Tremendous Upside
Well-Known Member
The first-year salary in a veteran extension can be worth up to 120% of the salary in the final year of the player’s previous contract. Annual raises are limited to 8% of the first-year extension salary.
So the most we could offer Clarkson right now is:
3-year 55.9M
17,112,000
18,480,960
19,959,437
or
4-year 77.5M
17,112,000
18,480,960
19,959,437
21,556,192
He probably could get more in free agency after the year he’s having.
What kind of a year IS he having? And don't give me the counting stats.
Collin Sexton had zero takers before his injury when the Cavs quietly shopped him, and he's a lot younger and a lot more athletic. The problem was that he was known around the league as an undersized me-first scorer who played terrible defense, and nobody was willing to give him the top dog role he was used to in Cleveland (or the money that comes with it). Teams also didn't believe he'd adapt to playing off the bench long term, particularly on a lower salary.
Some of these factors also apply to Clarkson this season. JC's gaudy stats are a direct result of playing a **** ton of minutes (by far a career high), an offense where he's been allowed to freelance as a starter, and having one of the most efficient players in the league as a high-scoring teammate. No team will pay him to try to replicate what he's doing now, not when he's on the wrong side of 30 and can't guard anyone anymore.
If Clarkson takes the free agency route, he'll be shocked at the low offers he'll receive. Nobody's looking to pay an aging scorer who doesn't defend. Danny Ainge knows this, he's not fooled by the counting stats. DA won't bid against himself.
Of course, as they say... it only takes one idiot. We've seen some terrible multiyear deals where an older guy playing a hyper athletic position has fallen off a cliff after a couple of years and become an albatross contract. Who knows.
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