Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[Rafael122]

Read on Twitter

First-round pick swaps with the Phoenix Suns in 2026, 2028 and 2030, stemming from the Bradley Beal trade in 2022. The ’26 and ’30 swaps are outright between Washington and Phoenix; [b][b]the ’28 swap will be the second-best pick from among Washington, Phoenix and Brooklyn, and could also involve the 76ers’ first-round pick.[/b][/b]

I didn't realize that, and am hugely frustrated with it. 2028 always seemed like the most likely rock bottom first from Phoenix after all their stars bail between 2025 and 2027. Crap. Now instead the best we can do is probably Brooklyn's, and I have no idea where their pick will be. Was this always true?

I have no idea what Brooklyn is trying to do, so its possible this is going to be a good pick.

I think Dawkins and Winger have pretty much told the organization they have to be good by 2026-2027 or else these picks won't convey.

[doclinkin]

First-round pick swaps with the Phoenix Suns in 2026, 2028 and 2030, stemming from the Bradley Beal trade in 2022. The ’26 and ’30 swaps are outright between Washington and Phoenix; the ’28 swap will be the second-best pick from among Washington, Phoenix and Brooklyn, and could also involve the 76ers’ first-round pick.

I didn't realize that, and am hugely frustrated with it. 2028 always seemed like the most likely rock bottom first from Phoenix after all their stars bail between 2025 and 2027. Crap. Now instead the best we can do is probably Brooklyn's, and I have no idea where their pick will be. Was this always true?

Yes it was always true. But that said Brooklyn trashed their roster this year so they’re all in on drafting a team right now.

They have 4 first round picks this year, 3 outside the lotto, so they figure to be young. If they jump to the top 3 and get a real difference maker then maybe they’re winning quickly but probably they’re like us only a year or two behind in the rebuild.

Of course Brooklyn always has a chance to be a destination team because of their market. If they ship away draft capital and pay free agents maybe they get good instantly. Still the likely bet is they’re struggling.

And PHX is sure to be driving in the ditch if either of their big two hit a rough patch over the next few years. They’ve got nothing. As you saw over this trade deadline. Couldn’t shift Beal. Or KD. Gave up trying on anything else.

The pick swap gives us license to try to be good. Insurance if we are on the rise. Right about the time when our rooks and Bilal are hitting that 3rd/4th year breakout that players seem to get.

[pcbothwel]

First-round pick swaps with the Phoenix Suns in 2026, 2028 and 2030, stemming from the Bradley Beal trade in 2022. The ’26 and ’30 swaps are outright between Washington and Phoenix; the ’28 swap will be the second-best pick from among Washington, Phoenix and Brooklyn, and could also involve the 76ers’ first-round pick.

I didn't realize that, and am hugely frustrated with it. 2028 always seemed like the most likely rock bottom first from Phoenix after all their stars bail between 2025 and 2027. Crap. Now instead the best we can do is probably Brooklyn's, and I have no idea where their pick will be. Was this always true?

Yes it was always true. But that said Brooklyn trashed their roster this year so they’re all in on drafting a team right now.

They have 4 first round picks this year, 3 outside the lotto, so they figure to be young. If they jump to the top 3 and get a real difference maker then maybe they’re winning quickly but probably they’re like us only a year or two behind in the rebuild.

That said Brooklyn always had a chance to be a destination team because of their market. If they ship away draft capital and pay free agents maybe they get good instantly. Still the likely bet is they’re struggling.

And PHX is sure to be driving in the ditch if either of their big two hit a rough patch over the next few years. They’ve got nothing. As you saw over this trade deadline. Couldn’t shift Beal. Or KD. Gave up trying on anything else.

The pick swap gives us license to try to be good. Insurance if we are on the rise. Right about the time when our rooks and Bilal are hitting that 3rd/4th year breakout that players seem to get.

KD is getting traded this summer and they are reloading around Booker. So while they may hover around play-in territory, I think their cliff is pushed back a few years.

[The Consiglieri]

Read on Twitter

I didn't realize that, and am hugely frustrated with it. 2028 always seemed like the most likely rock bottom first from Phoenix after all their stars bail between 2025 and 2027. Crap. Now instead the best we can do is probably Brooklyn's, and I have no idea where their pick will be. Was this always true?

I have no idea what Brooklyn is trying to do, so its possible this is going to be a good pick.

I think Dawkins and Winger have pretty much told the organization they have to be good by 2026-2027 or else these picks won't convey.

If I were to project, based on moderate luck (we get lucky with the lotto in 1 of 2 drafts (in terms of a top 1-3 pick), I think the plan is:

'24 Lottery: 20-25 Wins
'25 Lottery: 15-20 Wins
'26 Lottery: 18-22 Wins
'27 Lottery: 28-35 Wins
'28 Lottery: Playoffs

That's what I imagine they sold Leonsis on: 3-4 seasons of pain, the payoff in terms of playoffs will come in '27 if we get really lucky in the lottery and '28 if we're moderately lucky.

I know some people think we'll be good in '26-'27, but honestly unless we land the #1-3 in '25, and the #1 in '26, I don't think that's happening. I think '26-'27 unless that luck in terms of slotting and player development maxing happens, will look more like 1988-2023 (minus the .500 edges years), with a slotting heading into the lotto of 5-10.

[The Consiglieri]

I didn't realize that, and am hugely frustrated with it. 2028 always seemed like the most likely rock bottom first from Phoenix after all their stars bail between 2025 and 2027. Crap. Now instead the best we can do is probably Brooklyn's, and I have no idea where their pick will be. Was this always true?

Yes it was always true. But that said Brooklyn trashed their roster this year so they’re all in on drafting a team right now.

They have 4 first round picks this year, 3 outside the lotto, so they figure to be young. If they jump to the top 3 and get a real difference maker then maybe they’re winning quickly but probably they’re like us only a year or two behind in the rebuild.

That said Brooklyn always had a chance to be a destination team because of their market. If they ship away draft capital and pay free agents maybe they get good instantly. Still the likely bet is they’re struggling.

And PHX is sure to be driving in the ditch if either of their big two hit a rough patch over the next few years. They’ve got nothing. As you saw over this trade deadline. Couldn’t shift Beal. Or KD. Gave up trying on anything else.

The pick swap gives us license to try to be good. Insurance if we are on the rise. Right about the time when our rooks and Bilal are hitting that 3rd/4th year breakout that players seem to get.

KD is getting traded this summer and they are reloading around Booker. So while they may hover around play-in territory, I think their cliff is pushed back a few years.

I'm a little skeptical they will reload around Booker. Why? He is cost controlled for another 3 seasons after this, but the team is basically a .500 squad, w/all these pieces in place, what are they post Durant and w/an even more worthless albatross in Beal? Of course I Could be wrong, but I'd expect Booker to follow Durant with demands for a trade either this summer or some point between winter '25-'26 and summer '26, which is one of the reasons I liked the swaps, I definitely thought the reload idea was going to fail by '26 at the latest and by mid '26 they'd become a 60+ loss team. The fact that they already are a 41 loss caliber team w/all those guys still in place suggests to me a full tear down and trying to acquire prospects/picks, is likely, they're just stuck in a terrible position having mortgaged 3/4's of a decade worth of draft capital. Maybe they try reloading? We'll see, I definitely think they are straight trash by the second half of '25-'26, and especially '26-'27.

Brooklyn seems only half a foot into tanking. I really expected them to be a bottom 3-5 contender and have been surprised that they are a .333+ side. Not sure what they are doing. They are bad, but not the kind of bad they needed to be this year and next.

[pcbothwel]

Yes it was always true. But that said Brooklyn trashed their roster this year so they’re all in on drafting a team right now.

They have 4 first round picks this year, 3 outside the lotto, so they figure to be young. If they jump to the top 3 and get a real difference maker then maybe they’re winning quickly but probably they’re like us only a year or two behind in the rebuild.

That said Brooklyn always had a chance to be a destination team because of their market. If they ship away draft capital and pay free agents maybe they get good instantly. Still the likely bet is they’re struggling.

And PHX is sure to be driving in the ditch if either of their big two hit a rough patch over the next few years. They’ve got nothing. As you saw over this trade deadline. Couldn’t shift Beal. Or KD. Gave up trying on anything else.

The pick swap gives us license to try to be good. Insurance if we are on the rise. Right about the time when our rooks and Bilal are hitting that 3rd/4th year breakout that players seem to get.

KD is getting traded this summer and they are reloading around Booker. So while they may hover around play-in territory, I think their cliff is pushed back a few years.

I'm a little skeptical they will reload around Booker. Why? He is cost controlled for another 3 seasons after this, but the team is basically a .500 squad, w/all these pieces in place, what are they post Durant and w/an even more worthless albatross in Beal? Of course I Could be wrong, but I'd expect Booker to follow Durant with demands for a trade either this summer or some point between winter '25-'26 and summer '26, which is one of the reasons I liked the swaps, I definitely thought the reload idea was going to fail by '26 at the latest and by mid '26 they'd become a 60+ loss team. The fact that they already are a 41 loss caliber team w/all those guys still in place suggests to me a full tear down and trying to acquire prospects/picks, is likely, they're just stuck in a terrible position having mortgaged 3/4's of a decade worth of draft capital. Maybe they try reloading? We'll see, I definitely think they are straight trash by the second half of '25-'26, and especially '26-'27.

Brooklyn seems only half a foot into tanking. I really expected them to be a bottom 3-5 contender and have been surprised that they are a .333+ side. Not sure what they are doing. They are bad, but not the kind of bad they needed to be this year and next.

The suns can’t tank, so they won’t deal booker. Beal expires the year before Book, so they could conceivably field a team over the next two years that would keep them just interesting enough to then make a play for a free agent after Beal expires.

I’d keep an eye on Philly(PG13), NYK(OG), and Denver (Porter) as teams needing to make a move to get over the hump.

[Rafael122]

KD is getting traded this summer and they are reloading around Booker. So while they may hover around play-in territory, I think their cliff is pushed back a few years.

I'm a little skeptical they will reload around Booker. Why? He is cost controlled for another 3 seasons after this, but the team is basically a .500 squad, w/all these pieces in place, what are they post Durant and w/an even more worthless albatross in Beal? Of course I Could be wrong, but I'd expect Booker to follow Durant with demands for a trade either this summer or some point between winter '25-'26 and summer '26, which is one of the reasons I liked the swaps, I definitely thought the reload idea was going to fail by '26 at the latest and by mid '26 they'd become a 60+ loss team. The fact that they already are a 41 loss caliber team w/all those guys still in place suggests to me a full tear down and trying to acquire prospects/picks, is likely, they're just stuck in a terrible position having mortgaged 3/4's of a decade worth of draft capital. Maybe they try reloading? We'll see, I definitely think they are straight trash by the second half of '25-'26, and especially '26-'27.

Brooklyn seems only half a foot into tanking. I really expected them to be a bottom 3-5 contender and have been surprised that they are a .333+ side. Not sure what they are doing. They are bad, but not the kind of bad they needed to be this year and next.

The suns can’t tank, so they won’t deal booker. Beal expires the year before Book, so they could conceivably field a team over the next two years that would keep them just interesting enough to then make a play for a free agent after Beal expires.

I’d keep an eye on Philly(PG13), NYK(OG), and Denver (Porter) as teams needing to make a move to get over the hump.

They could tank if they get their picks back. I believe Houston has them now. If they're like "we'll trade you Booker for Green plus all the picks," I would think Houston considers it.

[The Consiglieri]

Another layer of it, to me, is, they don't really have a choice. Beal is donezo, Durant's gonna bail, and Booker is not going to want to stick around as they start doing an impression of Brooklyn a decade ago. They are going to naturally tank, and the only thing they can do to arrest the years spent in gross mismanagement jail, like we have (from 2019-2027 or 2028 appears to be our sentence), or Brooklyn before, is to move off these vets while they still carry value, and yeah, maybe do Rafael's idea on top. They can't keep their picks, but they can convert Durant, and Booker into the best rebuild pile possible while they still carry value. The problem is ownership and the GM don't want to admit their decisions in '23/'24 were beyond idiotic, and the longer they wait, the less coin on the dollar return they get.

If I'm their GM, I would have found the teams that own the most valuable long term rebuild goodies (seems like OKC, and Houston?, who else?) and offer those teams Booker, and Durant for as much as their long term value pie as humanly possible. I'm sure there are other strategies too, and they probably can't do it without getting at least one bird in the hand elite prospect from the more recent drafts and maybe this coming one, but they have to do it.

They aren't winning and they can't retool because they have nothing anyone wants other than those two vets. Yeah they can't tank either, without Rafael's move, but it doesn't matter, the roster mismanagement is going to cause the collapse whether they want it or not. Better to spin off their last valuable assets now, rather than do the inane stupidity we indulged post Wall shower fall, that turned the two of those assets into actually negative assets going forward eventually (injury on one side, anvil contract and age on the other).

[Tyrone Messby]

Did we really make a play for Kevin Durant?

[AFM]

From the athletic:

Deadline winner: The Pistons, with a nod toward the Wizards for making smart decisions in a rebuild.

[dckingsfan]

From the athletic:

Deadline winner: The Pistons, with a nod toward the Wizards for making smart decisions in a rebuild.

Pistons:
Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, KJ Martin, Tim Hardaway Jr., G Wendell Moore Jr.
2025 second-round pick (via Toronto)
2027 second-round pick (via Milwaukee)
2031 second-round pick (via Dallas)
2028 second-round pick
2028 second-round pick

I think we did better (with the two late FRPs and addition by subtraction).

[gambitx777]

Final tally
Incoming: Khris Middleton, Marcus Smart, AJ Johnson, Sidy Cissoko (waived, 2way?), Colby Jones, Alex Len, Reggie Jackson (waived), 2025 first-round pick (via MEM), 2026 first-round pick (least favorable of OKC, HOU, LAC via PHI), 2028 first-round swap (w/MIL), 2028 second-round pick (DEN via SAC; protected 31-33), 2029 second-round pick (via SAC), 2030 second-round pick

Outgoing: Kyle Kuzma, Jonas Valanciunas, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Jared Butler, Johnny Davis, Marvin Bagley III, 2025 second-round pick (least favorable w/MIL), 2027 second-round pick (most favorable of GSW and PHX), 2028 second-round pick (via GSW), 2028 second-round pick (via SAC), 2030 second-round pick (most favorable of PHX and POR), 2030 second-round pick

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[gambitx777]

From the athletic:

Deadline winner: The Pistons, with a nod toward the Wizards for making smart decisions in a rebuild.

Pistons:
Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, KJ Martin, Tim Hardaway Jr., G Wendell Moore Jr.
2025 second-round pick (via Toronto)
2027 second-round pick (via Milwaukee)
2031 second-round pick (via Dallas)
2028 second-round pick
2028 second-round pick

I think we did better (with the two late FRPs and addition by subtraction).

A little bit of on that.
Incoming: KJ Martin (rerouted to UTA), Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson (rerouted to UTA), Dennis Schroder, 2027 second-round pick (MIL via PHI), 2031 second-round pick (DAL via PHI)

Outgoing: 2028 second-round pick

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[dckingsfan]

From the athletic:

Pistons:
Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, KJ Martin, Tim Hardaway Jr., G Wendell Moore Jr.
2025 second-round pick (via Toronto)
2027 second-round pick (via Milwaukee)
2031 second-round pick (via Dallas)
2028 second-round pick
2028 second-round pick

I think we did better (with the two late FRPs and addition by subtraction).

A little bit of on that.

Incoming: KJ Martin (rerouted to UTA), Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson (rerouted to UTA), Dennis Schroder, 2027 second-round pick (MIL via PHI), 2031 second-round pick (DAL via PHI)

Outgoing: 2028 second-round pick

Yep, makes us look even better in comparison...

To me the biggest winners were the Lakers and the Spurs.

For the rebuilding teams, I think Utah beat the Wizards, Pistons and Hornets (but all three are on the right track).

[DCZards]

I love that this FO is targeting young guys with potential like Johnson and Jones.

Washington had good pre-draft grades on the 6-foot-5 Johnson, who played in Australia’s National Basketball League during the 2023-24 season before he was selected 23rd overall by the Bucks in last year’s draft. He played mostly for Milwaukee’s G League team this season.

Jones, a second-team All-Big East selection in 2023, was an early second-round pick (34th overall) in the ’23 draft by Charlotte. His draft rights were traded, through Boston, to Sacramento on draft night. He played spot minutes in 54 games over a season and a half for the Kings, spending most of his time with the team’s G League affiliate. But Jones had first-round grades from many NBA scouts and teams before the draft.

[gambitx777]

Are the pistons rebuilding? Or are they going into let's try and win mode.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Rafael122]

Are the pistons rebuilding? Or are they going into let's try and win mode.

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

I think they're trying to make the play in. If they get Ivey back before the season ends, they will be a tough out in the first round.

[The Consiglieri]

Pistons:
Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, KJ Martin, Tim Hardaway Jr., G Wendell Moore Jr.
2025 second-round pick (via Toronto)
2027 second-round pick (via Milwaukee)
2031 second-round pick (via Dallas)
2028 second-round pick
2028 second-round pick

I think we did better (with the two late FRPs and addition by subtraction).

A little bit of on that.

Incoming: KJ Martin (rerouted to UTA), Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson (rerouted to UTA), Dennis Schroder, 2027 second-round pick (MIL via PHI), 2031 second-round pick (DAL via PHI)

Outgoing: 2028 second-round pick

Yep, makes us look even better in comparison...

To me the biggest winners were the Lakers and the Spurs.

For the rebuilding teams, I think Utah beat the Wizards, Pistons and Hornets (but all three are on the right track).

Oh, nobody is remotely in the same universe as the Lakers. I wouldn't even list anyone else unless you classified it as "Tanking Winner and Contending Winner" because nothing remotely comes close to what the Lakers did which was probably the biggest steal since Webber in '98, and Magic Johnson (the '79 1.01) for some 35 year old corpse of a former all star.

The Luca trade is just orders of magnitude greater theft than anything since at least Webber for Mitch Richmond's retirement tour.

[The Consiglieri]

I love that this FO is targeting young guys with potential like Johnson and Jones.

Washington had good pre-draft grades on the 6-foot-5 Johnson, who played in Australia’s National Basketball League during the 2023-24 season before he was selected 23rd overall by the Bucks in last year’s draft. He played mostly for Milwaukee’s G League team this season.

Jones, a second-team All-Big East selection in 2023, was an early second-round pick (34th overall) in the ’23 draft by Charlotte. His draft rights were traded, through Boston, to Sacramento on draft night. He played spot minutes in 54 games over a season and a half for the Kings, spending most of his time with the team’s G League affiliate. But Jones had first-round grades from many NBA scouts and teams before the draft.

Little link to theringer guys write up on the draft that has Jones as #29 in that class.

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/2023/mock-draft

[AFM]

A little bit of on that.

Incoming: KJ Martin (rerouted to UTA), Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson (rerouted to UTA), Dennis Schroder, 2027 second-round pick (MIL via PHI), 2031 second-round pick (DAL via PHI)

Outgoing: 2028 second-round pick

Yep, makes us look even better in comparison...

To me the biggest winners were the Lakers and the Spurs.

For the rebuilding teams, I think Utah beat the Wizards, Pistons and Hornets (but all three are on the right track).

Oh, nobody is remotely in the same universe as the Lakers. I wouldn't even list anyone else unless you classified it as "Tanking Winner and Contending Winner" because nothing remotely comes close to what the Lakers did which was probably the biggest steal since Webber in '98, and Magic Johnson (the '79 1.01) for some 35 year old corpse of a former all star.

The Luca trade is just orders of magnitude greater theft than anything since at least Webber for Mitch Richmond's retirement tour.

Yeah they had lakers then cavs then pistons then wizards fourth. Article was formatted strangely