2023 Draft Discussion

[grumpysaddle]

Read on Twitter

?t=_0tyRPRfxifDB0vqULoTTw&s=19

This Dick fellow is quite the character

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

What else can you do with that last name?

[grumpysaddle]

Also who gives a **** about the 52nd pick on the draft? Y'all weird.

[BobbieL]

Drew Timme anyone?

Have no clue about the guy they drafted but they already had Todd from the Wiz trade as a second rounder
Bazley - another guy they probably can sign cheaply if they want more potential

[bwgood77]

Did I miss something or did the Kings trade their #24 pick to salary dump Richaun Holmes? I don’t see how a trade exception can be that valuable for them. If the Suns made that move twitter would implode…

Edit: the Suns DID do this with Warren + 32nd pick to open space for a starting PG (Rubio). Guess the Kings are looking at a starting wing with their space.

I was thinking Dallas traded 12 for 24 and Richaun Holmes, which I thought was a good trade...for both teams.

But I was just assuming. I haven't been paying super close attention.

No, you were right, it was a salary dump...I forgot OKC got 10. That does seem like a lot to save $12 million these days...though I remember a team trading 2 first to dump a bigger salary (I think the Kings to Utah back in the day). And of course we traded 2 firsts to dump Kurt Thomas....of course fans were not happy. I wonder if they already knew who they may get with that exception.

June 22: Mavericks turn 10th pick into a haul
Dallas Mavericks get:
C Richaun Holmes
No. 12 pick (Dereck Lively II)
No. 24 pick (Olivier-Maxence Prosper)

Oklahoma City Thunder get:
No. 10 pick (Cason Wallace)
F Davis Bertans

Sacramento Kings get:
Trade exception


Kings: B

The most fascinating move of draft night was made by the Kings, who gave up the 24th pick in order to shed Holmes' $12 million salary. Between Holmes and the pick, Sacramento created $13-plus million in additional cap space this summer, bringing them to a possible max of $38 million.

Several other teams will have more space than the Kings, who realistically are probably looking at $36 million in cap space after factoring in the modest cap hold for forward Trey Lyles ($3.4 million). Yet none of them had home court advantage in the first round of last year's playoffs, putting Sacramento in position to add to a young core led by De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and 2022 No. 4 pick Keegan Murray.

Creating that much space would require renouncing the rights to Harrison Barnes, meaning the Kings would almost certainly be shopping for a replacement forward. Jerami Grant would fit the bill, as would Khris Middleton or possibly Dillon Brooks.

By far the most intriguing possibility, however, is Sacramento making a run at bringing unrestricted free agent Draymond Green up I-80 from the Bay Area. Defensively, Green would be a massive upgrade for a team that ranked 24th on a per-possession basis last season. Fitting Green with Sabonis, another non-floor spacer, would be a challenge mitigated in part by the fact that both players are terrific playmakers.

There are other options for Sacramento. The Kings could re-sign Barnes and make a more modest addition while reserving some cap space to renegotiate Sabonis' 2023-24 salary upward, making a contract extension for the All-NBA pick more realistic. Sacramento could also look to take back a salary into space.

Still, none of those options seem worth giving up a first-round pick to facilitate. This deal suggests the Kings have more in store, which makes this grade really more of a TBD.

Mavericks: A-

This trade unfolded in two parts on draft night. First, we learned the Mavericks were sending the 10th pick and Bertans to the Thunder for the 12th pick, a solid piece of business -- they still landed LiveIy, surely their target all along, after trading down -- that felt incomplete because of the ability to match Bertans' salary coming back.

A few hours later, we got the second part of the deal with Dallas taking on Holmes' salary from the Kings and landing the No. 24 pick in the process. So if you're scoring at home, the Mavericks swapped Bertans and No. 10 for Holmes and the 12th and 24 picks.

In that exchange, Dallas saved money next season and can reasonably hope to have upgraded the roster. Assuming Holmes doesn't waive a 15% trade bonus, he will make about $3 million less than Bertans in 2023-24. The Mavericks are surely hoping to get the version of Holmes that averaged 14.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 1.6 BPG as a full-time starter for Sacramento in 2020-21.

That performance made Holmes one of the most coveted big men on the market in free agency, which earned him a four-year, $46.5 million contract. Months later, the Kings undermined the value of that deal by trading for Sabonis, relegating Holmes to a reserve role. He was ineffective last season, posting a career-low 13.4 points, 1.1 blocks and just 8.3 rebounds per 36 minutes and losing his rotation spot behind Sabonis.

Given Holmes won't turn 30 until October, age isn't really an explanation for his poor play. If frustration with his playing time was behind his downturn, Dallas may be able to get more out of him than Sacramento did. The Mavericks can offer Holmes a chance to compete with Lively for the starting job at center.

If not, Dallas added a pair of first-rounders and more importantly their rookie contracts to the books. 2020 first-round pick Josh Green had been the Mavericks' only player on a rookie deal. Dallas also improved its chances of ducking the luxury tax next season with unrestricted free agent Kyrie Irving on a new contract and possibly having access to the non-taxpayer midlevel exception this summer, depending where Irving's salary comes in.

The slight downside is potentially paying more in 2024-25, when just $5 million of Bertans' salary was guaranteed. Holmes holds a $12.9 million player option for that season. That sacrifice is worth it to add a first-round pick and see if Holmes can turn things around.

Thunder: C

This deal continues a trend of the Thunder moving up in the first round to try to make sure they get their guy. Last year, Oklahoma City paid heavily to go up two picks and take Ousmane Dieng at No. 11. This time, the Thunder made an almost identical move up from No. 12 to No. 10.

Instead of dipping into a stockpile of incoming future first-round picks, this time Oklahoma City is taking advantage of what could have been $36 million in cap space this summer to add Bertans' $17 million salary. It's possible the Thunder could pump up Bertans' trade value by playing him as a floor spacer in the role Mike Muscala has filled for Oklahoma City in the past. More likely, that's a sunk cost for moving up two spots.

If so, this again looks like an overpay by the Thunder in the draft. Moving up from No. 12 to No. 10 is worth the equivalent of the 42nd pick by my trade value chart, which is a paltry return for taking back Bertans' salary. Of course, the value is less meaningful if Wallace works out for Oklahoma City.

I had Wallace rated as the No. 6 prospect in my stats-based projections, which did not include the Thompson twins. If you consider this a trade up to get the eighth-best prospect rather than the 10th pick, the value is more reasonable.