RealGM

2018 list

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (1 year, 27.5 million + 5 year, 228.2 million extension, includes 5th year 51.9 million player option)
2. Luka Doncic (2 years, 18.9 million rookie contract)

Vote for who has the #3 highest trade value in the league including caliber of play, age, salary, injury history, etc. In addition please nominate a player to replace them on the list.

Nominees:



Anthony Davis (5 years, 189.3 million, includes 5th year 43.2 million player option)



Jayson Tatum (1 year, 9.9 million rookie contract + 5 years, 163 million extension, includes 5th year 37.1 million player option)



Nikola Jokic (3 years, 91.5 million)



Joel Embiid (3 years, 94.7 million)



Lebron James (3 years, 124.9 million)



Stephen Curry (2 years, 88.8 million)



Kawhi Leonard (2 years, 70.4 million, includes 2nd year 36.0 million player option)



James Harden (3 years, 133 million, includes 3rd year 47.4 million player option)



Kevin Durant (3 years, 126 million, includes 3rd year 43.9 million player option)

Vote Davis

I think if the vote was before the season he would have made a run at #1

Nominate Zion

Vote LeBron
Nominate Dame

LeBron

Fast forward to 2030 LeBron: “Hey Luka, congrats on another MVP award. As a free agent, don’t you think it’s about time you wrote yourself into NBA history and came to the Lakers? Here in LA, we win championships, and have the very best players in NBA history like, ahem, yours truly. Sure, your Hornets look promising, but we have a full cast for you here, and more waiting to come to LA. So wouldn’t you like your final four year run be as a Laker?”

Nominate Zion

Davis is my vote.

Would be fun to try this with no guys on max or rookie scale contracts

Davis
Zion

Ja

Vote Anthony Davis
Nominate Dennis Smith Jr

V Lebron
N George

Lebron
Zion

I'm voting AD, but I'm not sure about it. My gut tells me I wouldn't trade a locked up AD for Bron. But I also don't know that I would do the inverse.

Lebron
Dame

LeBron
Zion

vote: Davis
nominate: Lillard

vote: Lebron
nominate: Jimmy Butler

Vote: Davis
Nominate: Lillard

Davis
Zion

LeBron
Zion

BTW...why aren’t these votes done with a poll?

And nominate via thread.

Just askin for a friend...

shrink wrote:LeBron

Fast forward to 2030 LeBron: “Hey Luka, congrats on another MVP award. As a free agent, don’t you think it’s about time you wrote yourself into NBA history and came to the Lakers? Here in LA, we win championships, and have the very best players in NBA history like, ahem, yours truly. Sure, your Hornets look promising, but we have a full cast for you here, and more waiting to come to LA. So wouldn’t you like your final four year run be as a Laker?”

Nominate Zion

So...here's my thoughts on LeBron, and I'll admit up front they're a bit unorthodox/contrarian.

I don't think Bron has a ton of specifically trade value (relative to his on-court and financial impact). Obviously he has immense value to the Lakers as a basketball player, and to the league both as a player and as a marketing focus/brand ambassador/etc. Because of this he has IMMENSE personal leverage. He's also 36, an absolute lock first ballot HOFer and one of the greatest players of all time even if he retires tomorrow. He's won multiple championships and has hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank. But trade value specifically is driven by buyers as well as sellers. There's nothing to stop him from just...retiring if he ends up in a situation that isn't to his liking. So the list of teams that are potential serious buyers in a trade for LeBron are basically current championship contenders who are also in cities that Bron would want to live in which leaves (by my count) the Clippers, Heat, and maybe Nets as possibilities.

Again, not to shed any doubt on his value as a player. Just think he's in a unique situation compared to every other superstar in the league where he could legitimately just walk away if he wanted to and still walk away with his legacy 99% intact.