RealGM

Deal 1:

BKN: Kuminga + Kyle Anderson
GSW: Finney-Smith and the weakest of Brooklyn's 3 firsts this year, since Kuminga and DeMar make no sense together. But

Golden State gets a 3+D forward and a first to probably use in a trade now or this summer, or just to draft an actual 7 footer or a rotation guy they like since they're getting 2 guys for 4 (if you count the injured Melton, 3 if you don't).

Deal 2:
Kings in: RJ Barrett, LAL 2nd rounder 2025, LAL 2027 2nd
Kings out: DeMar Derozan

Kings aren't winning the title this year, or likely even a round. This keeps them competitive for a play-in spot and they get 11 years younger in the Demar to Barrett move and add a pair of Laker 2nds (the Toronto one particularly should be decent) which can maybe fetch a backup center who doesn't completely suck, like Nick Richards, or they can take some 2nd round shots at building a backup frontcourt assuming they draft, and right now they're down 4 2nd rounders, so this gets them halfway back to normal. Maybe they're used as the sweetener in a Huerter or Lyles trade if one is out there to upgrade the bench.

Raptors in: Melton, Gabe Vincent, GSW 2025 1st (top 10 protected)
Raptors out: RJ Barrett, PDX 2nd rounder 2025

Raptors take on Vincent's bad year but get a mid to late 1st for a pair of 2nd rounders and save 15M next season and 25M in the 2026-27 season. Solidifies the hard tank this year.

Warriors in: Demar, PDX 2nd rounder 2025
Warriors out: Melton, Payton JR, GSW 2025 1st (top 10 protected)

Warriors get Demar for an injured Melton and Payton JR and move down from say #22 in the draft to #35.

Lakers in: Payton JR
Lakers out: Gabe Vincent, LAL 2025 2nd rounder, LAL 2027 2nd rounder

Lakers get an upgrade at their perimeter defender and save 11M this summer. That frees up the non-tax MLE for them to use. Vincent's deal is probably worth close to two 2nds to get rid of, so adding Payton to give them a veteran dog on defence for 15 minutes a night makes it a positive, or maybe Payton JR is added to their movable salary (D-Lo Russell, Christie, Vanderbilt, Hachimura, Reaves if they get a star back) and that helps them make a big trade since less (or no if it's only Russell) bad money has to be taken back by the team sending them

I know RJ Barrett stuffs the box score this year. But he's still not a good offensive player. He's never been a good offensive player. And he's a poor defender. There is little to no upside here so getting younger is meaningless. I can't see why the Kings would do this.

I can't see Brooklyn giving up picks this season, especially for a pending free agent.

Texas Chuck wrote:I know RJ Barrett stuffs the box score this year. But he's still not a good offensive player. He's never been a good offensive player. And he's a poor defender. There is little to no upside here so getting younger is meaningless. I can't see why the Kings would do this.

He was good last yr with raptors and was good again when playing with barnes this year. I think Toronto values his upside more than they would a late 1st.

TheNetsFan wrote:I can't see Brooklyn giving up picks this season, especially for a pending free agent.

Maybe one of the second rounders but not a first rounder.

Godaddycurse wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:I know RJ Barrett stuffs the box score this year. But he's still not a good offensive player. He's never been a good offensive player. And he's a poor defender. There is little to no upside here so getting younger is meaningless. I can't see why the Kings would do this.

He was good last yr with raptors and was good again when playing with barnes this year. I think Toronto values his upside more than they would a late 1st.

I mean he shot the 3 way better than expected. But he's back down to below average efficiency while using a bunch of possessions. He's more of a playmaker than he's been, but that's offset by some of the turnover issues. And bottom line is team offenses have never looked good with him on the court over any meaningful sample.

Lots of players you are dismissive of who are more effective offensive players than him. Curious what you are seeing to make you believe there is potential to be a positive impact offensive player? The data is not kind to him so I'm assuming its something you are seeing.

Texas Chuck wrote:

Godaddycurse wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:I know RJ Barrett stuffs the box score this year. But he's still not a good offensive player. He's never been a good offensive player. And he's a poor defender. There is little to no upside here so getting younger is meaningless. I can't see why the Kings would do this.

He was good last yr with raptors and was good again when playing with barnes this year. I think Toronto values his upside more than they would a late 1st.

I mean he shot the 3 way better than expected. But he's back down to below average efficiency while using a bunch of possessions. He's more of a playmaker than he's been, but that's offset by some of the turnover issues. And bottom line is team offenses have never looked good with him on the court over any meaningful sample.

Lots of players you are dismissive of who are more effective offensive players than him. Curious what you are seeing to make you believe there is potential to be a positive impact offensive player? The data is not kind to him so I'm assuming its something you are seeing.

he's back down to below average efficiency when forced to be the 1st option/handling way too much. his TS is >62% or something when playing with Barnes this year

Godaddycurse wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:

Godaddycurse wrote:
He was good last yr with raptors and was good again when playing with barnes this year. I think Toronto values his upside more than they would a late 1st.

I mean he shot the 3 way better than expected. But he's back down to below average efficiency while using a bunch of possessions. He's more of a playmaker than he's been, but that's offset by some of the turnover issues. And bottom line is team offenses have never looked good with him on the court over any meaningful sample.

Lots of players you are dismissive of who are more effective offensive players than him. Curious what you are seeing to make you believe there is potential to be a positive impact offensive player? The data is not kind to him so I'm assuming its something you are seeing.

he's back down to below average efficiency when forced to be the 1st option/handling way too much. his TS is >62% or something when playing with Barnes this year

Agree. Like 95% of the players in the NBA, RJ's efficiency suffers when he takes on too much of a role. I'd like to see RJ in the context of a coherent starting 5 where he is the 3rd option complimenting 1st/2nd options Barnes/Quickley. Can he produce efficiently in that context? Unknown.

Barnes-Barrett-Quickly-Poeltl-Dick (a.k.a. BBQ Yak Dick) is the pretty obvious 5 TOR would like to try out. They've all been on the roster 11+ months since 1/1/2024, yet have only played a grand total of 4 minutes (!) together because of injuries. Perfect for tanking, but frustrating because we really don't know if TOR has a core worth building around and which players should be retained/moved.