Bottom line, if Randle bets on himself, we have to wait to see the results.

I respectfully disagree. I would make it very clear to Randle that if he bets on himself, he will have to prove it on another team. There’s no reason we should be left holding the bag if he regresses. Portland is the perfect trading partner. I’m confident Randle can get us the Jrue Holliday package and then some from them.

If we wait til the season starts, Portland will have likely blown their ammo by then, and no other team is as desperate as them.

As rough as his start was, Obi did show something later in the season and his defense was not atrocious at all. He’s still got potential to be good. Maybe not as good as Randle but maybe that means we can divert our money elsewhere down the road or Randle on an extension could be traded for something valuable.

1. If Randle plays at the same level as last year’s regular season, he is worth more than the $26M that he could get in an extension this summer. Second team All-NBA is worth the 30% Max he could get next summer.

2. If Randle regresses to 2019-20 levels, he would not be a viable trade asset.

3. If he is an All-Star (but not All-NBA), his market value will be above his current $21M but below the 30% Max.

Bottom line, if Randle bets on himself, we have to wait to see the results.

There’s also no question that his poor playoff performance is a factor, that certainly didn’t help his perceived value around the league. I don’t think teams will be lining up to max him, especially in a sign-and-trade, based on this season. Next season is pretty much a clean slate.

RE: Randle…I don’t know. Its assumed he will reject the extension but are we really sure about that?

It’s a guaranteed 100 million dollar 4 year contract. In a league where ACL tears happen all the time, is Randle going to reject the guaranteed money in the hopes that he can replicate this past season and stay healthy? I mean, he could play just as well as he did this last year and tear his ACL in the playoffs and then he’d be out all of that money. I know oftentimes these athletes have such supreme confidence in themselves that they bet on themselves but it blows up in their faces just as often as it works out in their favor. Considering how long its taken Randle to get to this level in his career and the work he’s had to put in to get to this level, I don’t know if he’d turn away 100 million dollars this off season. I get that he’s possibly leaving even more money on the table but its still 100 million dollars! This is life changing money and with a 4 year contract, he’d be up for one last huge contract at age 30 if he’s still at this level.

I just don’t know. I mean maybe these athletes in this situation are thinking well, I have made tens of millions already so its not like I’ll be broke if this doesn’t work out, but if it was me I don’t know if I’d make that gamble because one injury and now he’s making $10 million a year again.

In short, at this time, the question of whether we should max him is not a question for Rose & co. or for KB bloggers right now. Let’s see how he plays for the first half of the season.