Jerami Grant: Trailblazers

[Newhouser]

No 50/50 calls will ever go against LeBron in this series. He can drop his shoulder into anyone he wants and knows it's highly unlikely he'll get called for it.

Zone isn't a bad idea though. Make the Lakers shoot threes.

Lebron will get every fifty fifty call from here on out. No other team left has a star to balance it out. Lakers cruise to title. Best team and friendly whistle.

 

[alphaorange]

He really will have no money to spend other than the MLE (about $9 million) for teams that are over the cap.

Millsap and Plumlee leaving will not clear any cap space to sign players when you consider
1) Denver is already $20 million over the cap. So $20m of the "salaries saved" on those two, is just clearing luxury tax room, which can't be used to sign players anyway. So that leaves $20 million to spend on free agents (40-20 = 20)

2) Then you consider that Jamal Murray is jumping from $4m to $29m, and that takes up $25 million of cap space, so that in itself now brings you back over the cap. (20-25 = -5)

3) The cap as far as I am aware will go down a bit in 2020/2021, so that in itself will take some further cap room. Say $5 million.

So I would not expect huge upgrades with cap space. That being said Denver is in tremendous shape anyway with what they will retain, and Millsap and Plumlee can be partially replaced with the MLE. But upgrades will not be possible through FA anyway.

I thought you could extend your own players after signing free agents which allowed you to go over the cap because of Bird rights. Is this wrong?

 

[jncuse]

I thought you could extend your own players after signing free agents which allowed you to go over the cap because of Bird rights. Is this wrong?

You certainly can -- they will have no problem signing players on their own team like Grant, no matter what their cap situation is.

But they will not have cap space (or very minimal) to sign players off other teams.

 

[Gabjon]

He really will have no money to spend other than the MLE (about $9 million) for teams that are over the cap.

Millsap and Plumlee leaving will not clear any cap space to sign players when you consider
1) Denver is already $20 million over the cap. So $20m of the "salaries saved" on those two, is just clearing luxury tax room, which can't be used to sign players anyway. So that leaves $20 million to spend on free agents (40-20 = 20)

2) Then you consider that Jamal Murray is jumping from $4m to $29m, and that takes up $25 million of cap space, so that in itself now brings you back over the cap. (20-25 = -5)

3) The cap as far as I am aware will go down a bit in 2020/2021, so that in itself will take some further cap room. Say $5 million.

So I would not expect huge upgrades with cap space. That being said Denver is in tremendous shape anyway with what they will retain, and Millsap and Plumlee can be partially replaced with the MLE. But upgrades will not be possible through FA anyway.

While I believe Grant will get around a $100 million contract I doubt it will be in Denver because of cap room and cheaper talent that can play a similar role namely Porter and Bol Bol.

I hope Grant lands in Portland he would be a great fit Dame, CJ, Melo and Nurkic. With Whiteside coming off the books and movable pieces like Hood and Ariza they can make it happen, but Portland has to pay Trent jr. too.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

While I believe Grant will get around a $100 million contract I doubt it will be in Denver because of cap room and cheaper talent that can play a similar role namely Porter and Bol Bol.

I hope Grant lands in Portland he would be a great fit Dame, CJ, Melo and Nurkic. With Whiteside coming off the books and movable pieces like Hood and Ariza they can make it happen, but Portland has to pay Trent jr. too.

Not sure Porter will ever commit to the defense like Jerami. But I'd love to see Grant in Portland as well.

 

[Gabjon]

Not sure Porter will ever commit to the defense like Jerami. But I'd love to see Grant in Portland as well.

Agreed!

 

[jncuse]

I don't think this will be the year for 4/ $100 million contracts for non-star players like Grant, with the cap likely to shrink and some stars coming eligible in 2021. Not too many teams will have that amount of space and want to use it this year.

I think he is closer to a $15-$18M guy in this market, but I could be wrong.

This is not like 2016 where every team had tonnes of space and everybody was getting more than fairly paid.

 

[Gabjon]

I don't think this will be the year for 4/ $100 million contracts for non-star players like Grant, with the cap likely to shrink and some stars coming eligible in 2021. Not too many teams will have that amount of space and want to use it this year.

I think he is closer to a $15-$18M guy in this market, but I could be wrong.

This is not like 2016 where every team had tonnes of space and everybody was getting more than fairly paid.

You could be right he might also want a 1 and 1 deal with the belief that the market will bounce back quickly so why be suck in a long term deal.

 

[JLine]

The Queen gets bailed out again after he passes up taking the last shot. How he's the greatest to anyone is beyond me.

 

[Wrinkle]

He is def not getting 4 years/100mil

 

[jncuse]

You could be right he might also want a 1 and 1 deal with the belief that the market will bounce back quickly so why be suck in a long term deal.

He could well do that.

The discount he may have to give up for a long term security deal this offseason will be quite high compared to normal years I would think. Just throwing numbers out there, but say he gets paid $80 Million long-term contract next year vs $65 Million long term contract this year. Is it worth rolling the dice? Tough call for he and his agents to make.

 

[Gabjon]

He could well do that.

The discount he may have to give up for a long term security deal this offseason will be quite high compared to normal years I would think. Just throwing numbers out there, but say he gets paid $80 Million long-term contract next year vs $65 Million long term contract this year. Is it worth rolling the dice? Tough call for he and his agents to make.

Oh I think the numbers are higher. The global aspect of the NBA will make it a sports winner, but if congress cancels Christmas i.e. "no stimulus" all bets are off.

The downward spiral that will cause will ripple through the economy in a depressionary manner, but the NBA would probably fair better than any other American sport.

Football will be the hardest hit sport economically and only the top 10 retailers will survive. Death by Partinsanship...

 

[Melancer46]

I thought you could extend your own players after signing free agents which allowed you to go over the cap because of Bird rights. Is this wrong?

Sort of. Even with bird rights, each player has a cap hold that limits their ability to sign free agents. So for example, let's say Jerami Grant opts out of the $9 million he's currently scheduled to make next season. If Denver wants to bring him back, he would have a cap hold of $17 million counting against their cap until they sign him to whatever new contract they wish to give him. The cap is expected to be around $109 million next season (same as it was this year). With all of the cap holds they'll have at the beginning of the offseason, they'll technically be like $85 million OVER the cap already.

Having said that, there are ways for them to bring that number down (and in the most extreme case, they could carve out roughly $3 million in cap space if they wanted, but there's really no point in doing that).

• Waiving Keita Bates-Diop before his contract becomes guaranteed would free up roughly $800k.
• Same goes for PJ Dozier
• Same goes for Monte Morris (though he's a huge bargain on his contract, so they'd be fools to do that)
• Letting Torrey Craig walk would free up about $1.5 million (but they'll probably at least offer him the qualifying offer to have the option to bring him back)
• Relinquish the cap holds of Troy Daniels, Mason Plumlee, and Noah Vonleh, clearing about $23 million
• Either relinquish Paul Millsap's cap hold, clearing $40 million, or sign him to a new contract in which case his new salary would replace the cap hold.

As I mentioned though, even if they go to the extreme, they won't be able to carve out any meaningful cap space. If they clear enough space to get below the luxury tax, that would allow them to sign a free agent with the Mid-Level Exception (roughly $9 million per year). So that's probably the ideal path forward for them at this point; they can theoretically re-sign Grant, maybe re-sign Millsap, and sign a player with the MLE (someone like Jae Crowder or DJ Augustin for example would probably be around that dollar amount). Or they could always pursue trades.

TLDR: The path forwards for them (without involving trades) is re-signing Grant and Millsap and maybe Torrey Craig and then signing a player with the mid-level exception (worth around $9 million per year for up to 4 years). They can't get actual cap space to sign one of the bigger name free agents this year.

 

[Melancer46]

He is def not getting 4 years/100mil

Honestly, in this market, where there's only 6 teams expected to have cap space this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if the best he can do is pretty close to his current player option for next season ($9.3 million). I think he might be able to get a little more than that on the open market, but his best choice financially will probably just be signing a short-term extension with Denver for more money or opting in for $9.3 million and waiting until next year to see what happens. If he leaves Denver this offseason for a long term deal, I would guess we're probably closer to 4 years and $50 million rather than $100 million. The only teams projected to even have enough cap space to offer a $100 million contract are Atlanta, Detroit, and the Knicks and they'll most likely be chasing bigger fish before they'd settle for Grant. Maybe he gets lucky with Atlanta since they could really use defense on the wing and have no reason to be chasing a guy like Fred Van Vleet (which is who everyone expects Detroit and New York to be chasing).

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I've been critical of Grant lately, not being a good finisher against contact. But, jeez—he's killing it in all aspects of the game tonight. Hope this game is a catapult.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

 

[skurey]

The Jerami Grant game

 

[JLine]

Just destroying the Lakers.

 

[jncuse]

He made himself a bit of extra money tonight.

 

[SUGIANT]

I would say that Waiters needs to be traded again as he has worn out his welcome in Miami but I think he needs to stay there because Riley does not put up with his nonsense and his ACT on another team would only get worse. Spurs are the only other place I could see him where he would be held 100% accountable.

As always, I am rooting for him and will always own real estate on Waiters Island. Prime real estate

I thought Dion was on the Lakers?

 

[SUGIANT]

Great game by Jerami, couldn’t ask for more but they may need it going forward. Good players do it one game, better players do it several, great keep on doing it. I love that he’s in the Nuggets. Just wish I could go watch him...

 

[JLine]

The Nuggets are special. A young team is supposed to fold after that surge by the Lakers.

 

[SWFLCUSE]

The Nuggets are special. A young team is supposed to fold after that surge by the Lakers.

I’m so giddy to watch this team grow. This group was put together the right way and has continued to grow and learn year after year. There is so much to love about them!

 

[JLine]

I’m so giddy to watch this team grow. This group was put together the right way and has continued to grow and learn year after year. There is so much to love about them!

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed watching a team in the NBA as much as I do this one.

 

[OrangeXtreme]