I was really hoping the Pistons would pick up Marshall, or overpay Toppin so that Indy wouldn't match. But Indy decided to overpay anyway, Dallas made a shrewd move and Detroit chose Tobi Harris which, fine - he can teach the team to be upstanding citizens - but that's not EXCITING BASKETBALL. Indy bringing Toppin back for that much, without moving anyone is a very weird move, unless they're gonna try playing Siakam at the 5 and essentially replicate T-Dot's 4 wing experiment, but with Hali instead of van Fleet? I don't love the idea, but they already have such a good thing going, why tinker?! But hey, get your bag, Obi!
Yeah, everything I've read says that Indy doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, and they have a bunch of guys who are starting bigger contracts, so they don't have much salary flexibility to take a swing anymore. They're hoping a healthy haliburton and internal improvement from their young pieces will be enough.
Indiana is clearly a good team, but it's hard to see them being a top-four seed in the East this year. Maybe it doesn't matter, since health is the most important thing by far once the playoffs roll around, but so many other teams got better and Indiana stayed put.
Impossible for me to tell, since he never played ha. People around the organization seem to like him; I'd like to see that translate into playing time. Jalen Smith's absence might open up some Toppin-at-center, Wallace-at-PF minutes, but I'm just spitballing (Toppin at center horrifies me but I can see Carlisle trying it out).
Obi Toppin (a backup big and not a particularly good one) getting $15 mil a year and Pat Williams (who on even a decent team would be a backup) getting $18 mil annually? Un-freaking-real. Nice job hamstringing your teams with godawful contracts, Pacers and Bulls GMs.
yeah, at least the Williams one has some potential to be perfectly fine, even I would have liked a lower number, personally, but guys who show even the potential for 3-and-D capabilities tend to get paid.
The Toppin one is abysmal. Perhaps Indiana thinks it can be matching salary in a trade, but I'm very down on Toppin's fit around the league.
Williams for $90M isn't crazy, even if I'm lower on Williams than most, because he at least fits on a normal team with some defensive capabilites and shooting upside. Some other teams would have definitely given him a look at a slightly lower number.
Valanicunas is an aging, ground-bound center with good rebounding, some post scoring (a skill that the legaue doesn't value), and mediocre-to-bad defense, depending on the scheme. That all sums up to a reasonable player with no upside. I think $10M a year is perfectly fine for both sides, particularly since Washington doesn't need the money elsewhere.
In fact, Naji Marshall and DJJ both getting $30M or less to me is a far greater error in judgement by teams. So compared to PWill and Toppin, the Valanciunas deal seems low, but compared to those two, it feels high.
Good point about Valanicunas, particularly with his age -- unlike any of these other guys mentioned in this discussion, there's not even a chance that he might get better as time goes on. That said, he does more-or-less fit what the Wizards need right now -- his presence can keep Alex Sarr from getting fed to the Embiids and Jokics of the league right away, and Marvin Bagley Jr. sure as heck isn't up to that job.
Also, Naji and DJJ both getting paid far less than Obi Toppin is a damn crime.
I was really hoping the Pistons would pick up Marshall, or overpay Toppin so that Indy wouldn't match. But Indy decided to overpay anyway, Dallas made a shrewd move and Detroit chose Tobi Harris which, fine - he can teach the team to be upstanding citizens - but that's not EXCITING BASKETBALL. Indy bringing Toppin back for that much, without moving anyone is a very weird move, unless they're gonna try playing Siakam at the 5 and essentially replicate T-Dot's 4 wing experiment, but with Hali instead of van Fleet? I don't love the idea, but they already have such a good thing going, why tinker?! But hey, get your bag, Obi!
Yeah, everything I've read says that Indy doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, and they have a bunch of guys who are starting bigger contracts, so they don't have much salary flexibility to take a swing anymore. They're hoping a healthy haliburton and internal improvement from their young pieces will be enough.
Indiana is clearly a good team, but it's hard to see them being a top-four seed in the East this year. Maybe it doesn't matter, since health is the most important thing by far once the playoffs roll around, but so many other teams got better and Indiana stayed put.
Agreed. Gotta think that something else is potentially in the works, or is Wallace that bad? He didn't look it initially.
Impossible for me to tell, since he never played ha. People around the organization seem to like him; I'd like to see that translate into playing time. Jalen Smith's absence might open up some Toppin-at-center, Wallace-at-PF minutes, but I'm just spitballing (Toppin at center horrifies me but I can see Carlisle trying it out).
Obi Toppin (a backup big and not a particularly good one) getting $15 mil a year and Pat Williams (who on even a decent team would be a backup) getting $18 mil annually? Un-freaking-real. Nice job hamstringing your teams with godawful contracts, Pacers and Bulls GMs.
yeah, at least the Williams one has some potential to be perfectly fine, even I would have liked a lower number, personally, but guys who show even the potential for 3-and-D capabilities tend to get paid.
The Toppin one is abysmal. Perhaps Indiana thinks it can be matching salary in a trade, but I'm very down on Toppin's fit around the league.
Looking at some of these other contracts, how is Valanciunus only $10m a year? He’s not more valuable than Toppin or Williams?
The Toppin contract is a gross overpay.
Williams for $90M isn't crazy, even if I'm lower on Williams than most, because he at least fits on a normal team with some defensive capabilites and shooting upside. Some other teams would have definitely given him a look at a slightly lower number.
Valanicunas is an aging, ground-bound center with good rebounding, some post scoring (a skill that the legaue doesn't value), and mediocre-to-bad defense, depending on the scheme. That all sums up to a reasonable player with no upside. I think $10M a year is perfectly fine for both sides, particularly since Washington doesn't need the money elsewhere.
In fact, Naji Marshall and DJJ both getting $30M or less to me is a far greater error in judgement by teams. So compared to PWill and Toppin, the Valanciunas deal seems low, but compared to those two, it feels high.
It's been a weird market!
Good point about Valanicunas, particularly with his age -- unlike any of these other guys mentioned in this discussion, there's not even a chance that he might get better as time goes on. That said, he does more-or-less fit what the Wizards need right now -- his presence can keep Alex Sarr from getting fed to the Embiids and Jokics of the league right away, and Marvin Bagley Jr. sure as heck isn't up to that job.
Also, Naji and DJJ both getting paid far less than Obi Toppin is a damn crime.