I think I did it guys!

[Notanoob]

I think that I found a realistic way for us to get out of this hell and build a balanced team without gutting it our losing any young players.

First, a four way trade.

Detroit out: Josh Smith
Detroit in: Dudley, Ilyasova, Green

Sacramento out: Thompson, Williams, Outlaw
Sacramento in: Josh Smith

Sacramento is the one team that really makes the sense for Josh Smith out of any team in the NBA. By some vodoo, the most notorious chucker Rudy Gay has been playing more efficiently than ever in his career. I don't know how, but if he can be reformed, so perhaps can Smith. Even if he doesn't stop shooting jumpers for good, he will hardly have the same opportunity to shoot that he has here. Cuz, Gay, and Thomas will be taking shots away from him, and he will shoot fewer 3's when playing PF. However, on the other end of the court, he provides defense, something sorely needed in Sacramento, and will still be able to stuff the stat-sheet with boards, blocks, steals and assists. This deal turns two backup PFs into a starting caliber one and provides some measure of immediate salary relief so that they have more room to sign Thomas.

LAC out: Jared Dudley, Willie Green
LAC in: Jason Thompson

The Clippers dump a pair of unneeded wings for a solid backup PF/C who they've been searching for all season. Pretty much all of their backup bigs are going to be free agents anyways, so this move provides them great depth where they need it.

Bucks out: Ersan Ilyasova
Bucks in: Derrick Williams, Travis Outlaw

Ersan is a long term contract who the Bucks don't need. They swap him out for expiring contracts.

Now, if some party feels like they need more, we could send our 2nd round pick to someone, or move Jerebko to Milwaukee and take on Terry. Sacramento gets more room, someone gets a second, Bucks get a decent PF to pretend they're going for a playoff berth.

Now, we've moved our big albatross in Smith. We then decline Chauncey's team option, and renounce our hold on free agents Charlie V and Stuckey. Assuming the cap increases to $62,100,000, we would then have $22,323,635 in cap space.

We can spend a good amount of that cap space on other free agents, so long as we get it done before we give Monroe his money. He'll probably get a max offer from somewhere, so we'll have to be quick negotiators if we want to take advantage of Monroe's Bird Rights and go over the cap. I'd like to sign Kyle Lowry since he provides great PG defense and better spacing than Jennings. I don't think that Lance is an option because I suspect we'd have to wildly overpay him to get him to leave Larry Bird, and we should be developing KCP anyways. No point in splurging on Deng or Ariza if we've already got Dudley. He is an inferior player to those two, but he's on a reasonable deal. It should be fine to split the SF minutes between him and Singler.

If we get Lowry the next thing we should do is move Jennings. Bynum is already a serviceable backup PG, and he's getting a quarter of what Jennnings is getting. Plus he'd probably be a pain. The Knicks are the only team desperate enough to take Jennings, as he would be an upgrade over Felton, but I don't know if the Knicks are dumb enough to pair Jennings with Smith. Thus, to move Jennings I suggest that we swap him for JR Smith and Shumpert. We trade one knucklehead for another, but Smith is getting $3million less a year, and Shump is a very good wing defender who could really cause trouble paired with KCP IMO. We could always dump JR using the stretch provision.

Then the only thing left to do is hit the draft. I won't assume that we keep our pick. Let's jump straight to the second round. The guy who I like the most is shooting 60% from the field, grabbing 6.4 boards and blocking 1.3 shots in a major conference. You're looking at that statline and thinking PF or C, but this is a point guard. That's right, a guard who's shooting about as well as Drummond is from the field! An absolute freak! This kid is Delon Wright, a PG from Utah. He's incredibly efficient, one of the smartest shot-takers around. Steals are the best stat to correlate with NBA success, as they indicate BBIQ and/or athleticism, and he's averaging 2.5 per game. He's scoring those point on a high volume of shots, and averaging 5.3 assist to 2.8 TOs. He's an awful 3 point shooter (really ugly looking shooter too), but he's solid from the stripe, so there's hope for his shooting. Outside of his awful shot, his flaws are age (21), and carrying the scoring load for his team rather than being a distributor, but that sort of comes with carrying a garbage team. He shows good vision and should be able to run the point at the next level. He's tall at 6'5" and has a great wingspan, fantastic IQ, excellent athleticism...this guy has all of the tools to be an elite player and is projected as a low 2nd round pick. We could very easily get him!

Our final lineup?
Lowry/Wight/Bynum/Siva
KCP/Shump/Smith/Green
Dudley/Singler
Monroe/Ilyasova/Jerebko/Mitchell
Drumond/Jorts

If we can't rake if a free agent before Monroe, then fine we keep Jennings. We might lose our 2nd rounder next season and Mitchell, and Monroe might not develop. But even in this worse case scenario? We can trade Monroe for whatever and move Ilyasova into the starting lineup. He's a solid rebounder and shooter who can start.

Add a solid coach and that's a playoff team in the East, no problem. It's prettier basketball too, with smarter players and better spacing, not to mention better defense.

I think this could actually happen.

[imagump1313]

i stopped reading at Josh Smith out: because it's not gonna happen......

[Notanoob]

You shold have kept reading. I offered solid reasoning as to why the Kings would take Smith, and some Kings fans have said that they'd take this deal.

[Clarity]

i stopped reading at Josh Smith out: because it's not gonna happen......

Unfortunately..

No one wanted him last Summer when he could still play some defense, imagine what they think of him now.. At 54 mill.

Were likely stuck.

[Snakebites]

We were dumb enough to give him a massive 4 year contract.

The other 29 teams are just grateful they aren't in the pickle we're in, now.

We aren't going to get anyone else to sign up for it.

[Joe Berry]

The Kings took on Gay, his massive salary and his questionable reputation. I have seen way worse Smith trades, Smith to Sacto makes some sense, good try.

[imagump1313]

You shold have kept reading. I offered solid reasoning as to why the Kings would take Smith, and some Kings fans have said that they'd take this deal.

Because some King's fans might have said yes does not mean its going to happen. That contract is a killer and no franchise is going to take it on unless they are stupid. If someone was able to trade him I would immediately vote them executive of the year and the person who traded for him should be fired on the spot.
Its not about liking or not liking Smith, it's the contract that makes him un-tradable.
You have some decent ideas in the rest of your post (i did go back and read it) but the part about Smith just isn't going to happen.

[jaredtyshaf]

It only takes one team to be interested in Smith to make a trade. If we truly want to unload him we can make it happen.

[Notanoob]

You shold have kept reading. I offered solid reasoning as to why the Kings would take Smith, and some Kings fans have said that they'd take this deal.

Because some King's fans might have said yes does not mean its going to happen. That contract is a killer and no franchise is going to take it on unless they are stupid. If someone was able to trade him I would immediately vote them executive of the year and the person who traded for him should be fired on the spot.
Its not about liking or not liking Smith, it's the contract that makes him un-tradable.
You have some decent ideas in the rest of your post (i did go back and read it) but the part about Smith just isn't going to happen.

Alright. I will say this. I've done my research, asking around, and the only franchise that seems at all interested in taking Smith is the Kings, at least based on their fans.

Celtics don't want him because their best prospects are all power forwards and they need a good shooter to complement Rondo.

Rockets don't want him because they need the cap space for signing Parsons long term and hopefully adding another star to form a big 3. And Jones has been perfectly adequate at PF for them now.

Knicks don't want to add any long term salary so that they can do a total rebuild around Carmelo in two years (although Dolan is an idiot, so we can't put much past the Knicks).

Pretty much the only team interested in what he brings is the Kings. And this is a solid deal for them. They move garbage and get a starting caliber 4, and free up some extra money to resign Isaiah Thomas, which is important to them. Theoretically, if McLemore gets his stuff together over the summer, they've locked up all of their starting 5 and can start thinking about having a good team.

Also, don't forget that report around the trade deadline. The way the tweet was phrased seemed to indicate to me that we were getting offers for Smith, but they were only expirings. So there is some interest. This deal fits perfectly.

[imagump1313]

It only takes one team to be interested in Smith to make a trade. If we truly want to unload him we can make it happen.

Exactly.... There are zero teams interested in that contract. If I had a pocket full of dog crap I would probably really want to give it to someone also, that doesn't mean anyone would want it.

Think CV and Ben Gordon. We've been trying to unload CV for years and we got raped in the Gordon deal just to get rid of him.

[jaredtyshaf]

It only takes one team to be interested in Smith to make a trade. If we truly want to unload him we can make it happen.

Exactly.... There are zero teams interested in that contract. If I had a pocket full of dog crap I would probably really want to give it to someone also, that doesn't mean anyone would want it.

Think CV and Ben Gordon. We've been trying to unload CV for years and we got raped in the Gordon deal just to get rid of him.

Except that Smith is far better overall player than either of them. Smith has played at very high levels during his career, at both ends of the court. I still feel like if Smih went to the right situation he could be an All-Star level player. There are always chances to trade that caliber of player, although we may need to just dump his contract.

[BadMofoPimp]

I bet Kings would trade Gay for Smith.

[Notanoob]

I bet Kings would trade Gay for Smith.

Kings fans want to keep Gay. He's playing well for them. Shooting nearly 50% from the field now.

[imagump1313]

It only takes one team to be interested in Smith to make a trade. If we truly want to unload him we can make it happen.

Exactly.... There are zero teams interested in that contract. If I had a pocket full of dog crap I would probably really want to give it to someone also, that doesn't mean anyone would want it.

Think CV and Ben Gordon. We've been trying to unload CV for years and we got raped in the Gordon deal just to get rid of him.

Except that Smith is far better overall player than either of them. Smith has played at very high levels during his career, at both ends of the court. I still feel like if Smih went to the right situation he could be an All-Star level player. There are always chances to trade that caliber of player, although we may need to just dump his contract.

I know what you're saying but you're missing my point. It's not about Smith at all, its about his contract. We are not the first team in the NBA to have players with some talent that can't possibly be moved because of their contract. The Knicks would take a ham sandwich for Stoudamire but they haven't been able to move him for years.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks Smith could be salvaged if he had some decent coaching. I bet there are a few teams that could use/want him, but the fact of the matter is those GM's wouldn't be being financially responsible to themselves by taking on that contract. The big deal in today's NBA is flexibility. You give up a bunch of it to take on Smith's contract. No one is going to do it unless they rape us in the process.

[Notanoob]

I know what you're saying but you're missing my point. It's not about Smith at all, its about his contract. We are not the first team in the NBA to have players with some talent that can't possibly be moved because of their contract. The Knicks would take a ham sandwich for Stoudamire but they haven't been able to move him for years.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks Smith could be salvaged if he had some decent coaching. I bet there are a few teams that could use/want him, but the fact of the matter is those GM's wouldn't be being financially responsible to themselves by taking on that contract. The big deal in today's NBA is flexibility. You give up a bunch of it to take on Smith's contract. No one is going to do it unless they rape us in the process.

But your comparison fails because none of those guys could play. Stat was clearly done, BG was a cancer and was playing awfully, CV was coming off the bench. They're awful players on bad contracts. Smith is a decent player overall.

I'd also say that flexibility is overrated right now. Everyone is clearing the decks, so if everyone has cap space, the value of that space goes down, and only a few teams will bring in coveted free agents. The rest will be left overpaying for mediocre talent. Plus, the cap is going to start increasing much faster. The value of NBA teams is skyrocketting as is their revenue from TV deals. They're going to be drowning in cap space soon. We've got over $22 million in cap space going into this offseason, and what's that doing for us?

[ChipButty]

I do think Sacramento is an option, but Sacramento could cut us out of your deal and take Ilyasova instead of Smith.

I also doubt Sacramento wants to pay Landry/Smith a combined $20M/year at PF. Any deal for Smith involving Sacramento, probably requires we take Landry, Outlaw and a third team take Thompson. I think this is more realistic. Unfortunately it sucks talent wise.

Pistons Out: Smith
Pistons In: Landry, Dudley, Outlaw, Green

Kings In: Smith
Kings Out: Thompson,Outlaw, Landry

Clips: Out: Dudley, Green
Clips In: Thompson

[Notanoob]

The thing is, they need defense. They play awful defense.

And while they do have too many power forwards, they did sign Landry when they already had Thompson and Acy, and have added Evans and Williams in addition to that. Overpaying a poor PF rotation doesn't seem to be a problem (they're making a combined $19 million as it stands), so dropping $11 million in backups for $13.5 in a starter seems okay to me. Since they just signed Landry to be their backup PF long term, I suspect that they'd be fine with keeping him. If they want to send anyone else out, it's probably Jason Terry's expiring so that they'll have more immediate cap room.

[ImHeisenberg]

We were dumb enough to give him a massive 4 year contract.

The other 29 teams are just grateful they aren't in the pickle we're in, now.

We aren't going to get anyone else to sign up for it.

Outside of the Nets, I don't think any other team in the league has as bad of a salary management as this team. Sure, other teams are over their cap and won't have space for quite some time, but those teams wisely invested in players who help them win games, opposed to what we're getting with our highest paid players.