Enzo The Baker said:
Guitarsoup said:
BTW, tomorrow is the deadline for the team option on Julian. If we are going to have him opt out and get the extension, it's happening in the next 24 hours.
Only thing I have heard is Julian's camp wants 4y60M, which I think is too high.
My guess is the Spurs tell him 4/45-50 front loaded or play out the year and test free agency.
I'm more than okay with the 4y/60 for Julian. I get that he was exposed defensively in the finals but he had some really good stints of it before he had to guard Brunson. I also don't think his shooting percentage fully reflects his impact. Teams are legitimately scared of him which really opens things up for this team. He's a good rebounder and he has played 82 games for two straight years. That can't be overlooked. And he already has chemistry with our group and is a proven locker room guy. Not only that Keldon is coming off the books this year. His days with the spurs are numbered, at least on the type of contract he has now.
But the big problem is is that Julian is not elite at anything. Players that get paid the big bucks are elite at something. Julian is above average as a wing defender, but can be hunted. He's above average as a rebounder, but can get pushed off. He's above average as as shooter, but he isn't elite and he can't shoot off movement. Julian can't attack closeouts.
Realistically, if he is playing his actual position, he should be a backup 3. If you look back at all the teams that won a title, he wouldn't have been a starter on any of them for the last decade or more.
He should be the ~7th best player on a championship team, and that isn't worth 15M/year. We have to be judicious in these and also read the market. I don't think anyone is giving Julian the full MLE. But we will have more data on that next week when free agency opens.
I do think there is value to his fit as a person and teammate. There is definite chemistry there. I don't want to lose him. But we shouldn't overpay him either. I think it is real hard for players to get big contracts when they aren't elite at anything. I like Julian more than Rui because Julian adds more to the team overall, but Rui is an elite shooter and likely gets paid more.
I think we also have to look at moves like if Julian is worth 15 and Keldon is worth 7-8 on his next deal, would PJ Washington at 21M AAV be more valuable to the team than Julian+Keldon at 23?
