Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[Frichuela]

I posted this in the 2025-26 line up thread...

If I was Dawkins I'd push for the following 3-team trade:

POR gets Kispert
WAS gets Robert Williams + 2026 WAS pick unprotected back from NY
NY gets Champagnie + 2 2nd rounders from POR + 1 2nd rounder from us.

This way:

1) We solve the glut at forward.
2) We get another body at center (Robert Williams who has 1 year left of contract).
3) We can go for it and win as many games as possible with our young core not worrying we'll lose the pick. Remember we also have the PHX swap, so regardless of overachieving expectations we have odds for a good pick in the 2026 lottery.

New line-up:

McCollum/Bub/Branham
Tre/Will Riley/AJ
Bilal/Kyshawn/Jones
Cam/Middleton/Watkins (2-way)
Sarr/R. Williams/Bagley/Tristan (2-way)

In this set up, all young wings have a chance of minutes.

[payitforward]

Wow... we get worse, while Ny gives up a pick they aren't going to have anyway while getting back a really good young player snd 3 draft picks.

Meanwhile, Portland moves Williams and 2 picks in order to acquire Kispert....

no thanks...

[Frichuela]

Wow... we get worse, while Ny gives up a pick they aren't going to have anyway while getting back a really good young player snd 3 draft picks.

Meanwhile, Portland moves Williams and 2 picks in order to acquire Kispert....

no thanks...

Well, this may be the case if we unashamedly tank. But what if the youngins are clicking better than expected and we are teetering with a bottom 8-10th worst record? There is a risk we lose the pick. For example, if we drop to the 8th worst record, there is a sizeable 39% probability we lose the pick...

Also, we have an obvious glut of forwards. If we don't do this trade, where are the minutes going to come for the likes or Riley or even Cam Whitmore? Bilal, Kyshawn and Middleton are likely to get 24-32 minutes a game each. Add Kispert and Champagnie to the mix and we have a saturated roster at the 3-4 spot.

Look, I love Champagnie and would love to retain him but can't see Corey Kispert as a potential rotational player in a playoff caliber team. His defense is that bad. I'll be willing to trade him for nothing just to give the minutes to our younger wings.

[GoneShammGone]

Wow... we get worse, while Ny gives up a pick they aren't going to have anyway while getting back a really good young player snd 3 draft picks.

Meanwhile, Portland moves Williams and 2 picks in order to acquire Kispert....

no thanks...

Well, this may be the case if we unashamedly tank. But what if the youngins are clicking better than expected and we are teetering with a bottom 8-10th worst record? There is a risk we lose the pick. For example, if we drop to the 8th worst record, there is a sizeable 39% probability we lose the pick...

Also, we have an obvious glut of forwards. If we don't do this trade, where are the minutes going to come for the likes or Riley or even Cam Whitmore? Bilal, Kyshawn and Middleton are likely to get 24-32 minutes a game each. Add Kispert and Champagnie to the mix and we have a saturated roster at the 3-4 spot.

Look, I love Champagnie and would love to retain him but can't see Corey Kispert as a potential rotational player in a playoff caliber team. His defense is that bad. I'll be willing to trade him for nothing just to give the minutes to our younger wings.

The problem with trading Champagnie is that he is almost certainly undervalued around the league. Just look at the contract he signed with us... it was for almost nothing! If other teams around the league recognized what I think we on this board recognize, why in the world would he have signed that deal? He could have just gone on the market in the summer and gotten something much better than league minimum. Now maybe he and his agent made a mistake, but I think its also possible that he is the kind of player that slips through the cracks. Other teams look at him and say, "Oh he's not super-young, and he is kind of undersized, he is putting up numbers on a bad team in limited minutes... pass". Until we give JC a full season of regular rotation minutes, I don't think other teams are going to understand how good he really is, so if you trade him, you are selling short.

I can see the appeal of getting back our pick from NY, but how much would it really take? As PIF points out, I doubt the Knicks really expect it to convey...

[payitforward]

...I... can't see Corey Kispert as a potential rotational player in a playoff caliber team. His defense is that bad. I'll be willing to trade him for nothing just to give the minutes to our younger wings.

Oh, I'd love to trade Corey. For sure....