It feels like they didn't really make any mistakes, but also didn't really make any crazy moves/changes, but I also don't think there was anything big out there to do
this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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Yeah, I think all the moves were expected and solid. I know some people have said letting Hayes walk is a big mistake. He’s got a high upside, but it just didn’t seem to be coming together for him in New Orleans.
Jax could have been special, but continued to work on the wrong things during the off-season. Never learned how to do the basic things a C needs to be able to do. And now he's going to be learning from AD? The king of "I'm not a 5 I'm a 4". I don't think it'll pan out for Jax in LA either.
- letting Jaxson walk
Best move of the off-season. Should have been in the CJ trade instead of NAW
- waiving G.T.
Inevitable outcome to his contract if we weren't going to trade him. Interested to see if we bring him back on a minimum (much more palatable than $5.3m).
- extending Herb
Real best move of the off-season. Way to save money in the long run and secure a great player on a super friendly contract. And, if we want to (I hope we don't) it's a very tradable salary.
- signing E.J. Liddell
Excited for him. Hopefully he can help Larry get some rest this season and they both stay healthy.
- signing Cody Zeller
Nice 3rd C. Can give you minutes here and there.
- drafting Jordan Hawkins
Big fan of his game on this team, excited to see if he can get on the floor with how strict Willie has been with rookies in the past.
The only thing I'm thinking about going into the season is being over the luxury tax threshold and how we are going to fix that. JV is clearly not in the mold of center that Willie would like to start on this team. At this point I feel like they are going to roll the dice and wait a while to see if they want to trade JV for an upgrade or to dodge the tax.
I think I agree with all of these takes. I doubt the Pels will bring G.T. back as a player, though. He’s said he thinks he has some ball left in him and maybe he can find a team that would offer him a couple minutes in the rotation per game? I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that either, so I guess there’s a chance he and the Pels agree to a vet minimum deal, but if they want to try to get under the cap, paying $2.8 million for a guy who never sees the floor seems hard to justify.
It'll be interesting to see how they handle it. From what I remember from various writers about the Pels, GT was more interested in working in the FO than coaching. But I think he still adds value through the contributions he makes from the bench in talking to these young guys. Apparently Jose talks to GT a lot during games. And since minimum contracts don't count against the cap (or count less or something I can't really remember) I'm fine with that contract.