MIL - NOP: swapping former teammates

[babyjax13]

MIL trades: Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, 45
NOP trades: CJ McCollum, DeJounte Murray, Kelly Olynyk

Milwaukee trades Dame for a guy who can play this season and rolls the dice on DeJounte returning the next season and being an acceptable starter. This seems like a reasonable gamble that is (a) somewhat creative, and (b) significant enough that Giannis might be more open to staying.

New Orleans gets of Murray's last year so that they can pivot a bit quicker and adds a 4/5 who is a nice fit on their team.

[Godaddycurse]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

[babyjax13]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

I think they could fix it pretty easily. That IND 1st could easily get them a reasonably good stopgap - Sexton, Simons, the like. Also, those guys would be nice with "point Zion."

[Texas Chuck]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

I think you can sign a PG with the TMLE that would help you win games as much if not more than Murray. And its time to sink or swim with Jordan Hawkins to replace the scoring of CJ.

I think its addition by subtraction mostly for the Pels. And much easier to pivot to Dame or away from Dame in a year than it would be Murray who isn;t good and who would still have multiple big number years left.

[hugepatsfan]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

It’s kind of suspect before this too

[Tim Lehrbach]

MIL trades: Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, 45
NOP trades: CJ McCollum, DeJounte Murray, Kelly Olynyk

Milwaukee trades Dame for a guy who can play this season and rolls the dice on DeJounte returning the next season and being an acceptable starter. This seems like a reasonable gamble that is (a) somewhat creative, and (b) significant enough that Giannis might be more open to staying.

New Orleans gets of Murray's last year so that they can pivot a bit quicker and adds a 4/5 who is a nice fit on their team.

As I said in NYG's Milwaukee-Utah thread, can the Bucks really act from a position of this much desperation? Must they? Moving off sunk-cost, likely sunk-career ( ) Lillard is a plus, but do they really need to take back just any contract another team would like to shed in order to add productive minutes next to Giannis? Maybe they do! But this would hurt to accept as Milwaukee.

You would be right to ask, like NYG did to me in the other thread, what else I would have Milwaukee do instead. I don't know. It just sucks that they're in this spot.

[jbk1234]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

I think you can sign a PG with the TMLE that would help you win games as much if not more than Murray. And its time to sink or swim with Jordan Hawkins to replace the scoring of CJ.

I think its addition by subtraction mostly for the Pels. And much easier to pivot to Dame or away from Dame in a year than it would be Murray who isn;t good and who would still have multiple big number years left.

Next season is CJ's last year under contract. As an expiring contract, he's the only player who will be easy to move. I don't think there's anyway the Pelicans consider this. Dame is going to make $58M in 26-27.

[babyjax13]

think NOP only does this if they are planning to tank. Their PG rotation is awfully suspect after this

I think you can sign a PG with the TMLE that would help you win games as much if not more than Murray. And its time to sink or swim with Jordan Hawkins to replace the scoring of CJ.

I think its addition by subtraction mostly for the Pels. And much easier to pivot to Dame or away from Dame in a year than it would be Murray who isn;t good and who would still have multiple big number years left.

Next season is CJ's last year under contract. As an expiring contract, he's the only player who will be easy to move. I don't think there's anyway the Pelicans consider this. Dame is going to make $58M in 26-27.

This is napkin math so it is a bit off,

Including 25-26 Murray has ~95 million remaining
CJ ~30 million remaining
= approx. 125-130 million remaining

Dame will have 112 million remaining (+9 million for Pat = 121 million, Portis and Olynyk are pretty similar)

So financially it is a bit better over the course of their deals than NOP and they get off the money a year earlier. But Dame won't play next year and CJ will. To me that is a difference that could explain both teams considering it even if it is a sunk cost for NOP (they traded Daniels and picks for one season of Dame at an unknown level of play, effectively) and suboptimal for Milwaukee b/c neither player is a legitimate second option to Giannis.

[jbk1234]

I think you can sign a PG with the TMLE that would help you win games as much if not more than Murray. And its time to sink or swim with Jordan Hawkins to replace the scoring of CJ.

I think its addition by subtraction mostly for the Pels. And much easier to pivot to Dame or away from Dame in a year than it would be Murray who isn;t good and who would still have multiple big number years left.

Next season is CJ's last year under contract. As an expiring contract, he's the only player who will be easy to move. I don't think there's anyway the Pelicans consider this. Dame is going to make $58M in 26-27.

This is napkin math so it is a bit off,

Including 25-26 Murray has ~95 million remaining
CJ ~30 million remaining
= approx. 125-130 million remaining

Dame will have 112 million remaining (+9 million for Pat = 121 million, Portis and Olynyk are pretty similar)

So financially it is a bit better over the course of their deals than NOP and they get off the money a year earlier. But Dame won't play next year and CJ will. To me that is a difference that could explain both teams considering it even if it is a sunk cost for NOP (they traded Daniels and picks for one season of Dame at an unknown level of play, effectively) and suboptimal for Milwaukee b/c neither player is a legitimate second option to Giannis.

CJ will be on the court next season, expiring, and could be traded for a useful piece to a team that's looking to shed space for the 2026 summer. He's also good enough to serve in a sixth man role off the bench on a contender, or even serve as a temporary starter for a team like Orlando or Dallas. Lumping him in as part of fungible (bad) dollars doesn't seem right to me. As a separate piece, he has potential trade value.

It really comes down to Dame versus Murray, and yes the pain goes on one year longer with Murray, but it's not so severe as to sacrifice nearly $60M per in cap over what's likely to be two years. The Pelicans can live with Murray in a sixth man role at his cap hit. That extra $28M Dame makes represents another player or two over the two seasons Dame is rostered.

I don't think Joe Dumars is a rebuilding hire. If the organization wanted to go in that direction, there were candidates who made more sense. If it were otherwise, Dame + the Bucks 31 first for CJ and Olynyk is a trade I could see. The Bucks tread water next season and enter the summer of 2026 with only Giannis and an expiring Kuzma under contract. The Pelicans eat two years of bad money for another unprotected 1st.

I just don't buy the idea that Joe Dumars pitched any type of 3-4 year rebuilding plan in the interview or that ownership has that kind of patience.