his defense his great, he's a great 3pts shooter, he's fast on transition and can go to the paint and dunk.
At this age, considering his skills and the possibility he might even get better... seriously you don't want to give him max, which is about 15mil ? wow

[SHAQATTACK]

I wonder if Kawhi would consider leaving.  He's been in a great situation, but Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker are old.  Even Popovich is 66.  San Antonio could turn ugly quickly.

I predict they ll sign Anthony Davis away from NO........

The Hawks will loose their coach to the Spurs when Pop retires.

That's how I see the future for SA.

[Geo123]

SA laughs and hangs up. Leonard's deal is going to look like a bargain once the cap jumps.

+1.  There's no way Leonard is leaving the Spurs...

[PAOBoston]

If they want him, couldnt they just wait a year until he is unrestricted to offer him a contract in 2016?

[byennie]

"Max" gets twisted a lot.

Anyone you pay $15M/year right now is ~top 20 highest salary across the league.
Within a couple of years they will be top-50 or less (under the new cap), and take up a whopping 15-17% of your cap room.

Kawhi is *easily* worth a top-50 salary and 15% of your cap room in his prime. That's all that really matters, not any philosophy about what a max player should be.