Lavine for Poole

[Godaddycurse]

Chicago trade: Lavine
Washington trade: Poole, filler (Davis?)

Change of scenery trade for 2 of the worst contracts in NBA right now. Chicago saves some $, Washington takes a flier on the better player in Lavine to rehab value.

Who says no/needs to add?

[HornetJail]

LaVine will never be as negative as Poole, even if his injury situation was chronic and he only played 30 games a year. Poole is just straight destructive.

[zeebneeb]

Man what a **** sandwich. Imagine the GM's working out this deal.

Whew.

[meekrab]

"filler" needs to be at least 2 lottery picks of value to account for the players who flee Chicago because Poole is unsalvageable.

[penbeast0]

And still, if you are really awful (like Washington), Poole is probably the better player for them despite Lavine being clearly better talent because:

(a) He's still young enough to turn it around and be the player he was in SF before the punch. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was overrated then too; not terribly efficient volume scorers who don't play defense are the most overrated and overpaid players consistently. But he is over 4 years younger and in the NBA, that's a major difference.

(b) Lavine being better now would hurt Washington's tank and chance for an actual franchise player. They still wouldn't be good, Lavine isn't a difference maker, but they might have a lesser chance for a top player.

So, no, if I'm the Wizards I wouldn't do it even though it means I'll have to watch Poole for another year. And I sure wouldn't give up anything valuable like a 1st, or even 2nds, for the chance to take on a 30 year old this year Zach Lavine.

[babyjax13]

If Im rebuilding I'd rather have Poole's contract, tbh. They are both pretty untradeable, but there won't be a PR hit for benching Poole.

[Dez]

God no, give me the efficient high level scorer over the Shaqtin' a fool MVP.

[TheNewEra]

God no, give me the efficient high level scorer over the Shaqtin' a fool MVP.

it’s about the same player. Given contracts I would prefer Poole

[Dez]

God no, give me the efficient high level scorer over the Shaqtin' a fool MVP.

it’s about the same player

LaVine is getting severely underrated at this point.

If you think they are even remotely similar then you need your eyes checked.

[TheNewEra]

God no, give me the efficient high level scorer over the Shaqtin' a fool MVP.

it’s about the same player

LaVine is getting severely underrated at this point.

If you think they are even remotely similar then you need your eyes checked.

On that contract and coming off an injury it’s about the same value for the buck to just roll with Poole.

[penbeast0]

God no, give me the efficient high level scorer over the Shaqtin' a fool MVP.

it’s about the same player

LaVine is getting severely underrated at this point.

If you think they are even remotely similar then you need your eyes checked.

There is no question that Lavine was the better player last year. Even though Poole was healthier, he hurt his team more every play he was on the court. But why is that a good thing for a team that's trying to tank? And who will be the better player 4 years from now when Lavine is 33 and Poole is 29? And even if your answer to question 2 is Lavine, whose contract will be better?

[jayjaysee]

If LaVine plays “blank” amount of games.. you probably can flip him for negative salary and a small asset.

Poole will never have that statement be true.

[the_process]

LaVine and the POR 1st for Poole and Kuzma.

[nate33]

For a rebuilding team, I'd rather have Poole than Lavine. At least Poole is young and durable and his contract is 65% the size of Lavine's.

Poole was terrible for most of last year, but he was pretty good for a couple of seasons in Golden State and over the last 25 games in DC after they moved him to point guard. Ultimately, I'm under no delusion that he will be a quality starter, but I do think he still has the potential to be a useful instant offense 6th man in the Tyler Herro/Anfernee Simons mold.

Ultimately, I don't see much downside with Poole. There are 3 outcomes:
1. He improves dramatically and becomes a core player at age 25.
2. He regains his Golden State form and becomes a useful if overpaid instant offense 6th man. Maybe he would have some trade value as his contract grows short.
3. He sucks as bad as he did for the first 60 games last year and leads the Wizards to more losses and more lotto balls.

With Lavine's injury history, I seriously doubt he ever regains positive trade value. So in DC, all he would do is cost a lot more money. Maybe he plays better than Poole, but that only costs lotto balls. And maybe he plays worse, or not at all, in which case he is a boat anchor on our cap flexibility.

[gswhoops]

I think both teams pass on this.

LaVine is the better player and ultimately probably easier for Chicago to flip if he has a decent season.

OTOH, Washington is actively trying to not win games, and Poole is a lot cheaper than LaVine.

[BK_2020]

Kinda funny how back in 2022 Poole was a great role player who was instrumental in a championship run and now you can't win with him.

[Texas Chuck]

I mean ask yourself the salary difference per year and if LaVine represents good value on that number. Of course he does. So a swap benefits Washington and hurts Chicago. Better player, better value.

[GatherStepGuru]

WAS just traded away one overpaid, injury-prone, 2nd-3rd option SG with a lot of years left on a huge deal a year ago to undergo a rebuild. I don’t think acquiring another one (and giving up assets to do so) is a smart move. They might as well bring Poole back, let him build some kind of value up as fulltime point guard with a better surrounding cast, and bring Bud Carrington along until he can take over.

If I was WAS, I’d be trying to:

a. be bad long enough until the first they owe NY turns into 2 2nds

b. Try to work something out with NYK to take on bad salary now, and in exchange keep the 1st they owe and just give up some of the boatload of 2nds they have

c. Get some 2025 1sts from other teams, so that if they by some chance don’t suck this year, they can sacrifice the one they owe NYK and be done with it

[nate33]

I mean ask yourself the salary difference per year and if LaVine represents good value on that number. Of course he does. So a swap benefits Washington and hurts Chicago. Better player, better value.

Perhaps this is true if the goal was for Washington to win as many games as possible. But that's not the goal.

The goal is for Washington to win as many games as possible in 2026-27 while hopefully finishing in the bottom 5 in the standings in 2024-25 and 2025-26. With that the case, I'd much rather have Poole. Poole is likely to be an outright better player than Zach Lavine 3 years from now when the Wizards are trying to win again (judging from Lavine's injury history and general athletic decline), and in the two years prior to that, Poole will cost less and help accumulate more lotto balls.

[TheNewEra]

Kinda funny how back in 2022 Poole was a great role player who was instrumental in a championship run and now you can't win with him.

To add to that people are talking about Lavine like he’s a player that helps a team get better.