RealGM

In a nutshell :
Butler to GSW
Wiggins to CLE
Randle to MIA
Stewart and Slowmo to MIN
DET get his 25 1st back.


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MIA
in : J. Randle, C. Levert, GSW 2025 1st (#16-#30), CLE 2030 1st (#16-#30)
out : J. Butler, Alec Burks
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Why : MIA get two protected 1st picks and expiring contracts for Jimmy, it's seem hard to ask for more in the current situation.
Worst case scenario, Randle takes his PO, but he is expiring for the 2026 summer when MIA are expected to chase big free agents.
For this year, Randle can give MIA another 20ppg player and should be enough firepower to help them contend for the PO.

Herro - Jaquez - Highsmith - Randle - Adebayo
Rozier - Levert - Robinson - Jovic - Ware


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GSW
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in : J. Butler, Ty Jerome
out : A. Wiggins, G. Payton II, Kyle Anderson, K. Looney, GSW 2025 1st (#16-#30), two 2nd
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Why : Give Steph another shot at the title, without sacrificing their young players (Kuminga, Moody, etc...) and for just one protected 1st pick and two 2nd.
The trade left them with only 12 player and no space under the 1st apron (hard caped), so another trade is mandatory to swap Hield or Kuminga contract into 3 small ones.

Curry - Schroëder - Butler - Kuminga - Green
Jerome - Podz - Hield - Moody - TJD


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CLE
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in : Anrew Wiggins, G. Payton II
out : C. Levert, M. Struss, Ty Jerome, CLE 2030 1st (#16-#30)
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Why : CLE get the missing piece in their starting five, with a player that fit perfectly their time-line and was a major contributor to the 2022 GSW title.
DP2 is probably a nice addition too, giving them more defensive power.

Garland - Mitchell - Wiggins - Mobley - Allen
GP2, Merill, Okoro, Wade, Niang


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MIN
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in : I. Stewart, K. Anderson, TOR 2025 2nd, WAS 2025 2nd, GSW 2nd
out : J. Randle, DET 2025 FRP (#14-#30)
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Why : MIN cut their losses with Randle and go back to the basics with 2 solid contributors who will help restore the defensive spirit of this team.
Stewart is young and under contract for 3 more years. He's a good rim protector with average 3pt skills. He will be a solid backup to Rudy and maybe a starter later if MIN decides to trade Gobert after this summer.
Slowmo was essential for Minni last year and he will help stabilise the bench by bringing some defence and playmaking.
The trade saves 9M in salary cap (and probably nearly 20-30M in effective payroll) for this year, and that should be enough for MIN to re-sign Naz Reid next year (but probably not enough to keep NAW).
The DET 1st is probably too much of a cost to dump Randle and get Stewart, but with two high second picks in exchange, it seems fair to me.
GSW give a 2nd to compensate Anderson contract.

DDV - ANT - McDaniels - Reid - Gobert
Conley - NAW - Slowmo - Stewart


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DET
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in : M. Struss, K. Looney, A. Burks, DET 2025 FRP (#14-#30), GSW 2nd
out : I. Stewart, TOR 2025 2nd, WAS 2025 2nd
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Why : DET get their 25 FRP back. This pick had protection on the next 3 years, preventing them from trading their pick on the next 3 years. So getting it back has some value for DET.
Struss is probably positive value for a playoff chasing team like DET. Looney can be a good mentor for Duren and will fill Stewart's minutes.
GSW give a 2nd to offset Looney's expiring salary.

Cade - Struss - THJ - Harris - Duren
Beasley - Thompson - Fontecchio - Holland - Looney

I'd probably do this for Miami but I need to know what happens to those picks if they don't convey. I'm not taking second round picks. They have to be real first rounders.

BBallFreak wrote:I'd probably do this for Miami but I need to know what happens to those picks if they don't convey. I'm not taking second round picks. They have to be real first rounders.

CLE owned their 2031 pick, so the protection can be lowered and extend to the next year.
idem for GSW with their 2026 and 2027 pick.

I'm not interested enough in moving Randle nor in the overall return to give up the Det 1st. I think the fit of those 2 would be fine but with so few 1st to be able to move this isn't something I'd burn one of them on. They've already got the Utah 2nd this year and I get that 2nds can always be moved later or traded into future years to me that isn't making up much to want me to do it.

No for DET

We have more than enough financial space to take in the unwanted contracts without sending out a significant contract, and I'd much, much rather have Stewart than our FRP returned

Detroit isn’t trading Stewart and two very good seconds for a non-lotto first, a lesser second, and castoffs. We’re taking on 10 million in salary and not getting paid for it — Stew is worth that first, and we lose on the rest of the deal.

Looney is a reanimated corpse and we don’t have Golden State’s witch doctor. Strus hasn’t looked good for three years and is clearly a bad contract. Alec Burks is on his last legs.

Not close.

Not saying that's stupid or anything, just trying to understand, why stewart is so valuable for DET fans ?
He is no longer in the starting five, his best position is the same than Duren and he play 10 min less than last year.

DET really want to keep a 15M/y backup ?

Kineto wrote:Not saying that's stupid or anything, just trying to understand, why stewart is so valuable for DET fans ?
He is no longer in the starting five, his best position is the same than Duren and he play 10 min less than last year.

DET really want to keep a 15M/y backup ?

Yes.

To elaborate:

Duren’s defense sucks and Stewart’s is near elite. Duren also gets in foul trouble frequently. Yes, Duren is a much better lob threat and a better rebounder, but he remains unreliable.

Stewart is essential to this team.

Kineto wrote:Not saying that's stupid or anything, just trying to understand, why stewart is so valuable for DET fans ?
He is no longer in the starting five, his best position is the same than Duren and he play 10 min less than last year.

DET really want to keep a 15M/y backup ?

He's an emotional leader of the team and provides toughness that detroit fans always respect. He's a role player. We know that. If he needs to be included in some deal that's a major long term upgrade to the starting unit, fans will understand. We aren't looking to move him to save money and we aren't looking to downgrade.

Yeah, he's not a throw-in to make the salaries work type of guy for us.

OP, I appreciate your big swing, and enjoyed reading your trade.

I had one question though for anyone. The deal sends Kyle Anderson to MIN, and despite his limitations, I agree that he’d really help the team right now. However, MIN traded him to GSW in a sign-and-trade on July 6, so I was under the impression he couldn’t be required for one year? I checked Spotrac, and they don’t note any restriction.

The Cavs don't make this trade. LeVert and Jerome are both playing better than Wiggins on a per-minute basis even after Wiggins' resurgence. Strus hasn't played enough this year to make a judgment on where he'll level off but he should fit perfectly in the offense when his shot settles in. The Cavs would not add a 1st on top to make this exchange.

(And btw, the Cavs can't trade their 2030 1st, it has to be their 2031 1st.)

Some wolves fans want Slowmo back, I am not one of them. Either way, this package is not worth a first.

shrink wrote:OP, I appreciate your big swing, and enjoyed reading your trade.

I had one question though for anyone. The deal sends Kyle Anderson to MIN, and despite his limitations, I agree that he’d really help the team right now. However, MIN traded him to GSW in a sign-and-trade on July 6, so I was under the impression he couldn’t be required for one year? I checked Spotrac, and they don’t note any restriction.

thanks.

For Anderson, I forgot that it was a sign and trade, and you must be right, it's may not be legal for the wolves to take him back.

(or was it only if the player is cut by his new team ?)

Kineto wrote:

shrink wrote:OP, I appreciate your big swing, and enjoyed reading your trade.

I had one question though for anyone. The deal sends Kyle Anderson to MIN, and despite his limitations, I agree that he’d really help the team right now. However, MIN traded him to GSW in a sign-and-trade on July 6, so I was under the impression he couldn’t be required for one year? I checked Spotrac, and they don’t note any restriction.

thanks.

For Anderson, I forgot that it was a sign and trade, and you must be right, it's may not be legal for the wolves to take him back.

(or was it only if the player is cut by his new team ?)

I’m not sure! A trade exception is reported, but I generally use Spotrac to correct me, so maybe it IS legal? I’m just confused.

For the record, I thought you did a very good job identifying what MIN would be looking for, and it’s a narrow, maybe non-existent window. Randle is leading the team in assists, so if he goes out, the team will definitely need help in an area where they are already weak. Maybe that’s means trading for a starting point guard, or maybe the team gets there simply with playmaking SloMo manufactured when he would play the PG role and settle the team down. That “settle down” effect is something the team needs - most of their losses this year happen when they can’t overcome one bad quarter. However, his weak three-point shooting would further hurt MIN’s outside spacing with Gobert and Jaden struggling.

The other big problem for MIN is that they don’t have a back up center. You addressed that as well with Isaiah Stewart, who could also function as a starting center if Gobert ever misses a game. Gobert/Naz/Stewart/SloMo is a decent enough front court. Good job there.

I’d be on the fence with this trade with the 2nds, which probably means you got the value close. If you wanted to dive deeper with MIN, a Randle trade means the team loses its second option. Also, if a deal takes back a lot of longterm salary, it might be worth including NAW. He’s been the brightest surprise for the team, and leads all Wolves in +/- by a large degree, but they simply may not be able to afford to bring him back. It would be a significant loss, but he would provide another asset for your trade-making.

Nice work.

Pretty sure the Cavs pass on this. We're overpaying for Wiggins so the Heat can get what they want for Butler.

tmorgan wrote:To elaborate:

Duren’s defense sucks and Stewart’s is near elite. Duren also gets in foul trouble frequently. Yes, Duren is a much better lob threat and a better rebounder, but he remains unreliable.

Stewart is essential to this team.

I'd add: Stewart is on the closing line up of any close game unless he is injured or in foul trouble.

While I understand why DET starts Duren for development reasons, I don't think he starts because he is better.

Also, on the OP, we need to build up assets, not consolidate them. I'd only be in favour of trading away a young rotation player if we get back someone who is appreciably better

jbk1234 wrote:Pretty sure the Cavs pass on this. We're overpaying for Wiggins so the Heat can get what they want for Butler.

Yeah, I'm not convinced Wiggins has positive value even with the box score numbers he's currently putting up the Dubs are 4.1 pp100 better with him off the floor than on this season.

The Cavs need high BBIQ players that are willing to give effort, move, cut, and pass and can shoot consistently and I don't expect them to disrupt team chemistry unless they can get that too.

Struss is probably positive value for a playoff chasing team like DET.

No. It's a big negative. I think a more reasonable deal might be Detroit eating that salary for the 2025 pick back, but no Stewart.

I'm pretty sure Randle is positive value.

in : I. Stewart, K. Anderson, TOR 2025 2nd, WAS 2025 2nd, GSW 2nd
out : J. Randle, DET 2025 FRP (#14-#30)

Inclined to do this with Minny (different filler than Anderson). Pretty sure Randle has positive value and could be flipped.