Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

It's a pretty awful trade if no picks are involved.

WTF are we going to do with 33-year-old Khris Middleton who is owed $34M next year? I'd rather just pay Kuzma $40M over the next two years combined while also keeping JV who serves a useful purpose here.

Now if they include a pick, that's a different story.

AFM · Post #7 » by **AFM** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:11 am

nate33 wrote:
AFM wrote:
PaulinVA wrote:

Read on Twitter

please dawkins you have to trade this mfer we will build you a statue

It's a pretty awful trade if no picks are involved.

WTF are we going to do with 33-year-old Khris Middleton who is owed $34M next year? I'd rather just pay Kuzma $40M over the next two years combined while also keeping JV who serves a useful purpose here.

Now if they include a pick, that's a different story.

We'd get their 2029 1st according to ESPN:

ESPN insider Bobby Marks suggests a trade that would send Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard for Khris Middleton and a 2029 first-round pick.

Can't imagine we'd just swap players with no compensation.

machu46 · Post #8 » by **machu46** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:11 am

nate33 wrote:
AFM wrote:
PaulinVA wrote:

Read on Twitter

please dawkins you have to trade this mfer we will build you a statue

It's a pretty awful trade if no picks are involved.

WTF are we going to do with 33-year-old Khris Middleton who is owed $34M next year? I'd rather just pay Kuzma $40M over the next two years combined while also keeping JV who serves a useful purpose here.

Now if they include a pick, that's a different story.

If it's any consolation, next year is a player option for him so there's at least a chance he opts out in search of a multi year deal/to go play for a contender.

I will say you'll be hard pressed to find a single Bucks fan that wouldn't be straight up angry if we give up Middleton for Kuzma and don't get assets to take Kuzma back.

I'm not as fervently against it as most; Kuzma is obviously having a horrendous season but I can at least see the vision of him being a helpful player if he can buy into a smaller role on a contender vs. what he's been doing for Washington. Definitely near the bottom of my list of targets for the Bucks though.

machu46 · Post #9 » by **machu46** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:14 am

AFM wrote:
nate33 wrote:
AFM wrote:
please dawkins you have to trade this mfer we will build you a statue

It's a pretty awful trade if no picks are involved.

WTF are we going to do with 33-year-old Khris Middleton who is owed $34M next year? I'd rather just pay Kuzma $40M over the next two years combined while also keeping JV who serves a useful purpose here.

Now if they include a pick, that's a different story.

We'd get their 2029 1st according to ESPN:

ESPN insider Bobby Marks suggests a trade that would send Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard for Khris Middleton and a 2029 first-round pick.

Can't imagine we'd just swap players with no compensation.

The only picks Milwaukee are able to trade are their 2031 first and second round pick. 2029 has already been traded (and technically, Washington has the potential to end up with that pick based on its protections I believe).

AFM · Post #10 » by **AFM** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:16 am

machu46 wrote:
AFM wrote:
nate33 wrote:It's a pretty awful trade if no picks are involved.

WTF are we going to do with 33-year-old Khris Middleton who is owed $34M next year? I'd rather just pay Kuzma $40M over the next two years combined while also keeping JV who serves a useful purpose here.

Now if they include a pick, that's a different story.

We'd get their 2029 1st according to ESPN:

ESPN insider Bobby Marks suggests a trade that would send Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard for Khris Middleton and a 2029 first-round pick.

Can't imagine we'd just swap players with no compensation.

The only picks Milwaukee are able to trade are their 2031 first and second round pick. 2029 has already been traded (and technically, Washington has the potential to end up with that pick based on its protections I believe).

Thanks for the info. I guess we'll find out in a few hours if this happens...

TGW · Post #11 » by **TGW** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:20 am

The Bucks must be desperate because Kuzma is the epitome of unwanted trash. If the Wizards pull it off it would be a miracle.

Post #12 » by **nate33** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 2:41 am

AFM wrote:
machu46 wrote:
AFM wrote:
We'd get their 2029 1st according to ESPN:

Can't imagine we'd just swap players with no compensation.

The only picks Milwaukee are able to trade are their 2031 first and second round pick. 2029 has already been traded (and technically, Washington has the potential to end up with that pick based on its protections I believe).

Thanks for the info. I guess we'll find out in a few hours if this happens...

I'd do it for that 2031 pick if it was minimally protected (say, top 4 or so). It's too ambitious to expect a fully unprotected pick - not one in the post-Giannis era.

AFM · Post #13 » by **AFM** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 3:02 am

nate33 wrote:
AFM wrote:
machu46 wrote:
The only picks Milwaukee are able to trade are their 2031 first and second round pick. 2029 has already been traded (and technically, Washington has the potential to end up with that pick based on its protections I believe).

Thanks for the info. I guess we'll find out in a few hours if this happens...

I'd do it for that 2031 pick if it was minimally protected (say, top 4 or so). It's too ambitious to expect a fully unprotected pick - not one in the post-Giannis era.

It gets them under the second apron though. Might be worth it to them.

gambitx777 · Post #14 » by **gambitx777** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 3:08 am

AFM wrote:
nate33 wrote:
AFM wrote:Thanks for the info. I guess we'll find out in a few hours if this happens...

I'd do it for that 2031 pick if it was minimally protected (say, top 4 or so). It's too ambitious to expect a fully unprotected pick - not one in the post-Giannis era.

It gets them under the second apron though. Might be worth it to them.

Huge savings and they avoid all those **** penalties. That's big value. Plus Kuz has a decent contract even with the trade kicker that he may or may not waive.
I would hope to get both 2031 picks and jugo besson. But let's see

If we are trading JV and Bey for nurkic we better get at least a a first and a second if not 2 firsts.

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doclinkin · Post #15 » by **doclinkin** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 3:22 am

machu46 wrote:I will say you'll be hard pressed to find a single Bucks fan that wouldn't be straight up angry if we give up Middleton for Kuzma and don't get assets to take Kuzma back.

Fans don't pay the luxury tax payments. The Bucks are in the repeater tax and pay $4.25 for every dollar exceeding the cap. Swapping Kuzma for Khris saves them nearly $35m in luxury penalties this year. They are hamstrung under the apron rules and unable to make any real moves unless they cut salary. This drops them to the 1st apron. And Kuz' declining cap number means they have increasing freedom in the out years, saving another $12m under the cap the following year compared to Middleton's opt-in cost. All at a time when Dame and Giannis get more and more expensive.

But the flexibility counts as much or more than the dollar figure. Dropping back to the 1st apron means they can do 2-for-1 trades etc. If the Wiz can use their TPE to drag more salary from them the Bucks could conceivably duck the 1st apron as well. At that point the Bucks stand to gain far more in trade flexibility to build a team around their Win Now core than they would benefit by a future pick a half dozen years from now. A championship is worth hundreds of millions to a franchise.

All reports say the Bucks are the ones 'highly motivated' to do this trade. The Wiz don't need to lose Kuz right now. They need to lose period. This year and next. He is not hindering that need. [/understatement]. Yes Kuz is at his lowest value, by which standard the Wiz might do well to rehab his numbers. As his contract shrinks he becomes more valuable and even easier to trade.

Whereas Adding Middleton only helps the Wiz win more games, and if we end up outside the top 8 in the lotto next year we lose the pick to the Knicks. The compensation has to be worth it. Middleton's primary value here would be if he opts out for a sign & trade with another team in order to not stay stuck in tank purgatory.

The Wiz have been seeking 1st round pick(s) for Kuz. I don't expect that changes just because he has had a down year. Maybe their price has dropped. But I fully expect they will shop him until they get a FRP. The only juice that might be added is that the WIz have far too many 2nd round picks to ever use, so they will surely spend them to move up or into the 1st round. I can see them throwing one or more in on a trade to return a future 1st round pick.

doclinkin · Post #16 » by **doclinkin** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 3:31 am

I expect landing Middleton likely means we would keep Brogdon and let his contract expire, to save on cost at the end of the year. Middleton, Brogdon and a rehabbed Bey might actually fxxk around and win us a few games late in the year. Not enough to endanger our tank, but might be enough to give the youngsters a taste for it.

gambitx777 · Post #17 » by **gambitx777** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 3:44 am

doclinkin wrote:I expect landing Middleton likely means we would keep Brogdon and let his contract expire, to save on cost at the end of the year. Middleton, Brogdon and a rehabbed Bey might actually fxxk around and win us a few games late in the year. Not enough to endanger our tank, but might be enough to give the youngsters a taste for it.

Depends on the deal

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80sballboy · Post #18 » by **80sballboy** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 4:00 am

I assumed there would be picks involved and I do trust in Dawkins and Winger even if this process is going to take 4-5 years and 2-3 painstaking ones. I'm more intrigued by this part of the season than any other. Hopefully we get lucky in the draft but if not, it's just going to be another year or so. For those who have been with the team since the Bullets' days, it's getting tougher and tougher to watch.

gambitx777 · Post #19 » by **gambitx777** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 7:52 am

This stuff about KD is nuts where the **** did this come from.

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AFM · Post #20 » by **AFM** » Wed Feb 5, 2025 12:57 pm

One thing not in dispute, league sources told The Athletic, is that the Washington Wizards would like to obtain future draft picks.

This we know for certain from league sources: The Wizards hold a $12.4 million traded player exception that they got after sending Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks last year, and it expires on Feb. 10. Washington would love to use that exception to take on salary — perhaps as a facilitating team in a larger three- or four-team transaction — if the right pick, or picks, would be sent to the Wizards. A team with a traded player exception can take on salary without giving up salary.

Washington also would entertain parting with veterans Malcolm Brogdon and Marvin Bagley III, who are on expiring contracts, as well as center Richaun Holmes, whose $13.3 million salary for next season is guaranteed only for $250,000.