Discussing Other Teams' Moves - Part 6

[closg00]

Philly announces the new 3-year contract extension of their GM Brett Brown, Ted keeps Ernie's extension hidden and only discloses it when cornered by a Post reporter. What a spineless coward of a man Ted Leonsis is.
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/250011/Brett-Brown-76ers-Agree-Upon-Three-Year-Extension

[Rafael122]

Philly announces the new 3-year contract extension of their GM Brett Brown, Ted keeps Ernie's extension hidden and only discloses it when cornered by a Post reporter. What a spineless coward of a man Ted Leonsis is.
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/250011/Brett-Brown-76ers-Agree-Upon-Three-Year-Extension

Hopefully Ernie doesn't have a burner Twitter account.

[I_Like_Dirt]

Hopefully Ernie doesn't have a burner Twitter account.

C'mon now. This Colangelo thing is the funniest thing to happen in the NBA since this guy.



If Ernie spent less time on the golf course and more using burner twitter accounts the Wizards would be a much more interesting team.

[dckingsfan]

Philly announces the new 3-year contract extension of their GM Brett Brown, Ted keeps Ernie's extension hidden and only discloses it when cornered by a Post reporter. What a spineless coward of a man Ted Leonsis is.
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/250011/Brett-Brown-76ers-Agree-Upon-Three-Year-Extension

Hopefully Ernie doesn't have a burner Twitter account.

You know Ted does

[FAH1223]

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[NatP4]

Watching this made me appreciate Scott Brooks LOL. Cleveland really just closed a NBA finals game with Rodney Hood, Jr Smith, and Tristan Thompson on the court. No chance to win

[FAH1223]

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[nate33]

I keep hearing talk about how Houston might go after Lebron or Paul George, in addition to keeping Chris Paul. Can someone explain to me how this is possible? Even if they trade future picks to dump Ryan Anderson (they don't have their 2018 pick so it would have to be the 2019 pick plus probably the 2021 pick to dump $44M in salary), they'd have a payroll of $57M with just Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Nene and Onuaku. Factor a small discount for Chris Paul (let's generously assume $25M instead of the $35M he's eligible for) and we're already at $82M. Would they really renounce Capela when has only a $7M cap hold? If not, they're at $89M. Add 5 vet minimum contracts and it's $96M. How are they going to add Paul George or Lebron when they have just $6M in cap room (maybe as much as $14M if they unwisely renounce Capela)?

[Ruzious]

I keep hearing talk about how Houston might go after Lebron or Paul George, in addition to keeping Chris Paul. Can someone explain to me how this is possible? Even if they trade future picks to dump Ryan Anderson (they don't have their 2018 pick so it would have to be the 2019 pick plus probably the 2021 pick to dump $44M in salary), they'd have a payroll of $57M with just Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Nene and Onuaku. Factor a small discount for Chris Paul (let's generously assume $25M instead of the $35M he's eligible for) and we're already at $82M. Would they really renounce Capela when has only a $7M cap hold? If not, they're at $89M. Add 5 vet minimum contracts and it's $96M. How are they going to add Paul George or Lebron when they have just $6M in cap room (maybe as much as $14M if they unwisely renounce Capela)?

I do not know. Maybe stretch Anderson and trade Gordon for a player on his rookie contract. Realistically, I can't see it, but it'll be interesting to see if Morey can. Maybe they can use some trick with a sign and trade. Can't imagine they'd let Capela go.

[FAH1223]

I keep hearing talk about how Houston might go after Lebron or Paul George, in addition to keeping Chris Paul. Can someone explain to me how this is possible? Even if they trade future picks to dump Ryan Anderson (they don't have their 2018 pick so it would have to be the 2019 pick plus probably the 2021 pick to dump $44M in salary), they'd have a payroll of $57M with just Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Nene and Onuaku. Factor a small discount for Chris Paul (let's generously assume $25M instead of the $35M he's eligible for) and we're already at $82M. Would they really renounce Capela when has only a $7M cap hold? If not, they're at $89M. Add 5 vet minimum contracts and it's $96M. How are they going to add Paul George or Lebron when they have just $6M in cap room (maybe as much as $14M if they unwisely renounce Capela)?

I do not know. Maybe stretch Anderson and trade Gordon for a player on his rookie contract. Realistically, I can't see it, but it'll be interesting to see if Morey can. Maybe they can use some trick with a sign and trade. Can't imagine they'd let Capela go.

It's not possible. LeBron is staying in the East.

Either Cavs or 76ers.

[Ruzious]

I keep hearing talk about how Houston might go after Lebron or Paul George, in addition to keeping Chris Paul. Can someone explain to me how this is possible? Even if they trade future picks to dump Ryan Anderson (they don't have their 2018 pick so it would have to be the 2019 pick plus probably the 2021 pick to dump $44M in salary), they'd have a payroll of $57M with just Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Nene and Onuaku. Factor a small discount for Chris Paul (let's generously assume $25M instead of the $35M he's eligible for) and we're already at $82M. Would they really renounce Capela when has only a $7M cap hold? If not, they're at $89M. Add 5 vet minimum contracts and it's $96M. How are they going to add Paul George or Lebron when they have just $6M in cap room (maybe as much as $14M if they unwisely renounce Capela)?

I do not know. Maybe stretch Anderson and trade Gordon for a player on his rookie contract. Realistically, I can't see it, but it'll be interesting to see if Morey can. Maybe they can use some trick with a sign and trade. Can't imagine they'd let Capela go.

It's not possible. LeBron is staying in the East.

Either Cavs or 76ers.

But is Philly really a good fit for Lebron? Simmons would seemingly have to take a reduced role, and Embiid might be forced to be more of a jump shooter, because Lebron likes to drive. All 3 of them are probably at their best scoring near the basket.

[FAH1223]

I do not know. Maybe stretch Anderson and trade Gordon for a player on his rookie contract. Realistically, I can't see it, but it'll be interesting to see if Morey can. Maybe they can use some trick with a sign and trade. Can't imagine they'd let Capela go.

It's not possible. LeBron is staying in the East.

Either Cavs or 76ers.

But is Philly really a good fit for Lebron? Simmons would seemingly have to take a reduced role, and Embiid might be forced to be more of a jump shooter, because Lebron likes to drive. All 3 of them are probably at their best scoring near the basket.

LeBron will play off the ball more. He's become a better shooter.

But Simmons would need to learn how to shoot this summer and fast. It'd have its issues but it'll work. They'd be the favorites to win the East.

Especially if they keep JJ Reddick and the pack of shooters at cheap like Belinelli, Ersan... to go with Covington and Saric.

[Ruzious]

It's not possible. LeBron is staying in the East.

Either Cavs or 76ers.

But is Philly really a good fit for Lebron? Simmons would seemingly have to take a reduced role, and Embiid might be forced to be more of a jump shooter, because Lebron likes to drive. All 3 of them are probably at their best scoring near the basket.

LeBron will play off the ball more. He's become a better shooter.

But Simmons would need to learn how to shoot this summer and fast. It'd have its issues but it'll work. They'd be the favorites to win the East.

Especially if they keep JJ Reddick and the pack of shooters at cheap like Belinelli, Ersan... to go with Covington and Saric.

Agreed - quality at that level works things out, and keeping Reddick can make those kind of problems go away.

[nate33]

Keeping Redick doesn't seem feasible capwise unless they somehow dump Covington, Bayless or Fultz (and it would probably have to be two of them).

[Ruzious]

Keeping Redick doesn't seem feasible capwise unless they somehow dump Covington, Bayless or Fultz (and it would probably have to be two of them).

I'd be surprised if it's a problem. He's not going to get anywhere near the $23 mil he's at now. Remember, he's going to turn 34 this month, so nobody's going to offer him big money. And with Amir coming off their payroll, that leaves Covington as the only returning player making upwards of $10 mil. The Hoopshype chart https://hoopshype.com/salaries/philadelphia_76ers/ shows they only have 44.8 mil committed to next season, though they put zero for Embiid. I'll guess he's set at around 7.5 mil, so that's 52.3. With the salary cap set at 101 mil for next season, they should be able to manage it even after adding in their draft picks and guys like Ilyasova and Belinelli.

Edit - Ah, I didn't realize Embiid signed an extension and counts for over 25 mil next season. Seems like he just started in the NBA. Hmm, I must be getting old.

[Rafael122]

Keeping Redick doesn't seem feasible capwise unless they somehow dump Covington, Bayless or Fultz (and it would probably have to be two of them).

Crunched the numbers a bit, there's been rumors of them trading Bayless and #10 to a team like Chicago or Atlanta just to clear the cap space. That leaves them with enough room to sign Lebron outright. They can bring back JJ if he wants to play for the room exception. He could always get more money of course.

Also let's not forget they have 4 second round picks including #38 and #39. They could probably package that and a guy like Justin Anderson just to clear more room. Now you're looking at JJ making $6 mil-ish. He might get MLE money from a team but I think the 3 million being left on the table in exchange for a ring might be the difference.

PG - Simmons
SG - Redick
SF - James
PF - Saric
C - Embiid

Bench: Covington, Fultz, #26 pick, Holmes, McConnell

They would be legit 10 deep. The only concern in 2020 is when they have to pay Saric and Simmons the same year.

[Rafael122]

Ainge already working his magic in trying to throw Irving under the bus.

[FAH1223]

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[nate33]

Ainge already working his magic in trying to throw Irving under the bus.

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes for Ainge to engineer some kind of Lebron trade involving Kyrie departing and Lebron arriving.

* The team formed would be clear favorites to defeat Golden State.
* The narrative is pretty good for Lebron. He's not joining a team with two other top 10 superstars like he did in Miami. He is joining a quality team of supporting cast players who need an alpha scorer.
* The Eastern Conference is a cakewalk. A team with that much depth could get through the regular season with nobody averaging more than 32 minutes a game. Lebron could extend his career like Duncan did in San Antonio.
* The long term cap situation for Boston would actually improve because Lebron presumably wouldn't sign for more than 3-years, so that he is off the books when Tatum eventually gets his max deal.
* Boston is a top tier media market and historically significant franchise. The narrative for the league would be good too: Boston versus Golden State.

The trade to make is Irving + Morris going out, with Lebron coming in. Irving would go to a 3rd team with picks/prospects going to Cleveland. The tricky part is to find a good home for Irving. He is a free agent soon and would have to like his new destination. Also, it would look less cold-blooded from Ainge if he made sure Irving went somewhere he could be happy.

What good team with tradeable assets needs a point guard? There is one obvious answer: Philadelphia. Another interesting option is Milwaukee (though they don't have much to trade).

[dckingsfan]

Ainge already working his magic in trying to throw Irving under the bus.

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes for Ainge to engineer some kind of Lebron trade involving Kyrie departing and Lebron arriving.

* The team formed would be clear favorites to defeat Golden State.
* The narrative is pretty good for Lebron. He's not joining a team with two other top 10 superstars like he did in Miami. He is joining a quality team of supporting cast players who need an alpha scorer.
* The Eastern Conference is a cakewalk. A team with that much depth could get through the regular season with nobody averaging more than 32 minutes a game. Lebron could extend his career like Duncan did in San Antonio.
* The long term cap situation for Boston would actually improve because Lebron presumably wouldn't sign for more than 3-years, so that he is off the books when Tatum eventually gets his max deal.
* Boston is a top tier media market and historically significant franchise. The narrative for the league would be good too: Boston versus Golden State.

The trade to make is Irving + Morris going out, with Lebron coming in. Irving would go to a 3rd team with picks/prospects going to Cleveland. The tricky part is to find a good home for Irving. He is a free agent soon and would have to like his new destination. Also, it would look less cold-blooded from Ainge if he made sure Irving went somewhere he could be happy.

What good team with tradeable assets needs a point guard? There is one obvious answer: Philadelphia. Another interesting option is Milwaukee (though they don't have much to trade).

And the cold blooded move is to Sacramento...