Simmons: The Worst Contracts in the NBA

[stooley]

Masai's made a couple of good moves in Toronto, but he'll be judged on his ability to build a title contender by 2017-18.

Baby steps.

its all about the long term baby.

[magoon]

And had Denver of re-upped Iggy for the money he got in G.S. where would Denver be now? Have you watched them play recently? They are going nowhere.

That's mostly because Masai had a clear plan with respect to Denver which was interrupted when he left halfway through it to come here.

The first step was acquiring a tier-2 star like Iggy. The second step was going extremely deep on starter-level talent because Masai is all about asset accumulation. The third step would have been "trade away three or four talented guys to get a star player" - someone like Kevin Love - because then you have Iggy, Love/your other star, Ty Lawson and still have a bunch of talented players backing them up, and that's a smart plan for a mid-market basketball team.

If Masai hadn't left Denver in 2014? Denver probably re-signs Iggy; at least makes a bid in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes (they could have sign-and-traded pretty effectively for him with LA); kicks the tires on Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap or Andrei Kirilenko; looks for that big trade to get someone like Love. And suddenly Denver is a juggernaut.

Instead, what happened is: Denver lost its GM and fired its Coach of the Year-winning coach; Iggy saw disaster waiting to happen and left; Denver then stupidly traded Kosta Koufos, overpaid JJ Hickson and Nate Robinson, and hired a new coach who promptly alienated Andre Miller and demonstrated that he didn't know how to use Kenneth Faried properly.

[TSF]

That's mostly because Masai had a clear plan with respect to Denver which was interrupted when he left halfway through it to come here.

The first step was acquiring a tier-2 star like Iggy. The second step was going extremely deep on starter-level talent because Masai is all about asset accumulation. The third step would have been "trade away three or four talented guys to get a star player" - someone like Kevin Love - because then you have Iggy, Love/your other star, Ty Lawson and still have a bunch of talented players backing them up, and that's a smart plan for a mid-market basketball team.

If Masai hadn't left Denver in 2014? Denver probably re-signs Iggy; at least makes a bid in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes (they could have sign-and-traded pretty effectively for him with LA); kicks the tires on Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap or Andrei Kirilenko; looks for that big trade to get someone like Love. And suddenly Denver is a juggernaut.

Instead, what happened is: Denver lost its GM and fired its Coach of the Year-winning coach; Iggy saw disaster waiting to happen and left; Denver then stupidly traded Kosta Koufos, overpaid JJ Hickson and Nate Robinson, and hired a new coach who promptly alienated Andre Miller and demonstrated that he didn't know how to use Kenneth Faried properly.

Agreed. Iggy+Lawson is a good start. Something like Chandler+McGee+Faried+2014 first rounder is awfully appealing. Or even flipping McGee and a first for Greg Monroe and use him at C. Lawson-Iggy-Gallinari-Faried-Monroe is dangerous. Plenty of options available in denver if they'd kept everyone around.

Also, This is how you use Kenneth Faried properly: