NBA Trade Thread #12

[Donkedave]

This NBA free agency is going to be wild. Basically of the top 10 or so available players, whoever Brooklyn goes after wins. Everybody else either stays with the same team and/or likely get a lot less than they would get if more teams had money.

The Bulls are currently third in projected cap space, with 136.2 allocated out. Detroit second with $128.9. Brooklyn first with only 68.4 allocated. We don't have the money to make good offers, and we have the third most cap space, lol. Pistons could probably clear some space, they have a few cap holds, but Shroeder, THJ, Paul Reed and Malik Beasley are free agents, so don't see them spending a lot of outside money.

If anybody wants to see it:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/apron/_/year/2025

How much you think Thomas is getting paid?

Thomas who?

And Kuminga was an idiot for turning down $5yrs/$150 mill. there's no way for him to get even close to that without Brooklyn making a over market offer or GS be willing to take that much cap back in a S&T. He can't even get a 5 year contract from another team. Caleb martin made the same mistake, turned down $5yrs/$65 mill from the Heat, ended up getting 4 yrs/$32 mill from 76'ers. Going to be hard for Kuminga to see more than $20 mill AAV this offseason, imo.

We're talking about for Vucevic. Like I said not familiar with Kuminga outside his stats look good, but I know the general opinion of Vuc in here. So Kuminga's a worse option for this team than Vucevic for the same money? Kuminga's so bad, y'all prefer another year with Vucevic likely starting?

Oh yeah!

Cam Thomas

[Infinity2152]

How much you think Thomas is getting paid?

Thomas who?

And Kuminga was an idiot for turning down $5yrs/$150 mill. there's no way for him to get even close to that without Brooklyn making a over market offer or GS be willing to take that much cap back in a S&T. He can't even get a 5 year contract from another team. Caleb martin made the same mistake, turned down $5yrs/$65 mill from the Heat, ended up getting 4 yrs/$32 mill from 76'ers. Going to be hard for Kuminga to see more than $20 mill AAV this offseason, imo.

We're talking about for Vucevic. Like I said not familiar with Kuminga outside his stats look good, but I know the general opinion of Vuc in here. So Kuminga's a worse option for this team than Vucevic for the same money? Kuminga's so bad, y'all prefer another year with Vucevic likely starting?

Cam Thomas, likely. RFA. Younger and slightly better stats than Coby.

Got you. He's worth at least $30-$40 mill current market, imo. But Brooklyn holds all the cards, nobody else can pay him. Playing hardball isn't always the best move re-signing a young guy for years. I think they settle at the $30 mill, and that's mostly because I think Giddey gets that amount and his agent uses that as a benchmark. They might get as low as $25 mill AAV, but they have so much cap space, it's hard to cry broke, lol.

If they make Giddey a big contract offer, think that makes the likelihood of Thomas accepting a low ball offer less likely. Players take stuff like that personally. One of those rare situations a guy might actually play on his QO, knowing a ton of teams have cap in 2026. They'd pretty much have to trade him next season at that point. So he does have SOME leverage.

[sco]

An interesting move for the Bulls if they wanted to go “win now” would be to trade 3 out of the 4 of Vuc, Collins,
Huerter & Pat. Beal makes 53.66 M next year, and the later 3’s combined salaries are just over 54, sub in Vuc gets you 57.5 M (so Phoenix likely would want to add in salary).

Let’s say the trade is for Huerter, Pat, Collins and a 2nd rounder, and Beal accepts the trade. They shed 36 million in cap the following year, and maybe some could be moved to a 3rd team this season (Huerter to Brooklyn for a TPE?) - and any extra gain in lux tax savings then. Bulls move off Pat, Suns try to rehab him.

Meanwhile, Bulls put Beal at the SG and move Coby to the 3rd guard, draft a C, waive Carter, resign Jones, THT. Roster:

G: Beal, Coby
G/W: Ball, Ayo, Jones, Terry
F/W: Giddey, (Ball), (Terry), THT
F: Matas, Phillips, (Giddey), (THT), (draft pick)
C: Vuc, Smith, draft pick

If Beal’s reduced output on the Suns is less age (hasn’t turned 32) and more being 3rd banana, Bulls might be notably stronger in the short term with such a move, though more D at the 5 would still be a must.

Could even see AKME subbing Vuc for Collins, adding Ayo (or Carter) and taking back Royce O’Neale (and taking away the 2nd rounder, if Ayo).

Not sure it's a win now, but I'd be looking for at least a first (probably 2 unless PWill goes) taking Beal off their books a year early. The companion move would be to trade Coby this offseason, ideally for 2 more 1sts. Then the power move is to take all those 1sts and couple with Beal next offseason for a truly good player.

[Charlesareed]

I live in the Bay Area, and Warriors fans are starting to talk about Kuminga the way Bulls fans talked about Zach -- super talented, but the team often looks and performs worse when he's on the floor. He also is looking for a HUGE payday. I'd cross him off our list today.

I’d say kuminga and Patrick Williams are on par with each other Zach at least give you 20ppg win or lose he’s a good 3pt shooter and he’s not afraid to put full effort on the court like those to are

[Muzbar]

I live in the Bay Area, and Warriors fans are starting to talk about Kuminga the way Bulls fans talked about Zach -- super talented, but the team often looks and performs worse when he's on the floor. He also is looking for a HUGE payday. I'd cross him off our list today.

I’d say kuminga and Patrick Williams are on par with each other Zach at least give you 20ppg win or lose he’s a good 3pt shooter and he’s not afraid to put full effort on the court like those to are

Patrick Williams wishes he was near the level of Kuminga.

[Infinity2152]

An interesting move for the Bulls if they wanted to go “win now” would be to trade 3 out of the 4 of Vuc, Collins,
Huerter & Pat. Beal makes 53.66 M next year, and the later 3’s combined salaries are just over 54, sub in Vuc gets you 57.5 M (so Phoenix likely would want to add in salary).

Let’s say the trade is for Huerter, Pat, Collins and a 2nd rounder, and Beal accepts the trade. They shed 36 million in cap the following year, and maybe some could be moved to a 3rd team this season (Huerter to Brooklyn for a TPE?) - and any extra gain in lux tax savings then. Bulls move off Pat, Suns try to rehab him.

Meanwhile, Bulls put Beal at the SG and move Coby to the 3rd guard, draft a C, waive Carter, resign Jones, THT. Roster:

G: Beal, Coby
G/W: Ball, Ayo, Jones, Terry
F/W: Giddey, (Ball), (Terry), THT
F: Matas, Phillips, (Giddey), (THT), (draft pick)
C: Vuc, Smith, draft pick

If Beal’s reduced output on the Suns is less age (hasn’t turned 32) and more being 3rd banana, Bulls might be notably stronger in the short term with such a move, though more D at the 5 would still be a must.

Could even see AKME subbing Vuc for Collins, adding Ayo (or Carter) and taking back Royce O’Neale (and taking away the 2nd rounder, if Ayo).

Could work. Bulls could get much better in the short term if they swap Coby for a roughly equivalent young forward, instead of trying to get a first for him. A trade where we get somebody like Jabari Smith Jr or Keegan Murray, maybe in a three way. Both will be RFA's like Coby. Phoenix has to send us a first though, no negotiating that.

If we add Beal and re-sign Giddey, think that's your big money for the next two years. Smith or Murray make us better immediately and we can go over the cap to re-sign them. We're over the cap one year, then Beal expires in 2027.

Giddey/Ball
Beal/Ayo/Terry
Matas/Phillips/THT
Keegan Murray/draft pick/THT
Vuc, Smith

Would prefer Smith to Murray, but there are other forwards who fit the bill. This way we add more known talent immediately to the win now team, as opposed to adding future draft picks. With Beal and Giddey as our only big contracts and pretty much untradeable, extra future draft picks are worth less now because who are you adding them to in a trade even if you have a surplus? We're already likely adding a 2025 and 2026 rookie to that team.

Wouldn't trade for Beal though. With his NTC thinks that locks you into Beal as your big money player for the next two years, and kills your chances of making any star trades during that time that don't involve Matas or Gidey.

[MGB8]

An interesting move for the Bulls if they wanted to go “win now” would be to trade 3 out of the 4 of Vuc, Collins,
Huerter & Pat. Beal makes 53.66 M next year, and the later 3’s combined salaries are just over 54, sub in Vuc gets you 57.5 M (so Phoenix likely would want to add in salary).

Let’s say the trade is for Huerter, Pat, Collins and a 2nd rounder, and Beal accepts the trade. They shed 36 million in cap the following year, and maybe some could be moved to a 3rd team this season (Huerter to Brooklyn for a TPE?) - and any extra gain in lux tax savings then. Bulls move off Pat, Suns try to rehab him.

Meanwhile, Bulls put Beal at the SG and move Coby to the 3rd guard, draft a C, waive Carter, resign Jones, THT. Roster:

G: Beal, Coby
G/W: Ball, Ayo, Jones, Terry
F/W: Giddey, (Ball), (Terry), THT
F: Matas, Phillips, (Giddey), (THT), (draft pick)
C: Vuc, Smith, draft pick

If Beal’s reduced output on the Suns is less age (hasn’t turned 32) and more being 3rd banana, Bulls might be notably stronger in the short term with such a move, though more D at the 5 would still be a must.

Could even see AKME subbing Vuc for Collins, adding Ayo (or Carter) and taking back Royce O’Neale (and taking away the 2nd rounder, if Ayo).

Not sure it's a win now, but I'd be looking for at least a first (probably 2 unless PWill goes) taking Beal off their books a year early. The companion move would be to trade Coby this offseason, ideally for 2 more 1sts. Then the power move is to take all those 1sts and couple with Beal next offseason for a truly good player.

I dont think you could get a first back, if Phoenix even has them, if they are taking Pat. Right now, I think it costs two firsts to unload Pat’s contract; maybe one for a team who liked him at the draft and think that injury and a bad Bulls team is to blame for his stagnation. But the Suns are in a bad lux tax situation. The more that I think about it, though, the more a Pat+Huerter+Vuc+Ayo trade for Beal+O’Neale makes sense. Suns get depth, Huerter or Grayson Allen start at the 3, Ayo competes for their PG spot, Vuc plays out a final year.

But for the Bulls, Beal, if his dip is more context than age (which I think fairly likely), may not be as efficient as LaVine, but also less likely to do the bonehead plays in the clutch that infuriated so many. Basically, prime Beal is what folks hope Coby can become. Combined with resigning Jones and THT, the Bulls would have a nice rotation:

G: Beal, Coby
G: Ball, Jones, Terry
F: Giddey, (Ball, Terry), THT
F: Matas, O’Neale, Phillips
C: Collins, Smith, draft pick

[NocioniHomie]

An interesting move for the Bulls if they wanted to go “win now” would be to trade 3 out of the 4 of Vuc, Collins,
Huerter & Pat. Beal makes 53.66 M next year, and the later 3’s combined salaries are just over 54, sub in Vuc gets you 57.5 M (so Phoenix likely would want to add in salary).

Let’s say the trade is for Huerter, Pat, Collins and a 2nd rounder, and Beal accepts the trade. They shed 36 million in cap the following year, and maybe some could be moved to a 3rd team this season (Huerter to Brooklyn for a TPE?) - and any extra gain in lux tax savings then. Bulls move off Pat, Suns try to rehab him.

Meanwhile, Bulls put Beal at the SG and move Coby to the 3rd guard, draft a C, waive Carter, resign Jones, THT. Roster:

G: Beal, Coby
G/W: Ball, Ayo, Jones, Terry
F/W: Giddey, (Ball), (Terry), THT
F: Matas, Phillips, (Giddey), (THT), (draft pick)
C: Vuc, Smith, draft pick

If Beal’s reduced output on the Suns is less age (hasn’t turned 32) and more being 3rd banana, Bulls might be notably stronger in the short term with such a move, though more D at the 5 would still be a must.

Could even see AKME subbing Vuc for Collins, adding Ayo (or Carter) and taking back Royce O’Neale (and taking away the 2nd rounder, if Ayo).

Could work. Bulls could get much better in the short term if they swap Coby for a roughly equivalent young forward, instead of trying to get a first for him. A trade where we get somebody like Jabari Smith Jr or Keegan Murray, maybe in a three way. Both will be RFA's like Coby. Phoenix has to send us a first though, no negotiating that.

If we add Beal and re-sign Giddey, think that's your big money for the next two years. Smith or Murray make us better immediately and we can go over the cap to re-sign them. We're over the cap one year, then Beal expires in 2027.

Giddey/Ball
Beal/Ayo/Terry
Matas/Phillips/THT
Keegan Murray/draft pick/THT
Vuc, Smith

Would prefer Smith to Murray, but there are other forwards who fit the bill. This way we add more known talent immediately to the win now team, as opposed to adding future draft picks. With Beal and Giddey as our only big contracts and pretty much untradeable, extra future draft picks are worth less now because who are you adding them to in a trade even if you have a surplus? We're already likely adding a 2025 and 2026 rookie to that team.

Wouldn't trade for Beal though. With his NTC thinks that locks you into Beal as your big money player for the next two years, and kills your chances of making any star trades during that time that don't involve Matas or Gidey.

The team to be eyeing is the Rockets in my opinion. Jabari Smith would be the perfect add to this team. If they continue to implode against the Warriors with no offense/shooters -- there's going to a lot of opportunity. Some fans have wanted to run Jalen Green out of town (funny how pessimistic all fanbases are) for 3 years. Both his and Sengun extensions kick in next year. FVV with club option. A package built around Coby (and his cheap salary next year) could be serious match. Saw this on a Rockets forum:

For me it's, in ranked order:

Tier 1: Would only consider trading them for a top 5 player in his prime
Amen Thompson
Alperen Sengun

Tier 2: Would only trade them for a significant upgrade (i.e. All-Star caliber player) who fits our timeline and roster
Jalen Green (borderline tier 1)
Jabari Smith Jr
Tari Eason

Tier 3: Would consider including them in one of the above packages to get the deal done or consider trading them for a smaller upgrade or a good enough draft haul
Reed Sheppard (borderline tier 2)
Fred VanVleet
Dillon Brooks
Cam Whitmore

Tier 4: Fine with sending them out for lateral moves to improve roster construction/flexibility
Aaron Holiday
Jock Landale
Nate Williams

[Infinity2152]

The Rockets look like they have to add a star this offseason. They don't have a leader who can take over. Solid vets and very good young players, but that roster is getting expensive and no GREAT players. Would try to trade Van Fleet to Phoenix for KD, think that's one of his target cities. Both expiring, Van Fleet much younger, Suns might go, especially if they can get rid of Beal this summer. Do it draft night and trade Jabari Smith for the draft rights to KJ, or a high enough pick to draft him. Failing that, call the Bulls and offer Jabari Smith for Lonzo Ball or S&T Tre Jones and 2025 pick, and draft a PG.

They add KJ, or Ball/Jones plus lottery PG (maybe KJ, Denim or Traore) to Durant, for Van Fleet and Jabari Smith.

Lonzo Ball/KJ/Aaron Holiday
Jalen Green/Reed Sheppard/Cam Whitmore
Amen Thompson/Dillon Brooks
Kevin Durant/Amen Thompson/Tari Eason
Alperen Sengun/vet

They could use any or all of Eason, Whitmore and Sheppard plus picks to fill any gaps. Or combine them with Smith and get a bigger upgrade at PG like Smith/Eason for Colin Sexton/pick(s).

Out trade resets the pay clock swapping Smith for KJ, they don't have to pay Smith in 2026. Ball plus KJ is probably less than what Smith will get.

[WesPeace]

Guys forget about adding Beal and keeping White, Bulls would never do it imho and its kinda odd move! If Beal is coming,White is going out almost 100%!

One deal I think Bulls should consider is a small move,but would help out our depth behind Matas!

Smith isnt playing for Billy and Memphis need another solid young center behind Edey, Huff isnt it.. GG Jackson isnt playing for Memphis anymore (no clue why).. so small swap Smith for Jackson I think could benefit both teams! GG would be legit PF for 2nd unit.
Jackson is expiring next year and costs only 2.2M! Super cheap and even if we extend him, he wont cost huge money..

[sco]

Guys forget about adding Beal and keeping White, Bulls would never do it imho and its kinda odd move! If Beal is coming,White is going out almost 100%!

One deal I think Bulls should consider is a small move,but would help out our depth behind Matas!

Smith isnt playing for Billy and Memphis need another solid young center behind Edey, Huff isnt it.. GG Jackson isnt playing for Memphis anymore (no clue why).. so small swap Smith for Jackson I think could benefit both teams! GG would be legit PF for 2nd unit.
Jackson is expiring next year and costs only 2.2M! Super cheap and even if we extend him, he wont cost huge money..

Like I've said earlier, trading Smith if we're not playing him makes a lot of sense. GG is the sort of player AK covets.

[sco]

An interesting move for the Bulls if they wanted to go “win now” would be to trade 3 out of the 4 of Vuc, Collins,
Huerter & Pat. Beal makes 53.66 M next year, and the later 3’s combined salaries are just over 54, sub in Vuc gets you 57.5 M (so Phoenix likely would want to add in salary).

Let’s say the trade is for Huerter, Pat, Collins and a 2nd rounder, and Beal accepts the trade. They shed 36 million in cap the following year, and maybe some could be moved to a 3rd team this season (Huerter to Brooklyn for a TPE?) - and any extra gain in lux tax savings then. Bulls move off Pat, Suns try to rehab him.

Meanwhile, Bulls put Beal at the SG and move Coby to the 3rd guard, draft a C, waive Carter, resign Jones, THT. Roster:

G: Beal, Coby
G/W: Ball, Ayo, Jones, Terry
F/W: Giddey, (Ball), (Terry), THT
F: Matas, Phillips, (Giddey), (THT), (draft pick)
C: Vuc, Smith, draft pick

If Beal’s reduced output on the Suns is less age (hasn’t turned 32) and more being 3rd banana, Bulls might be notably stronger in the short term with such a move, though more D at the 5 would still be a must.

Could even see AKME subbing Vuc for Collins, adding Ayo (or Carter) and taking back Royce O’Neale (and taking away the 2nd rounder, if Ayo).

Could work. Bulls could get much better in the short term if they swap Coby for a roughly equivalent young forward, instead of trying to get a first for him. A trade where we get somebody like Jabari Smith Jr or Keegan Murray, maybe in a three way. Both will be RFA's like Coby. Phoenix has to send us a first though, no negotiating that.

If we add Beal and re-sign Giddey, think that's your big money for the next two years. Smith or Murray make us better immediately and we can go over the cap to re-sign them. We're over the cap one year, then Beal expires in 2027.

Giddey/Ball
Beal/Ayo/Terry
Matas/Phillips/THT
Keegan Murray/draft pick/THT
Vuc, Smith

Would prefer Smith to Murray, but there are other forwards who fit the bill. This way we add more known talent immediately to the win now team, as opposed to adding future draft picks. With Beal and Giddey as our only big contracts and pretty much untradeable, extra future draft picks are worth less now because who are you adding them to in a trade even if you have a surplus? We're already likely adding a 2025 and 2026 rookie to that team.

Wouldn't trade for Beal though. With his NTC thinks that locks you into Beal as your big money player for the next two years, and kills your chances of making any star trades during that time that don't involve Matas or Gidey.

The team to be eyeing is the Rockets in my opinion. Jabari Smith would be the perfect add to this team. If they continue to implode against the Warriors with no offense/shooters -- there's going to a lot of opportunity. Some fans have wanted to run Jalen Green out of town (funny how pessimistic all fanbases are) for 3 years. Both his and Sengun extensions kick in next year. FVV with club option. A package built around Coby (and his cheap salary next year) could be serious match. Saw this on a Rockets forum:

For me it's, in ranked order:

Tier 1: Would only consider trading them for a top 5 player in his prime
Amen Thompson
Alperen Sengun

Tier 2: Would only trade them for a significant upgrade (i.e. All-Star caliber player) who fits our timeline and roster
Jalen Green (borderline tier 1)
Jabari Smith Jr
Tari Eason

Tier 3: Would consider including them in one of the above packages to get the deal done or consider trading them for a smaller upgrade or a good enough draft haul
Reed Sheppard (borderline tier 2)
Fred VanVleet
Dillon Brooks
Cam Whitmore

Tier 4: Fine with sending them out for lateral moves to improve roster construction/flexibility
Aaron Holiday
Jock Landale
Nate Williams

I would definitely consider Coby for Eason, but I think Coby is a bad match with Green (sorta like Coby an Zach). If they want a younger FVV, the guy they should go after in Jones. I'd trade Ayo and Ball for Eason.

[jnrjr79]

Interesting nugget from Windhorst today on First Take. He said that the entire trade market this offseason will basically be waiting to see whether Giannis asks out from the Bucks. The view seemed to be that this iteration of the Bucks has likely run its course.

Milwaukee has basically spent all the assets it has to put together this iteration of the team, and it's not really clear what they could do to add or rejigger things. They are paying $75M of luxury tax. One wonders whether they'd just go ahead and accommodate Giannis if he asks out, tear it down, and start rebuilding and trimming payroll.

[MGB8]

Interesting nugget from Windhorst today on First Take. He said that the entire trade market this offseason will basically be waiting to see whether Giannis asks out from the Bucks. The view seemed to be that this iteration of the Bucks has likely run its course.

Milwaukee has basically spent all the assets it has to put together this iteration of the team, and it's not really clear what they could do to add or rejigger things. They are paying $75M of luxury tax. One wonders whether they'd just go ahead and accommodate Giannis if he asks out, tear it down, and start rebuilding and trimming payroll.

Makes sense. Adding Dame when they didnt make a whole lot of sense, especially the way that roster is constructed (lack of POA perimeter defense). Add in an injury to a player taking max cap space, and it’s brutal.

Middleton’s very fast decline (injury assisted) didn’t help things. Kuzma was a weird add, but seems like the only way they could move Middleton. They overpaid Brook at this point, too.

While Connauaghton doesn’t make too much at 9.4 M, when you start with two vet max players, there isn’t a lot of room for overpays. I do think Portis at 13 M is paid correctly (MLE level).

At the same time, the Bucks won’t be in luxury tax next year (they have over 20M in space based on contracts they have, even if they need to add/replace depth) and they have to hope that they won’t be as injured.

Not sure if there is a market for Kuzma, but even if they keep him (hopefully to use as a bench scorer), the group (plus maybe different mix of cheap vets) may have one more run in them - hope that injury doesn’t kill this shot the way it did this year.

[sco]

Interesting nugget from Windhorst today on First Take. He said that the entire trade market this offseason will basically be waiting to see whether Giannis asks out from the Bucks. The view seemed to be that this iteration of the Bucks has likely run its course.

Milwaukee has basically spent all the assets it has to put together this iteration of the team, and it's not really clear what they could do to add or rejigger things. They are paying $75M of luxury tax. One wonders whether they'd just go ahead and accommodate Giannis if he asks out, tear it down, and start rebuilding and trimming payroll.

Makes sense. Adding Dame when they didnt make a whole lot of sense, especially the way that roster is constructed (lack of POA perimeter defense). Add in an injury to a player taking max cap space, and it’s brutal.

Middleton’s very fast decline (injury assisted) didn’t help things. Kuzma was a weird add, but seems like the only way they could move Middleton. They overpaid Brook at this point, too.

While Connauaghton doesn’t make too much at 9.4 M, when you start with two vet max players, there isn’t a lot of room for overpays. I do think Portis at 13 M is paid correctly (MLE level).

At the same time, the Bucks won’t be in luxury tax next year (they have over 20M in space based on contracts they have, even if they need to add/replace depth) and they have to hope that they won’t be as injured.

Not sure if there is a market for Kuzma, but even if they keep him (hopefully to use as a bench scorer), the group (plus maybe different mix of cheap vets) may have one more run in them - hope that injury doesn’t kill this shot the way it did this year.

Interesting topic!

I don't think we have the assets for Giannis, but I'd go as far as 4 1sts plus Coby + filler.

The other direction to take would be Dame, he's got 2 seasons left at $54M. At 34, he's past his peak, but probably still a high level, and probably has positive trade value. Still, I'd trade him straight-up for Coby if MIL wants to get younger. It would be an interesting experiment. After a year, he'd still be tradeable for positive value IMO.

[jnrjr79]

Interesting nugget from Windhorst today on First Take. He said that the entire trade market this offseason will basically be waiting to see whether Giannis asks out from the Bucks. The view seemed to be that this iteration of the Bucks has likely run its course.

Milwaukee has basically spent all the assets it has to put together this iteration of the team, and it's not really clear what they could do to add or rejigger things. They are paying $75M of luxury tax. One wonders whether they'd just go ahead and accommodate Giannis if he asks out, tear it down, and start rebuilding and trimming payroll.

Makes sense. Adding Dame when they didnt make a whole lot of sense, especially the way that roster is constructed (lack of POA perimeter defense). Add in an injury to a player taking max cap space, and it’s brutal.

Middleton’s very fast decline (injury assisted) didn’t help things. Kuzma was a weird add, but seems like the only way they could move Middleton. They overpaid Brook at this point, too.

While Connauaghton doesn’t make too much at 9.4 M, when you start with two vet max players, there isn’t a lot of room for overpays. I do think Portis at 13 M is paid correctly (MLE level).

At the same time, the Bucks won’t be in luxury tax next year (they have over 20M in space based on contracts they have, even if they need to add/replace depth) and they have to hope that they won’t be as injured.

Not sure if there is a market for Kuzma, but even if they keep him (hopefully to use as a bench scorer), the group (plus maybe different mix of cheap vets) may have one more run in them - hope that injury doesn’t kill this shot the way it did this year.

Interesting topic!

I don't think we have the assets for Giannis, but I'd go as far as 4 1sts plus Coby + filler.

The other direction to take would be Dame, he's got 2 seasons left at $54M. At 34, he's past his peak, but probably still a high level, and probably has positive trade value. Still, I'd trade him straight-up for Coby if MIL wants to get younger. It would be an interesting experiment. After a year, he'd still be tradeable for positive value IMO.

I don't think Dame really fits the timeline and I don't think he's enough of a plus offensively anymore that we could withstand his defense given the rest of the roster.

For Milwaukee, they are going to get godfather offers. I'm not sure how much interested they'd have in Coby if they are planning on a long-term, draft-based rebuild. My guess is there's no way you could swing it without Matas, a bunch of expiring salary, and basically every tradable future Bulls first, plus the Portland pick. The Bulls' near-term firsts wouldn't be that great, though, because Giannis would prop them up too much.

A team ideally situated to trade for Giannis probably owns one or more picks from other teams that are expected to be bad.

For the sake of discussion, though, I'd be interested to see what the general sentiment of the board would be in terms of offering up Matas + every other first + Portland pick for Giannis.

[WindyCityBorn]

Guys forget about adding Beal and keeping White, Bulls would never do it imho and its kinda odd move! If Beal is coming,White is going out almost 100%!

One deal I think Bulls should consider is a small move,but would help out our depth behind Matas!

Smith isnt playing for Billy and Memphis need another solid young center behind Edey, Huff isnt it.. GG Jackson isnt playing for Memphis anymore (no clue why).. so small swap Smith for Jackson I think could benefit both teams! GG would be legit PF for 2nd unit.
Jackson is expiring next year and costs only 2.2M! Super cheap and even if we extend him, he wont cost huge money..

Bulls are not trading for a Bradley Beal.

[WindyCityBorn]

Interesting nugget from Windhorst today on First Take. He said that the entire trade market this offseason will basically be waiting to see whether Giannis asks out from the Bucks. The view seemed to be that this iteration of the Bucks has likely run its course.

Milwaukee has basically spent all the assets it has to put together this iteration of the team, and it's not really clear what they could do to add or rejigger things. They are paying $75M of luxury tax. One wonders whether they'd just go ahead and accommodate Giannis if he asks out, tear it down, and start rebuilding and trimming payroll.

Makes sense. Adding Dame when they didnt make a whole lot of sense, especially the way that roster is constructed (lack of POA perimeter defense). Add in an injury to a player taking max cap space, and it’s brutal.

Middleton’s very fast decline (injury assisted) didn’t help things. Kuzma was a weird add, but seems like the only way they could move Middleton. They overpaid Brook at this point, too.

While Connauaghton doesn’t make too much at 9.4 M, when you start with two vet max players, there isn’t a lot of room for overpays. I do think Portis at 13 M is paid correctly (MLE level).

At the same time, the Bucks won’t be in luxury tax next year (they have over 20M in space based on contracts they have, even if they need to add/replace depth) and they have to hope that they won’t be as injured.

Not sure if there is a market for Kuzma, but even if they keep him (hopefully to use as a bench scorer), the group (plus maybe different mix of cheap vets) may have one more run in them - hope that injury doesn’t kill this shot the way it did this year.

Interesting topic!

I don't think we have the assets for Giannis, but I'd go as far as 4 1sts plus Coby + filler.

The other direction to take would be Dame, he's got 2 seasons left at $54M. At 34, he's past his peak, but probably still a high level, and probably has positive trade value. Still, I'd trade him straight-up for Coby if MIL wants to get younger. It would be an interesting experiment. After a year, he'd still be tradeable for positive value IMO.

These ideas are making me irrationally annoyed. Gotta go back to avoiding this thread.

[WesPeace]

Guys forget about adding Beal and keeping White, Bulls would never do it imho and its kinda odd move! If Beal is coming,White is going out almost 100%!

One deal I think Bulls should consider is a small move,but would help out our depth behind Matas!

Smith isnt playing for Billy and Memphis need another solid young center behind Edey, Huff isnt it.. GG Jackson isnt playing for Memphis anymore (no clue why).. so small swap Smith for Jackson I think could benefit both teams! GG would be legit PF for 2nd unit.
Jackson is expiring next year and costs only 2.2M! Super cheap and even if we extend him, he wont cost huge money..

Bulls are not trading for a Bradley Beal.

I hope soo.. same as for Lillard! I dont see much benefit of adding overpaid washed vets

[Am2626]

Makes sense. Adding Dame when they didnt make a whole lot of sense, especially the way that roster is constructed (lack of POA perimeter defense). Add in an injury to a player taking max cap space, and it’s brutal.

Middleton’s very fast decline (injury assisted) didn’t help things. Kuzma was a weird add, but seems like the only way they could move Middleton. They overpaid Brook at this point, too.

While Connauaghton doesn’t make too much at 9.4 M, when you start with two vet max players, there isn’t a lot of room for overpays. I do think Portis at 13 M is paid correctly (MLE level).

At the same time, the Bucks won’t be in luxury tax next year (they have over 20M in space based on contracts they have, even if they need to add/replace depth) and they have to hope that they won’t be as injured.

Not sure if there is a market for Kuzma, but even if they keep him (hopefully to use as a bench scorer), the group (plus maybe different mix of cheap vets) may have one more run in them - hope that injury doesn’t kill this shot the way it did this year.

Interesting topic!

I don't think we have the assets for Giannis, but I'd go as far as 4 1sts plus Coby + filler.

The other direction to take would be Dame, he's got 2 seasons left at $54M. At 34, he's past his peak, but probably still a high level, and probably has positive trade value. Still, I'd trade him straight-up for Coby if MIL wants to get younger. It would be an interesting experiment. After a year, he'd still be tradeable for positive value IMO.

These ideas are making me irrationally annoyed. Gotta go back to avoiding this thread.

I’d be open to trading Coby White but not for a 34 year old Lillard that has been dealing with blood clots. Who knows how long he is even going to be able to continue his career?