Fake Trade Thread 16/17 pt.1

[JDR720]

The number of teams that would take mkg is probably about 5. Either a contender looking for a specialist or a team that just needs talent like the nets.

Philly doesn't need a non shooter with Simmons and embiid.

[JDR720]

I struggle to understand why an elite perimeter defender and rebounder who is fast enough to crash the offensive glass and still get back on defense; and is also able to lead the break on transition opportunities while only making $12 million a year is a team liability. I'm as disappointed as anyone that he has yet to become a threat from the perimeter, but his other qualities outweigh that. I'm not trading a positive impact player making role player money unless it's for someone who is a slam dunk difference maker.

His number one problem has always been confidence. If we're lucky Monk and Bacon's confidence will rub off on him as it appears to have for Kaminsky.

Also have to consider we have Graham Bacon and both of them can more or less do mkgs role and they make pennies.

Mkg is definitely available, don't think many would want him though. Basically just contenders in need of defense make sense.

[dmutombo321]

I struggle to understand why an elite perimeter defender and rebounder who is fast enough to crash the offensive glass and still get back on defense; and is also able to lead the break on transition opportunities while only making $12 million a year is a team liability. I'm as disappointed as anyone that he has yet to become a threat from the perimeter, but his other qualities outweigh that. I'm not trading a positive impact player making role player money unless it's for someone who is a slam dunk difference maker.

His number one problem has always been confidence. If we're lucky Monk and Bacon's confidence will rub off on him as it appears to have for Kaminsky.

MKG is earning 13 million a year through 2020. And while that's not going to show up on any Worst Contracts list, its certainly not a bargain either. Charlotte awarded that contract hoping his production would grow into it and it has not. That's been blunted by the new CBA that raised average salaries, but even now SF's like Ariza and PJ Tucker who are similarly adept defenders, and can also knock down three balls are earning $7-$8 million a year. On an inflation adjusted basis, that's the type of yearly pay MKG will probably see on his next contract, and is what he should be earning right now.

He's a defensive/rebounding utility player with a broken jumper entering his 6th NBA season with career averages of 9/6 with 20% 3pt shooting. He's a net asset to this team, he's a hard worker, he's a good kid, and he helps us win ball games. That being said, there's nothing particularly special about the attributes be brings to the table that cant easily be replaced by any number of journey man free agents every off season. Travean Graham has proven to be a physical SF defender in his own right. Not quite as elite as Gilchrist on his rotations nor quite as elite a rebounder, but thats more than offset by the fact that he's not a liability on offense and is a threat to knock down open threes....and he's earning 1/10 the salary.

MKG still has some trade value due to his relatively young age, defensive acumen, and pedigree as a former #2 pick. That value diminishes incrementally every year however as at becomes more apparent to the rest of the league that what you see now is likely always going to be what you get.

I dont think Bass, myself or anyone else is advocating trading MKG just for the sake of dumping him, but if a trade opportunity presents itself to better the team, Gilchrist should be one of the first expendable pieces made available

[amcoolio]

Is MKG even an elite defender anymore? Anyone with stats on this?

[dmutombo321]

Is MKG even an elite defender anymore? Anyone with stats on this?

I'd be interested to know the same.

Either way, even when he was at his defensive best two years ago, elite opponents' good offense was always better than his (or anyone elses') best defense.

I'm sure most ppl remember when Lebron and Carmelo both lit us up for 60 that year within days of each other with MKG guarding them for much of each game. Carmelo left the game with 62 with over 7 minutes remaining in the contest. He probably would've gone for 75 otherwise.

Watch on YouTube

[chabber]

I don’t believe he is. He’s just all effort. He’s been in the league 5 years and I don’t think he’s picked up how to be a crafty, physically agressive defender. He always looks like he’s playing not to foul his man and has no respect from the refs on either side of the ball. He’s basically seems to be the same player he was his rookie season.

[bravor]

I think there is still some Tony Allen in him, but he probably has to check the less physical players. Batum was also torched by both Anthony (but he made him pay in defense too btw) and LBJ (i got to know who can slow him if you don't have a big and mobile guy in your roster) when he was playing good defense.
He is just 24, he has time to progress and come back to the impact he had when he recovered early 2 years ago before his second injury against Mahinmi & the Pacers.

Which is why i keep advocating for a good defensive tweener on this roster, especially considering Marvin's ups and down, and Frank liabilities.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

What if the 76s wanted Cody for Saric & Okafor?

[Bassman]

What if the 76s wanted Cody for Saric & Okafor?

Sold. I love Cody but those two players make us an upper level competitor in the east.

[amcoolio]

We need a change. Should have (and hopefully we tried to) bid on all these all-stars that switched teams this past season. The dropoff from MKG to Bacon or Marv to Bacon isn't that much to warrant keeping one or both of them on. And we don't need next year's pick.

Still on the Bledsoe train. He would be great in this system and can start at 2 guard even when Batum gets back. Elite defender too when he tries. He is better than Kyle Lowry...if that type of player is available for cheap, just go out and get him and don't worry about fit.

We have more than enough role players, we need another all-star type talent.

[dmutombo321]

What if the 76s wanted Cody for Saric & Okafor?

Cody is an integral part of this team, and his rotational defense, mobility and pick and roll game really complement Dwight.

That having been said, you're going to have to trade quality to get quality. Saric, as discussed, has tremendous potential to be really special, and would provide an immediate upgrade at SF.

I don't think I would have wanted any part of Okafor last year, but it looks like he's finally getting serious and dedicating himself. He adopted a dietary and fitness regimen in the offseason and reported 18 lbs lighter this year. He looked terrifically fleet of foot in the preseason and had 10/9/2 in just 22 minutes the other night.

I wouldn't take trading Cody lightly but it's a bold calculated risk I'd consider taking if it could yield a package like that for two young promising players in return

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[yosemiteben]

We need a change.

You mean like getting a starting caliber wing that is a distributor and a starting caliber center? In my mind all we need is to get healthy.

Get healthy, start Batum and Frank, and this is going to be a radically different team.

[Bassman]

We need a change.

You mean like getting a starting caliber wing that is a distributor and a starting caliber center? In my mind all we need is to get healthy.

Get healthy, start Batum and Frank, and this is going to be a radically different team.

You mean like this team with them is a contender to win the East?

I didn't think so.

Adding two quality young players, one who would start and play ahead of low-production MKG, with the other adding serious depth behind Howard? I say blend them into a team that, with Batum's return, could possibly challenge in the East, maybe now but especially next season.

[yosemiteben]

Who knows? You can't judge this team until you've seen them healthy, and looking at the product on the floor now and saying we need a change doesn't make sense.

[Bassman]

Who knows? You can't judge this team until you've seen them healthy, and looking at the product on the floor now and saying we need a change doesn't make sense.

Agree that saying "we need a change" is not necessarily an absolute. I obviously believe the change DMutombo and I are talking about could be significant and worth doing.

[Braggins]

Pretty sure Okafor is terrible.

[dmutombo321]

Pretty sure Okafor is terrible.

He's alot like MKG in that he was drafted way higher than he should have been and will never live up to his #2 status.

Okafor, like MKG, is still a useful NBA player though. And one who still has this year and next remaining on a rookie scale deal.

As previously mentioned, the fact that he's finally eating right, in shape and reported 15-20 lbs lighter is encouraging. I dont expect he'll ever amount to anything more than a Greg Monroe type (i.e. scorer/rebounder who struggles laterally on pick and roll defense), but if you're getting him in conjunction with Saric and strictly using him as Dwight Howard's backup, he can contribute meaningfully and feast on other teams' second units in the post.

clip of his 10/9/2 in 22 minutes of work last week:

Watch on YouTube

[bravor]

Trading Cody would be utterly dumb as he is on a team friendly contract. Howard is obviously a good surprise for now, but the season is long, and the best bet for the future is obviously Zeller.
Last season pretty much showed what this team is worth with and without a healthy Zeller.

On the other hand, wings and pf spot are still one of the obvious weaknesses of this roster. If no interesting piece are available, there is still no reason to do a trade for the sake of doing a trade. Howard's expiring next year could provide a lot of opportunities.

Considering Marvin's production since his contract year, and even if he is a good guy, i would find logical if Cho was trying to find a deal to unload his contract which hurt this team's flexibility.

[Kembastockton]

What if the 76s wanted Cody for Saric & Okafor?

Cody is an integral part of this team, and his rotational defense, mobility and pick and roll game really complement Dwight.

That having been said, you're going to have to trade quality to get quality. Saric, as discussed, has tremendous potential to be really special, and would provide an immediate upgrade at SF.

I don't think I would have wanted any part of Okafor last year, but it looks like he's finally getting serious and dedicating himself. He adopted a dietary and fitness regimen in the offseason and reported 18 lbs lighter this year. He looked terrifically fleet of foot in the preseason and had 10/9/2 in just 22 minutes the other night.

I wouldn't take trading Cody lightly but it's a bold calculated risk I'd consider taking if it could yield a package like that for two young promising players in return

Sent from my LG-D800 using RealGM mobile app

I would do the trade. Maybe Dwight could light a fire under Okafor and get him to finally live up to his potential.

We need a change.

You mean like getting a starting caliber wing that is a distributor and a starting caliber center? In my mind all we need is to get healthy.

Get healthy, start Batum and Frank, and this is going to be a radically different team.

How good this team looks with Dwight and Kemba bodes really well for the return of a creative passer like Nic.

You mean like this team with them is a contender to win the East?

I didn't think so.

Adding two quality young players, one who would start and play ahead of low-production MKG, with the other adding serious depth behind Howard? I say blend them into a team that, with Batum's return, could possibly challenge in the East, maybe now but especially next season.

Dude those guys couldn't even help their team out of the lottery. How are they going to help us win the east?

Pretty sure Okafor is terrible.

He's alot like MKG in that he was drafted way higher than he should have been and will never live up to his #2 status.

Okafor, like MKG, is still a useful NBA player though. And one who still has this year and next remaining on a rookie scale deal.

As previously mentioned, the fact that he's finally eating right, in shape and reported 15-20 lbs lighter is encouraging. I dont expect he'll ever amount to anything more than a Greg Monroe type (i.e. scorer/rebounder who struggles laterally on pick and roll defense), but if you're getting him in conjunction with Saric and strictly using him as Dwight Howard's backup, he can contribute meaningfully and feast on other teams' second units in the post.

clip of his 10/9/2 in 22 minutes of work last week:

Watch on YouTube

Okafor and MKG are nothing alike. If Okafor had MKG's heart he would be mentioned in the same breath with Towns, Embid, and Cousins. Okafor had the talent to be drafted where he was. He is just to lazy to live up to his potential. MKG was taken high in a weak draft, because he had limitless potential and the work ethic to get there.

[dmutombo321]

Okafor and MKG are nothing alike. If Okafor had MKG's heart he would be mentioned in the same breath with Towns, Embid, and Cousins. Okafor had the talent to be drafted where he was. He is just to lazy to live up to his potential. MKG was taken high in a weak draft, because he had limitless potential and the work ethic to get there.

Nobody questions MKG's heart. And there is no argument here that MKG isnt a harder, more dedicated worker than Okafor.
Nor any argument that those attributes likely factored into Charlotte drafting MKG #2.

I like MKG and wish every player had his drive and dedication. But the fact still remains that hard worker or not, MKG, like Okafor, has disappointed relative to his draft position.

He's entering his 6th season in the league with career averages of 9.1 / 6.4 while shooting 20% from deep.

Indeed, 2012 was a historically weak draft. Nevertheless, if it were redone today, its unlikely MKG would crack the top 10

Off the top of my head, Davis, Lillard, Beal , Barnes, Drummond, Fornier, Crowder, Waiters, Draymond Green, Middleton all have greater value than MKG and none of their respective teams would for a second give any consideration to trading any of those guys for Gilchrist straight up.