Free Agency, Rumors, Thoughts in General 2.0

[BullyKing]

Step 1) Follow credible rumors
Step 2) Post your favorite 20 ideas, borrowing from already rumored players, and label all of them done before anyone else
Step 3) Wait and see how close you got building off Woj and Sham
Step 4) Delete all the bad misses
Step 5) Repost the ones you got closest on as proof you are an insider with knowledge

Why you telling everyone my King of the Trade Board strategy? I told you that in confidence.

[HartfordWhalers]

Random Sixers trade thoughts because we inched to page 2:

1) Tony Bradley is a stud. Sixers did the super weird pattern of replacing Embiid with their 3rd string center and keeping Dwight at backup center. Which makes sense to some degree (Dwight is a full and turnover machine, but also a rebound machine against backups and can roll off picks for struggling bench creators.)

Back to Bradley, he has definitely been the difference between 2-3 wins and losses; and I think we are now seeing a debate start, should Bradley be the main backup center when Embiid is back. The Detroit trade looks like one of the bigger wins out there for a super small and should be inconsequential trade (Zhaire was given up and cut and stretched and didn't make it back o the league).

As a starter he is at 7 and 7 in 21 mpg, with a +15.9 net rating. Very small sample, but also just looks great. I think Philly not only keeps him through the deadline, but brings likely him back as the backup next year. So, with Embiid still out I'm thinking any Bradley to say Charlotte trade is very unlikely. And yes, there is absolutely small sample noise going on (he is shooting almost 80% as a starter).

2) Danny Green has been very solid. Adds to the cost of a Lowry deal, while conversely making a Powell/Ball deal would not require Green and becomes more attractive.

3) Mike Scott looks like doodoo.
Needs to be replaced. Add a 2nd to the Bjelica offer, (and ignore Bjelica's shooting this season?)

4) Maxey is very raw. If pushing all in now, then this is a luxury that could be spent.

[chrbal]

As a pistons fan I didn’t understand, and honestly still don’t, why we bothered trading Bradley for Smith. Not going to sit here and say I knew Bradley would do anything, but I don’t see much in Okafor and felt Bradley was worth a spot on the pistons during the tear down.

[loserX]

Bradley has always been a decent player (well, not always: took him a while to adjust to the NBA game, but he got there).

I think perception of him was coloured by the fact that Utah paid to dump him. (The *reason* Utah dumped him was to get room under the tax to use the full MLE on Favors. We might still have been able to keep the sweetener if we'd been more patient, but obviously not a risk we were willing to take.)

Why Detroit traded him for Zhaire and then buying out Zhaire, I don't know.

[K_chile22]

Woj keeps saying offers/interest is there for Oladipo but won't mention any interested teams. Said it again on ESPN a few minutes ago. Seems a bit fishy

[HartfordWhalers]

Woj keeps saying offers/interest is there for Oladipo but won't mention any interested teams. Said it again on ESPN a few minutes ago. Seems a bit fishy

See, I stand by my assessment. He has very real specific info on Lowry, Powell, Lonzo, Gordon... and then Oladipo is just trust me, lots of great offers already.

[Texas Chuck]

More shameless copying of Whalers because its a good idea more posters should do. Hint. Hint.

Dallas at the deadline:

Team has a 7 man rotation plus whichever backup center is in vogue that night and 5 minutes of Trey Burke for reasons nobody understands. So they really need one more guy who can give them 20 mpg or more.

Richardson hasn't been great, but he's been more useful than I think his box scores suggest.
Brunson has been better than you probably think he has been. Him turning into a dependable 3-pt shooter is a bit of a surprise but changes everything about what he can be.
Maxi and Dorian are fine rotation players, but upgrading one of them should be the priority. And buzz has sort of indicated Dallas is open to moving one of them for the first time I can really recall.

But expect their trade deadline to look like Johnson plus 2nds for a rental of some fashion and that's it.

[kingcong95]

Bradley has always been a decent player (well, not always: took him a while to adjust to the NBA game, but he got there).

I think perception of him was coloured by the fact that Utah paid to dump him. (The *reason* Utah dumped him was to get room under the tax to use the full MLE on Favors. We might still have been able to keep the sweetener if we'd been more patient, but obviously not a risk we were willing to take.)

Why Detroit traded him for Zhaire and then buying out Zhaire, I don't know.

I heard somewhere it was because Zhaire would cost like 100K less to stretch, but they needed that 100K to create the cap space needed to offer Grant and Plumlee what they got, and didn't want to stretch McGruder over 5 years because they already did it for Dedmon(ey), and also had an idea what it would cost to buy out Blake.

[MotownMadness]

While we wait for the fireworks and woj bombs

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[loserX]

Utah at the deadline:

Probably not much. Our top 8 has us in first place: Bogdanovic still has hot and cold stretches, Favors still needs "load management", but Conley has been excellent and everyone else is doing what has been expected of them. With a team that values chemistry so highly it's hard to imagine any of these key guys going anywhere.

The problem, as I've alluded to in the "Swap Meet" threads, is that Utah doesn't have a lot else. Ilyasova just signed and IIRC has taken one shot (he missed). Recent 1st rounder Udoka Azubuike is a project, and hurt. Recent 2nd rounder Elijah Hughes is still a 2nd-rounder question mark. Georges Niang and Miye Oni are at least good enough for spot minutes. Juwan Morgan and Jerrell Brantley are...not.

Add to that: we have a pick tied up in Memphis (will likely convey in 2022 but rollover protections make trading future picks hard). We do have some small TPEs, but we are also currently in the tax AND hard-capped after spending the full MLE last offseason.

Are we going to duck the tax? It's possible, but it would sure disappoint fans. We're in FIRST (and the mighty Lakers are currently vulnerable), is now really the time to start nickel-and-diming the end of the roster instead of getting help?

Are we going to add pieces? We could try, but it'll likely be end-of-the-bench guys for future 2nds. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if we do nothing at all and hope for luck in the buyout market.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Maybe I missed someone already commenting on this but I thought this was lol worthy:

Atlanta has discussed deals for Malcolm Brogdon, but Brogdon’s contract (he is owed $44 million over the next two seasons) and injury history make a deal unlikely.

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/24/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-latest-buzz-intel

That contract is bad somehow? And Atlanta might make a deal for Brogdon if not for his bad contract and his injury history? The Hawks would love to have a player like Brogdon. That seems like pure propaganda.

[Soulyss]

Portland at the deadline: Will do nothing.

Olshey will try but I suspect he will be outbid for players like Gordon, and I don't think he'll reach for a short term fix or anything that will put us over the cap. I have a hard time seeing him give up additional future firsts or GTJr, and Simons / Little / Collins don't have enough value to get a deal done.

It's far more likely he will at the end of the season throw all Blame on Stotts and the defense (some of which is deserved) and will use his one "new coach get out of jail free card" at the end of the season if Portland under performs (anything less than a super competitive round-2 loss) in the playoffs.

[MotownMadness]

No way Raps get Herro for a old Lowry

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[ThunderBolt]

Maybe I missed someone already commenting on this but I thought this was lol worthy:

Atlanta has discussed deals for Malcolm Brogdon, but Brogdon’s contract (he is owed $44 million over the next two seasons) and injury history make a deal unlikely.

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/24/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-latest-buzz-intel

That contract is bad somehow? And Atlanta might make a deal for Brogdon if not for his bad contract and his injury history? The Hawks would love to have a player like Brogdon. That seems like pure propaganda.

It seems like labeling of bad contracts gets thrown around way too much anymore.

[kingcong95]

GSW deadline: Steph is out longer than expected with his tailbone injury, and Kerr just announced he will start Wiseman for most of the remaining games of the season. This almost certainly means we don't see ourselves as buyers anymore. So it takes us out of the running for Aaron Gordon and it's not like we were all that interested in Oladipo to begin with.
None of our picks are on the table. Or Wiggins, since the rest of y'all insist that we include the Wolves pick in any deal with him. We'd still be a taxpayer even if his contract was completely gone so that removes any incentive for us to go that far.
It's looking more and more likely that Oubre will be traded due to his expiring contract. We can legally offer Oubre whatever he wants, but he may prefer to go somewhere he'd be guaranteed to start. We'd be targeting someone signed for a few years more; I wouldn't mind Bogdan, but his play this year doesn't justify the price the Hawks are asking for him, as a free agent they just signed. Not interested in a swap for expiring bench pieces, and of course any pick will depend on the amount of protection.
If a deal happens, it could be something that hasn't been talked about very much here. Our front office generally does not leak, and if it does, the opposite is usually true.

[BlazersBroncos]

I just dont understand at all why HOU is so obsessed with AG. Like, he might be a needle mover for a team like my Blazers but for a team that is just HORRIBLE, like, why?

[Texas Chuck]

in who really cares news, Sham is reporting JaVale is likely traded at the deadline.

[MoneyTalks41890]

No way Raps get Herro for a old Lowry

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I proposed something yesterday with Boucher and Precious included. I think you have to do something like that to get Miami to put Herro in. Even Lowry+Powell feels short to me.

[Bologna Smasher]

Looks like something with the Clippers may be going down soon.

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[MoneyTalks41890]

OKC sits at 9th in pre-lottery position right now. This team is immune to tanking. They aren't buyers at the deadline. They should absolutely be sellers and will be. But it's unclear without a lot of lotto luck how high they can climb this year.

But George Hill, Muscala should be flipped for 2nds or a conditional 1st of some kind depending on what OKC takes back.

Kenrich Williams is not someone I'm in a rush for OKC to trade just to do it. He will still have value this summer. Same with Horford he's been very good as a veteran presence and stretch 5 for the young guards.

The real key for OKC isn't anything related to the deadline, but how the ping pong balls bounce. OKC could end up with something like the 9th and 16th picks or could end up with more like the 5th and 6th picks depending on how the year finishes for OKC, Houston, and Miami and how the balls bounce. Either way I expect OKC to pick at least twice in the top 10, it's just whether they get to do that naturally or need to unload additional draft capital to do it.