The Trade/Free Agency Thread: All Eyes Toward The Offseason 2

[OGBAH]

Have you guys talked about Collison getting jailed? I haven't checked all the pages...looks like they can use one of our point guards

[lilfishi22]

That FIFA report about Batum re-signing with the Hornets is actually from a little while ago and Idk how reliable it is, but let's just say it is accurate so he is off the table. Horford most likely will re-sign with the Hawks or go to a contending team. He is about to turn 30 so it does not make sense for him to go to any of the worst teams in the league. That leaves only Harrison Barnes out of the three guys Gambo mentioned. Does anybody want Harrison Barnes? I have no interest in him. He is averaging 9 pts and 5 rebounds in 31 minutes a game during the playoffs so far. His regular season averages are not much better. Surely T.J. Warren could average at least those same numbers or better with 31 minutes a game. Plus it would most likely take a max contract and a sign and trade to get Barnes. That sounds crazy. Suns should pass on trying to sign him.

Zero interest. Even if he has an amazing Finals performance, I'd still be reluctant to sign him to a contract considered anything other than cheap. I just don't think he moves the needle.

[OGBAH]

I'm leaning towards Hield or Murray if no Bender or Jah works out

[RaisingArizona]

Hield!

[OGBAH]

Knight and the 13th for Gay and the 8th?
Draft Chriss

[lilfishi22]

Another point re: Okafor...you can get scoring from any other position on the court, but when it comes to rim protection, it's gotta be one of your bigs. With the rise of stretch PFs, your last line of defense is gonna be your C.

A C who can't defend the rim is a problem, because there isn't going to be another player on the floor that can play that role.

Again, I like Okafor, and he's clearly one of the very best post players in the league(as a rook!), but I just question how valuable that skill is.

If McD believes that Okafor can turn into a decent defender/rim protector too, then he almost has to make this trade. If not, then I don't blame him for passing*






*I reserve the right to talk about how much McD sucks two years from now if he passed on an Okafor deal and Okafor is tearing it up in Boston. Hypocritical? Sure, but that's how fanhood works.

I see Okafor's weaknesses as of right now but I'm really looking at it as, who's available in the draft vs Okafor. Every single player in the draft have weaknesses and very few have legit transferable skills. An elite skill coming in. Ingram's scoring may be elite for a rookie, SImmon's passing and PG game might be above average as a rookie and then it sort of drops down quite quickly from there. Okafor had highly-touted post scoring coming into his rookie season and he's proven he can get buckets despite not having elite athleticism or size for his position. Okafor's defense is an issue but I don't think it's a fundamental weakness that he can't improve on.

If I was to use my #4 pick, I'd go with a high potential guy with an elite skill and weakenesses that they can work on. Okafor is that guy, as is Ingram and Simmons but outside of those two in the draft, the talent level does drop quite substantially.

[Skin]

What would you do at center without Vucevic? Fran Vasquez coming over soon?

I think a GM has to play this game like chess, thinking of moves in advance. For the Magic, I imagine it would be harder for us to attract a FA Center if they see Vucevic solidly embedded at that spot. If we can use Vucevic to fix another position and strengthen the team at the 1-4 spots, then I'm hoping we can lure in a FA like Whiteside (unlikely, but have to try), Howard (conceivable) or other (Ezeli, Biyombo). The better we can make the team look around him, and show open opportunity, I think that improves our chances a lot more than our current state. The downside to that is not being able to sign any big named FA but that's the kind of bold risk that comes with the job.

Getting Chandler alleviates some of that risk, but you have to weigh the cost of acquiring him.

So you'd rather have Dunn than Payton AND Vucevic? That seems kind of crazy. I'm not a huge fan of either but they do have some pretty good skills.

Well, I tried to squeeze out Chandler, but yeah... essentially, I would. It seems if I try to ask for anything more than that, the response is more sided towards rejection. Opposing fans only accept a trade if it's crazy for the other team to do it. hah

[bwgood77]

I think a GM has to play this game like chess, thinking of moves in advance. For the Magic, I imagine it would be harder for us to attract a FA Center if they see Vucevic solidly embedded at that spot. If we can use Vucevic to fix another position and strengthen the team at the 1-4 spots, then I'm hoping we can lure in a FA like Whiteside (unlikely, but have to try), Howard (conceivable) or other (Ezeli, Biyombo). The better we can make the team look around him, and show open opportunity, I think that improves our chances a lot more than our current state. The downside to that is not being able to sign any big named FA but that's the kind of bold risk that comes with the job.

Getting Chandler alleviates some of that risk, but you have to weigh the cost of acquiring him.

So you'd rather have Dunn than Payton AND Vucevic? That seems kind of crazy. I'm not a huge fan of either but they do have some pretty good skills.

Well, I tried to squeeze out Chandler, but yeah... essentially, I would. It seems if I try to ask for anything more than that, the response is more sided towards rejection. Opposing fans only accept a trade if it's crazy for the other team to do it. hah

Are more fans that down on Payton? It seems they are down on Oladipo, and now I guess Vucevic AND Payton? I never liked Payton as much because he can't shoot. Dunn isn't a great shooter either and seems a little bit more in the mold of Payton. I'm not terribly high on Dunn, though I think he'll probably be a decent nba pg. Never all star or anything. Probably average.

[saintEscaton]

Another point re: Okafor...you can get scoring from any other position on the court, but when it comes to rim protection, it's gotta be one of your bigs. With the rise of stretch PFs, your last line of defense is gonna be your C.

A C who can't defend the rim is a problem, because there isn't going to be another player on the floor that can play that role.

Again, I like Okafor, and he's clearly one of the very best post players in the league(as a rook!), but I just question how valuable that skill is.

If McD believes that Okafor can turn into a decent defender/rim protector too, then he almost has to make this trade. If not, then I don't blame him for passing*

*I reserve the right to talk about how much McD sucks two years from now if he passed on an Okafor deal and Okafor is tearing it up in Boston. Hypocritical? Sure, but that's how fanhood works.

1.2 blocks per game not bad for a rookie.

Okafor's defense at the rim is already comparable to that of Turner ,KAT, Horford Valanciunas

53 games
423 Field Goals Attempted Against Him (12th highest in league)
49.9 opponent FG%

[bwgood77]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

[saintEscaton]

Move 5 spots down for two rotation players? Rather stay the course and roll the dice at 4. If Masai falls in love with Murray (he's a Canuck after all) and wants insurance for DeRozan I could see it happening

[Kerrsed]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grMjUu-OhbQ[/youtube]

[bwgood77]

Move 5 spots down for two rotation players? Rather stay the course and roll the dice at 4. If Masai falls in love with Murray (he's a Canuck after all) and wants insurance for DeRozan I could see it happening

I guess I just don't see too much separation between 4 and 9 if Bender is gone. I like Delon Wright though and think Patterson could be a decent backup, particularly if we lose Leuer and Telly.

[lilfishi22]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

Don't see the point of Wright or Patterson so there's no reason to move down 5 spots. Might as well pick BPA at #4

Has there actually been rumors about #4 for Okafor?

[DRK]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

Don't see the point of Wright or Patterson so there's no reason to move down 5 spots. Might as well pick BPA at #4

Has there actually been rumors about #4 for Okafor?

With the way our FO have kept every move extremely quiet, if there's rumours, it probably wont happen.

Okafor for #4 makes too much sense IMO. We still have #13 to select a someone like Wade Baldwin or Demetrius Jackson (Bledsoe-lite), and #28 for a project big.

[saintEscaton]

Praying Luwawu drops to us at 13

[JMac1]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

Hell no. Brown, Dunn or Murray. Boom or bust, trading down for a lower rotation guy is insane. Then see who stays and who goes. Preferable draft Dunn or Brown (big time athletes BW ).

But I hope its Bender or Okafor.

[bwgood77]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

Don't see the point of Wright or Patterson so there's no reason to move down 5 spots. Might as well pick BPA at #4

Has there actually been rumors about #4 for Okafor?

Oh, well Wright would make a good backup PG in my prospect. Probably like him just about as good as most of the pg prospects this year. And Patterson same as backup 4. Just don't see much difference in 4-9 range if Bender is gone.

And Okafor....well there has certainly been a lot of talk here about Okafor for 4. Ford tweeted that Philly wants to trade either Noel or Okafor for a top 6 pick and most assume Noel doesn't have the trade value since he will demand second contract shortly and Okafor is on rookie deal, and that they'd probably prefer to deal Okafor anyway.

No real good rumor on whether the Suns have any interest at all. Though McD did say something like he wouldn't trade that pick unless it was for a good young player, and Okafor fits that description. That would create another logjam at a position though (some think he can play PF...not sure about that) so that could once again create locker room animosity, which McD may want to avoid.

I think Okafor is surely a better player right now than anyone in the 4 range and probably has the highest upside over everyone there if Bender is gone...not to say 1 or 2 players somewhere in this draft who people may not expect will end up showing the most upside...always a couple unexpected ones.

[bwgood77]

Praying Luwawu drops to us at 13

I'd be surprised if he doesn't. The only person I see that has him higher than mid 20s is DX at 15 and Fischella at like 4.

[bwgood77]

So if Bender is gone and we can't get Okafor (now I know theoretically if he is traded for a high pick and we want him, both of those can't happen), but lets say McD isn't interested,

then, would you trade the 4th pick, for the 9th, Delon Wright, and Patrick Patterson?

Don't see the point of Wright or Patterson so there's no reason to move down 5 spots. Might as well pick BPA at #4

Has there actually been rumors about #4 for Okafor?

With the way our FO have kept every move extremely quiet, if there's rumours, it probably wont happen.

Okafor for #4 makes too much sense IMO. We still have #13 to select a someone like Wade Baldwin or Demetrius Jackson (Bledsoe-lite), and #28 for a project big.

Are you saying you think he can play the 4? Or would look to trade Len and start Telly or Tucker or think we can find a starting 4 elsewhere?