Best realistic trades to get us in the first round?

[TurboTitan]

bulls dont seem too interested with their 19th pick since they have the 16th as well. dont think they would be interested in smith though

[Kilo]

I think best chance would be trading a future top 20 protected first rounder to Phoenix for #27. Protection would never weaken - simply next time we pick 20th or later the pick would go to PHX. I think the Suns might go for something like this since they don't need three firsts this season and could get a future first that would likely be in the early 20's as we wouldn't likely pick 27th the next time we pick in the 20's sorta deal.

But I don't know if 27th pick talent is all that different a tier from what we'll be picking from at #38 anyways. Might only be worth it to trade up if we could get into late teens, or early 20's.

[sfballa13]

Ahh....In that case:

#8/Derrick Williams/Jason Terry/Travis Outlaw for Josh Smith

#12/Jameer Nelson for Brandon Jennings/#38/Singler

#25/Lin for cap space


Summer of 2015 all we have committed is Drummond/Monroe/KCP/Mitchell with #8/#12/#25 from this draft and about $35 mil in cap room.

The sad thing is that could be where we stand (if not better with having Knight & Middleton as well) if Gores had just fired Dumars before last year and we just sold our cap space for future picks while tanking (or more accurately not caring about winning) last year.


Going down the rabbit hole, let's just say we did the GSW-Utah cap dump trade instead of Smith and didn't do the Jennings deal. Lets say filled with lame duck salary and Cheeks awful coaching we are slightly worse than this past year (2 games puts us at pick 7). Draft Smart at #7 and Adrian Payne at GSW's pick. We could be:

Drummond
Monroe/Payne
Singler/Middleton/Mitchell
KCP
Smart/Knight/Siva

With ~$30 + million of cap room this summer

Yes, an even better fantasy No Jennings or Smith, a better pick, more cap flexibility. What's not to like? Yes, DUmars should have been gone instead of giving him one more chance. He seriously blew it last year, and we're still paying for it.

We have been paying for Dumars mistakes since they year after we won the title in 2004 when he couldnt find us any solid players to go with our nucleus. He signed one dud after another and had a chance to trade Darko after our first championship for Al Harrington or another productive player that would have been the difference in 2005 vs the Spurs.

Then we are forced to suffer for the past 6 years watching our team and franchise being dissed and laughed at around the league, one terrible coach after another with Rip and Tay literally fighting and moaning and whining in the media and Dumars unable to trade them or unwilling.

Then he goes out and trades our first round pick to overpay Smith and Jennings and we are paying for it.

That's why when I call Joe Dumars a scumbag it is not a JOKE it is the truth. I dont owe Dumars anything especially not my respect. Not after making me and other diehard Pistons fan suffer thru one garbage season after another.

[ImHeisenberg]

That's why when I call Joe Dumars a scumbag it is not a JOKE it is the truth. I dont owe Dumars anything especially not my respect. Not after making me and other diehard Pistons fan suffer thru one garbage season after another.

Dumars will stand as a shining example as to why you don't hastily hand the keys of a franchise over to a former player. He was stuck in his era, got some incredibly lucky breaks and never evolved past who he was in 2004.

I hope SVG runs the show until the day he retires from basketball- hopefully with a championship or two.

[Entourage27]

I've been proposing this deal for a while now but Smith and Mitchell for Lin, Jones and #25 is the perfect trade for both teams. I am a big Terrence Jones fan because I think he can play a 6th man Taj Gibson role for our team. His style of play can fit perfectly whether he is in the lineup at PF next to Drummond or Monroe at the C spot. Lin would be an expiring and only counts for 8.5 mill against the cap and we get a 1st rounder. This deal couldn't be any more beneficial for our team.

Would HOU consider that? Jones was pretty awesome for them last year and even if he's not a perfect fit, he's probably a better fit than Smith. The Rockets are all about spacing and movement and efficiency, and Smith is all about inefficient ball-stopping. Jones has a decent midrange game and is a very good finisher going to the cup, not to mention he's a good rebounder and team defender. He's also signed for $4m for the next two years. Why let a guy like that go if you're already giving us the less crippling of the bad contracts (Lin instead of Smith)?

I'd be happy to be wrong but I'm not sure Smith has that kind of value now. Maybe if he plays well for the first 5-6 weeks of the season but the whole league saw what we saw this year, and it wasn't pretty.

Terrence Jones is a lesser version of Josh Smith. Their games are very similar as Josh can do all the things you said Terrence can do but all at a higher lever. You probably forgot but his last season in Atlanta it was known that he was the biggest snub on the All Star team that season. He helped led that team tonthe playoffs and was playing at the PF spot. Houston would be dumb to not trade a role player for a guy when playing PF was regaurded as a border line all star that can be the number 3 option on your team to help you contend even more. Smith fits perfectly in their system and can step in with no high expectations and just dominate. I don't see Terrence Jones and the number 25 stopping them from making that deal, especially getting rid of Jeremy Lins contract

[dan2314]

smith and singler for #6,#7 or #8. Could see any one of those three teams doing that if they can get rid of a bad contract at the same time. no way i trade for a pick any lower than that. and this is only if smart is still there. none of the other players after the top 3/4 would make any sense. maybe you can get something around 10-14 and get someone like stauskas, lavine, hood, young, but other than that no thanks.

[HotelVitale]

I'd be happy to be wrong but I'm not sure Smith has that kind of value now. Maybe if he plays well for the first 5-6 weeks of the season but the whole league saw what we saw this year, and it wasn't pretty.

Terrence Jones is a lesser version of Josh Smith. Their games are very similar as Josh can do all the things you said Terrence can do but all at a higher lever. You probably forgot but his last season in Atlanta it was known that he was the biggest snub on the All Star team that season. He helped led that team tonthe playoffs and was playing at the PF spot. Houston would be dumb to not trade a role player for a guy when playing PF was regaurded as a border line all star that can be the number 3 option on your team to help you contend even more. Smith fits perfectly in their system and can step in with no high expectations and just dominate.

The thing is, there's really nothing to suggest this is true other than Pistons' fans' wishful thinking. Jones played a whole lot better than Smith last year; he was on a completely different level as an offensive player last year--Jones being in the 'very good' level and Smith being in the 'utter trash' level--and all of his advanced stats were much much better. He also blocked more shots and rebounded way more per minute than Smith, turned the ball over less than half as often, shot a lot better from 3 and from the line (and much much better from the field of course). (Smith also fits poorly with the Rockets, who play a spread-and-attack offense--Smith is the worst volume shooter of the decade who likes to control the ball.)

Looked at from the outside Smith was a mediocre player the year before last, and he was a really bad one last year. And he makes $13.5m each year for the next three years, while Jones makes $2m for each year over the next two. You don't have to convince me that trading Smith for Jones and Lin and a first would be a good idea, but I'm doubting that a strong objective case could be made for that right now. Like I said, I'd love to be wrong.

[MotownMadness]

Yeah no chance Houston would give up Jones for Smith.