Transaction Discussion Part 4 (Trades, Free-Agency, News, Rumors & Ideas)

NYG · Post #321 » by **NYG** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 5:06 am

What is the Clippers biggest need?

esqtvd · Post #322 » by **esqtvd** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 9:59 am

NYG wrote:What is the Clippers biggest need?

health

ejftw · Post #323 » by **ejftw** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 7:05 pm

esqtvd wrote:
NYG wrote:What is the Clippers biggest need?

health

Specifically a pair of knees for Kawhi

donemilio21 · Post #324 » by **donemilio21** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 6:00 pm

Zubac can be traded starting today.

Zubac + Covington for Vucevic could work well both for us and for Bulls.

esqtvd · Post #325 » by **esqtvd** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 11:05 pm

donemilio21 wrote:Zubac can be traded starting today.

Zubac + Covington for Vucevic could work well both for us and for Bulls.

Not bad. Bulls might bite--Vucevic is 32 and expiring; Zu is only 26 in March and has a very team-friendly 2 1/2 years to run @ $11M per.

But I don't think they'd want RoCo, although frankly they could probably get a good return from a contender for DeRozan, so Covington could be a stopgap as part of a larger fire sale.

Does this help the Clippers? Vucevic is the far superior offensive force--he even shoots the 3!--but not on the defensive end. OTOH, he can give you 30+ mpg whereas that big a workload seems too heavy for Zubac. And 30+ mpg would solve our backup center problem. He gave the Bulls 36.2 mpg in the playoffs last year.

For both teams--all teams--it's a bit early for both the buyers and the sellers. The Clippers have to see if PG and Kawhi are going to make it to the playoffs and through the playoffs before they trade for more 30+ year old veterans. For the Bulls, DeRozan and Vucevic might fetch a prettier penny than Zu and RoCo closer to the trade deadline. If I'm doing a rebuild, I want draft picks, not marginal starters.

ejftw · Post #326 » by **ejftw** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:28 am

How's Vuc when it comes to setting screens? Zu is pretty damn good in that aspect and Vuc sucked at SC, and haven't paid much attention since that decade ago.

Also, another thing I'd be weary on is if Vuc would throw a fit if benched for Mann or Nico

Scoundreldays · Post #327 » by **Scoundreldays** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 7:19 am

If only life was like 2k. Bucks gave me Jrue Holiday and George Hill for John Wall and Morris plus a 2nd round pick. Defense is so much better.

esqtvd · Post #328 » by **esqtvd** » Fri Jan 6, 2023 9:22 pm

Kemba's 32. Our lucky number!!

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/269915/Kemba-Walker-Waived-By-Mavericks

ejftw · Post #329 » by **ejftw** » Mon Jan 9, 2023 7:26 pm

If Ballmer really gave Frank a black check:

Wall + Preston (or SRP) for Monte Morris
TPE for Plumlee

Gets us a competent backup five, though, isn't in the mold of a modern five, Plumlee has been doing well lately and is also a relatively high character guy.

Morris provides a true floor general at the point spot, one of the best ast:to ratios throughout his career, if I'm not mistaken.

nickhx2 · Post #330 » by **nickhx2** » Mon Jan 9, 2023 10:07 pm

would love monte morris and every time we go against him i'm like "we need that guy"

esqtvd · Post #331 » by **esqtvd** » Mon Jan 9, 2023 11:00 pm

lol

Player B: Marcus Morris [2023]
Player A: Carmelo Anthony [2022]

Read on Twitter

madmaxmedia · Post #332 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:28 pm

esqtvd wrote:Kemba's 32. Our lucky number!!

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/269915/Kemba-Walker-Waived-By-Mavericks

Or our unlucky one! :lol:

Actually, right now lucky or not it seems to be our favorite number...

madmaxmedia · Post #333 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:31 pm

What about Mo Bamba? I don't actually care if a center shoots 3's as they normally shouldn't be hanging out so far outside the paint. Defensive versatility is far more important IMO, how far outside the paint can a guy credibly defend?

I guess Orlando fans feel like he is inconsistent with effort. But I've read he's available and if the price was low enough...

madmaxmedia · Post #334 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:34 pm

esqtvd wrote:
NYG wrote:What is the Clippers biggest need?

health

wco81 · Post #335 » by **wco81** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:09 pm

What happened to all the depth.

So a number of players can't get consistent minutes?

Have to convince Ballmer to possibly take on more salary.

Yeah I don't know if Bamba is in their long term plans. Maybe not Issacs either. They're going to get another high pick so there may be players to poach there.

nickhx2 · Post #336 » by **nickhx2** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:16 pm

wco81 wrote:What happened to all the depth.

So a number of players can't get consistent minutes?

Have to convince Ballmer to possibly take on more salary.

Yeah I don't know if Bamba is in their long term plans. Maybe not Issacs either. They're going to get another high pick so there may be players to poach there.

depth: all there

plan that properly utilizes said depth: not so much

lue has experimented most of the season with 3 guard and 4 guard lineups, which has for the most part led to awful to disastrous results. depth additions that made so much sense last season (covington/wall) either don't get put onto the court when they're needed the most (covington), or just aren't very good (wall). players who weaken the team's overall architecture and team composition for their own varying reasons (not great defenders, iso type players when we have WAY more than enough, take terrible shots and are reckless with the ball when paul george is already doing that, etc) are played over the guys who would provide better balance for the team and would help mitigate our team's overall weaknesses.

taking on more salary isn't going to help unless it forces lue to stop overplaying the bad fits (morris/reggie/wall), whether that's via trade or what have you.

madmaxmedia · Post #337 » by **madmaxmedia** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 8:57 pm

We have depth in terms of the line ups and looks we can put on the court around PG and Kawhi. But when one or both are out, we have no other big time players. Only now is Kawhi finally starting to look like healthy Kawhi, and hopefully PG gets well soon with the rest.

I'm pretty sure Mann starting at 1 is going to last, and Mann/Reggie/Luke/Norm with Wall as odd man out is just fine to me as our main guard rotation. We have plenty of wings, so an athletic center to tandem with Zu is our biggest need IMO.

Our 2027 1st round pick, Boston, Morris, Wall (FWIW) are our trade assets IMO. Coffey too but he's cheap young depth for us and might still improve going forward, and Boston's (perceived?) upside makes him a better trade asset.

If Mo Bamba is available I woulds try to get him, I don't know what other centers are reported to be available.

Post #338 » by **TrueLAfan** » Fri Jan 13, 2023 6:15 pm

See, I'm gonna disagree about the depth thing. We've got a lot of players between 6'4" and 6'9" that play primarily at SG, SF, and PF. But ...

--We've got 1 true PG (Preston)
--We've got 1 "traditional" C (Zubac)
--We have no other PG that is more of an offense creator than a shot creator. Wall is close. Reggie is still more of a two than a one.
--We have no other "big" front court player. Our second biggest guy, Mook, plays small and doesn't hit the boards or rim protect.

That's not what I call depth. That's positional depth. We have too many SG/SFs, not enough PF/Cs or straight PGs. We don't even need stars at the positions where we lack depth. We need rotation quality players.

madmaxmedia · Post #339 » by **madmaxmedia** » Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:08 pm

We have a lot of guys that could get more minutes on most other teams, that's the kind of depth we have. But you're right it's not rotational depth. And we have too many wings. We also have too many 30+ players, they are all skilled but we often lack energy and quickness.

I thought this was interesting:

The Atlanta Hawks are reportedly now asking for less in exchange for forward John Collins in trade discussions than they did in previous years.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the asking price for Collins has "declined significantly," to the point where the Hawks have reportedly asked for only a quality player in return for Collins and not a first-round pick in some negotiations.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10061550-john-collins-trade-rumors-hawks-asking-price-has-declined-significantly?ref=upstract.com

He's been a pretty good 3-point shooter in the 4 years prior to this one, so I think this season is an aberration. He's young and athletic, a true big, and signed to a reasonable contract. I guess he's not quite a full center size, but still closer than a gimmicky small ball center like Marcus.

If our TPE was only a little bigger, I'd consider making a lowball offer to Orlando for Mo Bamba (TPE plus a couple of 2nd's or something like that.) But the TPE misses his salary by under $1M.

Post #340 » by **TrueLAfan** » Wed Jan 18, 2023 6:38 pm

I’d love Collins; I’d offer a future pick swap, Mook (who only has a year left after this one), and ideally Luke (but probably TMann or, maybe, Batum). He’s good size for a PF, can play C in a pinch, and is just solid across the board. Good character guy, which I think goes to waste in Atlanta. We’d go from needing a high minute starting PF or sixth man PF/C to needing a 15-20 mpg 4/5. Significant upgrade.

Bamba is an interesting player. He worked hard to up his game, but he’s caught in a jam. Orlando has our problems, except

1) They’re in reverse—glut is at big man, not on the wings, and
2) They’re a much worse team

Orlando is a team to be looking at for trade moves. Seriously, if they get the rights to Wembayana … we’re talking about a team that has Wendell Carter, Paolo Banchero, Bol Bol, Mo Wagner and Bamba. And that’s not counting Jonathan Isaac, who might be the most intriguing of all—he’s just played his first couple of games in two years. Dude looks smooth and solid. He’s got a long term deal that is a huge risk that could pay huge dividends if he’s past the injuries and can play 1750 minutes a year. Even without Wembayana, they’re overflowing at the 4 and 5, big time.