Cam Johnson or John Collins…Why Not Both? (BKN - ORL - SAC - UTA)

[bpcox05]

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BKN Gets: Cole Anthony, Trey Lyles, 2025 ORL 1st (Top 10 Protected), & 2025 DEN 1st (Top 5 Protected)
BKN Gives: Cam Johnson & 2025 BKN 2nd
Why for BKN? The Nets cash in on their win now vet and pickup two 1st round draft picks and a 24 year old PG they can take a look at or flip in a years time for more assets. They also shave off more salary next year (since Lyles is expiring) giving them that much more cap space to throw around.

PG - Anthony / Russell / Melton
SG - Thomas / Johnson / Lewis
SF - Williams / Whitehead / Watford
PF - Simmons / Wilson / Lyles / Bogdanovic
C - Claxton / Sharpe / Clowney

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ORL Gets: Malik Monk & Colby Jones
ORL Gives: Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, 2025 ORL 1st (Top 10 Protected), & 2025 DEN 1st (Top 5 Protected)
Why for ORL? The Magic add a starting caliber PG in Monk who will be just entering his prime at 26 years old. His ability to setup others, score the rock, and space the floor seem like a natural fit next to a core of Suggs, Wagner, and Banchero. Monk’s contract is likely beneficially to ORL considering how much they will have tied up in Suggs, Wagner, & Banchero. Monk is under contract for the next 3.5 years (PO the last year) while only making ~$19 mil a year.

PG - Monk / Black / Joseph
SG - Suggs / KCP / Jones
SF - Wagner / Da Silva / Howard / Houstan
PF - Banchero / Isaac
C - Carter / Bitadze / Wagner

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SAC Gets: John Collins & Cam Johnson
SAC Gives: Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, Colby Jones, Doug McDermott, & 2029 SAC 2nd
Why for Kings? Statistically, the Kings are best when they have either Fox or Monk at PG with a 3&D player at SG (e.g., Ellis) next to them which makes things awkward considering both Fox & Monk start and finish games. Instead of trying to convince Monk to come off the bench and let Ellis both start and finish games, they move Monk to help address their size & length issues. Losing Monk hurts, but I don’t see SAC having issues scoring considering Fox, DeRozan, Johnson, Murray, Collins, and Sabonis can all score 15+ a game. And on the flip side, this allows Fox to save his energy on the defensive side a bit considering the Kings can have either Ellis or Carter defending the opposing teams best offensive guard.

PG - Fox / McLaughlin
SG - Ellis / Carter
SF - Johnson / DeRozan / Crowder
PF - Murray / Collins
C - Sabonis / Len

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UTA Gets: Kevin Huerter, Gary Harris, Doug McDermott, 2025 BKN 2nd, & 2029 SAC 2nd
UTA Gives: John Collins
Why for UTA? The Jazz cash in on their win now vet and pickup 2 2nd round picks as compensation. They also save some money next year as Collins will likely opt in, and Harris’ contract next year is not guaranteed.

PG - Sexton / Clarkson / Collier / Mills
SG - George / Harris / Juzang
SF - Williams / Huerter / Mylhailiuk / Sensabaugh
PF - Markkanen / Hendricks / McDermott
C - Kessler / Filipowski / Eubanks

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[Ducklett]

Why are the Magic paying for Cam but not getting him? Seems broken just on that alone.

[SkyHook]

The Jazz side is probably in the ballpark.

This leaves the Kings only $1MM below the first apron and still required to add three players. Is that legal?

[wolves_89]

I have the Kings as getting too good a deal at the expense of the Magic.

[babyjax13]

My immediate reaction is that I don't think Cam is much better than Monk. Considering that, maybe Orlando gets cut out and Sacramento trades something like DeRozan and a future first to Brooklyn for Cam and it makes the financials work a bit better. Maybe find some other marginal value, maybe DeRozan can go to a third team for a bad contracts and a late first or some seconds.

[Skybox]

With a lesser contribution, ORL could just get Sexton from UTA, rather than Monk

Great for SAC…Collins is underrated, imo

[OGSactownballer]

The second I saw Monk it was automatically a non starter.

[The Beam King]

The second I saw Monk it was automatically a non starter.

Second

[LightTheBeam]

The second I saw Monk it was automatically a non starter.

Second

Especially with fox hurt, seems like a zero percent chance monk is traded this season (barring us getting some unrealistic unavailable star lol)

[Papi_swav]

the Nets going to have half the picks in this years draft lol

[bpcox05]

Why are the Magic paying for Cam but not getting him? Seems broken just on that alone.

Well I have Monk and Johnson as similar value, but Monk would be a better fit with ORL over Johnson since he’s a PG that can run the offense and make plays for others (while still being a solid floor spacer for Wagner and Banchero).

[bpcox05]

The Jazz side is probably in the ballpark.

This leaves the Kings only $1MM below the first apron and still required to add three players. Is that legal?

Admittedly, I’m not quite sure how that works.

[bpcox05]

My immediate reaction is that I don't think Cam is much better than Monk. Considering that, maybe Orlando gets cut out and Sacramento trades something like DeRozan and a future first to Brooklyn for Cam and it makes the financials work a bit better. Maybe find some other marginal value, maybe DeRozan can go to a third team for a bad contracts and a late first or some seconds.

Statistically, our Fox & Monk lineups aren’t that effective. We’re much better when we have Fox or Monk at PG and Ellis or Carter at SG. I’d prefer to clear that guard log jam and keep the superior PG talent (Fox) and allow Fox to play next to an elite PG/SG defender for the entirety of his minutes. That kind of complementary combination seems like a recipe for success especially if Mobk can be used to bring more size, length, and defense at the forward to balance the roster.

[bpcox05]

With a lesser contribution, ORL could just get Sexton from UTA, rather than Monk

Great for SAC…Collins is underrated, imo

I mean sure? However, Sexton is not the PG/passer that Monk is (Sexton is more of a combo guard/scoring guard) and from what I have gathered from ORL fans, their preference would be to add a PG. Then on top of that, Monk’s contract is more attractive than Sexton’s.

[JKiddy]

The Nets do not need more non Top 5 possible picks in 2025. I think that would be a non-starter as they already have 4 picks. But, if one of them could be unprotected and would be a lottery team that would be different. These teams seem like they are too good to entice the Nets for a 2025 pick. Maybe they give them one unprotected 2026 pick and another Top 3 protected pick years down the road instead?

[bpcox05]

The second I saw Monk it was automatically a non starter.

Second

A Fox & Monk backcourt has not been that effective. We’re much better with Ellis on the floor with one of those guys. So what do we do?

Ideally, you start Fox & Ellis and have Fox & Ellis close games out. Do we think Monk would be happy not only to go back to the bench but now he would no longer be closing games (something he was doing as a 6th man)? I don’t.

So the question becomes would I rather have Fox or Monk? A lot of advanced impact stats show that Fox is much more impactful than Monk, and Fox has recently made an all star team and all NBA team. I’m definitely taking Fox if I have to choose one.

Sure, Fox has struggled as of late, but that seems to coincide with his return after that nasty fall from the MEM game. He hasn’t looked like himself since then and doesn’t seem to be moving with the same burst we’ve grown accustomed to. Then combine that with his shooting hand injury that he has played with all season (which requires surgery to properly fix) and now a sprained thumb on his non-shooting hand. The guy is far from 100% right now.

The other thing to consider is that Fox is the #1 guy on opposing teams scouting report. Monk is probably #3-4. It’s a little different performing when a teams entire game plan is to stop/slow you down vs. performing when you’re a 3rd/4th option. I’d imagine if Monk was largely defended by guys like Alex Caruso, Amen Thompson, Marcus Smart, Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones, Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Herb Jones, Matisse Thybulle, etc. his stats would look a little different. Fox has the ability to get by his man or create separation without help. Monk can do that a bit but he mainly gets free via a PnR which isn’t a bad thing, but I think it shows that these two are on different tiers offensively and I’d prefer to roll with guy who’s on the higher tier to help compete come playoff time when an iso game becomes that much more important.

So as I understand the hesitation from Kings fans to part ways with Monk, I think we he writing is on the wall that we’ll need to move one these players down the road. Both Fox and Monk are too good to not start and close out games. Unfortunately for us, when sharing the floor together, it’s not as effective as we hoped.

If we can move Monk and rebalance the roster by adding size, length, defense, and shooting, we need to seriously consider it.

[bpcox05]

The Nets do not need more non Top 5 possible picks in 2025. I think that would be a non-starter as they already have 4 picks. But, if one of them could be unprotected and would be a lottery team that would be different. These teams seem like they are too good to entice the Nets for a 2025 pick. Maybe they give them one unprotected 2026 pick and another Top 3 protected pick years down the road instead?

Although I very much disagree with the valuation you’re assigning to Johnson & a 2nd (Cole Anthony, an unprotected 1st, a top 3 protected 1st, and cap savings), I agree that it might make more sense for ORL to trade 1sts from a different draft considering BKN already has 4 1sts in the upcoming draft.

[Skybox]

With a lesser contribution, ORL could just get Sexton from UTA, rather than Monk

Great for SAC…Collins is underrated, imo

I mean sure? However, Sexton is not the PG/passer that Monk is (Sexton is more of a combo guard/scoring guard) and from what I have gathered from ORL fans, their preference would be to add a PG. Then on top of that, Monk’s contract is more attractive than Sexton’s.

Respectfully disagree…I’d take Sexton at same rate for a year and a half and then reevaluate - just as happy as with Monk’s extra year.

Essentially, same player…Sexton’s a better shooter and good enough playmaker…either (orSimons) would fit nicely.