Jaden McDaniels
Albatross risk — −$28.7M on $107M still owed
Jaden McDaniels projects to 5.7 marginal wins — $20.1M of on-court value — against an apron-adjusted true cost of $48.8M.
Albatross risk — −$28.7M on $107M still owed
The verdict swings from −$41.1M (bear) to −$15.2M (bull) — too assumption-sensitive to move on; let another season of data settle the call.
For $24.4M this season (4 yr, $107M total), you are buying 5.7 marginal wins of EPM production — $20.1M of value at $3.5M/win. Against an apron-adjusted true cost of $48.8M, that nets −$28.7M of surplus, 152nd of 178 tracked contracts — it grades as an albatross.
If wins price up toward $4.2M/win and the apron tax eases, production value climbs to $27.5M and surplus swings to −$15.2M — an overpay in the optimistic case.
If a marginal win is worth less and the apron bites harder, true cost rises to $54.9M and surplus falls to −$41.1M — an albatross in the pessimistic case; the verdict flips across the band.
Caution — the verdict flips somewhere across bear/base/bull assumptions. This call is assumption-sensitive, not settled.
This call changes under bear assumptions: Jaden McDaniels grades Albatross risk in the bear case but Paying a premiumin the bull case — treat the verdict above as a live read of today’s sliders, not a settled fact.
The market's own numbers: a win costs what the middle of the league pays for it.
Every apron dollar is real money — the tax ledger, not the highlight reel, decides who wins the summer.
Banners hang forever. A marginal win today is worth almost any tomorrow, and the tax is the cost of doing business.
Wins you buy before you're ready are the most expensive wins in basketball — flexibility is the only asset that never ages.
The tenth man is closer to the star than the star's agent admits — pay for scarcity you can prove, not reputation.
1 of 5 desks disagree with the verdict above — that disagreement is the story.
Take the question to the docket →Similar money band ($24.0M vs $24.4M) and impact (1.5 vs 1.5); his deal grades albatross risk at −$15.9M.
Similar money band ($24.0M vs $24.4M) and impact (1.5 vs 1.5); his deal grades paying a premium at −$3.9M.
Similar money band ($24.7M vs $24.4M) and impact (1.6 vs 1.5); his deal grades paying a premium at −$4.0M.
How the model gets there.
The audit trail behind every figure in the memo above — six steps from raw on-court impact to the final surplus verdict, using the same sliders. Drag any assumption and the memo above updates with it.
AASV = wins × $/win − cap hit × apron multiplier. Set the knobs to your own front-office judgment — every number on this page updates live.
League estimated net rating (per 100 poss. vs. an average player), cached from stats.nba.com (seed snapshot).
Est. Impact = 1.5 · 2025-26 · 74 games · 2,400 minutes
Impact is credited above replacement level (-2.0), scaled by the possessions he actually played (minutes × 2.08/min), then converted at 30.5 net points per win.
(1.5 − (-2.0)) × 5,000 poss ÷ 100 = 175 net pts
175 ÷ 30.5 = 5.7 wins
Wins are priced at your $/win setting ($3.5M per win).
5.7 wins × $3.5M = $20.1M
MIN is a second apron team, so every Jaden McDaniels dollar is charged at 2.00× — your setting for what that tier’s tax and roster restrictions really cost. Contract: 4 yrs · $107M remaining.
$24.4M cap hit × 2.00 = $48.8M
$20.1M − $48.8M = −$28.7M
Jaden McDaniels costs more than he produces under these assumptions — the contract eats value.
First season on file — the trend view, and its tie-in to aging risk, unlocks once another season lands.