Fake Trade Thread 2

[LofJ]

The Raptors wanted Batum in the summer of 2016.

I wonder if they'd be interested in trading Ibaka for him? Mitch would probably have to provide incentive for the extra year, but depending on how Monk and/or Bacon look I think it would be worth considering including one of them just to get Batum out of Charlotte.

Don’t know what Ibaka has left in the tank but he’d be an upgrade on sheer attitude alone. I’d love to do this if it was a straight trade. No giving away picks to just get dead expensive weight outta town.

There aren't any big fish UFAs to sign next summer, so the Raptors would likely be interested in rolling over some of their cap space for an additional year. The question then becomes what would Mitch be willing to give up to move Batum. At the very least I think we would have to offer to include Monk or Bacon and/or the Cleveland 2nd.

I'd offer them Batum, Monk/Bacon, and the Cleveland 2nd for Ibaka and their 2020 1st. And if they don't want to do the pick swap I'd still consider it because the best players in the 2020 draft are guards. Moving Batum and Monk/Bacon would open up playing time for whoever we draft next summer as well as Bridges and Washington.

[Liver_Pooty]

Id rather let the Batum contract ride out before I get rid of a promising player in Bacon that we nabbed in the 2nd round.

[LofJ]

Id rather let the Batum contract ride out before I get rid of a promising player in Bacon that we nabbed in the 2nd round.

I understand wanting to keep Bacon in Charlotte, but he's due for a payday. How much do you think Mitch/MJ should be willing to pay him next summer?

[SWedd523]

Id rather let the Batum contract ride out before I get rid of a promising player in Bacon that we nabbed in the 2nd round.

I understand wanting to keep Bacon in Charlotte, but he's due for a payday. How much do you think Mitch/MJ should be willing to pay him next summer?

At first I read that as you saying Batum.

"He's not being serious, right?"

After re-reading:

I doubt Bacon will be demanding too much money. Even if he shows moderate improvement we still aren't hitting six figure annual salary IMO

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

There is not a single player on this roster that I consider truly untradeable.

There are guys like Miles and PJ where I would be pretty skeptical of most offers. They are young and have enough star potential that any deal would have to be amazingly good to really consider it. I might call this group 'almost untradeable.'

For me Bacon falls in a middle ground between that and 'would trade in a heartbeat.' I like Bacon's trajectory, his chemistry with other young guys on the team, and the fact that he's looking like a rare 2nd round pick that will make it. But honestly, he hasn't shown enough to really be in that top tier of 'almost untradeable.'

I wouldn't include him in the proposed Ibaka deal. Better to ride out Batum than throw an asset in just to get rid of him.

[LofJ]

Bacon won't be an asset at all starting next season unless we sign him to a bargain contract. It makes sense to sell high on him because we have two other wing players in Bridges and Washington that aren't due for a big pay raise and have just as much (if not more) potential.

And let's remember that we got into our current situation by paying our solid players before we paid a player worth building around. Ideally, you need two of those players, but we don't have a single one. So I don't see the wisdom in paying a good, but not great player in Bacon when the team's future is going to be in flux over the next few years. We aren't in a position where it makes sense to pay for good depth.

I think pairing Bacon with Marvin is enough value to tempt at least one team into sending a 1st round pick back. If I were Mitch Kupchak it would be my main pitch.

[yosemiteben]

Meh, I think no one in the league knows who Bacon is so I'm more optimistic that he'd have value on his next contract for us. I think that's much more likely than us getting any real value in a trade for him as an expiring.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Everyone loves Bacon.

[316Hornets]

Hopefully we can trade Marv and MKG before the season starts. Neither one has a place in our rebuild and MKG has already shown he isn't too enthusiastic about being here.

Wonder if Minnesota would do Wiggins, 2022 top 5 protected 1st for MKG and Marv.? Or, is that taking on too much unnecessary risk? I suppose it matters what the timeline is for us trying to compete again. Wiggins is pretty much a net neutral guy getting paid max money, similar to Batum. His potential isn't really all that great but it'd give us something to work with along with a 2022 1st that could net a decent player.

[MasterIchiro]

Most trades should be about getting a long term center. Dumping Marvin, MKG and Batum is gonna require a colostomy. It's an expensive surgical procedure that results in carrying around a smelly bag. We're stuck with the stink. Don't pay for it.

As for Wiggins. No. I voted for it before I voted against it. He shouldn't take minutes from our wings or PJ.

Consider our headliner Terry got a 3 year deal and we said no to Kemba.

Think center.

[-Ian-]

KAT is the only one I want from Minnesota.

[LofJ]

Oddly enough given Cho's history with Portland I think the team Mitch is most likely to trade with this season is the Blazers. After losing Aminu, Harkless, and Turner they need wing help. They have two big expiring contract players in Whiteside and Bazemore to send out to facillitate that. Furthermore, both of those guys are from North Carolina, so there are worse places they could be shipped to play half a season.

I could see one of them coming here and the other going to a 3rd team, with that team sending us a player on a longer contract with an asset attached.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I wouldn't mind trading Biz, Marv, or MKG for Dieng in some sort of T-Wolves trade. Dieng would be more useful here than any of those 3. Not a fan of Wiggins.

Not sure what the team could get from Portland. That team traded for Baze for strategic reasons and unless it doesn't work out they will keep him. Similarly, unless Nurkic makes an unexpectedly early comeback from injury they aren't trading Whiteside.

[Diop]

I'd prefer a prospect centre as we aren't winning anything this year

[Liver_Pooty]

If Zeller is healthy we dont need a starting center. Too bad hes not.

[HornetJail]

If Zeller is healthy we dont need a starting center. Too bad hes not.

this is the mentality that got us into this ****. Zeller even while healthy is the 15-20th best center in the league. Even if Cody was guaranteed to be healthy, we should be looking to get better there long term. And he'll be pushing 30 by the time we're semi-relevant again anyway

[SWedd523]

If Zeller is healthy we dont need a starting center. Too bad hes not.

this is the mentality that got us into this ****. Zeller even while healthy is the 15-20th best center in the league. Even if Cody was guaranteed to be healthy, we should be looking to get better there long term. And he'll be pushing 30 by the time we're semi-relevant again anyway

You ain't wrong

[Liver_Pooty]

A center these days is such an overrated position. Thats the last position we need an upgrade.

[LofJ]

A center these days is such an overrated position. Thats the last position we need an upgrade.

I would have agreed with you not so long ago, but I'm starting to have some doubts. There are a ton of good young centers in the league right now. Embiid, Jokic, Towns, JJJ, Sabonis, Bamba, Ayton, Porzingis, Gobert, Carter, Turner, Capela, Adebayo, Robinson, etc.

Combine that with some of the other best young talents in the league having center type size in Giannis, Simmons, Davis, etc. and I think you're fooling yourself if you believe that size isn't important in the modern NBA.

I think we've underrated Zeller for most of his career. But if we're lucky enough to be in a position to draft someone that has more talent/upside then we'd be crazy not to consider it.

[chellis]

A center these days is such an overrated position. Thats the last position we need an upgrade.

I would have agreed with you not so long ago, but I'm starting to have some doubts. There are a ton of good young centers in the league right now. Embiid, Jokic, Towns, JJJ, Sabonis, Bamba, Ayton, Porzingis, Gobert, Carter, Turner, Capela, Adebayo, Robinson, etc.

Combine that with some of the other best young talents in the league having center type size in Giannis, Simmons, Davis, etc. and I think you're fooling yourself if you believe that size isn't important in the modern NBA.

I think we've underrated Zeller for most of his career. But if we're lucky enough to be in a position to draft someone that has more talent/upside then we'd be crazy not to consider it.

The bolded statement is where I'm 100% in agreement. We don't need to focus our efforts on positions. We need to focus our efforts on players. With how the game has moved, positions are more fluid with players being able to play multiple positions. If this player is almost strictly a center, then so be it. We just need players.