Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[9 and 20]

What about something like Poole for KCP and Wendell Carter Jr? Wiz would ask for a first rounder in exchange for taking on the extra year of WCJ, which helps them with longer term salary management - Wagner, Suggs, Banchero, etc.

Orlando gets some more scoring for the back court. Wiz get a couple more vets, good citizen types who can deal with the losing. Wiz might need to ship out/buy out Marcus Smart or Middleton to leave enough room for all the young guys. Wiz also get a big body to play next to Sarr.

Not sure I'd do it, even from the Wiz perspective, tbh, over just keeping Poole. Might depend on the draft pick we get.

Alternative might be more/better draft picks coming back and Middleton going out? Middleton for WCJ and/or Isaac and/or KCP plus some combo of draft picks/Anthony Black, if they're looking to dump salary?

[Skybox]

What about something like Poole for KCP and Wendell Carter Jr? Wiz would ask for a first rounder in exchange for taking on the extra year of WCJ, which helps them with longer term salary management - Wagner, Suggs, Banchero, etc.

Orlando gets some more scoring for the back court. Wiz get a couple more vets, good citizen types who can deal with the losing. Wiz might need to ship out/buy out Marcus Smart or Middleton to leave enough room for all the young guys. Wiz also get a big body to play next to Sarr.

I like this idea

[payitforward]

I see no point to any of this.

If Orlando wants Poole, they have to give us something we want. The only thing we want is draft capital. Other than that, it's just expiring salaries that could be useful. Or promising young players -- but Orlando won't be interested in giving any such.

In short... there is no deal here.

[pcbothwel]

I see no point to any of this.

If Orlando wants Poole, they have to give us something we want. The only thing we want is draft capital. Other than that, it's just expiring salaries that could be useful. Or promising young players -- but Orlando won't be interested in giving any such.

In short... there is no deal here.

What a confusing response.
Orlando needs a lead scoring guard and wing that be elite shooters and spread the floor. They have access to contract filler and multiple 1st that project to be in the 20's.

The Wiz need picks and have access to a lead scoring guard and wing that are elite shooters. WCJ is a good fit with Sarr & Vuk as a low post bruiser that can rebound, finish near the basket, and can spread the floor a little.
So... that is the point to any and all of this.

Poole for KCP, WCJ, and a 1st is fair value. The only addition would be a Cole Anthony for Kispert swap.
Poole makes Anthony useless for the Magic, and if we take on WCJ's salary in 2027+ then we need to move some salary around that time. I.e. Kispert.

[prime1time]

I see no point to any of this.

If Orlando wants Poole, they have to give us something we want. The only thing we want is draft capital. Other than that, it's just expiring salaries that could be useful. Or promising young players -- but Orlando won't be interested in giving any such.

In short... there is no deal here.

What a confusing response.
Orlando needs a lead scoring guard and wing that be elite shooters and spread the floor. They have access to contract filler and multiple 1st that project to be in the 20's.

The Wiz need picks and have access to a lead scoring guard and wing that are elite shooters. WCJ is a good fit with Sarr & Vuk as a low post bruiser that can rebound, finish near the basket, and can spread the floor a little.
So... that is the point to any and all of this.

Poole for KCP, WCJ, and a 1st is fair value. The only addition would be a Cole Anthony for Kispert swap.
Poole makes Anthony useless for the Magic, and if we take on WCJ's salary in 2027+ then we need to move some salary around that time. I.e. Kispert.

Players like WCJ can be found all the time. There is no need to give up assets. Kispert has value for teams trying to compete, he is not just filler. But the real conversation here is Poole. What is Poole's value? I think Poole's presence stabilizes the roster and has allowed our young players to grow and develop without forming bad habits. In terms of his individual play Poole has career highs in both 3 point % and 3 point attempts. He's also averaging career highs in assists and career highs in steals. When you have a player that's shooting 37.2% from 3 on 9.2 attempts you don't just give that away lol. A team can never have enough 3-point shooting and regardless of how you feel about Poole he is an elite 3-point shooter. If Avdija brought back 2 first round picks, I would need even more for Poole.

[pcbothwel]

I see no point to any of this.

If Orlando wants Poole, they have to give us something we want. The only thing we want is draft capital. Other than that, it's just expiring salaries that could be useful. Or promising young players -- but Orlando won't be interested in giving any such.

In short... there is no deal here.

What a confusing response.
Orlando needs a lead scoring guard and wing that be elite shooters and spread the floor. They have access to contract filler and multiple 1st that project to be in the 20's.

The Wiz need picks and have access to a lead scoring guard and wing that are elite shooters. WCJ is a good fit with Sarr & Vuk as a low post bruiser that can rebound, finish near the basket, and can spread the floor a little.
So... that is the point to any and all of this.

Poole for KCP, WCJ, and a 1st is fair value. The only addition would be a Cole Anthony for Kispert swap.
Poole makes Anthony useless for the Magic, and if we take on WCJ's salary in 2027+ then we need to move some salary around that time. I.e. Kispert.

Players like WCJ can be found all the time. There is no need to give up assets. Kispert has value for teams trying to compete, he is not just filler. But the real conversation here is Poole. What is Poole's value? I think Poole's presence stabilizes the roster and has allowed our young players to grow and develop without forming bad habits. In terms of his individual play Poole has career highs in both 3 point % and 3 point attempts. He's also averaging career highs in assists and career highs in steals. When you have a player that's shooting 37.2% from 3 on 9.2 attempts you don't just give that away lol. A team can never have enough 3-point shooting and regardless of how you feel about Poole he is an elite 3-point shooter. If Avdija brought back 2 first round picks, I would need even more for Poole.

2 Things.
1) Remove WCJ and Kispert as it seems to convolute the value.
Cole + KCP + 1st for Poole (Or maybe Harris instead of Cole if we want to cut salary)

2) Poole's value: Im glad Poole has bounced back from a terrible year last year, but his age & production are on par with Coby White, Sexton, and Monk. Im not sure how ANYONE could think thats worth 2+ 1st at $32M each of the next two years.

[payitforward]

...Im glad Poole has bounced back from a terrible year last year, but his age & production are on par with Coby White, Sexton, and Monk. Im not sure how ANYONE could think thats worth 2+ 1st at $32M each of the next two years.

I wonder whether anyone gives a single R1 pick for him.... He hasn't "bounced back" all that far.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I see no point to any of this.

If Orlando wants Poole, they have to give us something we want. The only thing we want is draft capital. Other than that, it's just expiring salaries that could be useful. Or promising young players -- but Orlando won't be interested in giving any such.

In short... there is no deal here.

What a confusing response.
Orlando needs a lead scoring guard and wing that be elite shooters and spread the floor. They have access to contract filler and multiple 1st that project to be in the 20's.

The Wiz need picks and have access to a lead scoring guard and wing that are elite shooters. WCJ is a good fit with Sarr & Vuk as a low post bruiser that can rebound, finish near the basket, and can spread the floor a little.
So... that is the point to any and all of this.

Poole for KCP, WCJ, and a 1st is fair value. The only addition would be a Cole Anthony for Kispert swap.
Poole makes Anthony useless for the Magic, and if we take on WCJ's salary in 2027+ then we need to move some salary around that time. I.e. Kispert.

Players like WCJ can be found all the time. There is no need to give up assets. Kispert has value for teams trying to compete, he is not just filler. But the real conversation here is Poole. What is Poole's value? I think Poole's presence stabilizes the roster and has allowed our young players to grow and develop without forming bad habits. In terms of his individual play Poole has career highs in both 3 point % and 3 point attempts. He's also averaging career highs in assists and career highs in steals. When you have a player that's shooting 37.2% from 3 on 9.2 attempts you don't just give that away lol. A team can never have enough 3-point shooting and regardless of how you feel about Poole he is an elite 3-point shooter. If Avdija brought back 2 first round picks, I would need even more for Poole.

What about dealing with Portland whose 1st round pick is projected at 10. We had a pretty big trade last draft that worked out pretty well for them...

If Bey gets back on the court here and looks good...

Something like Poole, Bey, Kispert, 2025 2nd round (45), 2026 2nd round to Portland for Ayton + 2025 1st.

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8846819

Ayton has 1 yr left on his deal

[9 and 20]

Yeah, I'd do this trade but I don't think Portland would. They already have a Poole type in Simons, plus Scoot Henderson. They've also got Deni and Shaedon Sharpe on the wings who are better than both Kispert and Bey. Don't think they'd use a first just to dump one year of Ayton, especially if they have to take on Poole.

Portland might trade Ayton plus a first for an upgrade somewhere, but we have nothing that's better than what they have.

Best bet might be to find someone overpaid for 2-3 years and trade them for Middleton or Smart, who are expiring next year. Not sure how we can use Holmes' contract - it's half guaranteed or not guaranteed? Don't know if that means we could trade him as salary and then another team just cut him for instant salary cap savings.

[pcbothwel]

Yeah, I'd do this trade but I don't think Portland would. They already have a Poole type in Simons, plus Scoot Henderson. They've also got Deni and Shaedon Sharpe on the wings who are better than both Kispert and Bey. Don't think they'd use a first just to dump one year of Ayton, especially if they have to take on Poole.

Portland might trade Ayton plus a first for an upgrade somewhere, but we have nothing that's better than what they have.

Best bet might be to find someone overpaid for 2-3 years and trade them for Middleton or Smart, who are expiring next year. Not sure how we can use Holmes' contract - it's half guaranteed or not guaranteed? Don't know if that means we could trade him as salary and then another team just cut him for instant salary cap savings.

Holmes - No use to us in trade. Minimal guarantee (500k) so we either keep or waive.
Poole - The teams that are trying to win, need his skillset, and can minimize his deficiencies are the Magic, Pistons, Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers. The latter three dont have the assets to spare or disposable contracts. So Im thinking the Magic or Pistons will be the interested parties
Middleton/Smart - Totally agree, but we need to be careful about taking on any contracts past Pooles (26/27). Why?

In the Summer of 2027, we'll have Kispert, Champagnie, our 4X 2024 rookies, our 2025/2026 Top 5-7 picks, our 2027 Lotto pick, and Bilals cap hold.

- Those salaries, plus another 1-2 players from our late 1sts in 25-27 will amount to about 125M in salary, which give us ~$60M in cap space to make a HUGE splash. 55-60M is the starting salary of a 35% Max player in 2027-28.

- If we wait one more year to make our FA pickup (28/29), then it will be tough sledding. Our Cap holds for our 2024 rookies alone will be OVER 90M.

So the path forward seems clear.
Be open to trading Poole, Middleton, and Smart...but not for any substantial salaries that go past 26/27
Try to get one of the big FA's in their prime (Giannis, Jokic, KAT, Mitchell, SGA).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Yeah, I'd do this trade but I don't think Portland would. They already have a Poole type in Simons, plus Scoot Henderson. They've also got Deni and Shaedon Sharpe on the wings who are better than both Kispert and Bey. Don't think they'd use a first just to dump one year of Ayton, especially if they have to take on Poole.

Portland might trade Ayton plus a first for an upgrade somewhere, but we have nothing that's better than what they have.

Best bet might be to find someone overpaid for 2-3 years and trade them for Middleton or Smart, who are expiring next year. Not sure how we can use Holmes' contract - it's half guaranteed or not guaranteed? Don't know if that means we could trade him as salary and then another team just cut him for instant salary cap savings.

Holmes - No use to us in trade. Minimal guarantee (500k) so we either keep or waive.
Poole - The teams that are trying to win, need his skillset, and can minimize his deficiencies are the Magic, Pistons, Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers. The latter three dont have the assets to spare or disposable contracts. So Im thinking the Magic or Pistons will be the interested parties
Middleton/Smart - Totally agree, but we need to be careful about taking on any contracts past Pooles (26/27). Why?

In the Summer of 2027, we'll have Kispert, Champagnie, our 4X 2024 rookies, our 2025/2026 Top 5-7 picks, our 2027 Lotto pick, and Bilals cap hold.

- Those salaries, plus another 1-2 players from our late 1sts in 25-27 will amount to about 125M in salary, which give us ~$60M in cap space to make a HUGE splash. 55-60M is the starting salary of a 35% Max player in 2027-28.

- If we wait one more year to make our FA pickup (28/29), then it will be tough sledding. Our Cap holds for our 2024 rookies alone will be OVER 90M.

So the path forward seems clear.
Be open to trading Poole, Middleton, and Smart...but not for any substantial salaries that go past 26/27
Try to get one of the big FA's in their prime (Giannis, Jokic, KAT, Mitchell, SGA).

I have never understood cap implications well.

With trades in mind knowing that Poole is the one guy who gets paid a premium deal, would consider his youth and the security of the length of his deal commensurate with future cap increases. Will the juice be worth the squeeze when it comes to retaining Poole? That brings me to this roster and his role. Jordan is a microwave scorer who is adept at scoring logo threes. IIRC, he's around 25. Washington is all in with even younger guys. Bub Carrington and Ajay Johnson appear to be future PGs. What I immediately loved was the back court of Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly. Jordan Poole is certainly expendable if he is moveable.

As for the players who aren't making that much, I love guys who outperform their salary. The Wizards were CRAZY to trade Deni mainly because of that bargain contract.

Keep Holmes and Champagnie!

I would rate players using a dollar cost average vs. a return on investment spreadsheet (if I understood and used them--WHAT IS KEVIN BROOM UP TO THESE DAYS?).

I think the big picture is allocate monies for the players who Shaq calls, "others," and have the rest for two stars and one superstar.

[payitforward]

I agree about Holmes -- he's shown himself to be a very solid NBA back up Center, & at 31 it would be foolish to consider him washed up. If I could re-sign him for 2 years at a reasonable cost, I'd definitely do it.

[gambitx777]

I agree about Holmes -- he's shown himself to be a very solid NBA back up Center, & at 31 it would be foolish to consider him washed up. If I could re-sign him for 2 years at a reasonable cost, I'd definitely do it.

Around the same deal we gave him last year 1+2 with the second year being a TO or something with little to no money on it

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[payitforward]

Just thought of this idea...

Charlotte seems to undervalue Mark Williams for some reason. Is he a target? What would it take to acquire him?

[nate33]

Just thought of this idea...

Charlotte seems to undervalue Mark Williams for some reason. Is he a target? What would it take to acquire him?

He can't stay healthy. In the 238 games he has been in the league, he has only been healthy for 101 of them, missing the other 137 due to injury.

He might be an interesting target in Summer 2026 if he can be signed as a cheap free agent, but I wouldn't sacrifice any real assets for him.

[payitforward]

Aaaah, got it -- thanks.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Just thought of this idea...

Charlotte seems to undervalue Mark Williams for some reason. Is he a target? What would it take to acquire him?

Just thought of this idea...

Charlotte seems to undervalue Mark Williams for some reason. Is he a target? What would it take to acquire him?

He can't stay healthy. In the 238 games he has been in the league, he has only been healthy for 101 of them, missing the other 137 due to injury.

He might be an interesting target in Summer 2026 if he can be signed as a cheap free agent, but I wouldn't sacrifice any real assets for him.

Half in jest, I say why not also acquire Zion Williamson? Plan on having each for half of the season.

Imagine Zion as a go-to player with Alex and others on the wing.

Imagine Mark Williams at C and Alex Sarr emulating the Cleveland front court model for success with Mobley and Allen.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Here's a similar trade to one I posted earlier , this time dealing with tonight's opponent Miami.

Miami has a lot of holes outside of Bam and Herro. Miami has 2 1st round picks this year (11 & 22). They need offense, and they are in more of a win now mode than the rebuilding Wizards... Bonus Poole played good tonight!

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8847168

Poole, Kispert, Bey, 2025 2nd round pick, 2026 1st round pick (via 76ers) to Miami

Rozier, Robinson, 2025 1st round pick (11)

Why for Miami?

They get younger and better next season. Rosier & Robinson are both in their 30's, the 3 Wizards players are mid 20's in their prime. Poole is a top tier scorer and still improving, Kispert and Bey are good shooters & rotation players on good contracts.

Why for Wizards?

Rosier & Robinson are expiring contracts they can buy out. 1st round pick this year at 11 they can draft Collin Murray-Boyles.


A Poole Party in Miami ??

[nate33]

Here's a similar trade to one I posted earlier , this time dealing with tonight's opponent Miami.

Miami has a lot of holes outside of Bam and Herro. Miami has 2 1st round picks this year (11 & 22). They need offense, and they are in more of a win now mode than the rebuilding Wizards... Bonus Poole played good tonight!

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8847168

Poole, Kispert, Bey, 2025 2nd round pick, 2026 1st round pick (via 76ers) to Miami

Rozier, Robinson, 2025 1st round pick (11)

Why for Miami?

They get younger and better next season. Rosier & Robinson are both in their 30's, the 3 Wizards players are mid 20's in their prime. Poole is a top tier scorer and still improving, Kispert and Bey are good shooters & rotation players on good contracts.

Why for Wizards?

Rosier & Robinson are expiring contracts they can buy out. 1st round pick this year at 11 they can draft Collin Murray-Boyles.


A Poole Party in Miami ??

Poole is too similar to Herro as a player. Miami knows they wouldn't be able to stop anybody with both those guys defending the backcourt. They'd never make this trade, not unless they found another deal where Herro gets exchanged for a two-way player.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Here's a similar trade to one I posted earlier , this time dealing with tonight's opponent Miami.

Miami has a lot of holes outside of Bam and Herro. Miami has 2 1st round picks this year (11 & 22). They need offense, and they are in more of a win now mode than the rebuilding Wizards... Bonus Poole played good tonight!

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8847168

Poole, Kispert, Bey, 2025 2nd round pick, 2026 1st round pick (via 76ers) to Miami

Rozier, Robinson, 2025 1st round pick (11)

Why for Miami?

They get younger and better next season. Rosier & Robinson are both in their 30's, the 3 Wizards players are mid 20's in their prime. Poole is a top tier scorer and still improving, Kispert and Bey are good shooters & rotation players on good contracts.

Why for Wizards?

Rosier & Robinson are expiring contracts they can buy out. 1st round pick this year at 11 they can draft Collin Murray-Boyles.


A Poole Party in Miami ??

Poole is too similar to Herro as a player. Miami knows they wouldn't be able to stop anybody with both those guys defending the backcourt. They'd never make this trade, not unless they found another deal where Herro gets exchanged for a two-way player.

I don't know. You can always find a Kris Dunn type pretty easily & cheaply to mix in to the backcourt rotation. Finding guys who can score like Poole is not as easy. Defense and finding players who defend isn't usually a problem for Miami.

Another option would be to take our late '26 1st out and drop the return to their later pick at 22.

Poole, Kispert, Bey, 2025 2nd round pick (42) to Miami

Rozier, Robinson, 2025 1st round pick (22) to Washington


I'd rather do the 1st one, but that one might do it. Maybe its not Miami, but I think I'm on the right track with that package to net us another 1st this draft.