Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[doclinkin]

no worries! Not surprising... "dg" is a whole lot more common in English than "gd."

I dunno, I said "GD" a lot on trade day this year.

[payitforward]

Yeah but you didn't write it out....

[AFM]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

[doclinkin]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

That would be our luck...

Yeah I kept waiting for Miller to talk about Smart and Middleton, but they never said a word about them that I heard. I thought they'd be with the team by now. Like the whole broadcast I'm like aren't they going to say something about them or give some kind of info or update. But they literally never even mentioned them. Maybe I just missed it.

[BearlyBallin]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtonwizards/comments/1il5uhx/former_dpoy_marcus_smart_coaching_up_jordan_poole/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I think the Smart trade went through because I think that’s him giving Poole a tip last night.

[BearlyBallin]

Read on Twitter

[J-Ves]

Has a Poole to the Magic trade been discussed? Basically a draft night trade that consists of Poole for salary filler + Magic 2025 first + a future top 18 protected first that conveys to 2 2nds if the protections kick in

The magic desperately need a lead guard who can shoot and Poole’s asking price doesn’t break the bank. We get some much needed assets but the real reason is is to avoid being the team on the hook for his next contract

[doclinkin]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

That would be our luck...

Yeah I kept waiting for Miller to talk about Smart and Middleton, but they never said a word about them that I heard. I thought they'd be with the team by now. Like the whole broadcast I'm like aren't they going to say something about them or give some kind of info or update. But they literally never even mentioned them. Maybe I just missed it.

I think Khris is probably depressed. They had him as 'not with the team' in the line-up. He goes from playing with 2 HOF guys with expectations of a championship, to on the bench with a collection of babies trying to learn how to win. Tanking hard. And was traded because he had surgery and hasn't recovered all the way. He's got a $34m player option, so has to decide if it is worth it to show up for another whole year of the tank, and whatever that means to the rest of his career.

[doclinkin]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtonwizards/comments/1il5uhx/former_dpoy_marcus_smart_coaching_up_jordan_poole/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I think the Smart trade went through because I think that’s him giving Poole a tip last night.

That's cool to see. I like Smart as a mentor. I get the feeling he's going to be an excellent bench assistant when he moves on to coaching.

[DCZards]

The Knecht/Williams trade has been rescinded. Kind of awkward for the traded players...

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

That would be our luck...

Yeah I kept waiting for Miller to talk about Smart and Middleton, but they never said a word about them that I heard. I thought they'd be with the team by now. Like the whole broadcast I'm like aren't they going to say something about them or give some kind of info or update. But they literally never even mentioned them. Maybe I just missed it.

Middleton was on the Zards bench in street clothes on Friday night. Didn’t see him there last night.

[DCZards]

Hope that doesn't happen with any of our trades. As of tip-off it seemed to suggest the Smart trade was held up. Coach Keefe was reluctant to discuss some of the incoming players since there was some wrinkle that had not yet worked out...

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtonwizards/comments/1il5uhx/former_dpoy_marcus_smart_coaching_up_jordan_poole/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I think the Smart trade went through because I think that’s him giving Poole a tip last night.

That's cool to see. I like Smart as a mentor. I get the feeling he's going to be an excellent bench assistant when he moves on to coaching.

When they traded for Smart one of the first things I thought about was Westbrook and his positive influence on Deni and other Zards players. I see Smart having a similar impact.

[nate33]

Has a Poole to the Magic trade been discussed? Basically a draft night trade that consists of Poole for salary filler + Magic 2025 first + a future top 18 protected first that conveys to 2 2nds if the protections kick in

The magic desperately need a lead guard who can shoot and Poole’s asking price doesn’t break the bank. We get some much needed assets but the real reason is is to avoid being the team on the hook for his next contract

I think that's a little optimistic. Poole might be approaching neutral value, but I seriously doubt he has much positive value. The best we could hope for would be something like Poole for KCP + Bitadze + 2025 DEN FRP. But even that seems dubious. Orlando is spending a ton of money on Suggs and Wagner starting next year, and they'll have to max out Bachero in 2026. I don't think they can afford to also have Poole's $30M on the payroll.

[doclinkin]

When they traded for Smart one of the first things I thought about was Westbrook and his positive influence on Deni and other Zards players. I see Smart having a similar impact.

Agreed, I said it in the Bub thread, Smart/Malcolm/Middleton are 3 players I would have pointed out as guys for Bub in particular to pattern his game on. None are skywalking athletes, they each succeed on toughness and smarts -- so to speak. I can see Bub getting stronger game by game, but adding players with that level of gravitas and skill should help significantly if they buy into the role. He seems hungry to learn from their teaching.

[spaceman_E]

laravia played for Kings, AJJ has played for us so smart/midd trades for sure went through

[dckingsfan]

Headline: Wizards trade for veteran player X, will be a great mentor for young players Y & Z.

Headline repeats itself over and over again...

[nate33]

Headline: Wizards trade for veteran player X, will be a great mentor for young players Y & Z.

Headline repeats itself over and over again...

Yeah, I'm not expecting much great veteran mentoring from either Middleton or Smart. The better mentors are guys who are in JV's situation - useful vets on good contracts who are auditioning for a Trade Deadline transaction. Guys like that will stay on their best behavior and try to boost their trade value.

With Middleton and Smart, they won't be showcasing themselves for a Trade Deadline deal to go to a contender because they know nobody wants them at their current salary. They might start off as good soldiers, but I expect they'll probably end up sulking by December.

[doclinkin]

Headline: Wizards trade for veteran player X, will be a great mentor for young players Y & Z.

Headline repeats itself over and over again...

Put simply, who do you think is a more competitive, accomplished and win-focused player:

Marcus Smart.
Khris Middleton.
Or Kyle " “I mean just not trying to fit into what we’re trying to do here. Just being more assertive, demanding the ball, not just going out there and trying to let people develop" Kuzma.

Shoot, we've been relying on Jordan Poole as our team captain. I'm happy we add at least one vet who knows how to defend.

Rooks take time to develop. Ask all-stars if they had vets who helped them learn what it takes and uniformly the best players had respected mentors early on. Even the sainted Deni Avdija had Westbrook to encourage him. Poole would never have earned that huge contract if not for the example and work ethic of Curry. Aside from Russ, what veterans have we ever brought in that were actually good? Because we are notorious for never developing our talent, but who have we had as mentors from winning teams? Seems to me fair to take the example of a team like Houston, who gathered a ton of talent by losing but did not start winning until they brought in players like Van Vleet and Dillon Brooks to exemplify toughness.

What's the last vet we had before Russ that was any good as a leader for the squad? Paul Pierce I think. Maybe Caron Butler or Gortat before that.

[doclinkin]

With Middleton and Smart, they won't be showcasing themselves for a Trade Deadline deal to go to a contender because they know nobody wants them at their current salary. They might start off as good soldiers, but I expect they'll probably end up sulking by December.

Maybe Mid. But Smart is often cited as a mentor by teammates. There are vids of him on the sidelines coaching up his guys, even in streetclothes when injured. Here's one where he is teaching Zack Edey:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1g42g87/zach_edey_applying_what_he_learned_from_coach/

Both Mid and Smart will be playing for their next contracts, on expiring deals next year, but Smart I think will be looking ahead to a coaching position at some point in his career.

[DCZards]

With Middleton and Smart, they won't be showcasing themselves for a Trade Deadline deal to go to a contender because they know nobody wants them at their current salary. They might start off as good soldiers, but I expect they'll probably end up sulking by December.

What you’re saying speaks to these guys character. Do you know enough about either of them to say something like that?

In the case of Smart, I don’t think it will matter whether he’s “showcasing“ his talent or not. He’ll always defend and play hard. That’s just who he is…and that’s the kind of “mentoring” I’d like to see the young Zards get from him.