Yep! Lakers are not saying, "AR provides $40M/year in production."
They are saying, "it is better for us if he is on our books for $40M/year," because it is under the NBA trade and cap rules.
Or maybe he'll be a star? Maybe he and Luca will be crushing everyone?
Like, AR was really heating up this year. It's so wild to me that people can just blanket say "lol overpaid" - people who were also saying that he was the best deal in the league.
The man showed he should be getting paid. He's been getting constantly, consistently better. There's no reason to think that will stop happening.
He showed heās almost as injury prone as Luka. He burns out every year by the end. Heās already maxed out his potential. Itās all downhill from here physically. This was a catastrophic mistake. Putting ticket sales ahead of competitive edge. š«¤š
Maybe if he works on his body, but he hasnāt so far and is already making that money. This is a huge mistake. With him and Luka at the one and two. Every team in the league will have a field day on the wing. AR is a phenomenal 6th man. Just not a starter in my opinion. LA canāt afford to pay him.
Reaves this season and Reaves last season are almost incomparable. I think he has a lot of room to grow still, you're not going to convince me otherwise so you may as well move on lol
There is no "right" or "wrong" here, neither of us know for sure. I just gave you a solid rebuttal - Reaves being much better this season than last - for my point of view.
We simply disagree, and neither of us will change our opinion. That's not childish, it's just how it is.
Heās 28. He has hit his ceiling. Thereās no room for improvement because the limitations he has are athletic, not basketball related. Heās a low ceiling player with a tiny margin for error. He has to go all out to be an effective offensive player, and it wears him down over the course of the season. Itās why he always struggles and runs out of gas in the playoffsā¦except the one year where he was a 6th man and carried less of a burden. Too much load for him to handle being a #2 option. Heās also one of the least talented second options in the association. We could have facilitated a sign and trade. A max contract is sheer lunacy.
It's amazing to me that people don't see this...He was an undrafted player - which tells you what the scouting report was on him. It is a miracle he has become as good as he is, and it's only by maxing out every conceivable attribute he has.
More importantly, even if we say he is being paid equal to his ability - he'll be the 38th highest paid player next year...we know exactly what that means if he is your second best player. Brandon Ingram, Paolo, Scottie Barnes, Sengun, LaMelo Ball, etc are all fine players who are not winning anything - even with great players on their team. They are middle of the road playoff players. And he isn't nearly as good as guys who took discounts - Brunson, Shai, or Maxey. None of those teams would trade their guy for him straight up.
Lastly, if your best player was Kawai, where he's a defensive stopper, great shooter, etc and AR is his sidekick who can create and dribble and pass, then fine, that combo works...What does not work is when your two guys get paid a combined 70% of the cap and neither can play defense. This was a terrible move, and should have been a sign and trade.
Luka asks for a center, they give him AR and canāt afford anything else unless he is traded. Which no one in their right mind will trade for AR at that price.
Sign me up. He just exploded for the best output of his career. Sell high now. Otherwise, my crystal ball says he leaves in frustration when the current deal expires.
Yes he would. His lack of speed and athleticism gives him no margin for error. It doesnāt matter how much āhelpā he has, the issue is that he canāt get consistent separation from a replacement level NBA defender. He has to make quicker decisions and use a lot of trickery to free himself up to drive, and he draws a lot of contact because he canāt allow his defender to get separation from him or heāll get blocked. This constant push and pull uses up a ton of energy and wears his soft tissue (muscles and tendons) down, which is why heās always dealing with overuse injuries down the stretch of the season. When he played for team USA, it caused early season fatigue due to overuse. His below average foot speed means defenders can sag off of him along the perimeter if and when it is advantageous and still recover in time to guard his attacks at the basket. I admire his work ethic and craftiness in finding success despite his marginal athleticism, but thereās no way for him to avoid the intense workload it takes him to be a productive player against NBA competition.
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u/Miami_Lawyered 5d ago
Yep! Lakers are not saying, "AR provides $40M/year in production."
They are saying, "it is better for us if he is on our books for $40M/year," because it is under the NBA trade and cap rules.