2017 Trade & Free Agency Ideas & Discussion

[LukasBMW]

Stein reported Heat may be in play for Hayward. The 2018 pick may lose a lot of value after this summer.

Patience. The Heat take shortcuts. Sometimes it works. But it could just as easily cause them to end up with an overpriced, broken down roster that ends up in turmoil at just the wrong time. They're going to pay Dion Waiters and James Johnson this summer. Dragic's up there in age. Whiteside is weak mentally. They did better than I expected this last year, but because they don't have a steady stream of improving young talent to build on, all it's gonna take is one or two things going wrong for that ship to hit a reef. But they could also continue to cruise. You just can't know.

WELP...

Guess we got to wait and see. If Dragic/Waiters/Whiteside/Gordon fire on all cylinders, then they could be a top 4 seed in the east.

But they could easily become a dysfunctional lottery team if Dragic gets hurt, Waiters take a vacation after his big payday, Whiteside destroys the locker room, and Hayword doesn't sign or signs but can't carry the load himself.

[LukasBMW]

One thing is for sure though. If I was an NBA player, I'd sign in Miami in a hearbeat. A HEARTBEAT!

1. No state income tax.
2. Warm winter climate. Wear shorts and flip flops to the arena for all 41 home games.
3. Miami Beach Club scene
4. Miami exotic car scene
5. Top notch organization with high end accommodations.

Seriously. Miami, Phoenix, LA would be my top 3 cities with Miami clear at 1.

[Zelaznyrules]

We could sign Hayward, Bledsoe could stay healthy, and we could snag Drummond for Knight/Len and a Miami pick in addition to drafting whoever becomes the rookie of the year.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/ROY
Hayward/TJ
Chris/Bender
Drummond/Chandler

We'd still get DESTROYED by GSW.

Sure but that would be the case even if we drafted and acquired players that 5 years down the road might be even better than Durant or Curry are today. We have to start building towards something even if today's ceiling falls short of our ultimate goals. I'd pass on going this way because I have doubts about value but not because it isn't enough to get us over the hump.

Simply not true. Father time is undefeated. Durant at 33 will not be the player he is today. Same for the rest of the roster. Building for 5 years from now is EXACTLY what we should be doing.

You completely missed my point AND you got an and1 for doing so? I'm not sure where this went off track? I am in agreement with you, in fact that was part of my point. But you don't just draft and win immediately. We could draft 3 players this season that go onto become all time greats and it would still take a few years (or a few years more) for GS to decline and us to improve enough to tip the scales. This GS team will not last forever - injuries, personal/personnel issues, free agency and time will take them down like every other dominant team.

Not trying to win now simply because we don't have a chance this season is shortsighted but not as shortsighted as selling our future for a chance to become a middling team today. We appear to be building the right way, through the draft and player development. I see no need to change this approach. But if we have the opportunity to grab a good young player that fits with our time frame without mortgaging our future, that's great.

[AtheJ415]

Sure but that would be the case even if we drafted and acquired players that 5 years down the road might be even better than Durant or Curry are today. We have to start building towards something even if today's ceiling falls short of our ultimate goals. I'd pass on going this way because I have doubts about value but not because it isn't enough to get us over the hump.

Simply not true. Father time is undefeated. Durant at 33 will not be the player he is today. Same for the rest of the roster. Building for 5 years from now is EXACTLY what we should be doing.

You completely missed my point AND you got an and1 for doing so? I'm not sure where this went off track? I am in agreement with you, in fact that was part of my point. But you don't just draft and win immediately. We could draft 3 players this season that go onto become all time greats and it would still take a few years (or a few years more) for GS to decline and us to improve enough to tip the scales. This GS team will not last forever - injuries, personal/personnel issues, free agency and time will take them down like every other dominant team.

Not trying to win now simply because we don't have a chance this season is shortsighted but not as shortsighted as selling our future for a chance to become a middling team today. We appear to be building the right way, through the draft and player development. I see no need to change this approach. But if we have the opportunity to grab a good young player that fits with our time frame without mortgaging our future, that's great.

No. I didn't miss your point. I disagree with your point entirely. We shouldn't be worried about trying to win now, and that is exactly because the ceiling would fall short of our goals. Because our future is better suited to continue to go younger and younger, which means more losses and more tanking, why would we try to win and make it harder for us to draft the young talent needed to build a contender in the future? 2020 is the earliest we should be building towards winning now.

[bwgood77]

Bledsoe has his moments and can be very good, and can do a lot of things, and perhaps he is underrated by some here, but he is overrated by some as well. He falls on the wrong side of the chart here...



Being in his prime, with likely a limited window, and an impending contract in a couple of years, while we have a bunch of raw young guys, he just doesn't make a ton of sense to keep, and his value is as high as it will ever be likely, so it probably makes sense to deal him if you get the right offer.

Am I reading this right? Is Harden on the 'good defense' side? That would negate any credibility this chart has, wouldn't it?

I was surprised to see that too. Looking at most of the players on the left on defense, they all made perfect sense. But I did look up Harden's advanced stats and he had his best year defensively per DBPM. On the positive side..up from the negative side last year and many years....usually right around neutral but +1.5 this year. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01.html

I'm sure it has it's flaws as do any advanced measure but most of the players look like they are in the right place.

[Zelaznyrules]

Simply not true. Father time is undefeated. Durant at 33 will not be the player he is today. Same for the rest of the roster. Building for 5 years from now is EXACTLY what we should be doing.

You completely missed my point AND you got an and1 for doing so? I'm not sure where this went off track? I am in agreement with you, in fact that was part of my point. But you don't just draft and win immediately. We could draft 3 players this season that go onto become all time greats and it would still take a few years (or a few years more) for GS to decline and us to improve enough to tip the scales. This GS team will not last forever - injuries, personal/personnel issues, free agency and time will take them down like every other dominant team.

Not trying to win now simply because we don't have a chance this season is shortsighted but not as shortsighted as selling our future for a chance to become a middling team today. We appear to be building the right way, through the draft and player development. I see no need to change this approach. But if we have the opportunity to grab a good young player that fits with our time frame without mortgaging our future, that's great.

No. I didn't miss your point. I disagree with your point entirely. We shouldn't be worried about trying to win now, and that is exactly because the ceiling would fall short of our goals. Because our future is better suited to continue to go younger and younger, which means more losses and more tanking, why would we try to win and make it harder for us to draft the young talent needed to build a contender in the future? 2020 is the earliest we should be building towards winning now.

I give up. Where did I say I want to win now? I said the freaking opposite. I'm in favor of building through the draft and player development. I'm not against winning now but I am against it being our goal (at the front office level). I want us to build towards a contender which is a process and 2020 kind of happens naturally. Young players typically lose games so I see no point in "tanking" right now as it will likely happen organically. Play the young guys and trade Eric, losing will take care of itself.

[Villalobos]

From skimming it looks too generous to Deron, Kemba, Reggie, Lin, Dragic, and Lillard. Isaiah should be dead last. Harden's is lol. Rubio is very underrated there.

[jcsunsfan]

I just don't buy that chart

[MathiasPW]

All individual defensive metrics are (very) skewed towards how good your team was on that end. The Wolves sucked, that's why Rubio looks so bad. The Rockets were actually pretty good, as they had one of the best net ratings (off minus def) in the league. That definitely helps Harden. Plus, he had a ton of steals, as I remember from Fantasy

[batsmasher]

OK, where do we all sit with Sauce's next contract? I think of him similarly to Delly last season - who ended up with 4/$37M. Plum's on $11-12M per season and that's crazy but shows what FOs are prepared to pay.

I think the Suns should go after 4 years as I think he can outperform the number we give him. 4/$40M? Paying a bit of a luxury but I just can't see how his game declines from where it is. I project him as a very solid backup big.

The concern of course is his lack of versatility and rim protection. We may need something a bit more mobile at the 5 (like Bender/Chriss) and whoever we pair him with in the front court must have good length.

[kennydorglas]

All individual defensive metrics are (very) skewed towards how good your team was on that end. The Wolves sucked, that's why Rubio looks so bad. The Rockets were actually pretty good, as they had one of the best net ratings (off minus def) in the league. That definitely helps Harden. Plus, he had a ton of steals, as I remember from Fantasy

Yep, especially those SportVU track defense stats ("player X scored Y points when guarded by player Z")
It's a very lame approach to gauge defense.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Ultimately players 4-15 need tradable contracts for when you get 3 Max Players.

I'd say Williams $30m / 3 would be the most to fit into that criteria.

Though once you get too many of them (add up Knight, Dudley, Williams) that might come to 30-40% of the cap for nothing players.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

OK, where do we all sit with Sauce's next contract? I think of him similarly to Delly last season - who ended up with 4/$37M. Plum's on $11-12M per season and that's crazy but shows what FOs are prepared to pay.

I think the Suns should go after 4 years as I think he can outperform the number we give him. 4/$40M? Paying a bit of a luxury but I just can't see how his game declines from where it is. I project him as a very solid backup big.

The concern of course is his lack of versatility and rim protection. We may need something a bit more mobile at the 5 (like Bender/Chriss) and whoever we pair him with in the front court must have good length.

I think it's important to keep Williams in large part for the chemistry bonus he provides. He's willing to play any role. He's connected with the city and the other young players on our roster. Smart, jovial, genuinely excited to cheer on those ahead of him in the rotation, patient. He's put in a lot of good will here and I think it should be rewarded with a market-value contract.

I don't think he'll get an offer in excess of $7 million per right out of the gates due to the fact that he hasn't won many games and that he doesn't fit a clear role for most teams (who are all looking for rim protection and shooting). I hope we come right out with a starting offer in the $6 mil per range and tell him that we love him and if he can get a better deal to come talk to us, because we'd love to have him back. I think it's possible that better offers for him come a little later on in free agency, so we'd be wise to sign him at a slight premium from the get-go, partly as a gesture of good will. So if his agent sees our $6 mil and returns with, say, $10 or $11, I try to get a deal at $9 mil per as long as we get a team option for the fourth year, when the Class of '16 extensions come up for negotiation.

But the truth is, I'd rather have Williams at $11 or $12 that Drummond at $20. So who knows what happens.

[NTB]

Read on Twitter

Calderon and Jason Terry? Didn't they die already?

I support the idea of adding a veteran but not grandpas. I think FO or Dudley or both said that we need to bridge the age difference or something like that. Then add someone like 27-28-29, not 45.

[TOO]

Not sure why we'd add guards that are older than dirt.. We have the almighty Ronnie Price and Leandro Barbosa filling that role.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Yeah I'm not opposed to having some adults around but it absolutely can not come at the expense of future cap flexibility or playing time for the youngsters. Keep it to 1 year deals on guys who won't demand being in the rotation.

Or add someone in their mid to late 20s who can both be a leader and part of the core moving forward.

Also on a broader view at some point your young guys need to step up and become leaders.

But ultimately i do expect they overpay some vet who blocks a young guy because its kind of this regimes style. I'm not a mcd hater but he's yet to build a roster that fits well and makes sense so until he does i have my doubts.

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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Read on Twitter

Calderon and Jason Terry? Didn't they die already?

I support the idea of adding a veteran but not grandpas. I think FO or Dudley or both said that we need to bridge the age difference or something like that. Then add someone like 27-28-29, not 45.

I like the idea of adding Calderon or Terry. Mo Speights I'm less sure of. Amir Johnson I don't really understand with Tyson around.

That said, in general, I prefer we prioritize the sage geezers this offseason. No additional rotation players, please. We have a ton. And my guess is we'll add another big contract via trade - even more reason to avoid them.

[carey]

I really like the guy but you can't give Big Sauce $10M/yr. Not with the current contracts we have that contribute very little.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I really like the guy but you can't give Big Sauce $10M/yr. Not with the current contracts we have that contribute very little.

Yeah I'm strongly against that.

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[Midnight_Suns]

You have to unload Chandler if you pay Sauce and Len. We cant have $30mil+ tied up in three centers that aren't starting caliber players.