Life is too long? The white shooter who averages 7.2 points per game and is 29 years old, the team spent 38 million to renew his contract!

Recently, after the free market door opened, each team also began to sign a group. In addition to signing some favorite free agents, they also need to ensure their original team lineup as much as possible, especially the teams that achieved success last season. Only by retaining the core lineup can they ensure sufficient competitiveness, including the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not long ago, they came to Lonzo Ball from the Bulls trade, further strengthening the team's back line. Although Ball's attendance rate is not satisfactory, as long as he can play, he is one of the best point guards in the league. Moreover, the chips sent by the Cavaliers are not that important, so the Cavaliers' operations still satisfy the fans.

But what was unexpected was that just a short time later, they actually renewed the contract with Sam Merrill, and gave a long contract, with a contract lasting 4 years and a total value of US$38 million. Although in this era of soaring salary space, the average salary is close to $10 million, it seems to be acceptable. But the problem is that Merrill's upper limit is very limited. Although he has made a certain level of investment this season, overall, this signing still has no cost-effectiveness, and it is very likely that it will become an untreated negative asset in the future. Let's take a look at why the Cavaliers' operation of signing Merrill will be questioned so much!

1. Scoring methods are limited and are very susceptible to restrictions.

To be fair, Merrill has performed well with the Cavaliers this season, averaging 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage has reached 37.2%, making him a member of the team's shooting group. But the problem is that Merrill has no effect on the offensive end except for three-point shooting. His scoring methods are very limited. Occasionally, he will easily make mistakes once the opponent increases the defense intensity. Moreover, he has no passing vision and organizational ability, so his role in the offensive end is only to use the running position to open up space for the team as much as possible. Players with this type of attribute are not uncommon in the NBA. Although they can make some contributions during the regular season, as they enter the playoffs, they are easily targeted by their opponents. In this way, the team is likely to have an embarrassing situation of four-on-five offensive end. In addition, even if he can find opportunities in the playoffs, his overall efficiency will plummet. When he followed the Cavaliers to play in the playoffs this year, he averaged only 5.8 points per game, with only 37.5% of shooting and three-point shooting percentages respectively, which is enough to prove that his ability is extremely limited.

2. The loopholes on the defensive end have average overall efficiency.

In addition, the biggest problem for white shooters is that the team cannot be at ease on the defensive end. Don’t look at his defensive efficiency of 107.1 in the regular season, reaching 27th in the league, which is largely due to the team’s overall excellent defensive system. Although Merrill's enthusiasm is worthy of recognition from fans, no matter how active it is, it cannot make up for the problem on the defensive end. He has no explosive physical fitness and is slow to move. Merrill is like Joe Harris of the Nets in the past and Duncan Robinson of the Heat. He always becomes the player he focuses on when he attacks on the court.

And even worse, the team's two All-Star defenders, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, are both point guards with relatively small sizes. Mitchell can still use tonnage and confrontation to make up for the shortcomings of his figure, but Garland is completely unsatisfied. The playoffs have proved that it is difficult for him to give the team enough help in high-level events. Once these two men and Merrill appear together, the team's backcourt defense will be a disaster. The reason why the team introduced Ball was to strengthen the team's outside defense. Therefore, no matter how good the three-point ability is, Merrill will find it difficult to overcome the problem on the defensive end.

3. Being older is very likely to become a garbage contract.

Finally, let me talk about another very important topic, that is, Merrill is already 29 years old. Although the basic skills of white shooters are still relatively solid, after the age of 30, they have no physical advantage, and their decline speed is also extremely amazing. Although the current lineup of the Cavaliers is still reasonable, the team's salary space will be further compressed in the next few years. You should know that Merrill is already at the peak this season, but the average average is only 7.2 points. With the decline in physical fitness, his contribution will only become more and more limited. In addition, the defensive end always becomes a loophole, so he is very likely to gradually change the team's rotation lineup, and the transaction value will decline seriously by then, but the contract period is too long. If the team wants to send him away, he may have a draft pick. I am afraid other teams are not willing to take over. Therefore, this signing is likely to become a garbage contract in the future, which is also the issue that fans are most worried about.