Forgetting the feel good story of Linsanity, the fun it was watching this kid do his thing, Dolan's deep pockets, salary cap penalties and personal feelings aside I wanted to look at things from a pure basketball perspective.
Player A
12.9 PPG 6.4 AST 2.5 TO 1.3 STL
.410 FG%
.329 3PT%
Player B
13.2 PPG 5.4 AST 3.7 TO 1 STL
.428 FG%
.294 3PT%
The numbers are pretty close, there is a 4 year age difference but I have 2 options.
Option 1. I can sign a player for 3 years at $25.1 million who is due $14.8 million in the last year of a 3 year deal. He had a historic run and played great. He has potential but needs to work on his game. Also, there may be hard feelings in the locker room due to the large payout that is due. I'm a getting a player that is going to put up 16-8 a game with 8+ assists per game or a player who is going to get me 12-14 a game with 5-8 assists. Is he an all star in the making, a solid player or a player that is more suited to be a solid back up?
Option 2. I can sign a player for 4 years at $18 million who I know for a fact wants to play for me but is 4 years older. A player who performed for me in the past that was upset when I traded him a few years back. He's coming off of a subpar year but has held himself accountable for that. A player who has 7 years in the league who is going to play hard and I know will give me 12-14 and 5-8 a game who will be a good fit in the locker room. He's not an all star player but is a solid player and the price seems to be right.
Again, from a pure basketball perspective, when presented with the above numbers and options what decision do you make?