Official Trade Thread -- Part XL

[payitforward]

Agreed. Whether its Masai or still Tommy, we need assets and flexibility this summer to make any jump next year (Along with a new coach). It seems the only way to do this is gather top 40 draft pick(s) and reduce Salary to sign FA (Using Full MLE).
Trading Bertans (And maybe Brown) seems to be the best way to move forward.

We certainly need to trade Bertans. Retaining him with this new contract was a colossally foolish thing to do.

Except, of course, you never get to trade a problem for a solution. You trade a problem for a problem or a solution for a solution. No exceptions allowed, sorry. Because Bertans has an over-priced contract, we won't get value for him.

& we do need a new coach. But, we do not need to trade Troy Brown -- although it looks like we will.

As to a "jump next year" -- it's hard to see a reason to be optimistic unless we somehow draft an instant stud. Russ will be another year older, & outlandish predictions for Rui & Deni are... well, outlandish.

[nate33]

We certainly need to trade Bertans. Retaining him with this new contract was a colossally foolish thing to do.

Except, of course, you never get to trade a problem for a solution. You trade a problem for a problem or a solution for a solution. No exceptions allowed, sorry. Because Bertans has an over-priced contract, we won't get value for him.

I agree that trading Bertans would probably be for the best given that we are clearly not on a "win-now" footing. But I disagree that he is a "problem". The contract is fine. He is tradeable.

[pcbothwel]

We certainly need to trade Bertans. Retaining him with this new contract was a colossally foolish thing to do.

Except, of course, you never get to trade a problem for a solution. You trade a problem for a problem or a solution for a solution. No exceptions allowed, sorry. Because Bertans has an over-priced contract, we won't get value for him.

I agree that trading Bertans would probably be for the best given that we are clearly not on a "win-now" footing. But I disagree that he is a "problem". The contract is fine. He is tradeable.

Yup. His contract is fine, but we need to tank and get a pick.

PIF, there are other ways to make the jump other than an elite/generational prospect. I.E.
- We can trade Bertans to NYK for their DET 2nd (#32) plus another future 2nd. (15M TPE created)
- We dont win the lotto and stay put. Call it the 7th pick.

Trade 7 + Brown to the Rockets for their Portland 1st (22) plus Christian Wood...maybe include their 2nd as well (33).
Because of the TPE from Bertans, we can get Houston out of the 14M salary outright and get them two top 7 picks to rebuild around.
Trading from 22 to 7 would require a pick in the 11-13 range, which seems pretty fair for Wood.

Pick Duarte/Butler at 22
Dosunmu/Giddey/Mathurin at 32

This puts us right at the cap (112M) and 24M under the tax to resign Mathews, Bonga, Winston, Wagner and use the the Full MLE (Otto?).

Russ / Dosunmu
Beal / Duarte
Rui / Mathews
Otto / Deni
Wood / Bryant

Deep Bench: Winston, Bonga, Wagner

Thats 15 players and we would still be 5M under the Tax. I'll take that team to battle in the East.

We can quibble about specifics, but just showing there are ways in which a dynamic executive could put a strong product on the floor without netting a top 3 pick.
And sure, Russ will be a year older, but the guy is cooking right now. He's at 25/10/10 over the last 11 games with a ~2.5:1 AST:TOV ratio and TS of 53%. If he hits his FT at even 75% over that time, his TS would be 56%.

[NatP4]

Yeah I ran the tankathon simulator like 10 times, and 9/10 times either the wiz ended up top 4, or a potential Beal trade destination team jumped into that top 4. We’re in a pretty good spot. Plenty of great trade down scenarios if we end up at 7ish as well.

[queridiculo]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

[NatP4]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

I can’t decide if it’s going to be Drummond or PJ Tucker for Troy Brown Jr.

[nate33]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

I don't see it. The problem is that it's a salary-neutral trade but we'd have to go out and fill 3 or 4 roster spots, and that would get us into the luxury tax.

If Ted is willing to pay the tax, I'd do the same trade but keep Troy Brown Jr. I figure Cleveland would go for it because the bottom line is that they're buying out Drummond anyhow. With this trade, they save $3M in the trade before they start buying guys out. They could then see if they can give away Lopez to a team with a TPE and save even more money.

[nate33]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

I can’t decide if it’s going to be Drummond or PJ Tucker for Troy Brown Jr.

I'm really not worried about them trading for Tucker. There really isn't much room for him in the rotation, and he's had an awful season so far.

Trading for Drummond wouldn't bother me all that much (if we didn't include Brown Jr.). It's ultimately just expirings for expirings, except we offload Bryant's contract. I'm ambivalent on Bryant because I think we can obtain a center in the offseason just as effective as Bryant for the same money.

[queridiculo]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

I can’t decide if it’s going to be Drummond or PJ Tucker for Troy Brown Jr.

There's also the 2021 1st and filler for Turner wild card.

[NatP4]

I definitely think this is better:

(From NOP)
10: Franz Wagner
35: Joel Ayayi
36: Neemius Queta

Than this:
5: Jonathan Kuminga

[DCZards]

I half expect the Wizards to do something foolish.

Wizards in: Drummond
Cleveland in: Lopez, Bryant, Brown Jr., Smith, Jerome Robinson

I can’t decide if it’s going to be Drummond or PJ Tucker for Troy Brown Jr.

I'm really not worried about them trading for Tucker. There really isn't much room for him in the rotation, and he's had an awful season so far.

Trading for Drummond wouldn't bother me all that much (if we didn't include Brown Jr.). I t's ultimately just expirings for expirings, except we offload Bryant's contract. I'm ambivalent on Bryant because I think we can obtain a center in the offseason just as effective as Bryant for the same money.

I think it would be a mistake to trade Bryant. (Unless it's a great offer.) We have a tendency to focus on what Thomas doesn't do well (defend, rebound) and forget what he does do well (spread the floor with his 3pt shooting, make short jumpers, run the floor, play extremely hard). Bryant played well in the bubble and even seemed to have improved somewhat as a rim protector.

Thomas played in all of 10 games this season. I'm convinced that we would be seeing a breakout season for the 23 year old if he hadn't gotten hurt.

Instead of trading Bryant, I would prefer to see the Zards add a good rebounding, defensive-oriented PF to play next to him.

[NatP4]

There’s some real uncertainty with the ACL injury, but Mobley next to Bryant could be the best frontcourt in the NBA. We are forgetting just how good Thomas Bryant is when healthy.

Mobley can switch and guard EVERYONE and protects the rim better than any other college prospect I have ever watched.

[nate33]

I definitely think this is better:

(From NOP)
10: Franz Wagner
35: Joel Ayayi
36: Neemius Queta

Than this:
5: Jonathan Kuminga

I wouldn't trade Beal for the #5. It has to be top 4.

[truwizfan4evr]

Would anyone want to trade for Drummond?

[NatP4]

I definitely think this is better:

(From NOP)
10: Franz Wagner
35: Joel Ayayi
36: Neemius Queta

Than this:
5: Jonathan Kuminga

I wouldn't trade Beal for the #5. It has to be top 4.

I was talking about the wizards pick at 5/6/7/8

[nate33]

I definitely think this is better:

(From NOP)
10: Franz Wagner
35: Joel Ayayi
36: Neemius Queta

Than this:
5: Jonathan Kuminga

I wouldn't trade Beal for the #5. It has to be top 4.

I was talking about the wizards pick at 5/6/7/8

Oh, I see.

FWIW, it's virtually impossible to pick 5th. There's a 91% chance that the 5th pick goes to one of the worst 3 teams, and we won't finish that low. I figure our floor is a 4th place finish, and they have a 7% shot at the #5 pick. But it's far more likely that we finish 5th worst (2% shot at #5) or 6th worst (impossible to land #5).

So Kuminga isn't likely an option, which probably reduces the attractiveness of trade-down scenarios. I could see a team packaging multiple 1sts to move up for Kuminga, but is New Orleans going to sacrifice anything to trade up from #10 to #7 just to get Barnes or Bouknight?

[NatP4]

I wouldn't trade Beal for the #5. It has to be top 4.

I was talking about the wizards pick at 5/6/7/8

Oh, I see.

FWIW, it's virtually impossible to pick 5th. There's a 91% chance that the 5th pick goes to one of the worst 3 teams, and we won't finish that low. I figure our floor is a 4th place finish, and they have a 7% shot at the #5 pick. But it's far more likely that we finish 5th worst (2% shot at #5) or 6th worst (impossible to land #5).

So Kuminga isn't likely an option, which probably reduces the attractiveness of trade-down scenarios. I could see a team packaging multiple 1sts to move up for Kuminga, but is New Orleans going to sacrifice anything to trade up from #10 to #7 just to get Barnes or Bouknight?

We can certainly land at 6. I can easily see teams trading up for Johnson/Barnes/Moody. It’s the NBA. People think Anthony Edwards is good at basketball. 6 to 10 is probably worth a couple high 2nds.

[DCZards]

We can certainly land at 6. I can easily see teams trading up for Johnson/Barnes/Moody. It’s the NBA. People think Anthony Edwards is good at basketball. 6 to 10 is probably worth a couple high 2nds.

Anthony Edwards is going to be an outright star in the NBA. Yes, he takes too many difficult shots and makes a lot of other "rookie" mistakes.

Edwards was one of the youngest players in last year's draft (won't turn 20 until August) and is somewhat late to basketball (apparently he concentrated on football in his early youth).

But his raw talent is off the charts. He'll be an NBA all-star someday.

Here's his numbers from last night:
34 PTS
6 3PT
12/24 FG
4 REB
1 NASTY DUNK

[NatP4]

We can certainly land at 6. I can easily see teams trading up for Johnson/Barnes/Moody. It’s the NBA. People think Anthony Edwards is good at basketball. 6 to 10 is probably worth a couple high 2nds.

Anthony Edwards is going to be an outright star in the NBA. Yes, he takes too many difficult shots and makes a lot of other "rookie" mistakes.

Edwards was one of the youngest players in last year's draft (won't turn 20 until August) and is somewhat late to basketball (apparently he concentrated on football in his early youth).

But his raw talent is off the charts. He'll be an NBA all-star someday.

Here's his numbers from last night:
34 PTS
6 3PT
12/24 FG
4 REB
1 NASTY DUNK

His 5th game shooting >50% out of 39 (compared to 18 games shooting <40%). Atleast he’s good for a highlight every once in awhile.

[nate33]

We can certainly land at 6. I can easily see teams trading up for Johnson/Barnes/Moody. It’s the NBA. People think Anthony Edwards is good at basketball. 6 to 10 is probably worth a couple high 2nds.

Anthony Edwards is going to be an outright star in the NBA. Yes, he takes too many difficult shots and makes a lot of other "rookie" mistakes.

Edwards was one of the youngest players in last year's draft (won't turn 20 until August) and is somewhat late to basketball (apparently he concentrated on football in his early youth).

But his raw talent is off the charts. He'll be an NBA all-star someday.

Here's his numbers from last night:
34 PTS
6 3PT
12/24 FG
4 REB
1 NASTY DUNK

He obviously has superstar potential given his freak athleticism and solid shooting mechanics. I'm sure if you transplanted Bradley Beal's brain into his body, he would become a superstar.

It all depends on how hard he is willing to work and how well he is able to absorb instruction.