2020 NBA Expansion Draft: Protect your players (still need CLE/HOU/LAL/MIL)

[WizardsWorld]

Wall (I know this will be an unpopular opinion on this board but an expansion team wouldn't take him anyway, and it would create some really bad PR/negative feelings with Wall and potentially Beal towards the organization).

I think everyone on the planet including Wall and Beal realize an expansion team isn't going to take Wall's contract.

Especially given the ridiculous reduced salary cap that expansion teams are given their first two years. Wall would take up something like 60% of their total salary cap in the first year

And that's just what I said in the post... that they wouldn't take him anyway. But knowing the Wizards they would "protect" him to prevent a bad relationship since we know he's not going anywhere.

[Knickfan1982]

For the Pacers, almost identical to what another poster posted previously

Protected:

Victor Oladipo
Myles Turner
Domantas Sabonis
Malcolm Brogdon
T.J. Warren
Goga Bitadze
Aaron Holiday
TJ McConnell


Unprotected:

Doug McDermott
Jeremy Lamb
Edmond Sumner
T.J. Leaf
Alize Johnson


As mentioned by the other poster, the 8th spot could be used on any one of McDermott, McConnell, Lamb, or Sumner

I would of course ideally want to keep all 4 of team, but the rules say 8 spots only, so I ended up going with TJ McConnell

Lamb is injured, so that might protect him from being picked, and I'm hoping that Sumner manages to fly under the radar

Between Doug and TJM, Doug's contract is bigger (twice as big), so I'm exposing him instead of TJM


The only thing I might do differently is, I might be willing to expose Aaron Holiday or TJ Warren (or even Malcolm Brogdon, for example), if the expansion team is willing to offer compensation, or as part of some pre-agreed trade

For example, Pacers expose TJ Warren

Expansion team selects TJ Warren, expansion team sends Pacers a bunch of picks

Pacers flip the picks (plus other assets maybe) to a third team, for a player Pacers want

If you want compensation for Holiday or Warren they would have to be protected. A deal could be worked out if other teams leave players the Pacers want available. The expansion team could then build a package around those players for Holiday or Warren. But if they are unprotected they are unprotected.

[Godaddycurse]

Im not a hawks fan, but i imagine their decision is straightforward as well?

Protected:
Trae
Collins
Hunter
Huerter
Reddish
Capela
Fernando
Goodwin

Unprotected:
Dedmon

Rest are all FAs

[Scoot McGroot]

For the Pacers, almost identical to what another poster posted previously

Protected:

Victor Oladipo
Myles Turner
Domantas Sabonis
Malcolm Brogdon
T.J. Warren
Goga Bitadze
Aaron Holiday
TJ McConnell


Unprotected:

Doug McDermott
Jeremy Lamb
Edmond Sumner
T.J. Leaf
Alize Johnson


As mentioned by the other poster, the 8th spot could be used on any one of McDermott, McConnell, Lamb, or Sumner

I would of course ideally want to keep all 4 of team, but the rules say 8 spots only, so I ended up going with TJ McConnell

Lamb is injured, so that might protect him from being picked, and I'm hoping that Sumner manages to fly under the radar

Between Doug and TJM, Doug's contract is bigger (twice as big), so I'm exposing him instead of TJM


The only thing I might do differently is, I might be willing to expose Aaron Holiday or TJ Warren (or even Malcolm Brogdon, for example), if the expansion team is willing to offer compensation, or as part of some pre-agreed trade

For example, Pacers expose TJ Warren

Expansion team selects TJ Warren, expansion team sends Pacers a bunch of picks

Pacers flip the picks (plus other assets maybe) to a third team, for a player Pacers want

If you want compensation for Holiday or Warren they would have to be protected. A deal could be worked out if other teams leave players the Pacers want available. The expansion team could then build a package around those players for Holiday or Warren. But if they are unprotected they are unprotected.

Yes and no. Previously in expansion drafts negotiations were allowed beforehand. Charlotte had several pre determined trades before rosters were protected. So, if they didn’t agree, Indy wouldn’t leave them unprotected. If they agreed, the team could then leave them unprotected as per the agreement.

[Knickfan1982]

For the Pacers, almost identical to what another poster posted previously

Protected:

Victor Oladipo
Myles Turner
Domantas Sabonis
Malcolm Brogdon
T.J. Warren
Goga Bitadze
Aaron Holiday
TJ McConnell


Unprotected:

Doug McDermott
Jeremy Lamb
Edmond Sumner
T.J. Leaf
Alize Johnson


As mentioned by the other poster, the 8th spot could be used on any one of McDermott, McConnell, Lamb, or Sumner

I would of course ideally want to keep all 4 of team, but the rules say 8 spots only, so I ended up going with TJ McConnell

Lamb is injured, so that might protect him from being picked, and I'm hoping that Sumner manages to fly under the radar

Between Doug and TJM, Doug's contract is bigger (twice as big), so I'm exposing him instead of TJM


The only thing I might do differently is, I might be willing to expose Aaron Holiday or TJ Warren (or even Malcolm Brogdon, for example), if the expansion team is willing to offer compensation, or as part of some pre-agreed trade

For example, Pacers expose TJ Warren

Expansion team selects TJ Warren, expansion team sends Pacers a bunch of picks

Pacers flip the picks (plus other assets maybe) to a third team, for a player Pacers want

If you want compensation for Holiday or Warren they would have to be protected. A deal could be worked out if other teams leave players the Pacers want available. The expansion team could then build a package around those players for Holiday or Warren. But if they are unprotected they are unprotected.

Yes and no. Previously in expansion drafts negotiations were allowed beforehand. Charlotte had several pre determined trades before rosters were protected. So, if they didn’t agree, Indy wouldn’t leave them unprotected. If they agreed, the team could then leave them unprotected as per the agreement.

Pretty much. If they want something done it would have to be negotiated for in advance because once the player is unprotected the expansion team is under no obligation to follow through.

[azwfan]

Protected:
Curry
Klay
Green
Wiggins
Chriss
Poole
Paschall
Smailagic

Unprotected:
Bowman
Lee
Mulder
Looney

Unrestricted:
Bender
Randle


Basically the same as thinkingwarriors (above)... with basically the same reasoning. Smiley is on shakey ground as far as being protected as I could see either Looney or Mulder getting that last protection spot also. But when it comes down to it, they spent 2x 2nd rd picks on the kid and he's super young, so I'm guessing they'll want to keep him around.

You think they protect Wiggins?

I would protect Wiggins. He's our 4th best player and getting rid of him doesn't put us in position to acquire anyone better than him. I do agree, I doubt an expansion team would take him... but in the end we're talking about Bowman (borderline NBA player - project), Lee (solid 12th man), Mulder (borderline NBA player), or Looney (young promising player in a old broken down body) possibly taken instead of him. We're not exposing anyone of significance to protect our 4th best player. Now if we were closer to the cap (dont forget we're going to have the salary of a top 5 pick, and I would intend to use a significant portion of the 17m TPE) and the allure of clearing 30M off our cap number was sitting there... I may think differently. I also don't care about ownership's lux tax bill next year - but admittedly they may.

As it stands we're looking at probably a $105M cap and our team salary is expected to be around $155-160M. I don't think subtracting Wiggins' 30M changes our ability to acquire a better player (than Wiggins).

[ChettheJet]

Chicago Bulls

Protect:
Zach Lavine
Coby White
Lauri Markkanen
Wendell Carter Jr
Chandler Hutchison
Daniel Gafford
Tomas Satoransky
Otto Porter

Unprotected:
Kris Dunn (RFA)
Denzel Valentine (RFA)
Thad Young
Ryan Arcidiacano
Luke Kornet
Cristiano Felicio (max cash incentive $3M plus top 35 protected 2021 2nd to take him)

I struggled with whether or not to protect OPJ. But he is a valuable player when healthy, and I'm a sucker for hope (and I think he'd get picked if made available). So I'm going to hope he's healthy for most of 2020-21. Satoransky vs Thad/ Dunn are probably up for debate also.

I agree with the lists, just for slightly different reasons.

I'm keeping Porter in the hopes that the Bulls can be the third or fourth team to swing a trade for big money contracts and they get players who are healthier or a contributing one that has a year longer contract from a team wanting Otto's to expire.

The next thing I'm doing is seeing who other teams leave unprotected and try to trade with the expansion team. They take one or two guys the Bulls like for someone they protected or falls back to them, maybe swap SRPs, maybe for salary differences or whatever. Not a full count yet, I'd be looking for PGs

From what others posted: For whatever reason, I like Grayson Allen, against the Bulls he looked like a shooter who could handle the ball and maybe play next to Lavine or White. I see a less defensive minded more looking to shoot Kirk Hinrich. Jae Crowder was another name for the front court along with Julius Randle at the PF to compete with Lauri.

[youngcrev]

Philadelphia 76ers
Protected:
Joel Embiid
Ben Simmons
Tobias Harris
Mattise Thybulle
Josh Richardson
Shake Milton
Furkan Korkmaz
Zhaire Smith

Unprotected:
Al Horford
Mike Scott

UFA:
Alec Burks
Glenn Robinson III
Raul Neto
Kyle O'Quinn
Norvel Pelle

[babyjax13]

Still need a few teams (updated thread title).

[luka27]

I think Milwaukee is pretty easy:
1. Giannis
2. Middleton
3. Lopez
4. Hill
5. DiVincenzo
6. Bledsoe
7. Thanasis
8. Ilyasova

Everybody else is expiring or having a player option, except Wilson, who is not really showing any progress. Not sure where Brown falls as a RFA.

[getrichordie]

I think Milwaukee is pretty easy:
1. Giannis
2. Middleton
3. Lopez
4. Hill
5. DiVincenzo
6. Bledsoe
7. Thanasis
8. Ilyasova

Everybody else is expiring or having a player option, except Wilson, who is not really showing any progress. Not sure where Brown falls as a RFA.

I think I'd put in Wilson over Thanasis. Giannis' younger brother won't be picked up, so I'd rather protect my 1st round pick in Wilson who, in my opinion has objectively more upside than Thanasis.

[babyjax13]

I will post tomorrow on the team forums we don't have, would rather get fans of each team giving the lists.

[luka27]

I think Milwaukee is pretty easy:
1. Giannis
2. Middleton
3. Lopez
4. Hill
5. DiVincenzo
6. Bledsoe
7. Thanasis
8. Ilyasova

Everybody else is expiring or having a player option, except Wilson, who is not really showing any progress. Not sure where Brown falls as a RFA.

I think I'd put in Wilson over Thanasis. Giannis' younger brother won't be picked up, so I'd rather protect my 1st round pick in Wilson who, in my opinion has objectively more upside than Thanasis.

My rationale was that keeping Thanasis would make Giannis happy and Wilson being 24 and not showing much for now is expendable. But this is like whatever in my opinion, both of them are not a big loss if somebody picks them up.

[getrichordie]

Just gonna take a shot at the Nets...

Protected:

Durant
Irving
LeVert
Dinwiddie
Prince
Allen
Jordan
Claxton

Unprotected:

Musa
Kurucs
Temple (C.O.)
Pinson (C.O.)
Luwawu-Cabbarrot

UFA:

Harris
Chandler

[Coeur]

Nugs:

Jokic, murray, mPJ
Grant, Torrey C, Plumleee

Not sure foe the free agents work. Expansion team would take PJ Dozier. Nugs gave away rest of the guys that expansion would want


Gary Harris and maybe Barton could be exposed to expansion draft ????

[getrichordie]

Cleveland:

P:

Garland
Sexton
Porter Jr.
Nance Jr.
Windler
Love
Exum
Osman

U:

Drummond (P.O.)
McKinnie

UFA:

Dellavedova
Thompson
Zizic

...

Cleveland would rather have Nance than Drummond if Drummond opts in, right?

[Coeur]

Vegas or new Sonics Rape the expansion process

Cp3
Gary harris
Wiggins
TJ leaf
____

Plus pick 4-5 and

[getrichordie]

Here comes Houston:

P:

Harden
Westbrook
Covington
House
Hartenstein
McLemore
Clemons
Tucker

U:

Gordon
Rivers (P.O.)

UFA:

Chandler
Sefolosha
Caboclo
Green
Carroll

...

Is it crazy for me to leave Gordon unprotected here? If a team picks him up, helps Rockets clear space in free agency. Also, he hasn't been playing very well this year and has a huge contract. How do Rockets fans feel about this? What does everyone else think?

[getrichordie]

Welcome to the Lakeshow!

P:

James
Green
Kuzma
Caruso
Davis (P.O.)
Caldwell-Pope (P.O.)
McGee (P.O.)
Bradley (P.O.)

U:

Rondo (P.O.)
Cook
Horton-Tucker

UFA:

Waiters
Dudley
Howard

[jayu70]

ATLANTA HAWKS

Protected
Trae Young
John Collins
Kevin Huerter
DeAndre Hunter
Cam Reddish
Bruno Fernando
Clint Capella
Brandon Goodwin

Unprotected
Dewayne Dedmon

RFA
DeAndre Bembry
Skal Labissierre
Damian Jones

UFA
Vince Carter
Jeff Teague
Treveon Graham