Season Speculation, Trade Ideas & Discussion Pt. 3

[lilfishi22]

What a lopsided trade. Come on Ra. We are not giving them our 2018 pick.

It'll have to be a young 2nd tier star coming back for me to give up that 2018 pick. Someone like a KP

Clippers wouldn't trade Blake for that anyway. He is their franchise.

No doubt

[lilfishi22]

Can’t see any team trading for high paid Chandler and free agent Len.
Open roster spot by cutting Jones?

That woudl be my favourite choice. DJJ is not needed here with Warren and Jackson signed for a lot of years.
I don't want to make a big trade losing a decent player (Chandler, Monroe or Len) just to create a roster spot.

Yeah this makes sense as we need three centers in the event of an injury as Len, Chandler, and Monroe are all suspect and Williams will not be back until March. DJJ is the most likely suspect to be waived or traded. It leaves us thin a SF with only Warren and Jackson on the rolls. Dudley could probably handle bench SF duties because he is so good at taking away angles on the defensive end. He could dominate other teams bench players pretty easily. He just needs to get healthy.

I'm not too worried about the SF position. I feel like Bender could play minutes there behind Jackson if Warren was to go down. DJJ to me is our SF Archie Goodwin so I don't care if we let him go.

[Mulhollanddrive]

If we don't win the lottery I would be happy to trade it for a (future) All-Star in his 20s.

Our lottery haul could be: Booker, Warren, Jackson, Chriss, Bender, Len, Pick 7 (2018), Pick 10 (2019).

But none of those other pieces besides Booker on their own look like anything significant and we need a 2nd.

[jcsunsfan]

I feel that he is playing it safe...

until he gets an extension.

He is out of contract after next season and with his knees... it only gets worse.


He is playing at 70%, just enough to hopefully get a 15+ million 4-5 year contract.... I feel anyways.

We dodged a major bullet. Good luck Bledsoe

I just wish had traded him for more but who knows, that Monroe expiring might have value . Just timing of moving Monroe, meeting the 12/15 when more players can be moved and of course the James 12/6 deadline

Monroe's expiring has value. His bird rights also have value for any team over the cap that might be interested in him in the off-season.

[jcsunsfan]

What a lopsided trade. Come on Ra. We are not giving them our 2018 pick.

It'll have to be a young 2nd tier star coming back for me to give up that 2018 pick. Someone like a KP

Clippers wouldn't trade Blake for that anyway. He is their franchise.

The first step in rebuilding is to trade your franchise player for as many assets as you can get. Now, should the Clippers be rebuilding? Yes. Should they trade Blake? Yes. Now its all about the best offer they can get.

[BobbieL]

We dodged a major bullet. Good luck Bledsoe

I just wish had traded him for more but who knows, that Monroe expiring might have value . Just timing of moving Monroe, meeting the 12/15 when more players can be moved and of course the James 12/6 deadline

Monroe's expiring has value. His bird rights also have value for any team over the cap that might be interested in him in the off-season.

could the Suns also have those bird rights in a sign and trade in the summer

if yes, another reason to just not buy him out

[bwgood77]

It'll have to be a young 2nd tier star coming back for me to give up that 2018 pick. Someone like a KP

Clippers wouldn't trade Blake for that anyway. He is their franchise.

The first step in rebuilding is to trade your franchise player for as many assets as you can get. Now, should the Clippers be rebuilding? Yes. Should they trade Blake? Yes. Now its all about the best offer they can get.

They just rebuilt around Blake and made a crazy pitch to him to keep him there....

Griffin canceled free agency meetings with Phoenix and Denver after an extravagant presentation from the Clippers at Staples Center. Owner Steve Ballmer, as well as top executives Doc Rivers, Lawrence Frank and consultant Jerry West, represented the team at the pitch, which a source described as “a walk down memory lane.”

Upon arriving at the arena where he had played his home games since 2010, and might have only ever returned to as a visitor, Griffin was greeted by high-tech displays that chronicled his time with the Clippers and were meant to impress upon the star power forward that he had not only spent his career to date with the franchise, but also conveyed how deeply they wanted him to end it where it began.

It was, essentially, a carefully curated Blake Griffin Museum, designed for one visitor: Griffin.

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/los-angeles-clippers-blake-griffin-museum-free-agency/2/

I mean I guess it would be like us battling in the playoffs with Booker quite a bit into his second contract, then making a big extravagant pitch for him to stay after his second contract is up, showing how he grew up in Phx, etc, giving him a max, and then trading him. Of course Booker wasn't a #1 overall pick and rookie of the year and resurrected a long dormant franchise either (to us it's seemed long but it's not like the Clips were).

The Clippers were playing well before they had injuries and have lost quite a few in a row. They've had a tough schedule. Maybe they should rebuild, but I'd be surprised if they traded Blake.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Maybe they should rebuild, but I'd be surprised if they traded Blake.

I agree. Makes more sense to try the quick rebuild around the prime star player, as Boston did successfully with Paul Pierce. If they fail, it will be because Griffin can't stay healthy, in which case, the Clippers be in the lottery either way.

[Kerrsed]

The top (front page) story on ESPN right now is about........Mike Jame?!?!?!?!?

http://www.espn.com/nba/

[jcsunsfan]

I just wish had traded him for more but who knows, that Monroe expiring might have value . Just timing of moving Monroe, meeting the 12/15 when more players can be moved and of course the James 12/6 deadline

Monroe's expiring has value. His bird rights also have value for any team over the cap that might be interested in him in the off-season.

could the Suns also have those bird rights in a sign and trade in the summer

if yes, another reason to just not buy him out

Yes, they would. And it is a reason not to buy him out. Buying him out would make sense if he already has a destination AND that team has the space to sign him. Buying him out might also make sense if we cannot find anyone to trade for him, he plans on going elsewhere this summer, and we do not want to lose another player from the roster when Mike James is up for the switch to a regular contract. My guess is that is time when the Monroe decision will happen. When is that? Dec 6 or something?

[jcsunsfan]

Maybe they should rebuild, but I'd be surprised if they traded Blake.

I agree. Makes more sense to try the quick rebuild around the prime star player, as Boston did successfully with Paul Pierce. If they fail, it will be because Griffin can't stay healthy, in which case, the Clippers be in the lottery either way.

But do they have the assets to pull that off?

[Revived]

The top (front page) story on ESPN right now is about........Mike Jame?!?!?!?!?

http://www.espn.com/nba/

I saw this too and I initially thought it was showing up just for me as the top news because I was logged in on my account and have the Suns listed as favorite team and this was the most recent Suns article posted.

[bwgood77]

The top (front page) story on ESPN right now is about........Mike Jame?!?!?!?!?

http://www.espn.com/nba/

I noticed it on espn this morning and posted the link in the Mike James thread, and then a few hours later it was the feature front page major story. Surprised it is still there. Must have been like that for awhile now.

[Kerrsed]

The top (front page) story on ESPN right now is about........Mike Jame?!?!?!?!?

http://www.espn.com/nba/

I noticed it on espn this morning and posted the link in the Mike James thread, and then a few hours later it was the feature front page major story. Surprised it is still there. Must have been like that for awhile now.

Slow news day.

[bwgood77]

Maybe they should rebuild, but I'd be surprised if they traded Blake.

I agree. Makes more sense to try the quick rebuild around the prime star player, as Boston did successfully with Paul Pierce. If they fail, it will be because Griffin can't stay healthy, in which case, the Clippers be in the lottery either way.

But do they have the assets to pull that off?

No, but they are better off keeping Blake then trying to find another one of him in the draft. He's a clear cut #1 type prospect that you don't come across often. Stars like him get traded when they have 2 or less years left in their contract and are not expected to re-sign...not right after they sign 5 year deals.

[Qwigglez]

https://www.si.com/nba/2017/11/17/demarcus-cousins-pelicans-anthony-davis-james-harden

Anyone read that? Pretty interesting comparison of Boogie to Harden in terms of shot selection. Can Booker work on some more Moreyball shots? I'm not sure of Booker's in between game statistically, but from the eye test he hits mid-range jumpers at least 42% of the time. If he can cut the mid-range stuff out, maybe use it towards crunch time I think we would see an uptick in his efficiency. Booker is pretty crafty and I think he could generate more shots at the foul line if he took it to the hoop more. He settles for jumpers too much when he should be relentlessly attacking the basket.

Oh and we should go after Boogie obviously this off-season.

[kennydorglas]

https://www.si.com/nba/2017/11/17/demarcus-cousins-pelicans-anthony-davis-james-harden

Anyone read that? Pretty interesting comparison of Boogie to Harden in terms of shot selection. Can Booker work on some more Moreyball shots? I'm not sure of Booker's in between game statistically, but from the eye test he hits mid-range jumpers at least 42% of the time. If he can cut the mid-range stuff out, maybe use it towards crunch time I think we would see an uptick in his efficiency. Booker is pretty crafty and I think he could generate more shots at the foul line if he took it to the hoop more. He settles for jumpers too much when he should be relentlessly attacking the basket.

Oh and we should go after Boogie obviously this off-season.

This year he's definitely trading long 2's (13.8% of his shot selection this year - 21.5% career wise) for 3's (36.2% this year - 30.9% career numbers)

So far he's using the best shots (at the rim, 3-10ft & 3's) 66.2% of the time.

[Qwigglez]

This year he's definitely trading long 2's (13.8% of his shot selection this year - 21.5% career wise) for 3's (36.2% this year - 30.9% career numbers)

So far he's using the best shots (at the rim, 3-10ft & 3's) 66.2% of the time.

That's great. I also took a look and saw that his 3's this year are being assisted under 60% of the time as opposed to his 1st two seasons where he was being assisted roughly 77% of the time. The shocker is he is making his 3's at a slightly higher clip (37%) as opposed to his 1st two seasons (35%).
I'm actually really hoping Knight can come back next season and take over as PG and help alleviate some of the ball-handling duties for D-Book.

[Saberestar]

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[bwgood77]

Booker's defense not looking so good here. Nor is Jackson's or Ulis' offense.

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