Offseason Plan

[Dark Faze]

Jones with the MLE/S&T.

Jalen Smith with the room exception.

Renounce Ish, obviously.

Send Kuzma somewhere.

Jones Davis Dunn
Beal Kispert
KCP Avdija
Smith Rui Gill
Porzingis Gafford Carey

Bring back Gill for depth. Give Dunn a minimum contract as a 3rd PG/depth. Give Carey a shot as the 3rd C

oof, that's a 9 seed most likely

Not that I'm blaming your logic, just saying, this team shouldn't be going the route it currently is.

[NatP4]

Jones with the MLE/S&T.

Jalen Smith with the room exception.

Renounce Ish, obviously.

Send Kuzma somewhere.

Jones Davis Dunn
Beal Kispert
KCP Avdija
Smith Rui Gill
Porzingis Gafford Carey

Bring back Gill for depth. Give Dunn a minimum contract as a 3rd PG/depth. Give Carey a shot as the 3rd C

oof, that's a 9 seed most likely

Not that I'm blaming your logic, just saying, this team shouldn't be going the route it currently is.

I definitely don’t agree.

Jones as a starter per 36: 15.0 points 7.8 assists to 1.2 turnovers (completely ridiculous) 3.8 rebounds 1.3 steals on 54.8% TS with a 13.7 net rating. He was 3rd on the Grizzlies in on/off differential. All the numbers say impact starter and a substantial upgrade over Dinwiddie/Westbrook/injured Wall.

Davis will atleast be a rotational piece from day 1 thanks to his effort level and basketball IQ. At worst, he comes in and defends and rebounds and gives you a solid versatile piece off the bench. There’s also a ton of upside with NBA spacing and talent around him.

I have no idea if Jalen Smith is even on their radar, he might be based on the rumored interest in him around the deadline and his DC ties, but he’s becoming a really good player. 18 points 12 rebounds per36 on 60% TS last year in about 1000 minutes. Shot the 3 at 37% in Indiana on 5.5 attempts per36. 2nd on the Pacers in on/off behind Buddy Hield. I see a guy that’s about to explode and become one of the better two way 4s in the NBA. Would be a bigtime steal in the free agent market and huge upgrade over Kuzma/Rui.

Avdija is a huge underrated piece. He’s developing into a high level impact two way starter. Maybe not an all star level player ever, but a winning player on both ends, and significant positive player.

I think Kispert showed all of the signs of becoming a Joe Harris level rotation player that can help you win games. Not really starter caliber, but average on defense and a plus on offense.

If they would ever actually give Gill a real substantial role, he can be a quality backup 4 in the NBA. Every time he gets a chance, he shows this.

We know Gafford is a plus player and solid rotation piece.

I look at the roster and see a framework of all of these guys being plus players:

Jones Davis (maybe)
Beal Kispert
Avdija
Smith Gill
Porzingis Gafford

The real swing factor is the 4 spot where they give 48 minutes to a couple of net negative players in Rui/Kuzma. If Tommy doesn’t fix that problem this off-season, I see a ceiling of a 40ish win team, nothing more.

If they go trade for a net negative player in Monte Morris as well, I see absolutely nothing going on here. Maybe a 9 seed at best. Especially if they Supermax Beal. This would be a HORRENDOUS off-season result:

Morris Dunn
Beal Kispert Davis
KCP Avdija
Kuzma Rui
Porzingis Gafford

[WallToWall]

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Only $4,888,118 guaranteed in 2022/23, HoopsHype has learned. Contract becomes fully guaranteed if not waived by June 28, 2022. He is on the books for $14,004,703 after June 28 2022.

[nate33]

I could be missing something about Jones, but I wrote about the teams with actual cap space and none of them need a point guard, and are not going to pay a backup point guard the MLE. That doesn't make a ton of sense from a financial aspect.

The sign and trade is an option that I didn't think about but we're matching salaries right? So 1 of Kuzma/KCP is going the other way...not sure I would do that. Then again, one of them would go to Indiana in a hypothetical trade for Brogdon so pick, Jones or Brogdon? I don't think the market is as robust as they're making it out to be. You factor in John Wall's pending buyout, Kyrie, Murray might be on the move...just feels like you're waiting for all of these dominoes to fall before you even get to Jones.

The presumption is that Memphis is willing to pay at least MLE money to retain Jones. Ja Morant isn't the most durable guy in the world, and they have had plenty of success playing the two of them alongside each other. If Jones will get 24-28 minutes a game, they'd presumably be willing to pay him $12-15M, which is enough to keep him there even if we can offer $11M a year and a starting spot.

[Rafael122]

I could be missing something about Jones, but I wrote about the teams with actual cap space and none of them need a point guard, and are not going to pay a backup point guard the MLE. That doesn't make a ton of sense from a financial aspect.

The sign and trade is an option that I didn't think about but we're matching salaries right? So 1 of Kuzma/KCP is going the other way...not sure I would do that. Then again, one of them would go to Indiana in a hypothetical trade for Brogdon so pick, Jones or Brogdon? I don't think the market is as robust as they're making it out to be. You factor in John Wall's pending buyout, Kyrie, Murray might be on the move...just feels like you're waiting for all of these dominoes to fall before you even get to Jones.

The presumption is that Memphis is willing to pay at least MLE money to retain Jones. Ja Morant isn't the most durable guy in the world, and they have had plenty of success playing the two of them alongside each other. If Jones will get 24-28 minutes a game, they'd presumably be willing to pay him $12-15M, which is enough to keep him there even if we can offer $11M a year and a starting spot.

But is that smart on their end though? Once you start factoring in extensions for Bane, Brooks, Morant, Clarke...could a midmarket team like Memphis afford to then have Jones' $15 mil on the books?

[nate33]

I could be missing something about Jones, but I wrote about the teams with actual cap space and none of them need a point guard, and are not going to pay a backup point guard the MLE. That doesn't make a ton of sense from a financial aspect.

The sign and trade is an option that I didn't think about but we're matching salaries right? So 1 of Kuzma/KCP is going the other way...not sure I would do that. Then again, one of them would go to Indiana in a hypothetical trade for Brogdon so pick, Jones or Brogdon? I don't think the market is as robust as they're making it out to be. You factor in John Wall's pending buyout, Kyrie, Murray might be on the move...just feels like you're waiting for all of these dominoes to fall before you even get to Jones.

The presumption is that Memphis is willing to pay at least MLE money to retain Jones. Ja Morant isn't the most durable guy in the world, and they have had plenty of success playing the two of them alongside each other. If Jones will get 24-28 minutes a game, they'd presumably be willing to pay him $12-15M, which is enough to keep him there even if we can offer $11M a year and a starting spot.

But is that smart on their end though? Once you start factoring in extensions for Bane, Brooks, Morant, Clarke...could a midmarket team like Memphis afford to then have Jones' $15 mil on the books?

Good question.

Glancing at their payroll, I don't think it's going to be much of a problem. They'll have no bad contracts at all once Adams comes off the books next summer. In 2023-24, they'll have Morant at maybe $40M; Jackson at $25M; Bane and Tillman still on the final year of their rookie deals; a bunch more rookie contract guys like Zaire Williams, Kennedy Chandler, Jake Laravia, and David Roddy. That's maybe $80M. That leaves another $70M or so in luxtax room to pay Clarke, Brooks and Jones, which should be no problem at all. They'll have more leftover to pay Bane when is up for a new contract in 2024-25. So that takes care of the next 3 years. If Jones is signed to a 3-year deal, it's no problem. Even if it's a 4-year deal, it doesn't look like an issue.

[trast66]

Looks like the off-season plan is:

Draft Johnny Davis
Sign Beal to supermax
Trade pu pu platter for Brodgdon (some of Kuz, KP, Ish). Plan B if outbid for Brogdon, Delon Wright MLE.
If get Brogdon then MLE on whomever Raptors don’t sign of Boucher or Young.

[gambitx777]

I still feel like a big swing is coming and I don't know from where.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

[LAL1947]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

Why in the world would we do that?

[badinage]

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

[LAL1947]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

Why in the world would we do that?

Cos you feel badly for fleecing us.

[gambitx777]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

Why in the world would we do that?

The only interest I have in Westbrook. Is if the Lakers buy him out or trade him to a team that does. He seemed to like playing with Beal. And I can imagine he would like playing with the increased tallent level we have now. We would definitely give him the full MLE and honestly Westbrook at the MLE is a pretty good contract he's not a bad player, he's a special kind of player and doesn't fit every where but he's just not worth 47 mill.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

[FAH1223]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

[NatP4]

I actually like the idea of giving Dotson the backup role and not using the full MLE on Jones. I think he can be the same exact player. He’s going to show very nicely in the summer league. Vernon Carey has a chance to earn that 3rd C role.

I would focus in on using the MLE money to sign Jalen Smith to a multi year deal, and look to move Kuzma for a veteran guard to start at the 1. I actually like a Kuzma for Graham swap. KCP obviously needs to be renounced to save 10 million. Really don’t hate this:

Graham Dotson
Beal Davis
Avdija Kispert
Rui Smith
Porzingis Gafford

[NatP4]

Graham has upside as a shooter/scorer even after a down year, and atleast he’s in his prime, not 30 with injury issues like Brogdon. Would be a fine swap for a guy like Kuzma.

[queridiculo]

I still feel like a big swing is coming and I don't know from where.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

You are the eternal optimist.

It’s almost as if the past two decades under Leonsis stewardship never happened.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Would you guys have any interest in trading Porzingis + KCP for Westbrook?

PG: Westbrook / ??
SG: Beal / Davis
SF: Avdija / Kispert
PF: Kuzma / Rui
CE: Gafford / Bryant

Elmo says, "That tickles!"

Watch on YouTube

[nate33]

Graham has upside as a shooter/scorer even after a down year, and atleast he’s in his prime, not 30 with injury issues like Brogdon. Would be a fine swap for a guy like Kuzma.

Graham is a midget. He wouldn't be able to stay on the floor in a playoff game. He might be useful as an instant offense off the bench type of player, and for that reason I'd consider a Kuzma for Graham swap, but they would have to include incentive.

It's really too bad we couldn't have worked out a Kuzma + #10 for Graham + #8 deal. Adding Daniels and Graham to our backcourt while freeing up more frontcourt minutes for Avdija and Rui would have been so perfect.

[Frichuela]

Graham has upside as a shooter/scorer even after a down year, and atleast he’s in his prime, not 30 with injury issues like Brogdon. Would be a fine swap for a guy like Kuzma.

Graham is a midget. He wouldn't be able to stay on the floor in a playoff game. He might be useful as an instant offense off the bench type of player, and for that reason I'd consider a Kuzma for Graham swap, but they would have to include incentive.

It's really too bad we couldn't have worked out a Kuzma + #10 for Graham + #8 deal. Adding Daniels and Graham to our backcourt while freeing up more frontcourt minutes for Avdija and Rui would have been so perfect.

This. 1000%.

But hey, the past is the past..

If I was Tommy I'd kick the tires on DiVincenzo and try a sign-and-trade with SAC- offering either Kuzma or KCP.