DEN/CLE/NOP/MIL

[HornetJail]

based on an espn rumor that CLE is trying to get Peyton Watson and re-sign Harden... only way to do it is to dump Strus and Schroeder on other teams.


Denver trades Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, 2031 SAC 2nd
Denver receives Kevin Porter Jr, 2031 1st CLE (which then the Pels can swap for the worse of DEN/CLE)

Cleveland trades Dennis Schroeder, Max Strus, 2031 1st unp, 2030 1st swap (to MIL), 2032 SAC 2nd, 2033 CLE 2nd
Cleveland receives Peyton Watson

NOP trades nothing
NOP receives Dennis Schroeder (into MLE), rights to swap own 2031 for worse of DEN/CLE 1st, 2031 SAC 2nd

Milwaukee trades Kevin Porter Jr
Milwaukee receives Max Strus, Zeke Nnaji (both into Giannis TPE), rights to swap 2030 1st (currently can swap worse of MIL/POR for MIA 1st) for 2030 CLE 1st, 2032 SAC 2nd, 2033 CLE 2nd

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Watson, Harden, and any other minimum signings would need to share roughly $55M to stay under the apron. I assume that would be roughly $21M for Watson, $29M for Harden, and the last 3 spots get filled out by rookie minimums.

Watson fits seamlessly between the Mitchell/Harden ball dominant backcourt and the Mobley/Allen twin towers frontcourt, let's say he signs for roughly 5/125, since it's rumored he wants Christian Braun's contract. that starts around $21M.

Harden signs for 3/94M starting at around 29M. All guaranteed, probably makes up for the $13M paycut he's taking this season to make this work.

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Denver saves a ton of money here and adds an extra shot creator for the bench which is very lacking.

Cleveland gets their guy, clears money to re-sign Harden from underneath the first apron.

Pels rent out their MLE for the year, get a vet guard for the season, and [hopefully] profit with an upside pick swap from two teams that will probably be ancient or rebuilding in 2031.

Bucks do the same kind of thing as NOLA, rent out their cap space for the year (and $8M next year) and add swap rights to a pick that's already been swapped a few times for a bit of extra upside, plus some 2nds. Could see Strus being valued at a couple additional seconds by a playoff team at the deadline as well.

[jbk1234]

I would not trade all that draft capital for Watson. I'm not saying the Cavs won't panic, but let's be real here, he's a risk on the contract he wants before you've added a single first. It's a 35-game sample size and he didn't exactly scorch the nets in the postseason.

[lordjeff05]

Would Milwaukee say yes to adding Jordan Poole in exchange for Myles turner and keeping the assets the Pels would have received in the initial trade?

[psman2]

NO is only 9.8m under the 1st apron, they cannot use the full MLE to take in Schroeder. Plus I doubt NO wants to go into the tax for a low value swap. NO would need to send out 5m to stay under the apron to absorb him into the MLE. And a few million more to stay out of the tax.

[toooskies]

I’d rather the Cavs offer Watson the MLE and if Denver doesn’t match, waive and stretch Schroder and Strus. And if Denver matches, maybe provide value to help with Denver’s salary problems beyond that by acquiring Cam Johnson or Christian Braun.

[JayMKE]

Would rather keep KPJ than whatever this is. Not helping Cleveland get Watson when the Bucks are targeting him, Bucks just cut Cleveland out and negotiates deal with Denver themselves. Denver has to come down to the price of what it will cost the Bucks to open up salary, if they demand more then the Bucks can make an offer Denver doesn’t want to match or get nothing. Obviously this isn’t two FRPs, I’m not sure it takes a FRP for the Bucks to open up more cap space. Watson would be a good fit on the Bucks and if Denver is reasonable they can get some vets for immediate help to Jokic.

[JayMKE]

Would Milwaukee say yes to adding Jordan Poole in exchange for Myles turner and keeping the assets the Pels would have received in the initial trade?

Bucks have no spot for Poole. Poole checks all the same boxes as Herro but not as good. I don’t think that 2031 swap can even be traded and 2031 SRP is a lol. So no, we can’t.

[bgrep14]

Massive overpay for Cleveland. Merrill, Schroeder, and 2031 top 5 protected 1st for Watson on a 4/90 is about the most I’d trade.

Cleveland: Merrill, Schroeder, and Allen
Cleveland: Watson (4/90), Kuminga (3/36), and Okongwu

Denver: Watson
Denver: Schroeder, Merrill, Atlanta 1st

Atlanta: Okongwu, Kuminga, Atlanta 1st
Atlanta: Allen

[jbk1234]

Massive overpay for Cleveland. Merrill, Schroeder, and 2031 top 5 protected 1st for Watson on a 4/90 is about the most I’d trade.

Cleveland: Merrill, Schroeder, and Allen
Cleveland: Watson (4/90), Kuminga (3/36), and Okongwu

Denver: Watson
Denver: Schroeder, Merrill, Atlanta 1st

Atlanta: Okongwu, Kuminga, Atlanta 1st
Atlanta: Allen

Denver can't take back anywhere near that much money legally.

The Cavs need to send out Strus as well to finish the trade below the first apron.

Kuminga doesn't want to sign a three-year deal for that little.

The Cavs don't like either Watson or Kuminga enough to give up Allen (I'm not even sure about Merrill tbh).