I've never doubted Ben's talent, personally. I got to a point late last season when I started to feel like he wasn't ever going to put it together mentally, but the talent to be at least a steady starting SG who can pour in shots from all over the floor when he gets hot has always been there. This puts us in an awkward position because we already have 4 years and a high lotto pick invested in Ben but we also have Malachi and Bogdan coming in on cheaper deals. Looking at how much a player like Allan Crabbe signed for last summer (4yrs/$75 million) it seems likely that the price tag to bring Ben back as a Restricted Free Agent is going to be big enough to cause all of us to break out in a sweat if we match. The alternative is losing another lottery pick for nothing right when he may be starting to get it and start the cycle all over again with another unproven youngster instead. But then I don't want to pay him $18 million a year either. Not an easy decision.
I'm inclined to keep him if he's being productive and hope his overall resume so far keeps his price tag reasonable. We're always going to need players who can knock down shots, especially with Cousins playing a point Center role now, and Ben's issue offensively has always been consistency not ability -- his monthly shooting splits have been crazy hot and cold for the past 3 years. As much as I like Temple (and I know I'm going to get flack for this) I think the smarter move may be to trade Temple at the deadline for cap space and a future pick, trade Koufos for the same and clear 16 million off the cap for this summer. Neither player is essential to our playoff chances this season anyway and I feel like both would have a lot of value for contending teams with holes in their lineups. This is a complete reversal of the way I felt just a month ago (Keep Cousins, Temple, Casspi and the rookies -- trade everyone else) but circumstances have changed somewhat. I don't know what's going to happen with Rudy this summer, but I figure between Ben, Malachi, and Bogdan we've got the outline of a decent wing rotation just lacking one elite starter and we'll need a truckload of cap space if we're hoping to bring in a starting PG or SF in free agency at the current rates.