Ok I went full tear-down on my lunch-break. I'll be the first to admit I know these mega deals NEVER happen, but I was bored and wanted to try and make at least a solid attempt at making an even rosterbation.
Literally the only vet I kept was Jared Dudley...because I don't think he has that much value (yet) and he might eventually transition into a front office role.
Chandler, PJ, Bledsoe, Knight, Barbosa, Len are all gone to help teams in the playoff hunt. The youngsters ALL stay besides Len, because I don't want to pay him $80m over 5, which is what he'll want.
So my thinking is:
Bledsoe's value will NEVER be higher. His knee(s) could disintegrate tomorrow and nobody would be surprised, we would be surprised, however, if he averaged more than 75 games played over the next 3-4 years (ie his prime).
Ditto for PJ, fresh off a 7 steal effort, his value (both on the court and financially) will never be higher for a team needing a veteran 3 & D specialist who can literally guard 5 positions for stretches. He's played with so much heart and fire, he deserves a winning situation.
Chandler is far from an albatross contract. Sure, he can't jump over a phone-book anymore and his rim protection leaves a lot to be desired, but put him on that Blazers team and he makes them instantly better with his experience and rebounding.
Knight just needs some minutes, but not in the desert. Put him on Brooklyn and maybe he plays 1.5 seasons there putting up 16-4-5 and they can flip him for a 1st, lord knows they need backcourt help and picks.
Barbosa and Len land in Boston where they can help with bench scoring & leadership (Barbs) and rebounding and rim protection (Len, duh). I like the pairing of Len/Horford to be honest, put Crowder there too and that's a really solid front-court rotation with Brown and Olynyk off the bench. McConnell would be a cult icon in Boston as well, they'd love him off the bench.
I actually don't mind BLopez in CHI, but the issue is playing the two bros together as both are slower than drying paint. BUT, BroLo helps their outside shooting a lot, so maybe he's 6th man like OKC does with Kanter for example, and his job is to just shoot and score efficiently, which he's proven he can do.
So the pieces coming IN...I really like the idea of a younger, stronger version of Bledsoe next to Booker. Smart fits better in terms of age and he's played a lot more off the ball, which allows Booker to create more like he did towards the end of last season.
Noel is a crap-shoot, he could be the athletic, rebounding shot-blocker we need, but then I'm not certain if I'd want to give him $18m a season. He does have DPOY potential and I love the pairing with Chriss up front, spacing might be an issue though.
Mirotic is an expiring and slots into that Teletovic gunner off the bench role, we might even be able to get him to stay at a discount.
Taj Gibson you'd ideally flip for a late 1st/2nd rd pick to a contender that could use him, he'd be perfect for OKC or the Raptors.
Aminu again is relatively young still, relatively cheap, plays defence first and is an ideal backup 3/4 to fit that PJ role off the bench. He still has upside too.
Jerebko is an expiring, either waive him or see if you can flip him again for a 2nd.
Sergio is another expiring, but as a pass-first vet I'd let him finish the rest of the season as a leader off the bench.
In terms of picks...We get a future 1st from Philly as they're landing the best player in the deal, it'd need to be protected though. I think the pieces going out/in for each team are relatively even, maybe CHI need to send a protected 1st to BRK for Lopez.
So we have our 1st next season and both MIA picks. Nothing flashy like future 1sts coming in, but also none going out either.
So the team to end the season SCREAMS tank and really, why the hell not. A complete tear-down has been on the cards for 2-3yr now and only the Bled/Dragic lightning in a bottle held it up.
Noel / Bender / Williams
Chriss / Mirotic
Warren / Aminu / Dudley
Booker / DJones? We'd need an FA here til the end of the season...Jenkins?
Smart / Sergio / Ulis
I'd probably keep Price round too so he can be a positive voice in the locker-room.
Here's the breakdowns:
Suns in: Nerlens Noel, Marcus Smart, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jonas Jerebko, Sergio Rodriguez, Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson, PHI 1st rd pick.
76ers in: Eric Bledsoe, Meyers Leonard.
Blazers in: Tyson Chandler, PJ Tucker.
Celtics in: Alex Len, Leandro Barbosa, TJ McConnell.
Nets in: MCW, Brandon Knight, CHI 1st rd pick (protected)
Bulls in: Brook Lopez
Build through this stacked draft, adding defensive minded guys (Smart, Noel, Aminu) to the offensive minded core (Booker, Warren - I'm not sure he's in the core, but TJ can score at least).
Hope that you get lucky in FA and land some impact guys - but they CANNOT speed this tear-down up, this is with the eye on really running the table in the 2018 draft with ours and MIA's picks.
Trade 1
Trade 2
