Current offer on the table for Lauri

[EvanZ]

DDV is a good player so I'm not sure why he's being used as a negative and the other two aren't even in the same ballpark as Podz. It's lazy white on white analysis. Hurr durrr my Ricky Pearsall comp is Jordy Nelson!

Who is using DDV as a negative?

[Onus]

The Jazz are at a crossroads with many options in front of them. They don't have to pick a direction as of yet. Every player but like the top 5-6 players in the league are always on the trade market. I definitely heard murmurs of Cade being on the market, KAT on the market, even PG on the market last year for the right price.

Murmurs are different than the constant reminder that Lauri would take a god father offer. It's the wording that makes it a reminder rather than someone looked into it and got rebuffed.

Again, you would be **** in your job if you didn't listen to every offer. If someone offered a kings ransom (like almost KD level of return) for Scottie Barnes, Masai would make that deal in a heartbeat, even though he's "not on the trade market".

Again this is different. There's no constant reminder saying, "Hey Barnes, isn't on the market, but if you offered a god father offer, he is available." This was the same messaging throughout the past 2 years. The messaging never really changed.

I'll acknowledge that if the Jazz have wanted to trade Lauri, they should have done it two seasons ago. Ainge is known to be pretty ruthless about jettisoning players on his team, so that should tell you that trading him is most definitely not been a priority. I don't think Lauri will be around for the long term tank, but like I mentioned before, with a long term contract, he's going to be a lot easier to trade when they resign him. I disagree with you that $50 million contracts for players like him are difficult to move. You mention PG, but he's like 35 years old...I wouldn't have paid him a max either. The Clippers should have traded him last season when teams were sniffing around so they didn't get nothing, but whatever. Lauri is just beginning his prime years, so the situations are apples to oranges.

It's not that 50M contracts are difficult to move it's that they're more difficult to move than 18M contracts. 50M in contracts usually includes someone who has negative value or someone who is needed to help win.

I think the Clippers expected to be able to re-sign PG. But once they realized they wouldn't they decided that they didn't want to be in the 2nd apron because it was too restrictive so they rather take nothing back. A lot of teams are going to make this calculation that being a 2nd apron team is not worth it. With an escalating cap rather than a spike, and what is essentially a hard cap teams will be operating under much more caution moving forward. So in a sense those 50M contracts are going to be harder to move moving forward.

[giberish]

Lottery odds flattening changed everything. What Ainge is weighing is whether trading Lauri, a star level player that wants to remain in Utah(it makes sense with Lauri being Finnish), is worth tanking for Flagg when the best it can get you is a 14% chance at getting the first pick. If a team is going to convince him to make that trade, they better offer a lot because tanking for Flagg has a very low chance of working. There is also a very good chance that the team might still be bad enough, even with Lauri, to be one of the four worst teams. That's another reason why the offers have to be big.

Yeah there's a lot of reason for Ainge to just continue waiting for a better deal. Let's say they soft tank the 1st half of the year dealing away some vets before the season, then they can still deal Lauri on Feb 6th to a desperate contender, and Lauri will be on a much longer deal. I just doubt anything happens now.

I'm not sure it's a lock that Lauri signs the R&E deal. That's potentially the catch for Utah. He's not happy about the repeated tanking and sure tank for this season.

If Lauri takes the immediate financial security of the R&E deal then Utah can be very patient and only take the big offer or just keep him. If he doesn't then the price has to drop until they get a taker. This is the only scenario where I'd want GS to trade for him as the offers that Ainge is supposedly asking for make me a bit sick. Of course another team might just in at that point as well.

[cdubbz]

The Thunder are a sleeper team to get Lauri still. There was a trade proposal on Hoopwire that makes A LOT of sense:

Thunder get: Lauri

Jazz get: Nikola Topic, Dieng, & Kenrich Williams + Jazz '25 FRP, Thunder '27 & '29 FRP, + 3 2nd round picks.

CAN'T BEAT THAT. Jazz get back their 2025 FRP so now they can really tank.

[Onus]

The Thunder are a sleeper team to get Lauri still. There was a trade proposal on Hoopwire that makes A LOT of sense:

Thunder get: Lauri

Jazz get: Nikola Topic, Dieng, & Kenrich Williams + Jazz '25 FRP, Thunder '27 & '29 FRP, + 3 2nd round picks.

CAN'T BEAT THAT. Jazz get back their 2025 FRP so now they can really tank.

Their pick is top 10 protected. Jazz are keeping that regardless. So really they're only trading a Thunder 27 and 29 pick of which they were the 2nd best record last year with a really young team and unlimited picks to stock up on talent. That's not a good deal at all.

[cdubbz]

The Thunder are a sleeper team to get Lauri still. There was a trade proposal on Hoopwire that makes A LOT of sense:

Thunder get: Lauri

Jazz get: Nikola Topic, Dieng, & Kenrich Williams + Jazz '25 FRP, Thunder '27 & '29 FRP, + 3 2nd round picks.

CAN'T BEAT THAT. Jazz get back their 2025 FRP so now they can really tank.

Their pick is top 10 protected. Jazz are keeping that regardless. So really they're only trading a Thunder 27 and 29 pick of which they were the 2nd best record last year with a really young team and unlimited picks to stock up on talent. That's not a good deal at all.

Whoops - yeah didn't read that part in the pick.

Thunder still has a ton of picks for Ainge to choose from. If he likes Topic and wants multiple FRP they have the better offer.

[Onus]

The Thunder are a sleeper team to get Lauri still. There was a trade proposal on Hoopwire that makes A LOT of sense:

Thunder get: Lauri

Jazz get: Nikola Topic, Dieng, & Kenrich Williams + Jazz '25 FRP, Thunder '27 & '29 FRP, + 3 2nd round picks.

CAN'T BEAT THAT. Jazz get back their 2025 FRP so now they can really tank.

Their pick is top 10 protected. Jazz are keeping that regardless. So really they're only trading a Thunder 27 and 29 pick of which they were the 2nd best record last year with a really young team and unlimited picks to stock up on talent. That's not a good deal at all.

Whoops - yeah didn't read that part in the pick.

Thunder still has a ton of picks for Ainge to choose from. If he likes Topic and wants multiple FRP they have the better offer.

Yea if they wanted him they could get him. But it doesn't seem like they want him

[giberish]

Their pick is top 10 protected. Jazz are keeping that regardless. So really they're only trading a Thunder 27 and 29 pick of which they were the 2nd best record last year with a really young team and unlimited picks to stock up on talent. That's not a good deal at all.

Whoops - yeah didn't read that part in the pick.

Thunder still has a ton of picks for Ainge to choose from. If he likes Topic and wants multiple FRP they have the better offer.

Yea if they wanted him they could get him. But it doesn't seem like they want him

Probably worried about long-term costs. SGA probably at 35% soon and Chet and Williams 25% soon is fine, but add in Lauri on a 30% deal and I don't see OKC affording it. They've got new owners since the Harden trade but I still don't see them spending wildly.

[CDM_Stats]

A team like OKC is probably more likely to try and snag him at the deadline as a rental, and since that's an unlikely situation, they probably arent in on him

Whoever is on him better have an extremely good rim protector/rebounder. Minnesota would make some sense there, but how much different is he than KAT?

Knicks might be a decent fit, if he replaces Randle.. Bucks a possibility, if they finally try and use Giannis at C (using Brook as ballast). I actually thought Cleveland could be a dark horse using Mobley, but maybe they still could using Allen? That said, trading for someone you already traded isnt a PR-friendly thing to do.. 76ers are going all in but not sure they can make any deal until Dec 15th because of all their salary ballast is freshly signed.. Mavs might be a good one, since Klay is (at best) a wobbly option as the off-ball sniper. Lakers using DLo could be in play too

But of all those potential fits, the only team we hear about is the Warriors, and its clearly not the Warriors leaking it. So the Jazz have the Warriors in their sights because those picks represent the largest upside. And based on what they are asking for currently, they are trying to completely raid the coffers.. very glad that the team hasnt bitten yet

[watch1958]

Just think. Still 10+ days of breathless wondering left.

If the Warriors have been over estimating Kuminga’s value around the league, perhaps Ainge knows how little value Laurie has.

Time to withdraw any offers and let Danny go find another buyer.

[clyde21]

I think Ainge wants him out of Utah ASAP...a lot on the line at the top of the 2025 class...not quite Wemby but a couple of elite prospects potentially and Lauri winning Utah a few games is the last thing they want at this point

[Catchall]

I think Ainge wants at least 3 FRPs, two of which would need to be pretty juicy, plus a swap or two, plus a young prospect that the Jazz really believe in.

I think the Spurs or Thunder could pull it off if they're properly motivated, but I think it's unlikely to happen.

[Nvnervous45]

Ainge is overrating lauri. He was the best player on a team 20 games under .500.

[Onus]

Ainge is overrating lauri. He was the best player on a team 20 games under .500.

They wouldn’t have been 20 games under 500 if they didn’t decide to tank the 2nd half of the season.

[CDM_Stats]

I think Ainge wants him out of Utah ASAP...a lot on the line at the top of the 2025 class...not quite Wemby but a couple of elite prospects potentially and Lauri winning Utah a few games is the last thing they want at this point

Tend to agree.. its usually hard to build around one way players. Good enough to not make you the worst too

Warriors offer to Ainge should be shrinking as time goes on, and it shouldnt be that big to begin with

[Onus]

I think Ainge wants him out of Utah ASAP...a lot on the line at the top of the 2025 class...not quite Wemby but a couple of elite prospects potentially and Lauri winning Utah a few games is the last thing they want at this point

Tend to agree.. its usually hard to build around one way players. Good enough to not make you the worst too

Warriors offer to Ainge should be shrinking as time goes on, and it shouldnt be that big to begin with

Our current offer isn’t big.

[clyde21]

I think Ainge wants at least 3 FRPs, two of which would need to be pretty juicy, plus a swap or two, plus a young prospect that the Jazz really believe in.

I think the Spurs or Thunder could pull it off if they're properly motivated, but I think it's unlikely to happen.

then he ain't getting ****

[clyde21]

I think Ainge wants him out of Utah ASAP...a lot on the line at the top of the 2025 class...not quite Wemby but a couple of elite prospects potentially and Lauri winning Utah a few games is the last thing they want at this point

Tend to agree.. its usually hard to build around one way players. Good enough to not make you the worst too

Warriors offer to Ainge should be shrinking as time goes on, and it shouldnt be that big to begin with

you can call him a one way player but the last two years in Utah he has a +10 On/Off and a +9.6 On/Off, and that was the highest out of anyone relevant on the team by a decent margin. he makes them better for sure and if Ainge decided to keep him until the deadline that's probably a 4 or 5 extra wins that he didn't need or want.

that's our leverage point and we should squeeze it.

[Coxy]

Ainge is overrating lauri. He was the best player on a team 20 games under .500.

Bingo. Lauri aint that.

[CDM_Stats]

I think Ainge wants him out of Utah ASAP...a lot on the line at the top of the 2025 class...not quite Wemby but a couple of elite prospects potentially and Lauri winning Utah a few games is the last thing they want at this point

Tend to agree.. its usually hard to build around one way players. Good enough to not make you the worst too

Warriors offer to Ainge should be shrinking as time goes on, and it shouldnt be that big to begin with

you can call him a one way player but the last two years in Utah he has a +10 On/Off and a +9.6 On/Off, and that was the highest out of anyone relevant on the team by a decent margin. he makes them better for sure and if Ainge decided to keep him until the deadline that's probably a 4 or 5 extra wins that he didn't need or want.

that's our leverage point and we should squeeze it.

He is a one way player and he is still a needle mover, the problem is, like I said - one-way players are tough to build around, but are still good enough to make you a late lotto team

If I'm MDJ, I'm imposing my own repeater tax on Ainge - every time I repeat my offer, it goes down