Philly Front Office

The Collective Bargaining Agreement in the NBA allows for maximum contracts to players between 25% and 35% of the salary cap depending on meeting certain criteria. While giving out at least one of these contracts is expected, teams start getting themselves in cap trouble when they extend a second max contract. Because these deals are so hard to trade, your team better be damn sure that a 2nd max contract is saved for someone who deserves it. I’m not talking just stats, I mean a guy who compliments your first star, your Batman, in a way that allows you to possibly win a title. You need to have a good Robin. Let’s rank the max contract Robins.

NOTE: Darius Garland with the Clippers and Scottie Barnes with the Raptors are not on this list because no one has any idea what is going to happen with Kawhi Leonard.

18. Zach LaVine – Sacramento Kings

• Batman: Domantas Sabonis
• Reasoning: Just the worst max tandem in the league. Neither plays any defense, both are regularly hurt, and there just isn’t enough talent for either to be considered a max player. On the bright side for everyone involved, there is almost no way LaVine finishes the year in Sacramento.

17. Franz Wagner (or Desmond Bane) – Orlando Magic

• Batman: Paolo Banchero
• Reasoning: Everyone in Orlando seems miscast and overpaid. Wagner is good and I understand why the Magic paid him, but he seems much more like a Tobias Harris type than a solid 2nd option. I don’t mean that as an insult and Tobias has been severely overpaid in his career, but someone who is good at a lot of things, great at nothing, and not an All-Star level player. Neither can be a second-best option.

16. Jimmy Butler – Golden State Warriors

• Batman: Stephen Curry
• Reasoning: It could have been interesting, but a torn ACL at 36 years old with a $57m contract is a killer. He may come back by the end of the season but until we see him moving around, he is just an expiring contract. That’s still better than some of these guys though.

15. De’Aaron Fox – San Antonio Spurs

• Batman: Victor Wembanyama
• Reasoning: On paper, Fox looked like a great running mate for Wemby, a point guard who could run the offense and hit big shots. Then the Finals happened and Fox was damn near unplayable. His max extension kicks in this season and looks like the only blemish on otherwise elite team building. With Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle on the team, Fox looks superfluous and like a waste of a max contract. He probably shouldn’t be so low on the list, but considering he shouldn’t be starting on his own team, where else could he be?

14. Paul George – Boston Celtics

• Batman: Jayson Tatum
• Reasoning: No, Paul George is not the second best player on the Celtics. He is paid more than everyone else though. George is still a high functioning player, but he is more a place holder for the theoretical true Celtics Robin that isn’t there yet. George has two years of max salary that could be traded for someone else who more accurately fits the bill. Of course, if he isn’t, then this trade was a massive fumble.

13. Jalen Duren – Detroit Pistons

• Batman: Cade Cunningham
• Reasoning: Since he has not signed an extension yet, this is fudging things but Duran is the reason I wrote this. At 22 years old, one playoffs shouldn’t define you, but Duran was so bad that the Pistons CANNOT give him max money to be Cunningham’s running mate for the next 5 years. Their ceiling would max out at the second round and they would have no chance to win a title. As a regular season player, he provides a good counter to Cade but that playoffs…YIKES!

12. Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets

• Batman: Nikola Jokic
• Reasoning: Murray has one of the worst contracts in the NBA not because he’s bad, but his lack of defense weighs down Denver. Jokic is enough offense in himself to make anyone a Jamal Murray for half the price. He brings no real special added value to the Nuggets while hamstringing them to a level that cannot compete with OKC or San Antonio going forward.

11. Alperen Sengun – Houston Rockets

• Batman: Kevin Durant
• Reasoning: Is he the Robin here? Is Durant? Are either really the #1 considering Durant will be 38 before the season starts and Sengun is the supposed offensive focal point who was forced down a notch? He’s essentially Jokic light, but Jokic light is only about 50% of what a team really needs in its second-best player.

10. LaMelo Ball – Minnesota Timberwolves

• Batman: Anthony Edwards
• Reasoning: I personally feel that LaMelo Ball is an idiot who does not help a team either on defense or offense despite his counting stats. In an attempt to put that aside, in theory, not being the biggest talent on his own team could help him out of his tendency to make terrible decisions. If he can do that and become more of the hockey style passer his brother was AND hit open 3s courtesy of Ant, then he could be a reliable Robin. He also needs to play more than the 54% of team games he’s played over the last 4 seasons.

9. Jaren Jackson Jr. – Utah Jazz

• Batman: Lauri Markkanen
• Reasoning: The only reason JJJ is the Robin here is because Markkanen has been in Utah longer and we haven’t seen them play together. He is an ideal 2nd banana though in that his defense is elite and he is a willing shooter with a lifetime .351 3 point percentage and very much a positive from the charity stripe.

8. Anthony Davis – Washington Wizards

• Batman: Trae Young
• Reasoning: 6 years ago, Davis was the best Robin in the NBA behind LeBron James with the Lakers. Before his injuries were excusable because he dominated when he was on the floor but now he is just going through the motions. Davis is a poor shooter whose calling card defense has slipped.

7. Austin Reaves – LA Lakers

• Batman: Luka Doncic
• Reasoning: Reaves would be a fine Robin with almost anyone, assuming of course that he didn’t play the exact position as that teammate. The Lakers apparently saw the Portland Trailblazers play basketball for 10 years with C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard and thought their lack of playoff success was desirable. This isn’t exactly the same, but it’s a lot closer to them than it is the successful pairing of Tatum and Brown in Boston. The Lakers are going to have to trade Reaves for someone who fits better at some point. How about Bam with the Heat?

6. Bam Adebayo – Miami Heat

• Batman: Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Reasoning: Bam’s fit with Giannis seems about as good as Reaves with Luka. On one hand, the teammates in Miami are going to be a combined menace in passing lanes. On the other, how exactly are they going to compliment each other on the offensive end since neither can shoot? Add in that neither are on ball defenders and a lot of help is going to be needed to round out this roster.

5. Evan Mobley – Cleveland Cavaliers

• Batman: Donovan Mitchell
• Reasoning: In terms of complimenting your offensive minded Batman, you’d have a hard time doing better than a regular DPOY candidate. The problem is that there is just so little offensive game to take any scoring pressure from Mitchell. That’s why the Cavs traded for James Harden who comes with a whole different batch of flaws.

4. Pascal Siakam – Indiana Pacers

• Batman: Tyrese Haliburton
• Reasoning: Siakam ranks more highly on this list than you’d think because of how well he fits in with what the Pacers do and Tyrese Haliburton specifically. It’s because he can do anything they need in a secondary capacity on offense and is a stout defender on the other end that Indiana can play the frenetic pace that they do.

3. Tyrese Maxey (or Jaylen Brown) – Sixers

• Batman: Joel Embiid
• Reasoning: The Sixers have a very strange dynamic so let’s go with what we know. Ideally, Embiid is in charge and Maxey is his assistant. Why that analogy, because he can do all of the things Joel can’t. He can shoot, he can handle the ball, play off ball, and make big shots. The one thing Maxey can’t fix is that he is not a bully on defense (and never will be). He has improved and can be a pest, but he is not a stopper and will still get picked on in the playoffs.

2. Chet Holmgren (or Jalen Williams) – OKC Thunder

• Batman: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Reasoning: Considering SGA is a do everything offensive force, having Chet play all the defense while hitting 3s and being a reliable free throw shooter is ideal. The biggest concern for the Thunder though is that there’s a bully on the block and he’s going to keep picking on Chet. There’s no shame in getting outplayed by Wemby, but Chet needs to find a way to still affect playoff games against the Spurs going forward.

1. Karl-Anthony Towns – New York Knicks

• Batman: Jalen Brunson
• Reasoning: KAT isn’t the greatest defender, but he’s good enough especially when he can shoot the way he does with Jalen Brunson getting to literally any spot on the floor he wants. The Knicks are an ideal construction right now with Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby doing all of the dirty work for their two stars. Those three help the other two focus on doing everything they do best. KAT wouldn’t be nearly as effective in any other situation.

I can’t believe that when I came down to it, the answer was Karl-Anthony Towns. It makes more sense if you think of him as being a #1 option for most of his career then found his best self when he took a back seat. I thought it would be Chet, but with our last memory of him being single digit shot attempts in 6 out of 7 games against the Spurs, that’s just not acceptable. As for Maxey, he had a case too, but your second option can’t be targeted in the playoffs and he can’t escape that. Jaylen Brown though might be a completely different story. We’ll see.

Photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images

Contracts: Spotrac.com