MPJ trades....

[BelgradeNugget]

I think Denver is screwed. Gordon is on too good of a deal for Denver to even consider trading him, which leaves Jamal Murray (no one is signing up to pay him $55M/year) and MPJ -- and no one is taking him unless it is at a severe discount or for some other garbage contract. And Denver can't even really sweeten the pot with picks.

So I dunno.

Maybe:

Denver gets Bridges and G Williams
Charlotte gets MPJ and Nnaji

Charlotte only does this trade for culture reasons, imo.

Funny thing I was thinking of this one too. But if you look at next year salaries it could go something like this

Denver gets Bridges and G Williams
Charlotte gets MPJ and Tyson

It is a little bit better for Charlotte without Nnaji's contract

One thing I didn't consider is Denver will likely be over the 2nd apron and would not be able to aggregate players in a trade. It was basically at $189M this past season, and according to Hoopshype, Denver will have $203M in salaries next year. The 2nd apron level will go up, but I assume it'll be similar to the ~3.5% increase we saw from 23-24 to 24-25, which would put the 2nd apron at ~$195M. Denver would need the 2nd apron level to rise about 8% to stay below.

If I'm not wrong 2nd apron will be at $207M, so Denver stays under. And after this trade Denver's salarie goes down additional $2M.

[Skybox]

Just looking at places where MPJ would fit...how about MEM? He'd be complementary to JJJ. Not sure who to send back...but I'm thinking MEM is heading for a shakeup. Pippen looks good, so maybe Ja goes to a third team for a haul of some sort.

Like...
MEM sends: Ja Morant
MEM gets: Michael Porter, Anthony Black, #16, ORL 26 frp (top5)
Why: MPJ is a really good fit across from JJJ but there's risk, Black is def worth a frp as a versatile, long 3&D with playmaking, 2 frps including a 25. MPJ and his big contract are the risk-but if it works and he stays healthy, MEM is right back in the thick of it, without the distractions of Ja on & off the court

DEN sends: Michael Porter, Zeke Nnaji
DEN gets: KCP, Jonathan Isaac, Jett Howard
Why: reset roster with immediate help around Jokic/Murray/Gordon, get off MPJ & Nnaji deals...bring in proven fit in KCP and hyper-versatile defender, Isaac and a very young sniper prospect in Howard.

ORL sends: KCP, Jonathan Isaac, Jett Howard, Anthony Black, #16, ORL 26 frp (top5)
ORL gets: Ja Morant, Zeke Nnaji
ORL sends out redundant but valuable veteran talent, emerging strong player in AB, and two valuable frps but gets the most talented player in the deal. BUT, Ja comes with a lot of baggage and there is certainly risk to taking him into a unit with two ball-dominant forwards used to taking every shot. There may be some growing pains, but if everyone is on the same page about winning and can adapt their tremendous collective talent to team play- it's on. Nnaji is a negative deal taken on as a plus to DEN.

[jbk1234]

He had one bad season. Can we not pretend everything before last season didn't exist?

Beal has always played below his reputation.

People did the same treatment with Harden when he was a Sixer.

Harden was never thought to have the worst deal in the league

When PG was still a Clipper and Harden a Sixer, people laughed at the idea of trading Harden for PG. One year later, everyone holds the exact opposite view.

Before Simmons was traded, people laughed at the idea that he could be traded for Harden. Then it happened. It's the same cyclical absurd absolute narratives people create about how good or bad a players value is.

Harden was traded for Simmons++ after Harden was first traded to the Nets and it didn't work out. People had PG over Harden when Harden was insisting on a max deal after a poor playoff performance. Harden ended up signing for far less with the Clippers and PG ended up signing a max deal at 34.

If your position is that PG's value could go up after a bounce back season, that's fair. It's just that no trade partner is going to assume that's going to happen. The Sixers need PG to actually have that bounce back season.