Official Trade Thread - Part XLIV

[gambitx777]

Haliburton is significantly better than Fox.

Yeah but is he better than Fox + Sabonis. You weren't getting Sabonis for Fox. For that same reason.

That's kind of my point if they look at it and go Kuz could be that third dude for us along side other solid starter level guys in monk and Barnes huerter. I can see them talking themselves into let's trade Murray maybe Mitchel and a couple seconds for that last piece guy.

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[gambitx777]

Small wiz Knicks trade

Kicks get
Barton
Cash

Wiz get
Reddish
Mykahailiuk
Arcidiacono

Simple trade
They get a veteran bench scoring threat. Sure he's been nmbad this year but last year he was still a rotation player on a play off team.
The guys they give up aren't playing. This still leaves them under the tax enough to sign a couple vet min guys or convert their two ways or one of each.

We get some breathing room under the tax. Cut Taj Gibson, arcidiacono, buy out Gill. Then we can make choices on reddish and mykahailiuk. We give them a chance and take a look at them they are still relatively young and have looked decent at times, see if we can make something out of them or buy them both out. We either get some cheap reclamation projects that won't cost much to retain or we gat open team slots to convert and sign guys like goodwin, maker, and Quinton Jackson. My personal preference would be to cut/BO Taj, Gill, Arcidiacono, and Mykahailiuk. Then sign Goodwin and Quinton Jackson to deals and give Cam reddish a look. But that's just my opinion.

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[Endless Loop]

So if the Wiz sign Kuzma for say $30 million a year, how much could they pay Deni for his extension without paying the tax in 2024?

[Frichuela]

So if the Wiz sign Kuzma for say $30 million a year, how much could they pay Deni for his extension without paying the tax in 2024?

Yes. This is a key question. One could say that both Morris and Wright end contracts in the summer of 2024, freeing up c. $18mn in salary. But at the same time, the Wiz will need to spend money on (at the minimum) a new PG...even when Goodwin would be the cheap back up.

This is why trading Kuzma while his value is high is the right approach. It would free up much more future salary space to resign Deni, Kispert and whoever we get in the trade. Above, we discussed a Kuzma trade with Sacramento that would net us Murray who is on a rookie scale contract for 3 more years as a cheap Kuzma replacement.

[Kanyewest]

Yep, I see Murray as Kispert at the 3/4 position, and Mitchell as a potential Delon Wright level player , which is good, but extremely undervalued, can be had for MLE money.

I would prefer Quickley+expiring+mid 1st.

Random note, thought it was interesting that Quickley and Grimes were playing down the stretch in the 4th quarter and OT over RJ Barrett against the Lakers.

[Frichuela]

I hope Tommy is aware of the risk of not trading Kuzma at the deadline and how much he may demand in free agency. For example, Grant has -for the time being- turned down a $112mn/4-year offer...Does it make sense to pay Kuzma +$25 mn/year? I'd say no!

Read on Twitter

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[payitforward]

So if the Wiz sign Kuzma for say $30 million a year, how much could they pay Deni for his extension without paying the tax in 2024?

Good God!!
No one is talking about that kind of $ for Kuzma!

[payitforward]

I hope Tommy is aware of the risk of not trading Kuzma at the deadline and how much he may demand in free agency. ...

I'm sure he's conscious of the risk. The problem is that the Wizards (somehow) see a risk in the opposite direction -- i.e. a risk that they'll lose him.

IOW, they've convinced themselves that Kuz is, in some way, a "star." I.e. a really, really good player who makes your team significantly better & helps you to win significantly more games.

Really & truly idiotic.

[payitforward]

We are 13-6 in our last 19 games. Kuz was not a significant factor in a single one of those wins.

[AFM]

So if the Wiz sign Kuzma for say $30 million a year, how much could they pay Deni for his extension without paying the tax in 2024?

Good God!!
No one is talking about that kind of $ for Kuzma!

I would bet we sign Kuz for between 25 and 30 a year. We have this tendency to bid against ourselves in some weird desperate display of loyalty.

[DCZards]

We are 13-6 in our last 19 games. Kuz was not a significant factor in a single one of those wins.

Nonsense.

[Illuminaire]

No one is talking about that kind of $ for Kuzma!

...have you seen the contracts Leonsis hands to players he likes?

[GoneShammGone]

No one is talking about that kind of $ for Kuzma!

...have you seen the contracts Leonsis hands to players he likes?

I hope Kuz is paying his fashion designer a huge amount of money, because that pink sweater is gonna get him *paid*.

[Kanyewest]

We are 13-6 in our last 19 games. Kuz was not a significant factor in a single one of those wins.

Nonsense.

Here are the stats from that stretch.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kuzmaky01/gamelog/2023#373-391-sum:pgl_basic

[gambitx777]

I can absolutely see a scenario where Tommy and kuz talk.

Tommy: just checking in trade deadlines coming. Just wanna see if you're happy and still wanna be here. We want you here and we wanna pay you, but if something changes and you don't want to be here. Please let me know.

Kuz: yeah, I'm pretty happy and if you pay me max I'll stay.

Tommy: excuse me?

Kuz: yeah if you pay me the most you're allowed too I'll stay, if not, I'm out.

And Tommy ships him to Sacramento, for Murray, filler and some seconds.
Or
NYK for Toppin, Cam, and a couple firsts including ours back.

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[AFM]

Gamby out here writing fan fiction. This is what happens when they cancel wizards games

[Frichuela]

Gamby out here writing fan fiction. This is what happens when they cancel wizards games

[payitforward]

We are 13-6 in our last 19 games. Kuz was not a significant factor in a single one of those wins.

Nonsense.

An overstatement on my part:

He was pretty good in the first win vs. the Suns, actually.
He was very good indeed vs. Sac'to!
He went 4-13 against Philly & had 4 turnovers.
(I guess one issue would be -- does someone think that a player can post those numbers in a game & still "help his team win"?
For a person who answers that question "yes, he can," the words "help his team win" simply mean something different from "help his team end the game with more points than the opponent.")
Kuz didn't do much in the 2d phoenix game
5 boards & 8 TOs at Orlando.
5-16 plus 5 TOs in the win over Milwaukee
Didn't produce much vs. the Bulls
Not bad not good vs. Knicks
Mediocre in 2d Orlando game (a game we won by 20)
Reasonably good shooting vs. Dallas -- but 5 boards 3 TOs
(I would be more likely to describe him as almost costing us that game than as helping us win it)
Pretty good vs. Houston
4 for 13 vs. Pels
Bad vs. SA -- meh, low volume shooting; 6 boards & 5 turnovers.

So that's 1 very good game, 2 pretty good game, 5 mediocre games, & 6 bad ones.

Nobody's obliged to agree with me, of course!
But, if it's interesting to know what exactly I mean, then the Dallas game is a great illustration. Here's the box score: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468872

1. Kuz scored 30 points that night, but he was not good. He did not play well overall.

2. Deni only scored 15 points that night, half as many as Kuz. But, he was absolutely terrific.

3. Delon Wright only played 22 minutes, & he only scored 10 points. But, he was even better than Deni.

We won a 1-point game, because those 2 guys played at an incredibly high level. Yet, a casual fan will see a 1-point win & 30 points from Kuzma, & conclude that he carried us -- rather than virtually giving the game away.

[NatP4]

And his trade value is significantly higher than his on court value.

This is a huge fork in the road for the franchise. A chance to get ahead by trading Kuzma for a couple A level assets, or overpay for an extremely overrated mediocre player.

[payitforward]

And his trade value is significantly higher than his on court value.

This is a huge fork in the road for the franchise. A chance to get ahead by trading Kuzma for a couple A level assets, or overpay for an extremely overrated mediocre player.

I doubt they can get "a couple A level assets," unfortunately, given that all they are trading really are his bird rights.