Kings retool w/ Pelicans, Timberwolves and Trailblazers

[longfellow44]

Ownership is certain that they want to try to compete this is a different direction to try to accomplish that.

Trade 1
From Blazers: Ayton
To Blazers: Derozan, Valanciunas

Derozan's contract isn't fully guaranteed for the 26-27 season so the blazers can cut him to save some money. Valanciunas is a solid big man that can back up Clingan, and his contract isn't guaranteed for 26-27 either.

Trade 2
From Pelicans: Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray
To Pelicans: Zach Lavine

Murray is out for a while still and no one knows how he will recover from the Achillies, this gets the pelicans a good player that should compliment Zion very well.

Trade 3:
From Timberwolves: 17th pick and the 31st pick
To Timberwoves:Their own 2031 1st round pick back

They do this because they don't want to lose a potentially high value unprotected pick. Current roster structure indicates that they may need to rebuild around that time frame.

Kings sign Tre Jones to the full MLE



The Kings end up with a roster looking like this:
T Jones/Carter/(Murray starter if healthy)
Monk/Ellis
Murray/H Jones
Sabonis/31st pick
Ayton/17th pick

This roster has a real defensive identity that has long defenders and. If Murray gets healthy and is at least 75% the player that he was before injury then this team could be dangerous. If Ayton and Sabonis can't play next to each other then the roster looks a little bit different but still potentially very good. Either varation of the roster should see Keegan Murray take on a much larger offensive role and should allow Monk to become the primary pick and roll partner for Sabonis.

T Jones/Carter/Murray
Monk/Ellis
Jones/17th pick
Murray/31st pick
Sabonis/Ayton

[ReggiesKnicks]

Trade #1: Cutting a player and paying their partial salary isn't really saving salary when the outgoing player (DeAndre Ayton) is expiring. It just means DeRozan was bad enough that he is worth pennies compared to his 25 million salary.

I don't like Ayton as a target for Sacramento. Their are much cheaper options available, but why not just keep Val?

Trade #2: New Orleans shouldn't use Herb to get rid of Murray. I think teams would trade real value for just Herb.

Trade #3: This isn't close for Minnesota. They need to keep adding talent around ANT at a cheap cost, as they did with Dillingham/Shannon Jr this year.

[Tim Lehrbach]

There's no incentive for Portland here. All players involved are guys the team won't want long-term. Standing pat accomplishes that sooner than making your deal.

[Myth]

This costs Portland money, not saves them. I just looked up Derozan’s contract, and he has $10M guaranteed his final season, which means Blazers are giving up Ayton’s expiring contract so they can waive players and spend more? This makes absolutely no sense for Portland.

[jayjaysee]

I think NOP would rather hope for DJM recovery than use Herb’s value/impact this way.

And I think Sac can get a little better pick package than this for a distant unprotected first?

Minn probably doesn’t care too much about getting their pick back, but if they are looking to be aggressive.. the unprotected pick is a better asset than what they send out.

The Portland trade desperately needs a third team that wants Demar. And I don’t even really get starting Ayton and Sabonis. We’ve seen Sabonis with a better center and it didn’t bring out the best in them.

[shrink]

Trade 3:
From Timberwolves: 17th pick and the 31st pick
To Timberwoves:Their own 2031 1st round pick back

They do this because they don't want to lose a potentially high value unprotected pick. Current roster structure indicates that they may need to rebuild around that time frame.

If I was the Wolves, I might do this just for the value gain, even I was to trade the pick later.

I agree with previous posters that the time they should be focused on putting talent on the floor right now when they are contending, and I would add that actual GMs often need to act like that for their own job security.

But the true value of a draft pick comes from the top. The #17 pick may be near the median average, but it is below the mean average value of a future pick, since high lottery spots often carry so much value.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Trade 3:
From Timberwolves: 17th pick and the 31st pick
To Timberwoves:Their own 2031 1st round pick back

They do this because they don't want to lose a potentially high value unprotected pick. Current roster structure indicates that they may need to rebuild around that time frame.

If I was the Wolves, I might do this just for the value gain, even I was to trade the pick later.

I agree with previous posters that the time they should be focused on putting talent on the floor right now when they are contending, and I would add that actual GMs often need to act like that for their own job security.

But the true value of a draft pick comes from the top. The #17 pick may be near the median average, but it is below the mean average value of a future pick, since high lottery spots often carry so much value.

Good post. The upper range of draft outcomes is so vastly more valuable than even the median that the Timberwolves would be making a smart bet on that future pick. And, they could probably trade it again later for more than #17+31 are worth.

[MNRunLeft]

Trade 3:
From Timberwolves: 17th pick and the 31st pick
To Timberwoves:Their own 2031 1st round pick back

They do this because they don't want to lose a potentially high value unprotected pick. Current roster structure indicates that they may need to rebuild around that time frame.

IMO I don't think they care much about that 2031 because thats still in the middle of Ant's prime and there is no reason to plan for him forcing his way out at some point especially not if you can put together the right pieces around him. Picks 17 and 31 are the exact kind of cheap cost controlled contracts the Wolves should want to help fill some small holes short term, if they were to trade the pick(s) it would likely be for a vet who can help them right now not for a pick 6 years away.

I also given we have a GM like Connelly who has found talent mid to late in the draft over the years I'm totally fine with him keeping the picks and plugging some future holes with them vs only focusing on short term needs.

[BoogieTime]

Trade 3, you hope the Timberwolves pick is top ten and don’t trade it

Gobert is the lynchpin of the resurgence and their best player and will be old

Ant may be gone or injured

Middle to late first rounders tend to bust, and big time talent tends to be at the top of the draft

[lordjeff05]

Agree with the assessment of the Pels. They wouldn’t make the trade. The team is in a weird spot because fan morale is pretty low but the team isn’t necessarily desperate. We aren’t on the cusp of championship contention, we aren’t in salary cap hell, and our star seems to be relatively content right now. So, none of the factors that woudl usually go into riskier types of trades are there right now.

I look forward to seeing what CJ, Zion, herb and Trey can do together, and whether Missi can hold up defensively in his second year. I think our bench should be decent if we resign Bruce brown. I’d like to make a trade for Lauri because I think it’s good value for a great shooting big who pairs wel with our star but I won’t sweat it if we stand pat.

I was team keep Ingram for the longest but trading him clarifies the pecking order, and you have multi year continuity with 4 of the 5 projected starters. I’m not even banking on Dejounte coming back this year. Our depth isn’t great and we have question marks at the 5 but overall I feel both ok and not super anxious to make risky moves, which I think is generally where most Pels fans are at.

[moss_is_1]

Gobert is the lynchpin of the resurgence and their best player and will be old

C'mon now.