Boston starting lineup: Thomas/Butler/Hayward/Booker/Gasol
*Mentally prepares for backlash* This is woefully too complicated to ever happen, and I don’t follow Indiana so I fear I likely misvalued their players so I apologize for that. The key though is that this works out salary-wise using RealGM’s cap sheets. Pretty much every Butler/Hayward Boston combo either completely eliminates the front court or doesn’t work financially. In this scenario Boston, without trading Fultz, gets their two new stars and has a competent PF and C on the roster with Yabusele providing depth as he develops on the bench. I added Parsons for fun, but you could remove him, Seldon, Wang, Mia 18 2nd, Cha 18 2nd, and give the Memphis pick back to Memphis. Cap numbers are included with each player and rosters/total cap/reasons are included in the spoilers.
BKN Brooklyn receives: Wang Zhelin, T. Young, C. Parsons, W. Seldon, Mem 19 1st, Mia 18 2nd, Cha 18 2nd Brooklyn trades: T. Booker, S. Kilpatrick, Q. Acy
BOS (waive Zeller) Boston receives: M. Gasol, T. Booker, J. Butler, Bos 19 2nd, G. Robinson, J. Ennis Boston trades: A. Horford, A. Bradley, M. Smart, J. Crowder, J. Brown, Zizic, Mem 19 1st, Bkn 18 1st, #56
CHI Chicago receives: W. Baldwin, J. Martin, Bkn 18 1st, #18, J. Brown, Bkn 19 2nd, M. Ellis Chicago trades: J. Butler
IND Indiana receives: M. Smart, A. Horford, T. Daniels, Q. Acy, #56 Indiana trades: T. Young, M. Ellis, A. Jefferson, #18, G. Robinson
MEM Memphis receives: A. Bradley, J. Crowder, Zizic, A. Jefferson, S. Kilpatrick Memphis trades: M. Gasol, J. Ennis, T. Daniels, W. Baldwin, J. Martin, Bkn 19 2nd, Bos 19 2nd, Cha 18 2nd, Wang Zhelin, C. Parsons, W. Seldon, Mia 18 2nd
BKN
Spoiler:
Brooklyn does this to get a young prospect, a 1st, the rights to another prospect, two 2nds, and a positive asset player they should be able to flip for more picks. Losing Booker, Acy, and Kilpatrick (all on expiring deals) and taking on the albatross that is Parsons’ contract is the price of doing business. They can then still move Lopez for additional youth/picks. This trade puts them at roughly 100m for their salary, but if Young and Lopez are moved they can easily get that number down. Memphis can also send cash to Bkn to help keep their lights on.
BOS
Spoiler:
PG: I. Thomas (6.261), M. Fultz (5.855), Rozier (1.989), D. Jackson (1.385) SG: J. Butler (18.697), Robinson (1.050) SF: G. Hayward (29), J. Ennis (3.028) PF: T. Booker (9.125), Mickey (1.471), Yabusele (1.5) C: M. Gasol (22.642) Bos 2017/18 Salary: 102.015
This trade scenario begins and ends with Hayward agreeing to sign with the Celtics. Ultimately three starting positions are upgraded at the cost of young players/picks. Booker is a lateral move in regards to Amir Johnson, but he provides better rebounding. If this trades happens after the draft, you could consider adding J. Green from Memphis in a S&T (if he is cheap enough), have T. Young go to Memphis, and leave T. Booker out. I would have just let Boston get T. Young but the extra 5m would be impossible to add unless Hayward will sign for a million or two less. A lineup of Thomas/Butler/Hayward/Booker/Gasol would be hell to deal with. King James would have some competition in the East. Bring Yabusele over for additional depth in the frontcourt and maybe add a vet minimum C as well and you are pretty well set. Fultz/Robinson/Ennis/Yabusele could be a very young yet solid bench as well. The Celtics could resign Thomas and Robinson with their bird rights in the summer of 2018, part of the MLE could be used on a competent PF to pair with Yabusele since Booker would be an UFA (could resign him), and the team would more or less stay together for the next few years with a decent chance of being under the luxury line. Boston also would still have the LAC pick. Value-wise I would break the incoming and outgoing players into the following:
A. Horford -> T. Booker & G. Robinson With Gasol in, Horford is a bit less important and very expensive (~$5m more than Gasol). Getting a starting PF and a prospect for a max non-All Star player is decent. That $5m difference is very important if you want to give Hayward the max and still have some semblance of depth.
M. Smart/J. Crowder/Zizic/Mem 19 1st/#56 -> M. Gasol/Bos 19 2nd A first, your backup PG/SG, a solid starting SF (that you are upgrading anyway), and a great prospect for a guy who is an All Star is hard to complain about. I realize that Gasol is getting older, but this is a win now type move and he played great last year. Gasol can anchor the defense and operate at a very high level on the offensive end. His rebounding was down this year, but a lot of that had to do with scheme. As one of Memphis’ top 3pt shooters, he played away from the basket more and players like Randolph, Green, and Allen hung out down low for rebounds. Fun fact, lower body strength and rebounding is the area Gasol is working to improve this summer. Last summer he focused on the 3pt shot and we saw how that worked out.
A. Bradley/J. Brown/Bkn 18 1st -> J. Butler/J. Ennis I realize that this is a lot to give up, but Butler on a cost-controlled contract won’t be cheap. Ennis is the cherry on top to help swallow the deal since he ended up being the starting SF for the grizzlies in the playoffs and should be a very good bench player at a cost of only $3m. Ultimately you get a top 15 player to upgrade over Bradley, Ennis can replace the production Brown provided, and it cost you a mid to late 1st and a likely top pick. Boston may even be able to trade Ennis and a 2nd for Barton at the deadline this year if they want a SG instead of another SF so that Butler/Hayward have more time at the 3.
CHI
Spoiler:
Chicago loses its star, but the Bkn 18 1st, Brown, #18 pick, very high 2nd, and 2 young prospects is a nice haul. Ellis can help the young guys develop and is basically an expiring contract since the last year isn’t guaranteed if Ellis is waived during the season (so 81 game rental). Rondo and Lopez can then be moved to either move up in the draft or add picks/prospects.
IND
Spoiler:
PG: J. Teague (), J. Young (1.098) SG: M. Smart (4.538), L. Stephenson (4.180), T. Daniels (3.409) SF: P. George (19.509), G. Niang (0.905), Q. Acy (1.710) PF: A. Horford (27.734), L. Allen (4.300), R. Christmas (1.098) C: M. Turner (2.570), Seraphin (1.881) Ind 2017/18 Salary: 72.932 w/o Teague
Indiana clears salary, upgrades at PF, gets a great defender in Smart (who you can put on the opponent’s best wing and give PG13 an occasional break), a 3pt bench player for depth, and a very cheap backup SF. Brandon Wright can also be added if Indiana wants. They can likely flip him for a late 2nd if he doesn’t work out. The main reason for this though would be to upgrade around PG13 without losing Turner or future picks (in case PG13 still leaves). I feel that Indiana may be getting the bad end of the deal, but they will be a little desperate. They have 29m to spend on Teague and extra depth. If Teague can be had for a decent price, there should still be plenty ($10m w/o Wright) left to go after a good bench player or two. Pick #56 lets Indiana take a flyer on some young guy, likely a draft and stash candidate. If PG13 does leave, Smart is young and would be a great piece to build around Turner. Horford could be flipped to try and recoup some of the lost draft capital. Daniels should be an easily movable contract as well so Indiana will still have a few tradeable assets if they are forced into a rebuild.
MEM
Spoiler:
PG: M. Conley (28.531), A. Harrison (0.988) SG: A. Bradley (8.809), S. Kilpatrick (1.051), T. Allen (2), V. Carter (3) SF: J. Crowder (6.796), Rade Z. (2) PF: J. Green (12), Z. Randolph (9) C: Zizic (2), D. Davis (1.308), B. Wright (6.000), A. Jefferson (9.770) Mem 2017/18 Salary: 93.253
Memphis trades all but 4 of their currently signed players in this scenario as well as all of its extra 2nd round picks ha. Memphis would get their pick from Boston and immediately reroute it. Not sure if we can change the protection on the pick or not but if so I wouldn’t mind. Memphis gets a starting SG and SF, a prospect to replace Marc, and THEY MOVE PARSONS O.o! They take the Jefferson salary dump to help mentor the young bigs for a year as well. Though they won’t win any championships, this is a solid lineup that should still make the playoffs while getting younger i.e. the FO’s dream scenario. We even come in under budget and can add a backup PG or wing depth. Signing Bradley the next season shouldn’t be a big deal financially.
