E S V L wrote:All makes sense to me. Thank you both. So, to pursue Woods, Memphis should clear up its cap space. And this would cost it a FRP.
The cost could be a bit less than a first round pick if Memphis does some work and has a few things go the right way for them. Less likely to get done without a first, but cross fingers and at least make some phone calls.
Example for demonstration purposes:
* Charlotte or similar wants to be somewhat respectable and not crater. So they will trade for a Memphis center
* Wood can be signed for a good contract that makes this path/scenario possible
Chicago
In: Zeller, Cash ($4 million), two second round picks from Memphis cupboard
Out: Felcio
Charlotte
In: JV, second round pick from Memphis cupboard
Out: Zeller
Memphis
In: Felicio
Out: JV, Cash ($4 million), three second round picks
Memphis then stretch waives Felicio and has enough cap space to sign Wood. Memphis would need to run the numbers beforehand to make sure that they will have enough cap space to sign Wood after Felicio is stretch waived.
Memphis -- Clears some cap space for Wood
Charlotte -- Improves at center and gets a second round pick.
Chicago -- Gets cash and two second round picks for the cap space difference ($7.9 million) between Felicio and Zeller.
..............................2020-21..........2021-22...
Cody Zeller.............$15,415,730....................
Cristiano Felício.........$7,529,020....................
Jonas Valančiūnas......$15,000,000.....$14,000,000
Gorgui Dieng............$17,287,640....................
It becomes trickier if Charlotte wants Dieng instead of JV and the second. Memphis would be able to clear a bit more cap space with Dieng going out instead of JV, but there would be overlap with JV and Wood in the 2021-22 season.
I thought of a different player than Felicio with a slightly smaller contract on a different team as a good candidate for this trade, but some in the fanbase think that he is worth a second round pick while I think that he is just a half step above Felicio as bad money. So I went with Felicio rather than argue about the trade value of another player.
Memphis would need to be creative and make some calls, but maybe they could get a bit lucky and get something like the above to happen.