If you don't care about the cost, just look at PER and minutes. I can guarantee you that GP and the Maloofs are looking at all three.
This stat accurately reflects the fact that rookie contracts are dirt cheap, regardless of what the rookie gives to the franchise. But Kevin's PER is higher than anyone else's on the team, and his minutes are within 1 minute per game of the #1 slot. Those things combine to make him a tremendous steal at $1M a year.
Sure, he won't be when his rookie contract is up, but if you don't get everything you can out of rookie contracts, you're... Isiah Thomas (OK, not even Isiah, he has David Lee). Look at any team that is improving while maintaining a moderate payroll budget. You'll find one or more really good players on rookie contracts. The Suns have Diaw and Barbosa, Utah has Williams. Even big-budget Dallas has Josh Howard for the same pay as we give Hart. Who trades away good rookies? Atlanta.
I'm not intending to personally champion the position that he must never be traded, I'm just pointing out that management is not going to let him go any time soon. We may talk about such things -- would I trade KT and KMart for Lebron and Varejao? Of course! But it's just not done, those trades almost never happen in the real world. And if someone wants another argument in favor of getting guys through the draft, there it is. They're a bargain.
This stat accurately reflects the fact that rookie contracts are dirt cheap, regardless of what the rookie gives to the franchise. But Kevin's PER is higher than anyone else's on the team, and his minutes are within 1 minute per game of the #1 slot. Those things combine to make him a tremendous steal at $1M a year.
Sure, he won't be when his rookie contract is up, but if you don't get everything you can out of rookie contracts, you're... Isiah Thomas (OK, not even Isiah, he has David Lee). Look at any team that is improving while maintaining a moderate payroll budget. You'll find one or more really good players on rookie contracts. The Suns have Diaw and Barbosa, Utah has Williams. Even big-budget Dallas has Josh Howard for the same pay as we give Hart. Who trades away good rookies? Atlanta.
I'm not intending to personally champion the position that he must never be traded, I'm just pointing out that management is not going to let him go any time soon. We may talk about such things -- would I trade KT and KMart for Lebron and Varejao? Of course! But it's just not done, those trades almost never happen in the real world. And if someone wants another argument in favor of getting guys through the draft, there it is. They're a bargain.
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