Post#74 » by billinder33 » Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:44 pm
Ultimately this offseason will be about cleaning up the cap. I doubt Lacob will be interested in blowing out the cap or jettisoning the youth to give Steph a longshot title attempt unless there's some unicorn deal to be made for a prime-age impact wing like Booker or JJaxJr.
Expiring contracts are generally trade deadline opportunities, meaning CP3 has limited offseason trade value. Therefore he will most likely be let go.
Podz will absorb much of CP3's current responsibilities. Podz is basically the engine of the post-Steph future, and I don't think the Ws will trade that away just to be a 5th or 6th seed in the West, nor should they.
TJD's future here is kind of a lesser version of the Podz story. Ws need a starter-level big for the future, and I doubt there will be any viable replacement coming back in trade. So TJD is probably here to stay.
Dray is almost untradable given his instability and his value to the Ws far exceeding the value he would bring to some other team. So he likely starts the season in a Ws uni.
Klay will find out there's no market for his services and come back on a 2/24 deal or less, or hopefully just retire a legend who walked away from the game at the right time.
JK will likely get an opportunity to demonstrate continued growth up to the trade deadline.
What's left is basically a garbage pile of uninteresting assets - Wiggs, GP2, Moody, Saric, Loony. I could see Wiggs +JK+ maybe even Dray + one of the others being moved in a trade deadline deal for a big-time disgruntled asset like Embid, Giannis, Zion. IMO this is the most likely path to being a WC contender. Barring that unlikely scenario, I think we should all buckle down for another mediocre season and WC play-in slot.