Free Agent/Trade For PG Discussion

[MrSparkle]

Call me crazy, but Kawhi is a legitimate FA option. Sure, the Clips can come back, but the reality is that roster sucks. I'm willing to argue that Steph Curry and Dray have a better supporting cast. That Clippers situation turned from good to bad to absolute nightmare. Kawhi can slide into CHI, NYK or MIA and win a chip as the #1.

After Kawhi and George, their collection of over-the-hill/DNP scrubs amounts to about $70m, and I'm not sure anybody qualifies to be a full-time playoff starter. George and Kennard combine for $70m in the year 2024. I don't know what LAC is supposed to do to re-structure around Kawhi, who is due for the super max extension, but they've got way less means to upgrade that roster than GarPax did in 2016.

It'd be brutal for the LAC fan-base though. I'd feel sorry for Billy Crystal. They'd be locked into tread-milling/bottom-feeding for the rest of the decade.

[HomoSapien]

Call me crazy, but Kawhi is a legitimate FA option. Sure, the Clips can come back, but the reality is that roster sucks. I'm willing to argue that Steph Curry and Dray have a better supporting cast.

I don't know about that. The Clippers have a lot of rotation quality players -- certainly more depth than GS. Leonard is supported by Paul George, Ibaka, Marcus Morris, Beverly, Zubac, Jackson, Kennard, Rondo, Batum, Ferrell, and Patterson. All those guys can contriuteand in recent seasons have been meaningful rotation players elsewhere. Their biggest issue is that they don't have a third option, and I think they messed up by letting Harrell and Williams go. Those guys brought a lot of talent and heart to their team. For whatever reason, there seems to be poison on that roster. These players just aren't gelling.

I also agree that Leonard could end up being a FA. He's easily walked away from two good situations, so why wouldn't he leave a bad one? After the Vuc trade, I predicted that we'd be a darkhorse destination for Leonard if the Clippers flopped. I wish we looked more promising after the trade, because any sort of momentum would have given us hype going into free-agency. Still, on paper playing with LaVine and Vuc has to be more appealing than Paul George.

[weneeda2guard]

Kawhi did a lot to get to l.a hard to see him leaving

I do think pg13 will get traded to whatever team is willing to give the clippers a couple of picks.

I can also see a influx of new role players.

Clippers need to be doing everything to get Kyle Lowry and siakim next to kawhi. They are who he needs.

I don't think trading PG happens. Kawhi made it a condition of him signing that they get him PG.

I think they shuffle the deck and put all the remaining chips in to get a PG.

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

[HomoSapien]

Kawhi did a lot to get to l.a hard to see him leaving

I do think pg13 will get traded to whatever team is willing to give the clippers a couple of picks.

I can also see a influx of new role players.

Clippers need to be doing everything to get Kyle Lowry and siakim next to kawhi. They are who he needs.

I don't think trading PG happens. Kawhi made it a condition of him signing that they get him PG.

I think they shuffle the deck and put all the remaining chips in to get a PG.

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

If we can get Lowry in a sign and trade, then I could see a scenario where Lowry, LaVine, and Vuc do full-press recruiting on Leonard. Not sure if Lowry and Leonard are at all close, but it could be why the hell not plan. If we fail, we still would have a really good big 3. If we succeed, we suddenly have a super team that can withstand Leonard's rest requirements.

[Michael Jackson]

I don't think trading PG happens. Kawhi made it a condition of him signing that they get him PG.

I think they shuffle the deck and put all the remaining chips in to get a PG.

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

If we can get Lowry in a sign and trade, then I could see a scenario where Lowry, LaVine, and Vuc do full-press recruiting on Leonard. Not sure if Lowry and Leonard are at all close, but it could be why the hell not plan. If we fail, we still would have a really good big 3. If we succeed, we suddenly have a super team that can withstand Leonard's rest requirements.

If you s&T for Lowry, you don't have the cap room to sign Leonard though. You have to renounce everyone and stretch everyone to get near the capsbace to sign Kawhi. That team isn't very good and wouldn't even have enough players to field a team. Not saying it can't be done and maybe you can get some wrong chasers to sign for vet minimums but those guys are usually long in the tooth too and Leonard is going to need to sit. Trust me I would love that team, but in that scenario one of Vuch or LaVine would likely have to go to get Kawhi and Lowry in Chicago.... Definitely no room to sign Theis, no Lauri, no Thad no Aminu, No Sato. not saying those guys are great but who would have Vuc and you would really really wish you still had Gafford at that point.

[Leslie Forman]

Call me crazy, but Kawhi is a legitimate FA option.

For the Knicks or Heat? Maybe.

For a cold weather team that just finished with the same record as the Kings and Pelicans?

Not a chance.

[TheStig]

Kawhi did a lot to get to l.a hard to see him leaving

I do think pg13 will get traded to whatever team is willing to give the clippers a couple of picks.

I can also see a influx of new role players.

Clippers need to be doing everything to get Kyle Lowry and siakim next to kawhi. They are who he needs.

I don't think trading PG happens. Kawhi made it a condition of him signing that they get him PG.

I think they shuffle the deck and put all the remaining chips in to get a PG.

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

It's honestly all speculation. And Jimmy might have been higher up just because he was an FA too. Bottom line was Kawhi forced LAC to go out and get PG13 or he wasn't coming.

[TheStig]

I don't think trading PG happens. Kawhi made it a condition of him signing that they get him PG.

I think they shuffle the deck and put all the remaining chips in to get a PG.

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

If we can get Lowry in a sign and trade, then I could see a scenario where Lowry, LaVine, and Vuc do full-press recruiting on Leonard. Not sure if Lowry and Leonard are at all close, but it could be why the hell not plan. If we fail, we still would have a really good big 3. If we succeed, we suddenly have a super team that can withstand Leonard's rest requirements.

I don't think that's feasible in any manner.

[HomoSapien]

Thing is from what I've read, he was the 2nd choice. Jimmy butler was the 1st choice.

If we can get Lowry in a sign and trade, then I could see a scenario where Lowry, LaVine, and Vuc do full-press recruiting on Leonard. Not sure if Lowry and Leonard are at all close, but it could be why the hell not plan. If we fail, we still would have a really good big 3. If we succeed, we suddenly have a super team that can withstand Leonard's rest requirements.

If you s&T for Lowry, you don't have the cap room to sign Leonard though. You have to renounce everyone and stretch everyone to get near the capsbace to sign Kawhi. That team isn't very good and wouldn't even have enough players to field a team. Not saying it can't be done and maybe you can get some wrong chasers to sign for vet minimums but those guys are usually long in the tooth too and Leonard is going to need to sit. Trust me I would love that team, but in that scenario one of Vuch or LaVine would likely have to go to get Kawhi and Lowry in Chicago.... Definitely no room to sign Theis, no Lauri, no Thad no Aminu, No Sato. not saying those guys are great but who would have Vuc and you would really really wish you still had Gafford at that point.

Per Doug's post, we can have around $36 mill in available capspace if we renounce all our upcoming free-agents, decline Thad and Sato's optins, and stretch Aminu. We can free up another $17m if we trade Coby, Pat, and TBJ which should be easy to do. That would bring us to $55m to split between Leonard and Lowry, which means you'd have to get creative with the salary structure (I.E. start with declining numbers) or convince one or both to take a discount to make this happen -- a discount often happens when super teams are formed. It'll be tricky for sure, but it's potentially an option. Am I correct in assuming that we can go over the cap in a sign & trade situation if we can match the contracts? If so, we could theoretically sign and trade Felicio on a huge unguaranteed contract.

You're right that the depth outside of the starters would be an issue, but I'd take my chances. There's always good players that are forced to sign for the minimum, especially after the trade deadline during buyouts.

[sco]

https://sports.yahoo.com/lonzo-ball-dealt-chicago-bulls-180912023.html

Bleacher fan fiction, but it's fun to dream...not liking Bledsoe in the deal.

[othawhitemeat]

Call me crazy, but Kawhi is a legitimate FA option. Sure, the Clips can come back, but the reality is that roster sucks. I'm willing to argue that Steph Curry and Dray have a better supporting cast.

I don't know about that. The Clippers have a lot of rotation quality players -- certainly more depth than GS. Leonard is supported by Paul George, Ibaka, Marcus Morris, Beverly, Zubac, Jackson, Kennard, Rondo, Batum, Ferrell, and Patterson. All those guys can contriuteand in recent seasons have been meaningful rotation players elsewhere. Their biggest issue is that they don't have a third option, and I think they messed up by letting Harrell and Williams go. Those guys brought a lot of talent and heart to their team. For whatever reason, there seems to be poison on that roster. These players just aren't gelling.

I also agree that Leonard could end up being a FA. He's easily walked away from two good situations, so why wouldn't he leave a bad one? After the Vuc trade, I predicted that we'd be a darkhorse destination for Leonard if the Clippers flopped. I wish we looked more promising after the trade, because any sort of momentum would have given us hype going into free-agency. Still, on paper playing with LaVine and Vuc has to be more appealing than Paul George.

If we somehow luck and keep a top 4 pick this year, maybe not Leonard, but we are a very enticing spot considering we will have Lavine, Vuc, and semi promise in Pat and possibly off bench scorer in Coby. Vuc/Lavine is honestly anything better than what Clippers have in terms of offensive talent, Paul George is not the gifted scorer Lavine is and is soft in playoffs and Vuc is a skilled scorer but will be an issue defensively. Don't think we would get Leonard, but we have some enticing pieces.

[MGB8]

I still like my Lauri for Derozan trade idea.

However, if that doesn't happen, or even if it does, I also like Sato/Thad to Minny for Rubio. It's a risk because Rubio is coming off a bad year. That said, it's a small risk - expiring 1 year deal (in exchange for 2 expiring one year deals). And Rubio did start having flashes towards the end. Any time he played 30 minutes or more he was actually pretty efficient and effective (although him playing that much may have been the effect of him having a good game, not the cause). For some reason, Rubio and Russell couldn't co-exist - the more Russell played, the worse Rubio played - even though Rubio played well with Booker in Phoenix.

[kodo]

https://sports.yahoo.com/lonzo-ball-dealt-chicago-bulls-180912023.html

Bleacher fan fiction, but it's fun to dream...not liking Bledsoe in the deal.

That article did identify the core problem...the Pels are probably the last team in the league looking to spend big money on a PF. That position is more locked for NO than perhaps any other PF slot in the league. And Lauri failed to prove he could be a C, which might have been the big turning point for an offseason deal. If I were Griffin, I'm even less enthusiastic about Lauri than I was at the deadline. Needs a 3rd team, which is always makes a deal less likely.

I think the only advantage Chicago has is Ball's camp is rumored to want Chicago, which makes sense. He doesn't have to compete with Randle + Rose for touches vs NYK, the Bulls are worse than NY and he would certainly have a bigger role here than NY that just wants to keep building what they have where Chicago is auditioning for a core member. Jerami Grant stated in an interview he specifically chose Detroit to get into a bigger role than what he possibly could have in Denver.

[RoseTheFuture22]

https://sports.yahoo.com/lonzo-ball-dealt-chicago-bulls-180912023.html

Bleacher fan fiction, but it's fun to dream...not liking Bledsoe in the deal.

I want nothing to do with Bledsoe unless we are getting a first or 2 in return, he was that bad this year and seems to have mailed it in since he got that deal Felicio-style.

[TheJordanRule]

https://sports.yahoo.com/lonzo-ball-dealt-chicago-bulls-180912023.html

Bleacher fan fiction, but it's fun to dream...not liking Bledsoe in the deal.

I want nothing to do with Bledsoe unless we are getting a first or 2 in return, he was that bad this year and seems to have mailed it in since he got that deal Felicio-style.

I'm not as down on Bledsoe as you guys are, but even a Bledsoe believer like me would like to see our team put our resources elsewhere. It's possible that Bledsoe experiences a Rose-like renaissance with a team that will feature him in a system built towards his strengths, but there's no future there beyond a one or two year window. We are low on lottery picks. We should be sensitive to that reality. If we strike out on Kawhi or DeRozan, adding a younger impact player should be a priority. Ball fits the bill, although his injury issues and high price tag would be incredibly risky. It's a shame that there aren't more contenders at PG in free agency. It's Ball or bust, with the dire reality that Ball himself could bust. When weighing whether we want to go with Ball at 20 mil per year, or Devonte Graham at 10 mil per year, I want Devonte. He's durable and, while the upside isn't at Ball's level, the floor isn't as low either.

[League Circles]

I think we should try to make a trade for a perimeter impact player aggressively before the start of FA, and in the likely event that we're unsuccessful, I'd advocate clearing the roster by renouncing or stretch waiving everyone except:

Vuc
Thad
Patrick
Zach
Coby
Theis 9.5 mil cap hold
Room MLE
About 20 mil in cap space to get the best perimeter player available. Obviously renouncing theis is always on the table and/or stretch waiving Thad if we get a really big fish to bite like Kawhi, but assume instead we're looking at guys like Lowry, Derozan, Ball (yuck), Schroder, maybe Rose etc.

That's your 8 man rotation. In a year you add a full MLE and our first round pick to get a strong 10 man rotation.

This means dropping Lauri, Sato, Brown, Aminu etc.
We'd have a lot of vet minimum guys but should get some good ones cause we'd be offering 2-3 rotation spots.

[Am2626]

Call me crazy, but Kawhi is a legitimate FA option.

For the Knicks or Heat? Maybe.

For a cold weather team that just finished with the same record as the Kings and Pelicans?

Not a chance.

Aren’t the Knicks a cold weather team also? I honestly don’t think the weather plays any role in a top FA destination. I wish this generation of stars had the same invincibility mentality that Jordan and Kobe had. Neither guy would be afraid of any challenge and would probably welcome the challenge of taking this Bulls team to a championship level. This generation of stars feel they have to team up to win anything.

[Pax for Prez]

Kendrick Nunn could receive offers around the $15 million per year range, sources told John Hollinger of The Athletic.

Hollinger adds that Duncan Robinson could get even larger offers this offseason.

Both Nunn and Robinson are restricted free agents with a $4.4 million cap hold.

Nunn is averaging 14.6 points and 3.2 rebounds on the season, with Robinson at 13.1 points and 3.5 rebounds.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/262751/Kendrick-Nunn-Could-Receive-Offers-In-$15M-Per-Year-Range

[Andi Obst]

Nunn at 15 mil would be hilariously bad. Not so hilarious when your team signs him to that deal, obviously.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Yikes at $15m for Nunn. A team will regret that one for sure.