Free Agency 2023

Restricted free agent F Grant Williams is finalizing a four-year, $53 million sign-and-trade agreement to land with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2023

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Because you can't just grab a free agent even like him. He has some choice on where he wants to go.

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A slight bit more than the league min. would have probably gotten him

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Originally Posted by djrnno

A slight bit more than the league min. would have probably gotten him

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We have to acknowledge the fact that the new orleans pelicans are pretty low down the list of preferred destinations for ANY free agent at this time.

Cody Zeller is pretty much scraping the barrel.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

We have to acknowledge the fact that the new orleans pelicans are pretty low down the list of preferred destinations for ANY free agent at this time.

Cody Zeller is pretty much scraping the barrel.

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I am not sure if that is true. I think it has more to do with cap restraints than preferred destination status. Anybody who can get over the vet minimum was pretty much off the table for us.

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Originally Posted by djrnno

A slight bit more than the league min. would have probably gotten him

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We may have gotten him for the minimum. The Pelicans chose Zeller, likely from his time with Borrego. His strength is setting screens which is a big part of Borrego's offense.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

We may have gotten him for the minimum. The Pelicans chose Zeller, likely from his time with Borrego. His strength is setting screens which is a big part of Borrego's offense.

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Zeller's Basketball IQ will never hurt the team. He's a 'safe' pick up with a low price tag, and fills a team need. Unlike JAX (unfortunately), you know what you are getting every time out.

Will he necessarily win a game for the Pelicans? Probably not.

Will he lose a game for the Pelicans? I doubt it.

BTW: I wish JAX nothing but the best. Sure, he has a lot of maturing to go through, but I am convinced that the Pelicans (with it's revolving head coaching door) did him no favors.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Zeller's Basketball IQ will never hurt the team. He's a 'safe' pick up with a low price tag, and fills a team need. Unlike JAX (unfortunately), you know what you are getting every time out.

Will he necessarily win a game for the Pelicans? Probably not.

Will he lose a game for the Pelicans? I doubt it.

BTW: I wish JAX nothing but the best. Sure, he has a lot of maturing to go through, but I am convinced that the Pelicans (with it's revolving head coaching door) did him no favors.

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who wins

jaxson hayes vs mo bamba vs bol bol (bol bol is now a free agent)

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Originally Posted by fullcourtpress

who wins

jaxson hayes vs mo bamba vs bol bol (bol bol is now a free agent)

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I'm prejudiced; I still believe in JAX. He has the most upside and it ain't even close.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Zeller's Basketball IQ will never hurt the team. He's a 'safe' pick up with a low price tag, and fills a team need. Unlike JAX (unfortunately), you know what you are getting every time out.

Will he necessarily win a game for the Pelicans? Probably not.

Will he lose a game for the Pelicans? I doubt it.

BTW: I wish JAX nothing but the best. Sure, he has a lot of maturing to go through, but I am convinced that the Pelicans (with it's revolving head coaching door) did him no favors.

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I think that is a fair assessment. I wish Hayes would have worked out. I think he has the tools if he ever puts it together.

Zeller is more of an NBA player than MO Bamba, Jax, and Bol Bol combined. Does he have potential? No. Does he have upside? Not really. Does he give you hope he will turn into a starter? Not at all. But if we were in a playoff series and needed to send in a solid player for a rotation or two and the choices were Zeller, Hayes, Bol, and Bamba......every coach in this league is picking Zeller.

We're one of the big boys, now. Those other guys need to go to a non-competing team where they can get minutes to possibly grow. That's not us anymore. Going with Zeller over the other options is the biggest signal that we've entered win now mode that could ever be sent.......other than going into the luxury tax.

I dunno. Miami fans were pretty damn happy to see Zeller gone.

Have a feeling that'll be this place around this time next year too.

The New Orleans Pelicans are signing forward EJ Liddell to a new three-year, $6.2 million deal, with a team option in the third season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Liddell was on a two-way contract after suffering a torn ACL in summer league last summer.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2023

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Originally Posted by DroopyDawg

The New Orleans Pelicans are signing forward EJ Liddell to a new three-year, $6.2 million deal, with a team option in the third season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Liddell was on a two-way contract after suffering a torn ACL in summer league last summer.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2023

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Seems to imply the team believes in his recovery, which is good.

I was high on him coming out of college, had him as a first rounder. If he is even 80% of his college self, he fills a lot of holes for us on paper. Will he ever actually see play? No idea, probably not - but I hope so.

Can shoot, can pass on the short roll and high post, excellent defender, good weakside rim protector for his height, very fundamentally sound as a rebounder - boxes out well.

That was in college, at least. Will it translate, and will it survive his major injury? I hope so.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

We're one of the big boys, now. Those other guys need to go to a non-competing team where they can get minutes to possibly grow. That's not us anymore. Going with Zeller over the other options is the biggest signal that we've entered win now mode that could ever be sent.......other than going into the luxury tax.

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Is there any evidence whatsoever that we're ''one of the big boys''? That's not us anymore? Where is the proof that we're not there anymore? What have we achieved to make us believe that we're too good for development or upside?

Too good for developing prospects, not good enough to be worth paying the luxury tax. Sounds like the mid-tier to me.

Happy for EJ. Feel like he can develop into solid player for us.
And Dallas getting Grant Williams was a very good move for them.

We gonna take part in the Dame multi-team trade-a-palooza or do we get one more young guy on a minimum?

Happy to see the EJ move.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I'm prejudiced; I still believe in JAX. He has the most upside and it ain't even close.

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Absolutely! Two seasons ago Jaxson played a lot; we were a playoff team.
Last year Jaxson didn't play much; we were not a playoff team.

Of course it isn't that simple to speculate on the causation, but I saw Jaxson's play be a game changer many times; for instance, against the Suns.

for the last time, he was a keeper IMO

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Seems to imply the team believes in his recovery, which is good.

I was high on him coming out of college, had him as a first rounder. If he is even 80% of his college self, he fills a lot of holes for us on paper. Will he ever actually see play? No idea, probably not - but I hope so.

Can shoot, can pass on the short roll and high post, excellent defender, good weakside rim protector for his height, very fundamentally sound as a rebounder - boxes out well.

That was in college, at least. Will it translate, and will it survive his major injury? I hope so.

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Knowing who we have penciled in at the 4; it would be a good bet that he will see action, and plenty of it.

Happy for Mr EJ. Was excited to see him play last summer league. Will temper my expectations next year.

That injury is hard to come back from and look great immediately. Even against SL competition.

If he looks slow or bad, I hope people chill out with writing him off. It's still only summer league.

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Originally Posted by DroopyDawg

The New Orleans Pelicans are signing forward EJ Liddell to a new three-year, $6.2 million deal, with a team option in the third season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Liddell was on a two-way contract after suffering a torn ACL in summer league last summer.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2023

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They have to be high on him if they are giving him a 2-3 year deal after an ACL and not playing an NBA minute. Hopefully he is as good as we hoped he would be before the injury.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Knowing who we have penciled in at the 4; it would be a good bet that he will see action, and plenty of it.

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my man with another killer lol....im going to disagree with you this one.....i believe the mills chick has given zion his wakeup card and zion will ball out to make people talk about him being MVP worthy.....

im going for it all..the only games zion will miss this season coming is maybe his kid birth or team giving him games off.....book it...

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

my man with another killer lol....im going to disagree with you this one.....i believe the mills chick has given zion his wakeup card and zion will ball out to make people talk about him being MVP worthy.....

im going for it all..the only games zion will miss this season coming is maybe his kid birth or team giving him games off.....book it...

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Until it isn't, history is on my side of this equation.

I thought losing EJ last summer was a low-key blow to the Pels. Thought he’d be a perfect 12-15 minute sub for Zion or a solid stop gap at PF if (when) Zion got hurt. Hope he plays that exact role this season…

When do the Pelicans have to be under the luxury tax threshold to not pay it?

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

When do the Pelicans have to be under the luxury tax threshold to not pay it?

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until the end of the season, I believe....

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Originally Posted by ramsters60

until the end of the season, I believe....

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Yeah, you just have to be below it by the official end of the NBA year, so there's a ton of time to make moves.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Yeah, you just have to be below it by the official end of the NBA year, so there's a ton of time to make moves.

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If the team is doing 'meh' at mid-year (especially if they are full-strength), they will send CJ to a contender for draft capital and expiring contracts (same with JV who is expiring if he's still here)

Then they will jump into the 2024 Free Agent Market where the big name free agents appear to be Pascal Siakam, Jaylen Brown, and Tobias Harris.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

If the team is doing 'meh' at mid-year (especially if they are full-strength), they will send CJ to a contender for draft capital and expiring contracts

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This seems like wishful thinking. I think CJ McGollum will cost assets to move... or you will end up doing what Dallas did with Porzingis (i.e., break his contract up into taking on smaller negative contracts like Bertans). CJ's dollars are guaranteed until 2026, when he becomes a free agent. There is $67M left on his contract after the next 2023-24 season is over. He is not even playing well enough to be a guaranteed starter on a Pelicans team that did not make the playoffs... so, which contender is going to gift/pay the Pels draft capital to take on this salary?

The Pels better hope CJ does not fade too quickly over the next years and that he continues being a good "leader". I am not sure that anyone can actually provide $67M worth of "leadership" on a basketball court (although if BLM said they did, then you probably could not argue against it, lol). I would pay that for someone who generated an appropriate amount of off-court income though, which CJ does not.

Told y'all not to renew him too... especially not at this price. $15-20M (at best) is more in line with his contributions. Derrick White is being paid $17.5M per year... would the Pels skip a beat on the court if White replaced CJ in the lineup? I do not think so. Teams really need to start playing hardball with veterans like CJ, who feel they are "owed" a certain amount of money because of the number of their years in the league, even though the dollars they are paid is not commensurate with their production on the court.

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Originally Posted by LAL1947

This seems like wishful thinking. I think CJ McGollum will cost assets to move... or you will end up doing what Dallas did with Porzingis (i.e., break his contract up into taking on smaller negative contracts like Bertans). CJ's dollars are guaranteed until 2026, when he becomes a free agent. There is $67M left on his contract after the next 2023-24 season is over. He is not even playing well enough to be a guaranteed starter on a Pelicans team that did not make the playoffs... so, which contender is going to gift/pay the Pels draft capital to take on this salary?

The Pels better hope CJ does not fade too quickly over the next years and that he continues being a good "leader". I am not sure that anyone can actually provide $67M worth of "leadership" on a basketball court (although if BLM said they did, then you probably could not argue against it, lol). I would pay that for someone who generated an appropriate amount of off-court income though, which CJ does not.

Told y'all not to renew him too... especially not at this price. $15-20M (at best) is more in line with his contributions. Derrick White is being paid $17.5M per year... would the Pels skip a beat on the court if White replaced CJ in the lineup? I do not think so. Teams really need to start playing hardball with veterans like CJ, who feel they are "owed" a certain amount of money because of the number of their years in the league, even though the dollars they are paid is not commensurate with their production on the court.

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k

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Originally Posted by LAL1947

This seems like wishful thinking. I think CJ McGollum will cost assets to move... or you will end up doing what Dallas did with Porzingis (i.e., break his contract up into taking on smaller negative contracts like Bertans). CJ's dollars are guaranteed until 2026, when he becomes a free agent. There is $67M left on his contract after the next 2023-24 season is over. He is not even playing well enough to be a guaranteed starter on a Pelicans team that did not make the playoffs... so, which contender is going to gift/pay the Pels draft capital to take on this salary?

The Pels better hope CJ does not fade too quickly over the next years and that he continues being a good "leader". I am not sure that anyone can actually provide $67M worth of "leadership" on a basketball court (although if BLM said they did, then you probably could not argue against it, lol). I would pay that for someone who generated an appropriate amount of off-court income though, which CJ does not.

Told y'all not to renew him too... especially not at this price. $15-20M (at best) is more in line with his contributions. Derrick White is being paid $17.5M per year... would the Pels skip a beat on the court if White replaced CJ in the lineup? I do not think so. Teams really need to start playing hardball with veterans like CJ, who feel they are "owed" a certain amount of money because of the number of their years in the league, even though the dollars they are paid is not commensurate with their production on the court.

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That was a depressingly accurate post

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Originally Posted by fullcourtpress

That was a depressingly accurate post

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Sorry, did not mean to be depressing. The Pels might be able to move CJ as one of the teams in a Dame-to-Miami trade though, so there is hope. :p

[Weekly post pointing out that the CJ hate is short sighted based off of his playing with an injury while also out of position and that with BI and Zion taking on more of the ball handling duties CJ will be able to again play to his strengths (off the ball) this season]

He'll be fine and his skillset tends to age well.

I?m not one who typically ?makes excuses? for players, but the truth is the guy played over 3 months with a torn UCL in his shooting thumb that required surgery. He?s also a true off ball shooter. he creates for others due to his shooting and ability to get to the rim, but he isn?t being utilized correctly at the moment due to the fact that we don?t have a true PG who can run the offense and create for others. I hate to blame it on this but if Zion was healthy, I feel CJ wouldn?t be handling the ball as much. Is CJ overpaid? Sure. But his biggest problem is staying healthy and playing in a not ideal role.

Here a question to ponder....

Is there currently another 10 year + veteran in the NBA besides CJ McCollum making $33MM+ per year who has never sniffed an all star game, much less earned a berth on any of the three All Pro Teams awarded annually?

To say we severely overpaid him with the three year $100MM contract is a grave understatement. Looks like the league (and writers) sees him one way and our management team sees him differently. I understand paying a premium for his 'leadership' but, to date, exactly where has he led us?

ESPN put up a graphic during the clippers summer league game showing they finished 43-38 with Kawhi missing 30 games and PG missing 26 games. And that was supposed to be mind blowing I guess.

The Pelicans were right there with Zion missing 53 games and Ingram 37 games. Over 1.5x the amount of games of Kawhi/PG. It's astonishing the pelicans didn't end up with a top 8 pick with key players missing so much time.

This has got to be the final season where this franchise puts up with that.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Here a question to ponder....

Is there currently another 10 year + veteran in the NBA besides CJ McCollum making $33MM+ per year who has never sniffed an all star game, much less earned a berth on any of the three All Pro Teams awarded annually?

To say we severely overpaid him with the three year $100MM contract is a grave understatement. Looks like the league (and writers) sees him one way and our management team sees him differently. I understand paying a premium for his 'leadership' but, to date, exactly where has he led us?

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I’m sure you’ll find excuses but some that come really close to your requirements are Gordon Hayward, MPJ, Tobias Harris. There’s more for sure but I don’t feel like digging for something this pointless.

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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBar

I’m sure you’ll find excuses but some that come really close to your requirements are Gordon Hayward, MPJ, Tobias Harris. There’s more for sure but I don’t feel like digging for something this pointless.

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I salute you on your efforts....

MPJ (a now 25 yo and a lottery pick) just won an NBA championship in his fifth year and his team has been to the playoffs in all five of his years (though he was injured in two of them)

Tobias Harris has been a consistent second cog on a team that has gone to five consecutive playoffs despite injuries and off the court drama (Simmons / Harden / Doc Rivers).

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Gordon Haywood's effect on his teams may parallel CJ the best. Charlotte was backed into a corner in much the same way as NOLA was and folded...giving him a contract worth 30MM per year. Now, nobody really wants him in an off-season trade. So, I will give you Haywood, though, at least, he made one all star game.

For what it's worth, I would put Jerami Grant is in the same over-paid category as CJ and Haywood.

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Bottom line for the Pelicans: Do you think that 33MM a year over the next three years could have been spent more prudently to improve this team?

The goal this season should be 100 percent to prioritize health. If we have to have a strict minute limit, rest a player for a back to back (Zion game 1 BI game 2, etc.), you do it. If Zion has to take a couple less drives and take a couple more jumpers, you do that. We have to see this team healthy going into the postseason. Best case scenario is the shooting improves so Zion and BI aren’t carrying the world on their shoulders anymore when they play. Even if we had the no. 1 seed, one of those guys suffer a big injury before the playoffs and we are out. Keep ‘em healthy.

One encouraging thing was right before the hamstring of death, Zion was starting to take those 7 - 9 ft middies. And looked good taking them.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I salute you on your efforts....

MPJ (a now 25 yo and a lottery pick) just won an NBA championship in his fifth year and his team has been to the playoffs in all five of his years (though he was injured in two of them)

Tobias Harris has been a consistent second cog on a team that has gone to five consecutive playoffs despite injuries and off the court drama (Simmons / Harden / Doc Rivers).

```

Gordon Haywood's effect on his teams may parallel CJ the best. Charlotte was backed into a corner in much the same way as NOLA was and folded...giving him a contract worth 30MM per year. Now, nobody really wants him in an off-season trade. So, I will give you Haywood, though, at least, he made one all star game.

For what it's worth, I would put Jerami Grant is in the same over-paid category as CJ and Haywood.

```

Bottom line for the Pelicans: Do you think that 33MM a year over the next three years could have been spent more prudently to improve this team?

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It?s funny how the goal post moves lol

First it was no individual accolades. Now it?s will this guy was the 5th or 6th option on a championship team (who cares)

Tobias Harris is at best the 4th option so huge LOL at calling him a second cog on a team who makes the playoffs lol. Prior to last year CJ made playoffs every year of his career sooooo ??? Lol kills your argument.

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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBar

It?s funny how the goal post moves lol

First it was no individual accolades. Now it?s will this guy was the 5th or 6th option on a championship team (who cares)

Tobias Harris is at best the 4th option so huge LOL at calling him a second cog on a team who makes the playoffs lol. Prior to last year CJ made playoffs every year of his career sooooo ??? Lol kills your argument.

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LOL. Who has been the second cog on the last five consecutive playoff teams for Philly? Embiid and Harris have been the primary constants on the last five Philly teams. If you don't see that. I can't help you. Take him away and it's Embiid and ????? Maybe Maxey the last year and a half...or was it Simmons, or was it Harden...two guys they have run, or, trying to run out of town. Josh Richardson? Matisse? Melton? Milton?

My argument is far from dead...but you can keep trying.

Again, I'll reluctantly give you the All Star Haywood. But, MPJ (not even in prime yet) and Harris? CJ wishes.

Honestly, CJ does your handle a grave disservice.

I don’t even understand your excuses. Tobias ain’t no second cog over Harden and Maxey. He’s 4th fiddle and fits your ask perfectly.

And that’s just 3 examples I came up with off the top of my head in 20 seconds. I’m sure there’s more. MPJ is 3rd fiddle at best possibly 4th and on a max deal even nuggets fans don’t think he deserves. A lot wanted him traded prior to the deadline. Him “winning a championship” think Jokic had something to do with that, means nothing to your original point of lack of individual accolades making tons of money not living up to said money. You acted like CJ was the only person in history that fit that description. And that’s just straight up wrong.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

LOL. Who has been the second cog on the last five consecutive playoff teams for Philly? Embiid and Harris have been the primary constants on the last five Philly teams. If you don't see that. I can't help you. Take him away and it's Embiid and ????? Maybe Maxey the last year and a half...or was it Simmons, or was it Harden...two guys they have run, or, trying to run out of town. Josh Richardson? Matisse? Melton? Milton?

My argument is far from dead...but you can keep trying.

Again, I'll reluctantly give you the All Star Haywood. But, MPJ (not even in prime yet) and Harris? CJ wishes.

Honestly, CJ does your handle a grave disservice.

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Come on, that huge stretch to call Harris the second cog. He is 3rd or 4th at best. You are discounting Butler, Simmons, Maxey, and Harden.

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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBar

I don’t even understand your excuses. Tobias ain’t no second cog over Harden and Maxey. He’s 4th fiddle and fits your ask perfectly.

And that’s just 3 examples I came up with off the top of my head in 20 seconds. I’m sure there’s more. MPJ is 3rd fiddle at best possibly 4th and on a max deal even nuggets fans don’t think he deserves. A lot wanted him traded prior to the deadline. Him “winning a championship” think Jokic had something to do with that, means nothing to your original point of lack of individual accolades making tons of money not living up to said money. You acted like CJ was the only person in history that fit that description. And that’s just straight up wrong.

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You want to see him as money well spent. I see CJ as a declining player with little or no market in the off season. We may get lucky, add an asset or two at the trade deadline and get rid of the cap-drain to a competing team (if we are floundering in 'play in territory' at the halfway mark). A 32 year old declining player who never has been a 'game changer' has no business making $33 MM per annum of the cap until he is 35 years old. You give that kind of money to game changers...not 30+ wannabe's who never were (as is historically documented).

While other teams in the West re-tooling their rosters through free agency this off-season, because of pitiful cap management, we are, out of necessity, 'LOWERING THE BAR'.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Come on, that huge stretch to call Harris the second cog. He is 3rd or 4th at best. You are discounting Butler, Simmons, Maxey, and Harden.

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Not over five years....none of them. The constants are Embiid and Harris.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Not over five years....none of them. The constants are Embiid and Harris.

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Constants and 2nd cog are not the same. He was always behind one of those guys in importance (or "cogs") to their success. Having said that, CJ is a bit overpaid. I think Griff jumped the gun in extending him, especially without knowing the consequences of the new CBA.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

One encouraging thing was right before the hamstring of death, Zion was starting to take those 7 - 9 ft middies. And looked good taking them.

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That is good. I love Z, love watching him, but like an NFL quarterback he has to protect his body. It’s not his fault the league lets players get away with murder on him, but it is what it is. He can make those jumpers. He just needs the confidence to take them. For his own sake really

A person who calls themselves a realist is a pessimist who refuses to admit the negativity.

Is it a guarantee that Trey is back to the bench this year? I really hope they consider Trey for CJ in the starting lineup.