James Edwards III Offseason Trade Idea

[NYPiston]

I could have put this in one of the other threads but didn't want to get it lost because I think it could generate some interesting discussion in a dull period.

JEIII posted this trade proposal in an article so I'd be interested to see what you guys think...

He trades the 2024 #1 pick, Ivey, and Duren to Brooklyn for Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, and the first round pick Phoenix owes Brooklyn (Top 14 protected).

In free agency he would sign Nic Claxton, Delon Wright, and Thomas Bryant. So this would be the roster next year:

Quote
2024-25 roster

Guards: Cade Cunningham, Marcus Sasser, Quentin Grimes, Delon Wright

Wings: Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Simone Fontecchio, Ausar Thompson

Bigs: Isaiah Stewart, Nic Claxton, Thomas Bryant

Essentially, it would be...

Cade
Grimes
Bridges
Thompson
Claxton

Wright
Sasser
Finney-Smith
Fontecchio
Stewart

There's no doubt that Bridges is a good fit alongside Cade and Claxton a better fit than Duren because he defends the paint well but I guess my issue with this roster is that the ultimate ceiling of this team seems fairly limited. Could be a playoff team in a few years dependent heavily on Ausar's progress but, offensively, it seems to lack punch outside of Cade and Bridges. Great defensive potential though but you need to score in this league and I don't see enough of it here. I suppose you could switch Fontecchio and Ausar but I want Ausar starting.

[JNewton]

Honestly I'm not sure Brookyln doesn't laugh at that offer, which is kinda sad as it's not that great of a return for a top 5 draft choice, a recent top 5 pick, and another recent draft pick. The Pistons are down bad.

[Canadafan]

If only we could deal Ivey and our lotto pick for Bridges. Would be nice to also get Finney-Smith. Id even throw in our future 2029 protected too.
I believe Duren can become a much better player overall than Claxton. Just gotta give him time.
Then to replace Ivey we have the space to get Monk at SG or Tyus at PG. Or whoever else is leftover. KCP/Hield whoever.

[buzzkilloton]

My only concern with this deal is that Bridges only has two more years under contract. If he had 3 even its a huge difference.

I have no problems giving up Ivey and Duren. I like Duren better then Ivey but hes still a paint bound 5 that hasnt displayed good defense. This is a really bad draft class so a top 5 isnt worth as much as it would be other years.

Bridges would be a great fit next to Cade, His contract is very cheap so we could get another impact player as well. We could potentially be a surprise team next year if we played the offseason that way. Our teams long term ceiling still would come from Cade+Ausar but the idea is get good players around them to maximize potential and development.

[Snakebites]

Unpopular take: I’d 100 percent do that trade without hesitation and I doubt the Nets would.

Bridges is a good shooter and point of attack defender who fits perfectly with Cade. DFS is a swing defender with a shot and that’s always going to be valuable.

We collectively need to stop being prideful about the assets of our 14 win team. We have questions about Ivey and Duren, both as players and as fits. Do you think other teams don’t share those? I get the attachment and the fear of missing out, but this team needs to pick a direction.

The young piece we have that really matters is Cade. Commit to building around him even if it’s at the expense of other youth.

[Drwho17]

Mikal Bridges stock has plummeted, he would have recouped quite a bit more last offseason after his hot finish after the trade. Last season however he regressed, he's a good player, but not going to move into a top 10-20 player in the league at this point and he's older than you might think.

[Invictus88]

This deal only reasonably doesn't screw us if we are able to land Claxton which isn't guaranteed. I would think we'd want him regardless so you make that signing first before thinking of pulling the trigger on this one.

As for the resulting lineup:
Grimes hasn't fully proven that he deserves a starting 2 role. Maybe you slide Bridges in at the 2 in that case.
It's still a huge risk as you have both Claxton and Ausar as potential non-shooters in your starting 5.

You really have to believe if you make this trade that Bridges will revert back to the efficiency he showed while being in Phoenix (and being fed from CP3). Yes, he has scored more points as the 'main guy' but he's become more of a chucker as well.

I still want to believe that Duren's ceiling is way, way higher than Claxton's and that he would thrive under the right coaching / atmosphere. Hopefully we see that change happen in the coming weeks / offseason.

P.S. I will freely admit at this point that I am biased against JEIII. I think he is slightly better than an outright Pistons shill at this point. Given that it definitely does alter my initial outlook on anything attached to his name.

[Snakebites]

Mikal Bridges stock has plummeted, he would have recouped quite a bit more last offseason after his hot finish after the trade. Last season however he regressed, he's a good player, but not going to move into a top 10-20 player in the league at this point and he's older than you might think.

This season proved he’s not a number one option. The idea is that Cade grows into that and Bridges would be a complement.

People expecting a top 20 player (plus other stuff) for the package mentioned here are frankly overrating our assets.

[Kilo]

I'd want to tweak it to keep Duren and include Stew. They can keep the FRP they'd be sending back in this deal.

[Cowology]

Unpopular take: I’d 100 percent do that trade without hesitation and I doubt the Nets would.

Bridges is a good shooter and point of attack defender who fits perfectly with Cade. DFS is a swing defender with a shot and that’s always going to be valuable.

We collectively need to stop being prideful about the assets of our 14 win team. We have questions about Ivey and Duren, both as players and as fits. Do you think other teams don’t share those? I get the attachment and the fear of missing out, but this team needs to pick a direction.

The young piece we have that really matters is Cade. Commit to building around him even if it’s at the expense of other youth.

Yeah, this is about where I'm at with it. There are at least 2 problems here;

It seems like the expected value (or asking price) for Bridges is something like 4x 1st rounders and a high value prospect. No idea how realistic that is, but people be asking for some crazy stuff the past few years. How do you evaluate those future firsts vs. the expected value of a guaranteed top pick in a weak draft?

Brooklyn is in an incredibly odd position. They can't tank because they traded away the majority of their future picks in the Harden deal. They have some future draft capital coming from Phx, who is similarly incentivized to win-now, so it'll be some time before those later picks (potentially) start conveying real value. For now they have a roster full of solid players but no franchise player. Eventually Simmons comes off the books and the Nets could try and free up enough salary to chase another marquee FA to be the tent-pole. Or they could obviously try and cobble together some type of trade.

Regardless, I don't think trading away their best player for less proven players is ideal for them. They would have to be *very* certain on the #1 pick and the direction they want to go as a franchise. This feels a lot more risky, and slower, than grabbing a more established star player.

*Maybe* we help facilitate a trade that brings a star to BKN, but IF Bridges is part of that deal then the expected return for BKN is going to be a franchise player. Either you consolidate updwards, or you keep Bridges as your #2. In that instance BKN is sending additional pieces and we're shipping pick & assets to the 3rd team, who is presumably blowing it the **** up and parting with an All-NBA caliber talent. We're essentially turning Bridges into more desirable re-building assets for team C.

[Spider156]

This deal only reasonably doesn't screw us if we are able to land Claxton which isn't guaranteed. I would think we'd want him regardless so you make that signing first before thinking of pulling the trigger on this one.

As for the resulting lineup:
Grimes hasn't fully proven that he deserves a starting 2 role. Maybe you slide Bridges in at the 2 in that case.
It's still a huge risk as you have both Claxton and Ausar as potential non-shooters in your starting 5.

You really have to believe if you make this trade that Bridges will revert back to the efficiency he showed while being in Phoenix (and being fed from CP3). Yes, he has scored more points as the 'main guy' but he's become more of a chucker as well.

I still want to believe that Duren's ceiling is way, way higher than Claxton's and that he would thrive under the right coaching / atmosphere. Hopefully we see that change happen in the coming weeks / offseason.

P.S. I will freely admit at this point that I am biased against JEIII. I think he is slightly better than an outright Pistons shill at this point. Given that it definitely does alter my initial outlook on anything attached to his name.

He’s good at hyping up the offseason with ideas but never realizes Weaver is not cut out to do anything ballsy like this trade. It will require a new president and a front office cleanup to make this trade happen. Best positive thing I can predict for us is the reason we don’t have a new president yet is because Weaver has the drafting process down and most likely they will not involve the new president with the draft process given that they likely and will trade the pick. Maybe a first pick will entice a new president to come in and make these changes. That’s the best positive prediction I can make for the organization. I highly doubt any of this happens because of our pitiful owner.

[Cowology]

How do Bridges & Trae stack up in terms of value?? Roughly equal? Trae is the better #1 and Bridges the better #2 but who has more trade value? Seems like both teams improve if you swap them. BKN gets a #1 option to pair with all their utility guys and ATL gets a more attractive Murray/Bridges pairing.

[bstein14]

Big reason why the Nets don't do that trade is because they still owe picks to Houston for James Harden. They don't want to give out top 5 picks to Houston they want to keep winning enough to stay away from making that trade look even more brutal.

As much as I'd like Bridges, he also isn't in a great spot for us because he has just two cheap years left but then can bolt and go anywhere and I don't think we've got a team capable of winning a playoff series the next two years even with him. It's a massive risk for us to give up all that for a guy about to want a 5 year $300 million max deal to stay with us or he likely bolts to a better situation.

[Snakebites]

Unpopular take: I’d 100 percent do that trade without hesitation and I doubt the Nets would.

Bridges is a good shooter and point of attack defender who fits perfectly with Cade. DFS is a swing defender with a shot and that’s always going to be valuable.

We collectively need to stop being prideful about the assets of our 14 win team. We have questions about Ivey and Duren, both as players and as fits. Do you think other teams don’t share those? I get the attachment and the fear of missing out, but this team needs to pick a direction.

The young piece we have that really matters is Cade. Commit to building around him even if it’s at the expense of other youth.

Yeah, this is about where I'm at with it. There are at least 2 problems here;

It seems like the expected value (or asking price) for Bridges is something like 4x 1st rounders and a high value prospect. No idea how realistic that is, but people be asking for some crazy stuff the past few years. How do you evaluate those future firsts vs. the expected value of a guaranteed top pick in a weak draft?

Brooklyn is in an incredibly odd position. They can't tank because they traded away the majority of their future picks in the Harden deal. They have some future draft capital coming from Phx, who is similarly incentivized to win-now, so it'll be some time before those later picks (potentially) start conveying real value. For now they have a roster full of solid players but no franchise player. Eventually Simmons comes off the books and the Nets could try and free up enough salary to chase another marquee FA to be the tent-pole. Or they could obviously try and cobble together some type of trade.

Regardless, I don't think trading away their best player for less proven players is ideal for them. They would have to be *very* certain on the #1 pick and the direction they want to go as a franchise. This feels a lot more risky, and slower, than grabbing a more established star player.

*Maybe* we help facilitate a trade that brings a star to BKN, but IF Bridges is part of that deal then the expected return for BKN is going to be a franchise player. Either you consolidate updwards, or you keep Bridges as your #2. In that instance BKN is sending additional pieces and we're shipping pick & assets to the 3rd team, who is presumably blowing it the **** up and parting with an All-NBA caliber talent. We're essentially turning Bridges into more desirable re-building assets for team C.

The Nets do appear to have an unrealistic asking price for Bridges, which makes me think the actual plan is to wait for a star to ask out. They’re hoping to keep Bridges and pair him with a star.

Probably greedy, but you can afford to be greedy when you’re in New York. No player asking out will have Detroit on their list.

[theBigLip]

A trade like the OP would be great but not sure if the Nets play along. Agree w earlier comment that Bridges value isn’t as high as the start of the season.

One thing that’s hard to do is figure out what is really available. JEIII should be closer to sources and know better, but I haven’t seen it.

All that being said, I think the trades that we post on this board should be also tossed out on the Trade board. I’ve seen some offseason plans (myself included) but what can we get with our 2024 FRP? What is Duren and Ivey worth? Are there really any top 20 players available? Fans from other teams can at least give us their slightly biased opinions. I guess we find out in a couple of months what is real.

One thing I know for sure is I hope we don’t do a Lavine or Trae trade, even if we don’t have to give up anything. Spreading our cap space to 3-4 good players on good contracts makes a lot more sense.

[JennetteMcCurdy]

I can’t see the Nets wanting to do this at all. Why get rid of your best player and another starter for two starters on a 14 win team? Are they tanking for some inexplicable reason? And they can’t get next year’s Piston pick because of the Stewart trade.

[Cowology]

A trade like the OP would be great but not sure if the Nets play along. Agree w earlier comment that Bridges value isn’t as high as the start of the season.

One thing that’s hard to do is figure out what is really available. JEIII should be closer to sources and know better, but I haven’t seen it.

All that being said, I think the trades that we post on this board should be also tossed out on the Trade board. I’ve seen some offseason plans (myself included) but what can we get with our 2024 FRP? What is Duren and Ivey worth? Are there really any top 20 players available? Fans from other teams can at least give us their slightly biased opinions. I guess we find out in a couple of months what is real.

One thing I know for sure is I hope we don’t do a Lavine or Trae trade, even if we don’t have to give up anything. Spreading our cap space to 3-4 good players on good contracts makes a lot more sense.

The draft lottery is another significant moment. Big difference between #1 and #5 in terms of value and impact. And are we more or less likely to trade the pick if it's top 2??

[theBigLip]

A trade like the OP would be great but not sure if the Nets play along. Agree w earlier comment that Bridges value isn’t as high as the start of the season.

One thing that’s hard to do is figure out what is really available. JEIII should be closer to sources and know better, but I haven’t seen it.

All that being said, I think the trades that we post on this board should be also tossed out on the Trade board. I’ve seen some offseason plans (myself included) but what can we get with our 2024 FRP? What is Duren and Ivey worth? Are there really any top 20 players available? Fans from other teams can at least give us their slightly biased opinions. I guess we find out in a couple of months what is real.

One thing I know for sure is I hope we don’t do a Lavine or Trae trade, even if we don’t have to give up anything. Spreading our cap space to 3-4 good players on good contracts makes a lot more sense.

The draft lottery is another significant moment. Big difference between #1 and #5 in terms of value and impact. And are we more or less likely to trade the pick if it's top 2??

I know we already have one of the youngest rosters in the league and an increasingly impatient fan base, but hitting on a draft pick is gold. I’d like us to get Risacher if possible.

Of course, the other question is, if we have a top 2 pick, what can we get for it?

[Invictus88]

A trade like the OP would be great but not sure if the Nets play along. Agree w earlier comment that Bridges value isn’t as high as the start of the season.

One thing that’s hard to do is figure out what is really available. JEIII should be closer to sources and know better, but I haven’t seen it.

All that being said, I think the trades that we post on this board should be also tossed out on the Trade board. I’ve seen some offseason plans (myself included) but what can we get with our 2024 FRP? What is Duren and Ivey worth? Are there really any top 20 players available? Fans from other teams can at least give us their slightly biased opinions. I guess we find out in a couple of months what is real.

One thing I know for sure is I hope we don’t do a Lavine or Trae trade, even if we don’t have to give up anything. Spreading our cap space to 3-4 good players on good contracts makes a lot more sense.

The draft lottery is another significant moment. Big difference between #1 and #5 in terms of value and impact. And are we more or less likely to trade the pick if it's top 2??

I know we already have one of the youngest rosters in the league and an increasingly impatient fan base, but hitting on a draft pick is gold. I’d like us to get Risacher if possible.

Of course, the other question is, if we have a top 2 pick, what can we get for it?

Being labeled as impatient implies a lack of patience.

This team has been terrible for a decade an a half. The current rebuild is 3 years old. We are a 14-68 team. We see younger teams (Orlando and OKC) that we had hoped to shortly follow already making the playoffs. We aren't in the same galaxy as either of them.

What is an acceptable amount of time to be waiting without seeing any progress whatsoever towards winning basketball games? I'm not even talking playoffs here.

Is it the 3 years we've already waited? Is it five? Ten? I would claim that the Detroit fan base has by and large been very patient and that management has squandered it. And now it has run out.

This type of commentary is the exact problem I have with JEIII. An outright refusal to call a spade a spade when it comes time to admitting that there are real problems here. Because until folks who matter actually acknowledge that there's no way of making real progress towards solutions.

[Crymson]

We collectively need to stop being prideful about the assets of our 14 win team.

I understand that I'm changing the subject a bit here, but this roster could easily have doubled that win total had it a competent coach instead of being subject to the most outrageously destructive head coaching the NBA has seen in a long while.

I'm not saying that the roster wasn't plagued by holes or inadequate to the task of making a push for the play-in tournament -- it was both of those things -- but Monty took that poor roster and sabotaged it to depths literally never before seen in NBA history. 

My point is that while the roster has problems, it's not on its own merits the utter disaster it's being named. It needs to improve significantly in one way or another in order to do anything meaningful, yes. But it's not the trainwreck this season made it appear. Its dumbfounding catastrophe of a head coach saw to that.