Quote:I think it's better to pay him now. It's either a little now or a lot later. I'd rather extend him now at a discount than wait and have the cap continue to rise (along with FA contracts).

 

The thing is, in my thinking the contract is going to be nearly the same whether he gets it now or at the end of next season.  Do you honestly think that he would sign a "cheap" contract right now?  By "cheap" I mean a "team friendly" deal that won't break the bank?  He's going to want his worth and rightly so, but what value would you place on him as a player right now?  You have him under contract for another year that is "cheap" in terms of his worth.  At or near the end of the season, see how he pans out and what the worth is and sign him to an appropriate contract... even if it ends up being for a bit more money.  If it's too much, then he has the worth of draft picks in a trade deal.

 

The bottom line is, you can't "jump the gun" and start signing players to big deals immediately.  They need to earn it.

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