Magic famously waited outside LeBron’s house to offer him the max deal at midnight. Legends and stories abound of deals happening within the first seconds of free agency. This off-season my midnight move would be to offer Derrick Rose the full MLE for 2 years with a PO. Basically the same deal we offered Trezz. I think this makes sense because you pair LeBron with a scoring playmaker who understands what it is to carry a team. We saw that Rose has plenty left in the tank during the playoffs where he just needed the rest of the team to step up and they failed to do so.
What would your midnight move be?
I like Rose as well. I would also be ready to call on Batum with the mini mid level if Rose turned us down.
More like a Midnight Blunder since offering anybody the full MLE will automatically hardcap the team. Most you can offer is the taxpayer MLE of $5.9M. Not enough to get Rose.
Might as well go for Westbrook if you’re going to get a point guard who doesn’t shoot the three. At least then you’re not hardcapped and can go all in on filling out the roster and buying a championship.
That’s right, I forget the FMLE triggers the hard cap, as well.