For this to make a lick of sense, I have to think that Buffalo and Skinner's camp consider his 63 point plateau as a sign of potential lost more than his ceiling. Whether they're right or not... we'll see.
But I haven't thought of any Skinner season as 'his ceiling' quite yet, and last year looked to be more of a return to form than anything else. 2010-11 was a great rookie year, and last year we saw him get opportunities that seemed to be limited for him in Carolina. In a way, both times he's started a new campaign it's started with 63 points.
His time in Carolina was... weird. I don't know what it was that led him to be losing opportunities and ultimately trickle down the lineup - but in Buffalo we saw that he really could be the player people hoped he'd be in Carolina.
But is he a leader? Does his 200' game warrant a big contract? Do they think he's an 80ish pt player? All that can make sense to me is that they think of him as the $9M player that this contract deserves - and they've made an 8-year full NMC bet on him earning it.
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