Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[Dat2U]

Screw Ja (if we miss out DP), give me LaMelo if his physical checks out. His value has also dwindled (he won't cost a ton of picks) but he's still an elite offensive PG and he's 6-8 so defensively maybe not all is lost on that end.

Ball is definitely a better gamble than Ja, but I've heard too many Zach Lowe types in the media whisper about how unserious Ball is about his craft for me to ignore it. The guy just isn't a grinder. He isn't going to watch tape. He isn't going to listen to his coaches when they tell him the difference between a good shot or a bad shot. He is a clown.

Maybe, if the right type of franchise, like Miami or Boston gets a hold of him, they could get through to him. But our rebuild is still too young and the developing culture too fragile to take on a guy like Lamelo who could blow it all up.

LaMelo can take some crazy shots but the man us s true offensive engine. I dont buy alot of the hate because he's playing for a crap organization and alot of these same columnists/bloggers have been trashing him since he was a high schooler. Anyone who watches him play for an extended period of time knows he sees the game like no one else. His court vision and feel are on another level. Refine his focus & shot selection and you have a top 15 player.

[9 and 20]

Screw Ja (if we miss out DP), give me LaMelo if his physical checks out. His value has also dwindled (he won't cost a ton of picks) but he's still an elite offensive PG and he's 6-8 so defensively maybe not all is lost on that end.

Ball is definitely a better gamble than Ja, but I've heard too many Zach Lowe types in the media whisper about how unserious Ball is about his craft for me to ignore it. The guy just isn't a grinder. He isn't going to watch tape. He isn't going to listen to his coaches when they tell him the difference between a good shot or a bad shot. He is a clown.

Maybe, if the right type of franchise, like Miami or Boston gets a hold of him, they could get through to him. But our rebuild is still too young and the developing culture too fragile to take on a guy like Lamelo who could blow it all up.

LaMelo can take some crazy shots but the man us s true offensive engine. I dont buy alot of the hate because he's playing for a crap organization and alot of these same columnists/bloggers have been trashing him since he was a high schooler. Anyone who watches him play for an extended period of time knows he sees the game like no one else. His court vision and feel are on another level. Refine his focus & shot selection and you have a top 15 player.

We are not exactly the '27 Yankees.

I think he'd hear "Washington Wizards" and have the same reaction Jordan Poole had when he was traded here. I remember Poole arriving and announcing 'this is my team now.'

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Screw Ja (if we miss out DP), give me LaMelo if his physical checks out. His value has also dwindled (he won't cost a ton of picks) but he's still an elite offensive PG and he's 6-8 so defensively maybe not all is lost on that end.

Ball is definitely a better gamble than Ja, but I've heard too many Zach Lowe types in the media whisper about how unserious Ball is about his craft for me to ignore it. The guy just isn't a grinder. He isn't going to watch tape. He isn't going to listen to his coaches when they tell him the difference between a good shot or a bad shot. He is a clown.

Maybe, if the right type of franchise, like Miami or Boston gets a hold of him, they could get through to him. But our rebuild is still too young and the developing culture too fragile to take on a guy like Lamelo who could blow it all up.

LaMelo can take some crazy shots but the man us s true offensive engine. I dont buy alot of the hate because he's playing for a crap organization and alot of these same columnists/bloggers have been trashing him since he was a high schooler. Anyone who watches him play for an extended period of time knows he sees the game like no one else. His court vision and feel are on another level. Refine his focus & shot selection and you have a top 15 player.

Empty calorie player who is injury prone and doesn't play a lick of defense. Seemingly a knucklehead too. You wouldn't want him within 100 miles of your young team.

[PaulinVA]

Speaking of Poole:

''The crux of the deal is the Poole-for-McCollum piece. New Orleans agreed to take on a $34 million obligation to Poole in 2026-27, while McCollum’s contract expires after the coming season.

While McCollum is entering his age-34 season and not the player he once was, he still arguably projects as a more valuable player than Poole. My BORD$ formula rated him as a $14.3 million player for the coming season, compared to an $8.4 million valuation for Poole. New Orleans went from about $20 million underwater on McCollum’s deal to roughly $40 million under with Poole. Yikes.

More jarringly, that valuation for Poole is miles and miles short of the $34 million he’s owed in the extra contract year. That money essentially ties up the Pelicans’ cap; New Orleans has 14 contracts for the 2026-27 season and is just $3.8 million from a projected tax line ownership will never cross.

Even with an expiring deal in 2026-27, Poole might prove challenging to trade for a different reason: His contract contains $3.75 million in unlikely incentives, the sort that teams have bent over backwards to avoid in the apron era because the dollars count against the apron even if the incentives never hit. Nobody wants those on their books anymore...

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6626893/2025/09/18/nba-2025-offseaon-moves-mikal-bridges-jordan-poole/?UTM=NYTI_AUC_ATHLETC_CONOA_TW_SO_WTCP_XXXXXXXXXX_INTER_000000XXX_2PTW_XXXX_SPORTSINTXPRO_X18PL_COUSA_XXXXX_TWITOA_BBOT_0X_EN_JP_NFLINKS&site=%7B%7Bsite_source_name%7D%7D&campaign_id=%7B%7Bcampaign.id%7D%7D&ad_id=%7B%7Bad.id%7D%7D&ad-keywords=auddevgate&twclid=2-5m2br7eid6ogzhzbljw7iook7

[lastemp3ror]

CJM is starting to play as expected, and I hope we can trade him for a late first-round pick. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Middleton.

[bsilver]

I'm not a fan of CJMs game. He's a small SG, not a PG. Time after time last night he was looking for his own shot, and not passing to open teammates. He's also not a good passer, his lack of height making it hard to see over opponent defenders. He's also a poor defensive player. There's a reason we are such a poor perimeter defensive team. Not all his fault, but he's a part of it.
He was hot last night for a while, but it's still a team game, and you have to involve your teammates, especially since player development is more important than wins at this point.
I doubt we can get anything good for him. His best feature is the expiring contract.

[gesa2]

I'm not a fan of CJMs game. He's a small SG, not a PG. Time after time last night he was looking for his own shot, and not passing to open teammates. He's also not a good passer, his lack of height making it hard to see over opponent defenders. He's also a poor defensive player. There's a reason we are such a poor perimeter defensive team. Not all his fault, but he's a part of it.
He was hot last night for a while, but it's still a team game, and you have to involve your teammates, especially since player development is more important than wins at this point.
I doubt we can get anything good for him. His best feature is the expiring contract.

I think the best option we’ll have is a BOYD trade, where we give CJM for a player with a longer worse salary in return for a pick.

[tontoz]

I'm not a fan of CJMs game. He's a small SG, not a PG. Time after time last night he was looking for his own shot, and not passing to open teammates. He's also not a good passer, his lack of height making it hard to see over opponent defenders. He's also a poor defensive player. There's a reason we are such a poor perimeter defensive team. Not all his fault, but he's a part of it.
He was hot last night for a while, but it's still a team game, and you have to involve your teammates, especially since player development is more important than wins at this point.
I doubt we can get anything good for him. His best feature is the expiring contract.

I think the best option we’ll have is a BOYD trade, where we give CJM for a player with a longer worse salary in return for a pick.

I am hoping we just buy out him and Middleton. We don't need any more scub vets taking minutes and shots away from the young guys.

[nate33]

If we could get Whitmore to go on a little run here, I wonder if we could ultimately try and trade him to Philly straight up for Jared McCain? Both guys are extremely young and have demonstrated that they know how to put the ball in the bucket, and both come with some warts. McCain is an injury risk. And Whitmore still hasn't figured out the team game.

It's mostly a straight positional swap. Philly is overloaded at guard and have hardly any wings. Our problem is the inverse of that.

[nate33]

I'm not a fan of CJMs game. He's a small SG, not a PG. Time after time last night he was looking for his own shot, and not passing to open teammates. He's also not a good passer, his lack of height making it hard to see over opponent defenders. He's also a poor defensive player. There's a reason we are such a poor perimeter defensive team. Not all his fault, but he's a part of it.
He was hot last night for a while, but it's still a team game, and you have to involve your teammates, especially since player development is more important than wins at this point.
I doubt we can get anything good for him. His best feature is the expiring contract.

I think the best option we’ll have is a BOYD trade, where we give CJM for a player with a longer worse salary in return for a pick.

I am hoping we just buy out him and Middleton. We don't need any more scub vets taking minutes and shots away from the young guys.

Honestly, the only viable BOYD trade out there involves Paul George. I think his is the only contract that a team might give up a FRP or equivalent asset just to unload. Most of the other contracts really just aren't that bad. We're talking about guys like:

Zach Lavine - $49M for 1 more year
Zion Williamson - $42M and $44M next 2 years
Michael Porter Jr - $41M
Desmond Bane - $39M, $41M, $44M
Jalen Green - $36M, $36M
Jerami Grant - $34M, $36M

The worst of those contracts, MPJ and Green, already play for bottom-feeder teams who won't trade assets to unload them. Everyone else is probably good enough to justify that salary, or at least they won't pay to unload it.

[pcbothwel]

I think the best option we’ll have is a BOYD trade, where we give CJM for a player with a longer worse salary in return for a pick.

I am hoping we just buy out him and Middleton. We don't need any more scub vets taking minutes and shots away from the young guys.

Honestly, the only viable BOYD trade out there involves Paul George. I think his is the only contract that a team might give up a FRP or equivalent asset just to unload. Most of the other contracts really just aren't that bad. We're talking about guys like:

Zach Lavine - $49M for 1 more year
Zion Williamson - $42M and $44M next 2 years
Michael Porter Jr - $41M
Desmond Bane - $39M, $41M, $44M
Jalen Green - $36M, $36M
Jerami Grant - $34M, $36M

The worst of those contracts, MPJ and Green, already play for bottom-feeder teams who won't trade assets to unload them. Everyone else is probably good enough to justify that salary, or at least they won't pay to unload it.

Agreed. PG13 is going nowhere. 76ers arent tanking and arent a repeater team. He is either waived or proves to be playable and kept. They MIGHT trade him next year.

That said, I do think you need to get past the top bad salaries (35M+) and start looking at teams with multple bad salaries with some financial pressure. e.g.
Mavs - Dallas looks like a bottom 8 team in the league, with a vision of adding one more lotto pick to Flagg. They are above the 1st apron and will be a repeater team next year and wont be a contender. They have Klay (17.5M), Caleb (10M), and PJ (20M) all on the books next year and playing awful.

Orlando needs a jolt at the lead guard spot, while also having a $155M next year locked up in 4 guys (Franz, Bane, Suggs, Banchero). I could see them throwing in a pick/swap for moving Isaac and Carter Jr for CJM.

Do the Cavs make a move with their looming cap crunch? Lonzo looks terrible and Hunter has been underwhelming. Maybe Garland gets moved as well?

[9 and 20]

I am hoping we just buy out him and Middleton. We don't need any more scub vets taking minutes and shots away from the young guys.

Honestly, the only viable BOYD trade out there involves Paul George. I think his is the only contract that a team might give up a FRP or equivalent asset just to unload. Most of the other contracts really just aren't that bad. We're talking about guys like:

Zach Lavine - $49M for 1 more year
Zion Williamson - $42M and $44M next 2 years
Michael Porter Jr - $41M
Desmond Bane - $39M, $41M, $44M
Jalen Green - $36M, $36M
Jerami Grant - $34M, $36M

The worst of those contracts, MPJ and Green, already play for bottom-feeder teams who won't trade assets to unload them. Everyone else is probably good enough to justify that salary, or at least they won't pay to unload it.

Agreed. PG13 is going nowhere. 76ers arent tanking and arent a repeater team. He is either waived or proves to be playable and kept. They MIGHT trade him next year.

That said, I do think you need to get past the top bad salaries (35M+) and start looking at teams with multple bad salaries with some financial pressure. e.g.
Mavs - Dallas looks like a bottom 8 team in the league, with a vision of adding one more lotto pick to Flagg. They are above the 1st apron and will be a repeater team next year and wont be a contender. They have Klay (17.5M), Caleb (10M), and PJ (20M) all on the books next year and playing awful.

Orlando needs a jolt at the lead guard spot, while also having a $155M next year locked up in 4 guys (Franz, Bane, Suggs, Banchero). I could see them throwing in a pick/swap for moving Isaac and Carter Jr for CJM.

Do the Cavs make a move with their looming cap crunch? Lonzo looks terrible and Hunter has been underwhelming. Maybe Garland gets moved as well?

Cleveland has their own first this year and it's likely to be super late. They may look to load up for the postseason. And they've got a couple of underperforming guys. They're a prime target. Plus we've got a bunch of 2nds this year to throw in to try to get their late first.

[payitforward]

If we could get Whitmore to go on a little run here, I wonder if we could ultimately try and trade him to Philly straight up for Jared McCain? Both guys are extremely young and have demonstrated that they know how to put the ball in the bucket, and both come with some warts. McCain is an injury risk. And Whitmore still hasn't figured out the team game.

It's mostly a straight positional swap. Philly is overloaded at guard and have hardly any wings. Our problem is the inverse of that.

A very nice idea!