Re: Trade Talk (Part Twelve): 2023 Playoff Push Edition

[Note30]

Maybe if it was someone more recent in the NBA I would understand but a college kid? No way. This isn't LeBron or Melo you're getting back it's an unknown. Wemby is the only player in this draft who is a relatively known quantity at the moment.

It's happened before. Love for Wiggins comes to mind.

Different situation, Towns isn't demanding a trade on a one year remaining contract, and Andrew Wiggins was supposed to be the next big thing.

[Baseline81]

Different situation, Towns isn't demanding a trade, and Andrew Wiggins was supposed to be the next big thing.

I realize the situations differ, I was speaking more about trading an all-star for a top pick.

I would argue Wiggins and Henderson are on near equal value. If I recall correctly, Wiggins' college career ended in a whimper -- disappeared in the NCAA tournament. More important, if Embiid didn't have a back injury at the time, Wiggins would not have been selected first overall.

Meanwhile, Henderson has been touted as a top pick even before playing his first game in the G League.

[jpatrick]

Maybe if it was someone more recent in the NBA I would understand but a college kid? No way. This isn't LeBron or Melo you're getting back it's an unknown. Wemby is the only player in this draft who is a relatively known quantity at the moment.

It's happened before. Love for Wiggins comes to mind.

Different situation, Towns isn't demanding a trade on a one year remaining contract, and Andrew Wiggins was supposed to be the next big thing.

I actually think Scoot is as highly touted as Wiggins. Neither is/was a perfect prospect but either would be the #1 pick in many years. Wiggins actually wouldn’t have gone #1, per rumbling anyway, except for Embiid’s injury. Some teams also had Parker ahead of Wiggins.

Scoot has an Edwards’ body and athleticism, in a shorter frame. His question marks are whether he’s a true PG and the shot. But the numbers he put up in the gleague, which is miles better than college, is special.

I’d take a chance to pair him with Edwards for the next decade, but I don’t think Connelly would.

[Neeva]

I think Connely would but he would want a win now piece also. Assuming Charlotte gets 2nd pick and resigns bridges, Towns/Moore/Mclaughlin for Scoot/Washington/Williams/filler.

Wolves
Conley/Scoot
Ant/Naw/Bates(2nd rd pick) Nowell?
McDaniels/Prince/Minott
Anderson/Washington/Naz
Gobert/Naz/Williams/Garza

[TimberKat]

How about don't trade Towns but just a few second + Prince salary for Tyus Jones? I got a tune for that one too:

Watch on YouTube

[BlacJacMac]

Umm...Why would Memphis do that? Tyus has been great for them.

[TimberKat]

Umm...Why would Memphis do that? Tyus has been great for them.

Didn't say they would. I just like the song . Maybe they wanted a bigger guy like Prince or Reid or just picks.

[TimberKat]

With how well Sharpe is playing lately, Lillard maybe available. Is there a way to sign and trade Reid + stuff without giving up Conley? Anyway the salary can fit? If it comes down to Lillard for Reid + Conley. I am not sure I would do it. Also, Lillard is already 32 and contract run through 26/27 season. I don't know if that is good or bad.

I think this may work?
Reid-20m; NAW-7; Prince-7;JMcL-2
Lillard-45m

[shrink]

I get this rule confused, but I think that with Gobert and KAT on Designated Vet Max deals, we can’t trade for a guy like Lillard.

That said, Lillard is worth more to POR than to any other team. - and maybe the only place where he is worth that huge contract Even if the team and Lillard both agree to move on, then POR will try to send him where he wants to go. Probably not MIN.

[YaleS]

Well if we trade away KAT it will be our second worst deal this decade.

[shrink]

I am generally against doing a major shakeup at this point.

HOWEVER...

What would we say if Connelly was presented with an offer of trading Karl-Anthony Towns for either the second or third pick in the 2023 draft (plus salary filler, of course)?

It’s an interesting question, because rookies come with so much team control.

However, I think Tim Connelly has made it pretty clear that he wants to play winning basketball, not start a rebuild when the team lacks so many future 1sts. Moreover, this summer will be too soon for him to declare the Gobert-KAT experiment a success or failure, and he is heavily invested in seeing that through.

Even if it was offered, I don’t think Connelly would take it this summer.

[minimus]

Posted this on reddit, need some deep CBA knowledge from you, guys:

If I am not mistaken we can resign Reid and trade him later before trade deadline. Tax will be calculated after regular season ending. Another option could be (correct me if I am wrong and that is not possible) a front loaded Jeremy Lin type of deal (for example 15+5+5). Again I don’t remember who was behind Jeremy Lin deal, but if that was Morey then I can see Gupta considering this option, assuming that Gupta derives from Morey/Hinkie school.

P.S. I am still wondering what should be our first option based on long term view:

1. investing in Gobert-Towns-Reid trio as part of our identity which is playing big, playing aggressive in the paint, putting pressure at rim
2. get a younger replacement for Conley who has been exceptional for team chemistry, ball movement and professional approach

IMO we should use first option just because we can’t benefit from FA market (no cap space, and MIN is not an attractive destination) and we don’t have trade assets (picks and young players) right now. BUT, if we can resign Reid at fair market price he might become a trade asset after trade restrictions expire


P.P.S. I need also to understand how new CBA will affect our situation. One thing I have read is that we can sign MCD to 5 year non max deal

[shrink]

Posted this on reddit, need some deep CBA knowledge from you, guys:

If I am not mistaken we can resign Reid and trade him later before trade deadline. Tax will be calculated after regular season ending. Another option could be (correct me if I am wrong and that is not possible) a front loaded Jeremy Lin type of deal (for example 15+5+5). Again I don’t remember who was behind Jeremy Lin deal, but if that was Morey then I can see Gupta considering this option, assuming that Gupta derives from Morey/Hinkie school.

First, let me be very specific about the words “re-sign” and “extend,” since sometimes people reading this will perceive them as synonyms. The new CBA doesn’t kick in until this summer, so all those rules are the same. We can extend Naz’s contract all the way up to the last day of the NBA season, with the first year starting for up to 120% of the average salary ($10.5), or $12.6. [new CBA is raising this to 140%, but too late for Naz extension]. If we don’t extend him this year, we could re-sign him, just like we could sign any free agent. We have Bird rights, so we can offer any amount, up to the max. However, Naz was undrafted and is an unrestricted free agent, so we don’t have the right to match any team’s offer to keep him.

Regarding taxes, yes, taxes are calculated based on the players on the roster at the end of the season (plus pro-rated 10 day deals, etc). If we signed or extended Naz to a reasonable deal, then traded him midway through the season to a team with cap space, he’d count for zero in our tax calculations. We do need to stay under the lux next season to avoid starting the repeater tax a year early, but we have some space below the lux next year. Connelly might be able to afford to keep Naz for one season, then try to do a deal like this in 2024-25. The key would be getting him to accept a low enough number that makes him tradable later. Freshly signed free agents can’t be traded until December, unless it is done immediately in a sign-and-trade.

As for front-loaded deals, I believe the NBA has rules for how much a salary can decrease, unless your team is not even up to the salary cap (which enabled Myles Turner’s recent renegotiation). What most teams do now to avoid that is offer “dollars not years.” For example, a couple years ago the Hawks were a young cheap team, and Gallinari was a useful sixth man for them, but a borderline starter elsewhere, so perhaps an $8 mil a year player. To encourage him to stay, while not locking him in longterm, they offered him $18 mil for season 1, and an unguaranteed $18 mil for the next season. For Gallo, this was a better offer than say, 3 for $26 that another team might offer. I could see MIN making a similar offer to Naz,

[shrink]

P.S. I am still wondering what should be our first option based on long term view:

1. investing in Gobert-Towns-Reid trio as part of our identity which is playing big, playing aggressive in the paint, putting pressure at rim
2. get a younger replacement for Conley who has been exceptional for team chemistry, ball movement and professional approach

IMO we should use first option just because we can’t benefit from FA market (no cap space, and MIN is not an attractive destination) and we don’t have trade assets (picks and young players) right now. BUT, if we can resign Reid at fair market price he might become a trade asset after trade restrictions expire.

MIN has 11 players under contract and about $18 mil under the lux next year to toss around. They could use their MLE (about $13.4) or bring back their own players. As you can see, if they pay Naz something competitive (other teams will offer him more as a starter), it will take a big chunk of that $18. I hope he stays, but I suspect he’s gone.

I would happily keep Mike Conley for another season. He does not look like a guy on his last legs, and he has been great this year. Moreover, I want him in Ant’s ear. But eventually we’ll need an apprentice. A few options

On our team: Could McLaughlin develop? Could NAW, if we pay him to stay? Could we find someone with our late second rounder?

On other teams: Free Agent PG’s look pretty old, and we could only offer the MLE. We can find younger ones in restricted free agency. If we threw the full $13.4 mil MLE at Tre Jones, HOU would match, right? CHI has two young RFA PG’s, and may only want one. Does Ayo Dosunmu grab you? Coby White? Obviously, not the full MLE for either of them.

In trade: TJ McConnell still looks good to me - might cost us Taurean Prince. If you believe that Ant could be Conley’s eventual replacement, maybe you could trade TP and Minott or WMJ for a defensive guy, like Josh Hart or Alex Caruso?

Finally, I’m not in a big rush this summer to replace Conley. Besides Ant needing reps to improve his ability to run an offense, I like giving the minutes that Mike is off the floor to SloMo.

[Domejandro]

I’m pretty much prepared to trade Karl-Anthony Towns for loose couch change, a stale bag of Doritos, and a used condom, after tonight’s performance.

[Chello1]

I’m pretty much prepared to trade Karl-Anthony Towns for loose couch change, a stale bag of Doritos, and a used condom, after tonight’s performance.

He needs to go!

[Neeva]

Still hoping we can get Scoot for him though or at least Bridges.

[Battletrigger]

I’m pretty much prepared to trade Karl-Anthony Towns for loose couch change, a stale bag of Doritos, and a used condom, after tonight’s performance.

I usually would agree with you. I am in the trade Kat wagon since the Butler days but, right now? With so many pick sent to Utah it's difficult to say.

Connelly has deeply **** this team present and future for almost a decade.

[Neeva]

We didn’t have Kat most of the season and not sure I trust his health moving forward anyway.

[BlacJacMac]

Still hoping we can get Scoot for him though or at least Bridges.

Mikal?

I can’t see Brooklyn being even remotely interested in that deal.

Bridges plays a more coveted position, is as good of a perimeter defender as there is in the game, has proven to have way more offensive ability than he showed in Phoenix, is on a criminally cheap contract and doesn’t miss games.

I totally believe Brooklyn turned down four #1s for him.