The interesting question for the Pels will be if Ball is offered “moderate” bucks, not big bucks. Would you rather have three years of a still young Ball for 15-20 mil, or three years of a 35 year old Kyle Lowry for closer to 30 mil (since the Pels likely would have to overpay to get him to go to a non-ready made contender)? The rumor mill seems to be pointing towards the latter, but I’m not so sure that’s how I’d go, and that’s coming from someone who loves how Lowry plays. In the modern NBA I think anytime you can secure young talent for non-max money you have to do it. With their new cap space, what if the Pels can get Ball and make a run at someone like Duncan Robinson? I’d take the two of those guys for the price of one Kyle Lowry, especially as a core you can sell Zion on being around for years to come.
It’ll be very interesting to see how this develops… could be one of the first major dominoes to fall in the off season.