Apples and oranges.

1) If we get back an outdated SG making nearly 30 a year for AD, we’re all going to be pissed off. Toronto knew they were taking a huge risk and paid the price of a team taking a huge risk. I would take Tatum/Brown/ or #3 over DeRozan at 30 per. Hypothetically, any team that traded for AD thinks it is going to keep him, as that team will likely being the one offering the best package based on its confidence.

2) Toronto is trying to convince Kawhi from a FRESH perspective. This is important. This wasn’t San Antonio trying to get Kawhi to stay after Manu/Pop/Parker took thinly veiled pot shots at him in the media. San Antonio convincing Kawhi is a much more similar scenario to NOLA than Toronto is. No matter how much Griffin tells AD that it’s different and a new direction/perspective, AD still has the previous 7 years of experience to tell him otherwise.

3) Siakam/Zion had/have an entirely different set of expectations on them. Siakam had the benefit of being able to develop organically without being pushed too fast or too hard under pressure. They were a 60ish win team with him playing 20 minutes a game in his second year. All eyes will be on Zion the second he steps onto the court, likely literally when the schedule comes out. I’d be very surprised if NOLA’s first game isn’t nationally televised.

ETA: are you just playing devil’s advocate or do you truly think this keeping AD into the regular season without securing an extra year at minimum is a good idea? If it’s the latter, I don’t see how you can have that opinion without admitting the MASSIVE risk associated with it.

- AD’s value pre-2019 free agency and AD’s value at the trade deadline will be different by themselves.
- AD doesn’t even have to suffer a catastrophic injury for him to be near worthless at the deadline.

This post was edited on 5/19/19 at 10:02 am