Rob Pelinka Discussion: BBall Ops Pres + GM (AKA: Lucky Rob)

I'm not sure you could put Smart leaving on the front office. Maybe he just wanted to play for his former coach, near his hometown in Texas. You can't force players to stay.

I'd say the only player that genuinely wanted to remain a Laker was Rui. As for others, they fled like flies once the gate opened, so F them.

 

even that one is hard to parse, as his only chance at big money was here, which is a nice coincidence.

i'm not actually sure the list of teams said to be in on him at the end really were--at least not at the price he signed for. like, dallas's roster is full, and they probably don't have a use for his skillset, tbh. i think his agent just listed teams that had money and at some point said, "sure, let's stay in touch as things unfold."

 

My theory on the player options:

It's a way to make the player bet on himself. If he has a PO at year 3 or 4, his drive is to outplay that contract so that he can turn it down for a bigger pay.
If you have a team option, even if you play your butts off, the team is picking up that TO to save money.

It's the only thing I could think of that makes some sort of sense, albeit still being absurdly stupid to use it by default in so many contracts where the leverage should be in our side, notably Vando and Mamu contracts. Not so much on Kessler or Grimes who I think will outplay those contracts, or Smart/Ayton where we were paying a lower salary amount

 

i wonder if the recent trend of guys who are underperforming their contracts opting out and signing for more years at lower dollars also factors in.

 

While I don't care for the player options, I still don't think it's as big of a deal as others do. If Grimes simply gets his 3P% back to 38-39% - where it was the first 4 years of his career - his contract is at market value. If Mamu simply maintains his production = market value. Whether Sexton is viewed as an expiring or a 2 year contract, his $9M salary (1/2 his previous AAV) can be moved. It would have been great to have Mamu and Grimes on 3 year deals or have the 4th year as a TO, but I'm not getting worked up over it.

 

Did not know the bolded. Maybe home is where the heart is did factor in plus his old coach and maybe promise of a bigger role, or starting again?