RealGM

IND in: Walker Kessler and Rui Hachimura
UTA in: Jalen Hood Schifino, unprotect 2027 LAL FRP, 2029 lightly protected LAL FRP, 2025 lightly protected IND FRP
LAL in: Myles Turner

IND trades a FRP and an expiring Turner for a young anchor big that can improve their defense, play in transition and most importantly fits their timeline. Rui also helps as a versatile 4 if they decide to move on from Obi. If not, they can flip Rui for value.

UTA cashes in on Kessler by receiving two FRPs and having their LAL pick unprotected.

LAL trade Rui and draft capital for a spacing big that can play alongside AD.

indiana cant trade 2025 1st as they owe 2026 to toronto

I also don't have Indy adding value to swap Turner for Kessler.

Indy is most likely not trading Myles Turner for Walker Kessler/Rui. They're definitely not paying a 1st to do so. For Indy, the style of play of Myles Turner versus other centers matters greatly. That Myles Turner takes almost 60% of his field goal attempts outside of 10', and almost 45% of his field goal attempts from behind the arc is a key contributor to the offensive system of Indiana. It's also why Thomas Bryant was a seamless fit as the backup 5. With a lot of drives, and Pascal Siakam operating best in the mid to high post, swapping an outside shooter in Turner for Kessler and his "ground and pound game" of solely shooting inside of 10' (96% of his career attempts) means that Indy will need to stagger Siakam and Kessler, meaning Kessler would be locked in as a backup that can max out his playing time in the 15 minutes per night that Siakam sits, lest the offensive system has to completely change.

Also, as useful as Rui is, he's buried quite deep with Siakam, Obi, Walker, Nesmith, and Mathurin at the 3/4.

No from Utah. Unprotect the 2029 FRP for starters.

Pacers are much more likely to trade a contract to make room to re-sign Turner than to trade him.

SkyHook wrote:No from Utah. Unprotect the 2029 FRP for starters.

Am I missing something? You wouldn't trade Walker Kessler for 3 first round picks (1 of which is a 2027 LAL unprotected)?

MrIrrelevant wrote:

SkyHook wrote:No from Utah. Unprotect the 2029 FRP for starters.

Am I missing something? You wouldn't trade Walker Kessler for 3 first round picks (1 of which is a 2027 LAL unprotected)?

It's not 3 picks, we already own the Lakers' 27 pick top 4 protected.......

MrIrrelevant wrote:

SkyHook wrote:No from Utah. Unprotect the 2029 FRP for starters.

Am I missing something? You wouldn't trade Walker Kessler for 3 first round picks (1 of which is a 2027 LAL unprotected)?

The chance of the LA pick being top 4 is extremely low. And you want protections on the other two picks.

Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

TBF, Danny will absolutely ask for 3 unprotected firsts.

No one should pay that, but he will ask.

Texas Chuck wrote:I also don't have Indy adding value to swap Turner for Kessler.

Agreed. I think it is directionally wrong for both teams, though. Turner is better now and stretches the court next to Siakam, Kessler is younger and still on a rookie contract.

Andre Roberstan wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

TBF, Danny will absolutely ask for 3 unprotected firsts.

No one should pay that, but he will ask.

Agreed. Unprotecting 2027 and sending 2029, IMO unprotected, is about right on value. Now, maybe LA shouldn't pay that, and maybe Utah likes Kessler enough not to accept a fair offer, but to me that's relatively fair for a player of Kessler's caliber who is still on a rookie deal.

Andre Roberstan wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

TBF, Danny will absolutely ask for 3 unprotected firsts.

No one should pay that, but he will ask.

I mean I assume in most negotiations, all GM's start out extremely high because who knows maybe someone will pay it, but more likely it just gives you more room to negotiate down to a value you like.

But this is different. On this board, the belief isn't that's a starting point to come down from, but a real belief that his value is that high. And that shows how well Ainge uses the media. Because of how that value has stuck.

Texas Chuck wrote:

Andre Roberstan wrote:

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

TBF, Danny will absolutely ask for 3 unprotected firsts.

No one should pay that, but he will ask.

I mean I assume in most negotiations, all GM's start out extremely high because who knows maybe someone will pay it, but more likely it just gives you more room to negotiate down to a value you like.

But this is different. On this board, the belief isn't that's a starting point to come down from, but a real belief that his value is that high. And that shows how well Ainge uses the media. Because of how that value has stuck.

Ainge is in some ways unique there, but that gets into things I cannot say on board

MrIrrelevant wrote:

SkyHook wrote:No from Utah. Unprotect the 2029 FRP for starters.

Am I missing something? You wouldn't trade Walker Kessler for 3 first round picks (1 of which is a 2027 LAL unprotected)?

The Jazz own the 2027 LAL FRP if it falls 5-30. It's been discussed among Jazz and Laker fans multiple times on this board that unprotecting the top four spots has an equivalent worth of a lower FRP; the 2025 CLE FRP was agreed upon as a fair exchange by posters on both sides. (Not saying that's absolute consensus, but it was generally accepted.)

So yes, the 2029 LAL FRP unprotected in addition to that is a reasonable expectation, imo. The Indy pick is currently in the 20s; I'd forgo that for the added upside on the LAL pick.

And I'll continue to state that I'm in the "Do not trade Kessler" camp. He is—not he projects to be, but he is right now—an elite defender (at the rim and in space), rim finisher, rebounder (both ends). The best that a rebuilding team can do is to identify the keepers and hang on to them.

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. Shows what a media manipulating genius Danny Ainge is that he has most of a fanbase believing the 20th best center in the league who wouldn't be in a playoff closing lineup for most teams is worth multiple premium assets.

I can only imagine how Utah fans would feel if they didn't have Kessler and were asked to pay this kind of price for Mark Williams or Ware or Lively or Missi. They would correctly laugh long and loudly.

Just pointing out that absolutely no one here suggested that Kessler was worth three unprotected FRPs. Unprotecting the top four spots on a lightly protected FRP (valued equivalent to a low FRP) plus one unprotected FRP seems like the right ballpark. Feel free to disagree with that valuation, but let's make sure we're talking about the same thing here.

Not sure if I see is paying a future 1st, Rui, and unprotecting the 1st for a guy we need to pay this summer and is 29

If we are going to pay this, I assume we want the young C in Kessler who can be with us for a decade and is the better defender at this point it seems like

Turner will stretch the floor though

Does Indi have any interest in moving Nembhard? Would Knecht on Indi make any sense (for a Nembhard or a Turner deal)?

nzahir wrote:
Does Indi have any interest in moving Nembhard?

Nope. He seems to be the glue that makes everything work better. He’s infinitely unlikely to get moved, as he seems to be the long term pairing at the guards with Haliburton.

Would Knecht on Indi make any sense (for a Nembhard or a Turner deal)?

Not really. With Mathurin, Nesmith, Nembhard, Sheppard, and Walker at the 2/3 spots, Knecht isn’t a need. Like, he’d hold some value as he should, but he wouldn’t really fill a need.

Texas Chuck wrote:Not many players are worth 3 unprotected 1sts. Walker Kessler is absolutely not one of them. Wild that we've allowed his valuation to get this high on this board. .

Yeah, nobody said otherwise. This is for 2 picks and removal of top 4 protection on a pick Utah already owns.

We've also been over this before. Utah isn't looking to trade Kessler for what anybody on this board considers fair value. They see him as a keeper that they might consider trading for an overpay. Personally, I think Ainge would have a hard time turning down 2 unprotected firsts, considering that at least one has a decent chance of paying off big. I think he turns down 2 picks that are both protected. Nothing to do with what anybody considers fair value, but more along the lines of what it would take for Ainge to pull the trigger.