RealGM

This is a mix of outnumbered Summer FA / Fantasy trade thread, so if it gets redundant I will just lock it.

So, July 1st, Toby and JB take Max offers from LA/Brooklyn and are gone. Leonard goes to LA at midnight, Kyrie and Durant to NY at midnight.

Your EB, assuming you don’t immediately resign/be fired... what do you do?

That won’t happen, but in that scenario, you tank.

1-Fire EB

Find some other 2nd tier FAs.

If not..

Stay patient. Accumulate asset while competing then strike at next disgruntled player. Similar to what OKC did.

You cant keep firing people. People nowadays are spoiled as sh*t. Sooner no good players, coaches, GMs would want to work for u.

Offer Kemba the max, see what shakes out in free agency, good teams will need to dump good players for luxury tax, work the fringes.

You keep moving forward....We have our cornerstone players. Keep building through the draft, sign a few stop gap players. If Butler and Harris leave that's not going to mean the sky is falling. I personally think we'll see a big jump in overall game from Ben and Embiid. Add some depth around them, an athlete, a shooter, Patrick Beverley. Or....Offer Kemba Walker the max!

I wonder how Kemba and Ben would fit together.

I try to get Kemba. If i cant, I probably cry and stop following basketball closely from now on.

I think OP just left out that Kemba also signs a max somewhere else. Indiana, Charlotte, NY/Bkn, either LA. Doesn't matter. The idea is all the max players are gone.

FlyingArrow wrote:I think OP just left out that Kemba also signs a max somewhere else. Indiana, Charlotte, NY/Bkn, either LA. Doesn't matter. The idea is all the max players are gone.

Then we are probably a perennial 3/4 seed. Thunder of the East.

FlyingArrow wrote:I think OP just left out that Kemba also signs a max somewhere else. Indiana, Charlotte, NY/Bkn, either LA. Doesn't matter. The idea is all the max players are gone.

... if I name a player I want to sign are you just going to say he's gone too?

Kemba
Horford
Brogdon
Middleton

Trade for someone like Conley or Aaron Gordon

Plenty of other options.

Mirotic and KCP would be two guys I go for in free agency and then try to trade for Taurean Prince. All three are capable of 15 ppg and good three point shooters as well. Harrison Barnes is also on the market too which is interesting.

PhillyPhilly wrote:Mirotic and KCP would be two guys I go for in free agency and then try to trade for Taurean Prince. All three are capable of 15 ppg and good three point shooters as well. Harrison Barnes is also on the market too which is interesting.

yuck.............

XtremeDunkz wrote:

PhillyPhilly wrote:Mirotic and KCP would be two guys I go for in free agency and then try to trade for Taurean Prince. All three are capable of 15 ppg and good three point shooters as well. Harrison Barnes is also on the market too which is interesting.

yuck.............

Says someone who thinks getting Kemba is the solution when he likes the ball In his hands as much as Ben does and is also a liability on defense? "Yuck" indeed.

Don’t rush in that scenario.
Ben and Joel are good enough to make the playoffs in the East.

Sign one year guys that fall through the cracks and bench guys that you think can help you in the future.
Save some money for the trade deadline and accumulate what assets you can to help you trade for star players or elite bench players next year.

It would be a hard sell to the general public after quote unquote going for it this past season, but better than rushing it and having a bad fit like Kemba or over paying KCP.
Don’t throw away the process with those bad signings. I know Joel can’t play forever but wasting one year for a more optimal star signing or better team building of the bench would be worth it.

I don't think it's such a disaster scenario.

In the end our title aspirations hinge mostly on Embiid and Simmons being the real thing. If they are we should be able to find good roleplayers to surround them with (if the FO is competent). If they are not Butler and Harris are not going to get us there.

In the end I don't think that Butler and Harris on max contracts over the next 4-5 years are so valuable that if we lose them it will be a disaster, provided again that we have a competent FO who can identify and sign underrated and undervalued (role)players or go a and get another free agent star.

Tough scenario but really interesting topic for discussion.

I guess I'd start by targeting Brogdon and Middleton, which has the side benefit of weakening your biggest competition going forward.

4D Chess..
Use cap space for Middleton and BroLo or Marc Gasol.

You get a third star who can fit with Ben and Biid. And your much needed back-up center. All that while weakening both your top rivals in the conference.

I also think this might be a situation that requires to consider trading Ben and rebuilding entirely around players that fit with Joel - although hopefully the long-term prognosis on his health factors in there.