Trade Talk (Part 15): Trade Deadline Day (and onwards!)

[Klomp]

That stood out to me too. Sadly, it’s difficult to see an effect, and guess at the right cause. Logic works the other direction.

EFFECT: NYK is forced to trade multiple guys, but MIN ends up with the veteran.
CAUSE?: MIN is contending and wants a vet amidst all its youth? Or MIN was forced to take him to get the DET 1st included?

EFFECT: Dozier is playing, KBD is out
CAUSE?: KBD is not part of MIN’s future? Or Connelly wants PJ Dozier on the court to showcase him and make him easier to trade? Or we already know what KBD is, but other bench players need minutes?

Right now, I’m not sure which way Connelly is leaning.

Option 3: Trade Luka to OKC for a 1st

For a 1st what?

Tim Connelly knows how to hold a team hostage to get the trade return he wants, have we learned nothing from the past three years?!

Regardless, I have since been reminded of Luka's trade restriction through 12/15, so it's a moot point and I will go mute.

[Klomp]

Where would the value lie in a Randle for Nic Claxton swap?

[BlacJacMac]

Where would the value lie in a Randle for Nic Claxton swap?

Money savings, I guess.

Are you moving Gobert as well?

[younggunsmn]

I guess we'll se how important saving money is to ownership.
Moving KBD along with a 2nd round pick saves somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-10 mil in salary and luxury tax.
We're pretty short on those though moving forward, we better at least keep the 2025 Utah one we own as it should be good and we have no first round pick that year.

[Colbinii]

I guess we'll se how important saving money is to ownership.
Moving KBD along with a 2nd round pick saves somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-10 mil in salary and luxury tax.
We're pretty short on those though moving forward, we better at least keep the 2025 Utah one we own as it should be good and we have no first round pick that year.

We have a chance of getting Detroit's 1st in 2025.

[KGdaBom]

Option 3: Trade Luka to OKC for a 1st

For a 1st what?

Tim Connelly knows how to hold a team hostage to get the trade return he wants, have we learned nothing from the past three years?!

Regardless, I have since been reminded of Luka's trade restriction through 12/15, so it's a moot point and I will go mute.

Holy grammar Batman. Something I have never seen before. Spelling and using the words moot and mute correctly in the same sentence.

[KGdaBom]

I guess we'll se how important saving money is to ownership.
Moving KBD along with a 2nd round pick saves somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-10 mil in salary and luxury tax.
We're pretty short on those though moving forward, we better at least keep the 2025 Utah one we own as it should be good and we have no first round pick that year.

We have a chance of getting Detroit's 1st in 2025.

A chance yes, but quite unlikely.

[Colbinii]

This is it. We have been in the ANT era for 3 years now--labeling his rookie year as a transition year from Towns to ANT. We peaked as a 45-50 win team with KAT/Butler and KAT/ANT [20 years old]. We traded for a player who plays the same position as KAT in order to help ANT win. We then followed this trade up with a massive trade 2 years later, moving on from KAT and a franchise cornerstone of 9 years.

Now, we have an IRON MAN in ANT, missing just 3 games in each of the past 2 seasons and a grand total of 16 missed games in 4 seasons . Things aren't done yet, and as much as we want to attach ourselves to player's around ANT, we need to be realistic. The core around ANT--notably the front court, is likely to change and potentially drastically over the next 12 months


Naz Reid - Free Agent in 2025
Julius Randle - Free Agent in 2025 [Player Option for 2026]
Rudy Gobert - Free Agent in 2025 [Player Option for 2026]
Josh Minott - Team Option in 2025

Nickeil Alexander-Walker - Free Agent in 2025

Notable Salaries
Rudy Gobert - 46.6 Million Player Option [30% of Cap]
Julius Randle - 30.9 Million Player Option [20% of Cap]
Naz Reid - 15 Million Player Option [10% of Cap]
Josh Minott - 2.1 Million Team Option [1.4% of Cap]

When I think of the potential options here, Tim Connelly and company have the flexibility to be creative.

Total Salary [9 players under contract, including Minott and Garza Team Options being picked up]: 109,182,077
2025-2026 NBA Salary Cap: 154,647,000
202-2026 NBA Tax Line: 187,897,000
2025-2026 1st Apron: 195,946,000
2025-2026 2nd Apron: 207,825,000

Now, when looking at these numbers, a myriad of thoughts pop into my head.
A) We currently have ~45 Million under the Salary Cap, which means going into Free Agency with Max Cap Space isn't off the table with 1-2 smaller moves.
B) Resigning 2 of Gobert/Randle/Reid or Randle picking up his Player Option AND resigning one of Gobert/Reid should keep us under the Tax line.
C) I don't consider keeping all of Gobert/Randle/Reid as a realistic scenario given Connelly aggressiveness in upgrading and enhancing the roster around ANT.
D) We have incredible depth. What if we consolidated and did a 2-for-1 type trade where we pair ANT with another Superstar?

RE Point A) Minnesota has never been a large player in Free Agency, but we also have never had cap space with a player of Anthony Edwards caliber. 23 years young, a Top 10 type player in the NBA and a diverse offensive skill-set.

Notable Free Agents
LeBron James - Old
Jimmy Butler - Old
Fred VanVleet - Not a max level player, but a potentially good fit in the back-court.
Kyrie Irving - Dilly 2.0, Older side at 33+
Ben Simmons - While he kills spacing, having him as the only non-shooter on a value contract is interesting
James Harden - Nah
Brandon Ingram - Not a fan but he is talented
Khris Middleton - Old
Myles Turner - Spacing and Defense for 29 year old Center
Jalen Suggs - RFA unfortunately and DDV fits a similar mold at a fraction of the cost

This route just isn't it. Nothing here is worth going "All-in-For". There is no All-NBA player here or Superstar worth the risk of missing out.

What could work is a trade using cap space, but typically it is easier to make trades with salary of players than it is with Cap Space and Players.

RE Point B) This is an easy "I like it". Resigning Naz Reid is extendable by picking up his Player Option [15 Million] and then extending at 21 Million starting. The contract would look like this:

15.0 Million / 21.0 Million / 22.1 Million / 23.1 Million

Getting him at 15 Million next year would be massive.

Does Naz outplay this during this season? Time will tell. Notable comparable contracts: KCP, Cameron Johnson, and DeAndre Hunter.

Retaining Naz leads to a decision between Randle and Gobert. Extending either of them is an option. Thus, a question to be answered during the season.

RE Point C) The method of retaining all 3 of these players is if we win a Title, Gobert extends at far less than his player option and Randle picks up and extends on his player option.

RE Point D) This is the most fun result. The possibilities are endless. If DDV is a perfect ANT compliment, upgrading McDaniels or Randle using McDaniels + Randle is interesting. Adding a star PG for Dilly + Randle or Dilly + McDaniels is exciting. Finding the player(s) to fit here isn't easy.

Resigning Reid seems like the biggest domino to fall, and unfortunately we won't know the result until AFTER the season.

The season needs to start!

[Klomp]

Nickeil for Santi Aldama

We know how Nickeil is being squeezed out here. And between Edey and others getting healthy, II think Aldama will see his role reduced as well. This might help balance out the rosters.

[KGdaBom]

Nickeil for Santi Aldama

We know how Nickeil is being squeezed out here. And between Edey and others getting healthy, II think Aldama will see his role reduced as well. This might help balance out the rosters.

I like the idea. Make it happen.

[Neeva]

I think NAW has more value than Aldama. Mostly because NAW is really good at defense and I can’t think of anything aldama is excellent at.

[younggunsmn]

I guess we'll se how important saving money is to ownership.
Moving KBD along with a 2nd round pick saves somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-10 mil in salary and luxury tax.
We're pretty short on those though moving forward, we better at least keep the 2025 Utah one we own as it should be good and we have no first round pick that year.

We have a chance of getting Detroit's 1st in 2025.

A chance yes, but quite unlikely.

We have a better chance of winning a title than that pick conveying this year.
Detroit would basically have to make the playoffs. Not gonna happen.

[Neeva]

More likely it conveys in 26 or 27.

[Norseman79]

I really like NAW for Nick Richards from Charlotte....even better if we add Tre Mann for Leonard Miller in the deal as well.

[younggunsmn]

I really like NAW for Nick Richards from Charlotte....even better if we add Tre Mann for Leonard Miller in the deal as well.

I like the idea, but Richards makes more than NAW and we can't take back more than we send out or aggregate salaries.
So Richards is probably not an option because of the salary matching.
He's also looking like their starting Center right now.

[younggunsmn]

I still like the idea of KBD for Bassey from the Spurs, they probably say no though because they don't want to trade away center depth.

[younggunsmn]

Bruno Fernando is on the roster bubble with Toronto, unguaranteed minimum that is fully guaranteed if he makes the team.
Could be an option in trade or if we cleared a couple of roster spots as a signing.

[Norseman79]

I really like NAW for Nick Richards from Charlotte....even better if we add Tre Mann for Leonard Miller in the deal as well.

I like the idea, but Richards makes more than NAW and we can't take back more than we send out or aggregate salaries.
So Richards is probably not an option because of the salary matching.
He's also looking like their starting Center right now.

Yeah, it only works in the way I set out with Miller going there and Mann coming back. I didn't realize that Williams wasn't back yet.

[BlacJacMac]

I still like the idea of KBD for Bassey from the Spurs, they probably say no though because they don't want to trade away center depth.

I'd love Bassy. Kid can really rebound, block shots and defend.

Her barely plays for the Spurs, so he might be gettable.

[Norseman79]

I still like the idea of KBD for Bassey from the Spurs, they probably say no though because they don't want to trade away center depth.

I would totally be down for this as well