Trade & Free Agency Ideas & Discussion 2

[m1chal]

Guys why can't you spell Porzingis correctly? I've seen "Porzinges", "Porzingas", "Porzingus"... Really?

P-O-R-Z-I-N-G-I-S. Not that difficult.

I guess right spelling must be harder than rocket science since they even have spelling contests on TV

[King4Day]

Guys why can't you spell Porzingis correctly? I've seen "Porzinges", "Porzingas", "Porzingus"... Really?

P-O-R-Z-I-N-G-I-S. Not that difficult.

I call him KP or Zinger for short. I even phone him up at home and I make him do my tech support. It's all about the Pentiums.

[King4Day]

George says he would re-sign in Boston, San Antonio and Cleveland if Lebron commits to re-sign. From all reports if Lebron would have committed to Cleveland earlier Kyrie would be a Sun. Looks like George will get a decent package after all. And after all the Laker talk he's going to wind up in Boston or Cleveland. I know it been brought up and gone over but how many would do Bledsoe/Jackson for Kyrie?

Homerisms aside, I get scared at the thought of having both our guards being below average defenders. Bledsoe actually fits better.

[Kjdills13]

Guys why can't you spell Porzingis correctly? I've seen "Porzinges", "Porzingas", "Porzingus"... Really?

P-O-R-Z-I-N-G-I-S. Not that difficult.

If I wanted spelling class I would go to a university

Thank you tho,

As long as people
Know the player you are talking about it doesn't matter

[NTB]

Guys why can't you spell Porzingis correctly? I've seen "Porzinges", "Porzingas", "Porzingus"... Really?

P-O-R-Z-I-N-G-I-S. Not that difficult.

If I wanted spelling class I would go to a university

Thank you tho,

As long as people
Know the player you are talking about it doesn't matter

AFAIK university education is way beyond than spelling class. I think spelling a name shouldn't be much difficult and I feel spelling one's name wrong is a little bit disrespectful.

[carey]

-It seems bad contracts are like AIDS in the NBA now. Everyone is avoiding it all all costs (Except Magic Johnson...LOL!!!). That means that I think we have a good chance at signing Len to a reasonable deal BUT getting rid of Knight will be almost impossible.

-I hate to waste any time this year with Knight on the floor, but we may need to play him just to move him.

I'm not sure if you're caught up on the latest but Gambo said Knight will 100% not be back. He has already informed his Suns teammates he will not be returning. I believe we will have to take back a contract almost as terrible versus being able to dump him for a 2nd rounder somewhere. A deal similar to say Solomon Hill's who makes about $11.5M/yr for the same amount of years as BK putting up very similar numbers. You'd hope that a change of scenery would do each player some good not that we need a 3rd SF when we have to extend Warren next Summer.

[carey]

George says he would re-sign in Boston, San Antonio and Cleveland if Lebron commits to re-sign. From all reports if Lebron would have committed to Cleveland earlier Kyrie would be a Sun. Looks like George will get a decent package after all. And after all the Laker talk he's going to wind up in Boston or Cleveland. I know it been brought up and gone over but how many would do Bledsoe/Jackson for Kyrie?

No, I've said it in a couple of places but that quite possibly would be the worst defensive backcourt in history. Part of me says when you have the chance to acquire a top 20 player you do it no matter what and figure out the fit later. In this instance you'd need to have +defenders at every other spot on the floor if he's paired with Booker. It would make no sense to move our newly minted defensive SF in that scenario. Now if there were a way to move Bledsoe with Warren and a Miami pick (or one of our own) for him I'd consider it.

[JMac1]

I'd trade for Cousins. I'd trade Chriss and picks and whomever made the money work. Chriss has more value than Bender however, Bender is a better fit. Cousins will be 27, and his game will last long, plus I seen the pic of his body.. He looks good. I can see him being good for another 6-7 years easy. By that time we could have signed FA and Booker and JJ should be the driving force of the team. With Cousins, we are still young and can be competitive. IF GS has an injury or two....you never know.

Bledsoe
Booker
Jackson
Bender
Cousins

As long as all of those guy shoot 35% or better from 3pt, it would be great. IMO.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

TL;DR: Rambling

So as of now, we have under contract:

Bledsoe/Ulis/James
Booker/Barbosa/Reed/Millsap/Knight
Warren/Jackson/Jones Jr.
Chriss/Bender/Dudley/Peters
Chandler

with at least one of Alex or Alan likely to stick in RFA.

I'm actually a bit relieved that Duds will be out to start the season, as this allows us to develop a rotation entirely devoid of him, which is my preference, given the five young forwards that have earned development time.

If you narrow this list to guys who will certainly be in the rotation, I think you're at Bledsoe-Ulis-Booker-Warren-Jackson-Jones Jr.-Chriss-Bender-Chandler. That's 9 deep. I think if we keep one or both of Len or Williams, that player makes the rotation as well. That's 10, likely booting Jones Jr. to the 10 spot.

Given our depth at the 2, I think you can assume that Millsap does not stick. I doubt we let go of Barbosa, though, unless we really do plan to go after a big FA (which I doubt).

So going forward:

1. We all know Knight needs to go. We'd all be happiest, I think, if we ended up with no long-term salary on the books in his place. Otherwise, the shorter the contract the better, IMO. I'm even okay losing a 2nd rounder to see him off. A 1st? No. Practically, we should only be concerned about that last contract year, which would overlap with Booker's extension. Not a killer if we can't lose it, but certainly not a good thing. In any case, he'd be off the books before the cap-killing extension trifecta of 2021 comes around.

2. Because our long-term planning is likely focused on 2021, Chandler and Dudley's contracts should not concern. The issue with Chandler isn't the contract but the PT - I'd rather see any one of young guys - including Alex and Alan - get that PT in his stead. Unless he's ready to play mascot, we should move Tyson, locker room presence or no. This will probably be the trickiest move to make, as I can't imagine many teams wanting to take Tyson on without sending out other long-term salary. And we shouldn't accept long-term salary in return unless we plan to play the payee.

3. It would be almost impossible to deal both Chandler and Knight without taking back major salary. There is only one spot on the roster for major salary to fit, and that's the 5. This is probably what we should be focused on. There are upgrades at the center position available - Jordan and Drummond both make about $20 mil per; Valanciunas makes $15; Vucevic makes $12... Kanter (blech), Monroe with $20 and $17 I think... Biyombo and Mahinmi each with $17... Dieng with $16, Robin Lopez with $13, even... there's more. The league has a ton of highly-paid 5s.

Len will almost certainly be a better bargain than most of that list. He could be useful as a S&T component if we want to make a deal on this front. Alan will almost certainly be an even better bargain, and we should keep him and put him in the rotation if we can.

Ideally, I might even prefer to move Chandler for nothing, re-sign Alan and Alex, rotate Alan and use Alex as the emergency big until he shows more. But it's probably more practical to trade for one of the guys listed above if we can. Jordan would be the best addition, IMO, if he could be had at a reasonable price. Otherwise, going with Drummond and Williams at the 5 might work.

I can envision several multiple-team scenarios wherein we send out Chandler and Knight with maybe a 1st and 2 2ds for Drummond. If we wanted Jordan, I expect the conversation would have to start with TJ Warren.

4. Bledsoe. I think he's a great fit with the current squad, if Bender and Jackson really are going to be given some of the playmaking responsibilities (which they should). There's talk about Jrue Holiday getting $25 million. If money matters (and it does), I expect a fair deal for Bledsoe is two first round picks - and we're not really desperate to move him. If we got a fair deal for him, I would be open to using those picks to facilitate the unloading of salary. If we wanted to go after Deandre Jordan, though, it would be a better idea to keep Bled around.

I don't think we would really lose anything by letting him play out his contract with us, even if we had to let him walk at the end of that period. We still have a nice treasure trove of assets (though of course it would be better to have more). He's not a burden at all on our fiscal situation, he fits with our roster, he's a good character guy, and worst case scenario (for him) he'll be one of our three best players next year. We're in a solid bargaining position as a result.

5. Conclusion. We have flexibility to do a lot of things this summer, but it's all about the 5 spot and finding good landing spots for Chandler and Knight, who no longer fit. The core of the roster - Ulis, Booker, Jackson, Warren, Chriss, Bender, [Alan] is basically set. The only piece loose enough to be pried off is Warren, and of course it is possible Williams gets a surprise offer (I hope not!). We don't have room for more forwards or need of a backup 2. We can stand to be patient. We're in great position. Let the development continue!

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I'd trade for Cousins. I'd trade Chriss and picks and whomever made the money work. Chriss has more value than Bender however, Bender is a better fit. Cousins will be 27, and his game will last long, plus I seen the pic of his body.. He looks good. I can see him being good for another 6-7 years easy. By that time we could have signed FA and Booker and JJ should be the driving force of the team. With Cousins, we are still young and can be competitive. IF GS has an injury or two....you never know.

Bledsoe
Booker
Jackson
Bender
Cousins

As long as all of those guy shoot 35% or better from 3pt, it would be great. IMO.

I would not trade for Cousins. We need to keep the + atmosphere and we need to focus on developing our youngs. Cousins doesn't fit with the program, IMO.

[JMac1]

I'd trade for Cousins. I'd trade Chriss and picks and whomever made the money work. Chriss has more value than Bender however, Bender is a better fit. Cousins will be 27, and his game will last long, plus I seen the pic of his body.. He looks good. I can see him being good for another 6-7 years easy. By that time we could have signed FA and Booker and JJ should be the driving force of the team. With Cousins, we are still young and can be competitive. IF GS has an injury or two....you never know.

Bledsoe
Booker
Jackson
Bender
Cousins

As long as all of those guy shoot 35% or better from 3pt, it would be great. IMO.

I would not trade for Cousins. We need to keep the + atmosphere and we need to focus on developing our youngs. Cousins doesn't fit with the program, IMO.

Agreed with the atmosphere thing, however, I'm willing to bet he would be okay. The dude is older. If he changes his attitude and then we go after him, it would be too late, every team would want him.

Edit: what I'm saying is, we have to change it. If it happens in NO. We have no chance to get him....buy low.

[m1chal]

Pels seem to be determined to give Davis/Cousins combo a full season of playing together before making any decisions. Why are we talking the Cousins trade again?

[weslo1812]

probably best to wait on cousins to hit free agency than try to sell him on the UK connection with Bledsoe, Booker and ulis

Mmmm highly doubt that's gonna be anywhere close to enough to sell him on PHX. Lakers are clearing CAP space, I fully expect he will be top priority for them if he hits the open market. They will have the money, the big city and the big lights, And Lonzo Ball with a number of other good young pieces. And I wouldn't t doubt that Lavar will be in Cousins ear too telling him to come play with his son and how good his son will make him look etc etc. Highly doubt that this will be a battle we will win if it comes to it. My bet is definitely on Cousin being a Laker.

[MathiasPW]

TL;DR: Rambling

So as of now, we have under contract:

Bledsoe/Ulis/James
Booker/Barbosa/Reed/Millsap/Knight
Warren/Jackson/Jones Jr.
Chriss/Bender/Dudley/Peters
Chandler

with at least one of Alex or Alan likely to stick in RFA.


So going forward:


2. Because our long-term planning is likely focused on 2021, Chandler and Dudley's contracts should not concern. The issue with Chandler isn't the contract but the PT - I'd rather see any one of young guys - including Alex and Alan - get that PT in his stead. Unless he's ready to play mascot, we should move Tyson, locker room presence or no. This will probably be the trickiest move to make, as I can't imagine many teams wanting to take Tyson on without sending out other long-term salary. And we shouldn't accept long-term salary in return unless we plan to play the payee.

3. It would be almost impossible to deal both Chandler and Knight without taking back major salary. There is only one spot on the roster for major salary to fit, and that's the 5. This is probably what we should be focused on. There are upgrades at the center position available - Jordan and Drummond both make about $20 mil per; Valanciunas makes $15; Vucevic makes $12... Kanter (blech), Monroe with $20 and $17 I think... Biyombo and Mahinmi each with $17... Dieng with $16, Robin Lopez with $13, even... there's more. The league has a ton of highly-paid 5s.

The issue that is not considered here is Chandler´s role as a vocal leader on the court. He directs traffic on defense, coordinating switches, and so on. Alan/Chris do not have the experience to do so, Len/Bender do not also have the personality to do so. We lose Chandler, our TEAM defense takes a step back, even though we will be giving the rest of the frontcourt more time to develop their INDIVIDUAL skills.

[Frank Lee]

I'd trade for Cousins. I'd trade Chriss and picks and whomever made the money work. Chriss has more value than Bender however, Bender is a better fit. Cousins will be 27, and his game will last long, plus I seen the pic of his body.. He looks good. I can see him being good for another 6-7 years easy. By that time we could have signed FA and Booker and JJ should be the driving force of the team. With Cousins, we are still young and can be competitive. IF GS has an injury or two....you never know.

Bledsoe
Booker
Jackson
Bender
Cousins

As long as all of those guy shoot 35% or better from 3pt, it would be great. IMO.

We can agree on one thing.

Adding Cousins looks like a McD move... the one he has been angling for since he began collecting. We could certainly throw them a package better than the one the used to get him. We would have a very disruptive line up, and likely the best one that could be assembled realistically this year.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Zach Lowe tweeted this link out this morning for Shamsports. http://www.shamsports.com/ The basketball manifesto is a very detailed downloadable PDF with tons of good salary and player info. Worth a look.

[JMac1]

I'd trade for Cousins. I'd trade Chriss and picks and whomever made the money work. Chriss has more value than Bender however, Bender is a better fit. Cousins will be 27, and his game will last long, plus I seen the pic of his body.. He looks good. I can see him being good for another 6-7 years easy. By that time we could have signed FA and Booker and JJ should be the driving force of the team. With Cousins, we are still young and can be competitive. IF GS has an injury or two....you never know.

Bledsoe
Booker
Jackson
Bender
Cousins

As long as all of those guy shoot 35% or better from 3pt, it would be great. IMO.

We can agree on one thing.

Adding Cousins looks like a McD move... the one he has been angling for since he began collecting. We could certainly throw them a package better than the one the used to get him. We would have a very disruptive line up, and likely the best one that could be assembled realistically this year.

We agree on a lot of things. Sometimes we tend to just put more focus on what we disagree about.

[Skillmatic]

I would sign Williams for sure. Len only if we can trade Chandler. I want to see Bender at the 5 sometimes. He can be a Jokic type of center.

I also would give McLemore a sho. He is still young and talented. Make him the Backup SG. I didntˋt watched Kings games. Maybe i am wrong and he really sucked. But in the game against us he was really good i think.

Sent from my SM-T800 using RealGM mobile app

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

TL;DR: Rambling

So as of now, we have under contract:

Bledsoe/Ulis/James
Booker/Barbosa/Reed/Millsap/Knight
Warren/Jackson/Jones Jr.
Chriss/Bender/Dudley/Peters
Chandler

with at least one of Alex or Alan likely to stick in RFA.


So going forward:


2. Because our long-term planning is likely focused on 2021, Chandler and Dudley's contracts should not concern. The issue with Chandler isn't the contract but the PT - I'd rather see any one of young guys - including Alex and Alan - get that PT in his stead. Unless he's ready to play mascot, we should move Tyson, locker room presence or no. This will probably be the trickiest move to make, as I can't imagine many teams wanting to take Tyson on without sending out other long-term salary. And we shouldn't accept long-term salary in return unless we plan to play the payee.

3. It would be almost impossible to deal both Chandler and Knight without taking back major salary. There is only one spot on the roster for major salary to fit, and that's the 5. This is probably what we should be focused on. There are upgrades at the center position available - Jordan and Drummond both make about $20 mil per; Valanciunas makes $15; Vucevic makes $12... Kanter (blech), Monroe with $20 and $17 I think... Biyombo and Mahinmi each with $17... Dieng with $16, Robin Lopez with $13, even... there's more. The league has a ton of highly-paid 5s.

The issue that is not considered here is Chandler´s role as a vocal leader on the court. He directs traffic on defense, coordinating switches, and so on. Alan/Chris do not have the experience to do so, Len/Bender do not also have the personality to do so. We lose Chandler, our TEAM defense takes a step back, even though we will be giving the rest of the frontcourt more time to develop their INDIVIDUAL skills.

I hear this, I just think that between our coaching staff and the rest of our squad, we should not have to rely on Tyson Chandler to be that kind of vocal leader - especially when, in practice, he is not able to function as a rim protector anymore. Alan is pretty vocal, and Dragan is waaaaay ahead of the curve in terms of his rotations. I imagine Jackson will also bark quite a bit.

[bigfoot]

Have we tossed around Jeff Withey as an option for the five? His advanced stats are pretty darn good and he is stuck behind Gobert. I'm guessing he is much higher on the radar for front offices around the league than Len or Williams.