2020 NBA Expansion Draft: Protect your players (still need CLE/HOU/LAL/MIL)

[Revenged25]

Cleveland:

P:

Garland
Sexton
Porter Jr.
Nance Jr.
Windler
Love
Exum
Osman

U:

Drummond (P.O.)
McKinnie

UFA:

Dellavedova
Thompson
Zizic

...

Cleveland would rather have Nance than Drummond if Drummond opts in, right?

I think this list is about right though I wouldn't be surprised if they protected Drummond over Exum or even left Love unprotected. The Cavs won't send value with Love to move him and they feel no need to trade him just for expirings, but I wouldn't be shocked if in this situation they left him unprotected and see if an expansion team would take him. They clear his contract with taking no future/current money back and without giving up assets. He's still valuable to the team but I think getting more or less an Amnesty waiver for him if some expansion team wants him wouldn't be too bad for them, especially since Nance can slide into the 4 as well with his improved outside shot.

[Scoot McGroot]

I think Milwaukee is pretty easy:
1. Giannis
2. Middleton
3. Lopez
4. Hill
5. DiVincenzo
6. Bledsoe
7. Thanasis
8. Ilyasova

Everybody else is expiring or having a player option, except Wilson, who is not really showing any progress. Not sure where Brown falls as a RFA.

I think I'd put in Wilson over Thanasis. Giannis' younger brother won't be picked up, so I'd rather protect my 1st round pick in Wilson who, in my opinion has objectively more upside than Thanasis.

My rationale was that keeping Thanasis would make Giannis happy and Wilson being 24 and not showing much for now is expendable. But this is like whatever in my opinion, both of them are not a big loss if somebody picks them up.

This makes sense to me. He’s talked about how NY waiving his brother bothered him in the past, why risk any hurt feelings so close to free agency when the only upside is D.J. Wilson?

[getrichordie]

I think I'd put in Wilson over Thanasis. Giannis' younger brother won't be picked up, so I'd rather protect my 1st round pick in Wilson who, in my opinion has objectively more upside than Thanasis.

My rationale was that keeping Thanasis would make Giannis happy and Wilson being 24 and not showing much for now is expendable. But this is like whatever in my opinion, both of them are not a big loss if somebody picks them up.

This makes sense to me. He’s talked about how NY waiving his brother bothered him in the past, why risk any hurt feelings so close to free agency when the only upside is D.J. Wilson?

True. Part of me hates the politics of this decision. No way Thanasis gets picked up anyway, but if it is going to be the difference in swaying Giannis to stay and him to leave, then yeah, keep Thanasis.

[getrichordie]

Cleveland:

P:

Garland
Sexton
Porter Jr.
Nance Jr.
Windler
Love
Exum
Osman

U:

Drummond (P.O.)
McKinnie

UFA:

Dellavedova
Thompson
Zizic

...

Cleveland would rather have Nance than Drummond if Drummond opts in, right?

I think this list is about right though I wouldn't be surprised if they protected Drummond over Exum or even left Love unprotected. The Cavs won't send value with Love to move him and they feel no need to trade him just for expirings, but I wouldn't be shocked if in this situation they left him unprotected and see if an expansion team would take him. They clear his contract with taking no future/current money back and without giving up assets. He's still valuable to the team but I think getting more or less an Amnesty waiver for him if some expansion team wants him wouldn't be too bad for them, especially since Nance can slide into the 4 as well with his improved outside shot.

Fair point. With Drummond coming off the books next offseason and Love potentially gone, yeah I’d take that chance if you think you can be a player in free agency. But Love is still only 31 so I think he could have more trade value to a contender, so that’s why I made that decision.

[Scoot McGroot]

My rationale was that keeping Thanasis would make Giannis happy and Wilson being 24 and not showing much for now is expendable. But this is like whatever in my opinion, both of them are not a big loss if somebody picks them up.

This makes sense to me. He’s talked about how NY waiving his brother bothered him in the past, why risk any hurt feelings so close to free agency when the only upside is D.J. Wilson?

True. Part of me hates the politics of this decision. No way Thanasis gets picked up anyway, but if it is going to be the difference in swaying Giannis to stay and him to leave, then yeah, keep Thanasis.

Sure, but it's not like Wilson is necessarily a priority or large piece either way. I'm not sure the upside exists in keeping Wilson that just the chemistry with Giannis would be better with keeping Thanasis...know what I mean? If it were a more important piece, I could see the tough debate there.

[Trader_Joe]

Nets

P
Durant
Irving
LeVert
Dinwiddie
Allen
Claxton
TLC
Jordan

U
T.Prince
Musa
Kurucs
Temple
Pinson

FA
Harris
Chandler

[getrichordie]

Nets

P
Durant
Irving
LeVert
Dinwiddie
Allen
Claxton
TLC
Jordan

U
T.Prince
Musa
Kurucs
Temple
Pinson

FA
Harris
Chandler

TLC over Prince? What's your reasoning there? BKN extends Prince just to leave him unprotected?

[babyjax13]

I have posted on forums from the remaining teams that have yet to have fans provide input. Regardless of how many respond, I will tally the results on Tuesday and post the next thread!

[Trader_Joe]

Nets

P
Durant
Irving
LeVert
Dinwiddie
Allen
Claxton
TLC
Jordan

U
T.Prince
Musa
Kurucs
Temple
Pinson

FA
Harris
Chandler

TLC over Prince? What's your reasoning there? BKN extends Prince just to leave him unprotected?

He's been trash and makes like 10x TLC who they signed from a 2 way to 2 year deal in the last month. Atkinson benched Prince in his final game, Vaughn kept him there for his 1 game. Nets were 2-0 with wins at Chicago and at LAL.

[getrichordie]

Nets

P
Durant
Irving
LeVert
Dinwiddie
Allen
Claxton
TLC
Jordan

U
T.Prince
Musa
Kurucs
Temple
Pinson

FA
Harris
Chandler

TLC over Prince? What's your reasoning there? BKN extends Prince just to leave him unprotected?

He's been trash and makes like 10x TLC who they signed from a 2 way to 2 year deal in the last month. Atkinson benched Prince in his final game, Vaughn kept him there for his 1 game. Nets were 2-0 with wins at Chicago and at LAL.

So... are you saying Marks made a mistake in extending him? I mean, this season he has played more at the 4 than the 3 where he is used to playing. Also, his previous two seasons he was a 39% 3-pt shooter. In what way has he been so trash that he wouldn't have some value on the trade market (even as filler) to add another piece? Keep in mind that he has played 83% of his minutes at the 4 this year (and 1% at the 5). I have to think some team would be interested in him as a trade piece. Two games is small sample size as well.

[Stillwater]

Don't normally do this but so you have more than 1 CLE entry here you go:
CLE
Protects:
Collin Sexton
Kevin Porter Jr..
Larry Nance Jr.
Kevin Love
Cedi Osman
Andre Drummond
Darius Garland
Dylan Windler
Doesn't protect:
Dante Exum
Zo Mckinnie
...
Rest are ufa
Thompson
Zizic
Delly
2way deals
Wade
Mooney

[RiotPunch]

I think Milwaukee is pretty easy:
1. Giannis
2. Middleton
3. Lopez
4. Hill
5. DiVincenzo
6. Bledsoe
7. Thanasis
8. Ilyasova

Everybody else is expiring or having a player option, except Wilson, who is not really showing any progress. Not sure where Brown falls as a RFA.

This is pretty accurate. As much as I'd rather keep a guy like DJ or Sterling's rights, it is far more important to keep Giannis happy--that is the number one priority--which means keeping Thanasis.

8 spot is interesting though. Ersan had a killer stretch leading up to the AS break, but has been terrible since. I think Bud also really values always having a Lopez in there to patrol the paint. Ersan might be more expendable, though debatable.

[Trader_Joe]

TLC over Prince? What's your reasoning there? BKN extends Prince just to leave him unprotected?

He's been trash and makes like 10x TLC who they signed from a 2 way to 2 year deal in the last month. Atkinson benched Prince in his final game, Vaughn kept him there for his 1 game. Nets were 2-0 with wins at Chicago and at LAL.

So... are you saying Marks made a mistake in extending him? I mean, this season he has played more at the 4 than the 3 where he is used to playing. Also,
his previous two seasons he was a 39% 3-pt shooter. In what way has he been so trash that he wouldn't have some value on the trade market (even as filler) to add another piece? Keep in mind that he has played 83% of his minutes at the 4 this year (and 1% at the 5). I have to think some team would be interested in him as a trade piece. Two games is small sample size as well.

He's been pretty bad all around yet somehow decent on/off. He can play one on one D, but terrible team defender. Shot miserably all around. Poor handles, passing and below average rebounding. Yeah, I think he's a mistake and the team may know it. He's not worth 8 to 10x TLC or Kurucs. KD will eventually, hopefully take his spot.

[gambitx777]

I would protect
Beal
Brown
Bryant
Rui
Mo
Bonga
Robinson
AP

Wall can be left no one's taking him and on the off chance someone does. **** it get out of jail free card.
Admiral would be a 5050 toss up if someone take him or not. You can switch this with AP if you really wanna.


And you move about your business as usual.

Wizards

Protected:
Beal
Hachimura
Bryant
Brown Jr
Robinson
Wagner
Schofield
Wall (I know this will be an unpopular opinion on this board but an expansion team wouldn't take him anyway, and it would create some really bad PR/negative feelings with Wall and potentially Beal towards the organization).

Unprotected:
Smith
Bonga
Pasecniks

UFA:
Bertans
Mahinmi
Napier
Payton

no way is Bonga left unprotected while Robinson and Schofield are protected...zero chance.

Agreed. Bonga is ahead of Robinson, Schofield, and perhaps Wagner. Wall is dead last in line. I'd say the order of priority is:

Beal
Hachimura
Brown Jr.
Bryant
Bonga
Wagner
Robinson
Schofield
Ish
Pasecniks
Wall

I don't know what the rules are and exactly how many can be retained, but this is the order.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Topofthekey]

I would protect
Beal
Brown
Bryant
Rui
Mo
Bonga
Robinson
AP

Wall can be left no one's taking him and on the off chance someone does. **** it get out of jail free card.
Admiral would be a 5050 toss up if someone take him or not. You can switch this with AP if you really wanna.


And you move about your business as usual.

no way is Bonga left unprotected while Robinson and Schofield are protected...zero chance.

Agreed. Bonga is ahead of Robinson, Schofield, and perhaps Wagner. Wall is dead last in line. I'd say the order of priority is:

Beal
Hachimura
Brown Jr.
Bryant
Bonga
Wagner
Robinson
Schofield
Ish
Pasecniks
Wall

I don't know what the rules are and exactly how many can be retained, but this is the order.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using RealGM mobile app

The thing is, even if John Wall comes back only at 70%, he'll still be one of the better PGs around, and together with Beal, that's still a top ten-ish backcourt

With some careful tinkering, the Wizards can still easily be a playoff team, and maybe even make a run

But more importantly, exposing Wall for the expansion team to pick him raises some eyebrows when it comes to loyalty - I think he is one of the only few starting PG who is still with the original team who drafted him

Also, who is the Wizards going to sign with the cap space if Wall gets picked?

[nate33]

The thing is, even if John Wall comes back only at 70%, he'll still be one of the better PGs around, and together with Beal, that's still a top ten-ish backcourt

With some careful tinkering, the Wizards can still easily be a playoff team, and maybe even make a run

But more importantly, exposing Wall for the expansion team to pick him raises some eyebrows when it comes to loyalty - I think he is one of the only few starting PG who is still with the original team who drafted him

Also, who is the Wizards going to sign with the cap space if Wall gets picked?

Expansion teams typically work with a limited portion of the cap, maybe 60-75%. No team with just 70-something million in cap room is going to draft John Wall at $43M a year for the next 3 years. There is zero chance they take on Wall. Zero. There is no need to protect him.

[JonFromVA]

Cleveland:

P:

Garland
Sexton
Porter Jr.
Nance Jr.
Windler
Love
Exum
Osman

U:

Drummond (P.O.)
McKinnie

UFA:

Dellavedova
Thompson
Zizic

...

Cleveland would rather have Nance than Drummond if Drummond opts in, right?

I think this list is about right though I wouldn't be surprised if they protected Drummond over Exum or even left Love unprotected. The Cavs won't send value with Love to move him and they feel no need to trade him just for expirings, but I wouldn't be shocked if in this situation they left him unprotected and see if an expansion team would take him. They clear his contract with taking no future/current money back and without giving up assets. He's still valuable to the team but I think getting more or less an Amnesty waiver for him if some expansion team wants him wouldn't be too bad for them, especially since Nance can slide into the 4 as well with his improved outside shot.

If the unprotected list leaks, it sends a very bad signal to players you may end up having to keep. So, the Cavs might very well protect both Love and Drummond for that reason and that they really want some positive assets in return for either.

If that's the case, Exum would seem the likely odd man out.

I think I'd keep Dean Wade over Exum, though. We haven't seen enough of him, but Exum continues to spend far too much time in street clothes and seems very raw in terms of PG skills (albeit lack of practice with the team doesn't help). Wade is a stretch-4 who moves pretty well and it's a lot easier to slot that type of player in to at least backup minutes.

[Revenged25]

Cleveland:

P:

Garland
Sexton
Porter Jr.
Nance Jr.
Windler
Love
Exum
Osman

U:

Drummond (P.O.)
McKinnie

UFA:

Dellavedova
Thompson
Zizic

...

Cleveland would rather have Nance than Drummond if Drummond opts in, right?

I think this list is about right though I wouldn't be surprised if they protected Drummond over Exum or even left Love unprotected. The Cavs won't send value with Love to move him and they feel no need to trade him just for expirings, but I wouldn't be shocked if in this situation they left him unprotected and see if an expansion team would take him. They clear his contract with taking no future/current money back and without giving up assets. He's still valuable to the team but I think getting more or less an Amnesty waiver for him if some expansion team wants him wouldn't be too bad for them, especially since Nance can slide into the 4 as well with his improved outside shot.

If the unprotected list leaks, it sends a very bad signal to players you may end up having to keep. So, the Cavs might very well protect both Love and Drummond for that reason and that they really want some positive assets in return for either.

If that's the case, Exum would seem the likely odd man out.

I think I'd keep Dean Wade over Exum, though. We haven't seen enough of him, but Exum continues to spend far too much time in street clothes and seems very raw in terms of PG skills (albeit lack of practice with the team doesn't help). Wade is a stretch-4 who moves pretty well and it's a lot easier to slot that type of player in to at least backup minutes.

I mean I fully expect Love to be protected, along with Drummond, but it was a situation where it wouldn't shock me where a very good but overpaid player gets put on the unprotected list as mulligan on a contract if they had a viable alternative waiting in the wings, Nance in this instance.

[Revenged25]

The thing is, even if John Wall comes back only at 70%, he'll still be one of the better PGs around, and together with Beal, that's still a top ten-ish backcourt

With some careful tinkering, the Wizards can still easily be a playoff team, and maybe even make a run

But more importantly, exposing Wall for the expansion team to pick him raises some eyebrows when it comes to loyalty - I think he is one of the only few starting PG who is still with the original team who drafted him

Also, who is the Wizards going to sign with the cap space if Wall gets picked?

Expansion teams typically work with a limited portion of the cap, maybe 60-75%. No team with just 70-something million in cap room is going to draft John Wall at $43M a year for the next 3 years. There is zero chance they take on Wall. Zero. There is no need to protect him.

Part of why I think very good but overpaid players might be put on the unprotected list, not because teams don't want them, but it would kill the expansion teams cap for a non-star player and allows the team to potentially protect a role player on a good contract that they might not otherwise be able to do.

[getrichordie]

The thing is, even if John Wall comes back only at 70%, he'll still be one of the better PGs around, and together with Beal, that's still a top ten-ish backcourt

With some careful tinkering, the Wizards can still easily be a playoff team, and maybe even make a run

But more importantly, exposing Wall for the expansion team to pick him raises some eyebrows when it comes to loyalty - I think he is one of the only few starting PG who is still with the original team who drafted him

Also, who is the Wizards going to sign with the cap space if Wall gets picked?

Expansion teams typically work with a limited portion of the cap, maybe 60-75%. No team with just 70-something million in cap room is going to draft John Wall at $43M a year for the next 3 years. There is zero chance they take on Wall. Zero. There is no need to protect him.

Part of why I think very good but overpaid players might be put on the unprotected list, not because teams don't want them, but it would kill the expansion teams cap for a non-star player and allows the team to potentially protect a role player on a good contract that they might not otherwise be able to do.

Plus, you have to take into account the length of the contract. Why protect a Drummond who has a P.O. and is then a UFA, when you have a guy like
Exum locked up longer?