S&T With New Orleans: The Devonte Graham Thread

[W_HAMILTON]

Wow, sad to see Graham go. I hadn't been following all the details of what has been going on since I've become more of a casual fan now, but I did see that we were mentioned in a possible sign-and-trade in the Lonzo deal (with us shipping Graham out), so I had been searching out stories about what was going on with the Graham situation, so I was pretty sad to see this morning that he was getting traded away.

I really liked him and think he was a really good player and I don't think what New Orleans paid him was an overpay at all. He has a so-so season last year, but it seemed like he was dealing with injuries a lot more than usual, on top of all the tumult in the backcourt as to how to shuffle the minutes around all the talent that we have (had?) back there. I understand that something probably needed to be done with the emergence of LaMelo, but it's just unfortunate that Graham ended up on the outside. It was really nice to see us develop a relatively unknown player into one that is a legitimate starting caliber PG and one well worthy of him 10m+/year contract.

I hope he goes on to have a successful career and I hope that we are able to maneuver around losing him so that we don't experience too much of a drop off next season. I mean, the previous year, he was literally filling the role of Kemba for us out there; once again, I know this past season, he wasn't quite as good, but I attribute that more to the injuries and such rather than him simply not being that good anymore.

[W_HAMILTON]

$12M was right about the range that I thought it would be 50/50 on if we would match or not. I think it came down to who they would rather pay (Tae or Terry). So in this scenario we get a $12M trade exception, a first round pick and an easier path to retain Terry next summer without luxury tax concerns.

I'm happy for Tae who worked his ass off and I will be pulling for him to do well in NOLA.

Are you sure that we will be getting a trade exception?

[W_HAMILTON]

So this means the Pelicans preferred Graham at 4/47 over Ball at 4/85?

Probably, and I don't blame them one bit for doing so. I would much rather have Graham at half the price as well.

[W_HAMILTON]

Reggie Jackson? Brings playoff experience, dude seems like a new man

I have disliked this man for the longest time. He always seems to brick it up and come up small in the biggest games, except for the lil streak he had during this year's playoffs. Odds are his play was fool's gold. If he's a new man, good for him, but I'd much rather let someone else take a chance on his new self than add him to this team. Yuck, no.

[yosemiteben]

Man, with Devonte's trade exception, if we keep our cap space we could absorb a $24M contract in a trade without sending any salary out.

Fun fact - that means Rozier for Simmons works for salary purposes.

Tons of options open up with that.

[JMAC3]

Man, with Devonte's trade exception, if we keep our cap space we could absorb a $24M contract in a trade without sending any salary out.

Fun fact - that means Rozier for Simmons works for salary purposes.

Tons of options open up with that.

Trade exceptions can not be combined with a player or another exception or additional salary cap space....

[yosemiteben]

Man, with Devonte's trade exception, if we keep our cap space we could absorb a $24M contract in a trade without sending any salary out.

Fun fact - that means Rozier for Simmons works for salary purposes.

Tons of options open up with that.

Trade exceptions can not be combined with a player or another exception or additional salary cap space....

Crap, I thought that was just to create it, didn't realize that applied to use it.

[wilson115]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Among the listed point guards in ESPN’s database, Graham ranked 6th in Real Plus-Minus, trailing only Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Lonzo Ball, Mike Conley Jr. and Kyle Lowry.

No surprise, Kevin Pelton ranked Graham as the 6th best free agent of the 2021 class.

John Hollinger’s BORD$ projection system — which estimates the value a player is expected to have next season — says that Graham is worth $19,073,555 for the 2021-22 season.

https://www.thebirdwrites.com/2021/8/2/22606954/devonte-graham-nba-trade-new-orleans-pelicans-charlotte-hornets-comparison-strengths-weaknesses

[LofJ]

Some options for the TPE are Lamb, Bagley, Augustin, Harrell, Monte Morris, Dwight Powell, Thompson, Nance, Osman, and Aminu.

Morris would be pretty nice for sure.

[chabber]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Among the listed point guards in ESPN’s database, Graham ranked 6th in Real Plus-Minus, trailing only Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Lonzo Ball, Mike Conley Jr. and Kyle Lowry.

No surprise, Kevin Pelton ranked Graham as the 6th best free agent of the 2021 class.

John Hollinger’s BORD$ projection system — which estimates the value a player is expected to have next season — says that Graham is worth $19,073,555 for the 2021-22 season.

https://www.thebirdwrites.com/2021/8/2/22606954/devonte-graham-nba-trade-new-orleans-pelicans-charlotte-hornets-comparison-strengths-weaknesses

Graham was 100% my favorite player since Crash. Probably because of him being local and blowing up as a 2nd rounder. I'm really going to miss him. I know he struggles inside the arc and creating his shot, but I loved his passing, and the man was clutch. His 3pt efficiency is great for the amount and type of shots he takes, e.g, deep, off the dribble and contested.

[LofJ]

All of the above stats and his reasonable contract are why the Pelicans had to send us a 1st round pick to not match. I don't think anyone has argued that Graham isn't a valuable player, he clearly is.

[BigSlam]

All of the above stats and his reasonable contract are why the Pelicans had to send us a 1st round pick to not match. I don't think anyone has argued that Graham isn't a valuable player, he clearly is.

That's not true at all.

Many here have argued heavily over the past few weeks in particular, and as recently as yesterday, that he is not a valuable player.

[LofJ]

All of the above stats and his reasonable contract are why the Pelicans had to send us a 1st round pick to not match. I don't think anyone has argued that Graham isn't a valuable player, he clearly is.

That's not true at all.

Many here have argued heavily over the past few weeks in particular, and as recently as yesterday, that he is not a valuable player.

I saw some arguing that we shouldn't pay a backup starter money and that $20 million was way too much. I don't recall anyone saying he is a bad player, just that the team shouldn't pay him. I know some posters valued Monk more than him, which is a little crazy, especially now that we see how free agency has played out.

[amcoolio]

There's a path that the Hornets can get Markkanen in a three team S&T with the Pelicans and Bulls and/or reroute Tomas Satoransky to the Hornets, which is probably why the pick protections haven't been announced

[JMAC3]

Devonte on the deal he signed was a steal, cap space is drying up fast. I am pretty sure we told New Orleans we were going to match that offer and they had to give us a first in order to get him.

[BigSlam]

All of the above stats and his reasonable contract are why the Pelicans had to send us a 1st round pick to not match. I don't think anyone has argued that Graham isn't a valuable player, he clearly is.

That's not true at all.

Many here have argued heavily over the past few weeks in particular, and as recently as yesterday, that he is not a valuable player.

I saw some arguing that we shouldn't pay a backup starter money and that $20 million was way too much. I don't recall anyone saying he is a bad player, just that the team shouldn't pay him. I know some posters valued Monk more than him, which is a little crazy, especially now that we see how free agency has played out.

Things said about Graham in the last little while:

mediocre talent

I’m not convinced Graham is much better than Augustin.

He is an average backup PG, emphasis on backup. You can sign players for 5 million that are just as good as he is.

I’d like to see Charlotte sign a vet pg like Napier to see how he compares to Graham. I want to be convinced he’s actually better than a journeyman

What are they seeing that we aren't? His stats and percentages are terrible

He's very replaceable.

I'd rather have Bryn Forbes tbh

[LofJ]

That's not true at all.

Many here have argued heavily over the past few weeks in particular, and as recently as yesterday, that he is not a valuable player.

I saw some arguing that we shouldn't pay a backup starter money and that $20 million was way too much. I don't recall anyone saying he is a bad player, just that the team shouldn't pay him. I know some posters valued Monk more than him, which is a little crazy, especially now that we see how free agency has played out.

Things said about Graham in the last little while:

mediocre talent

I’m not convinced Graham is much better than Augustin.

He is an average backup PG, emphasis on backup. You can sign players for 5 million that are just as good as he is.

I’d like to see Charlotte sign a vet pg like Napier to see how he compares to Graham. I want to be convinced he’s actually better than a journeyman

What are they seeing that we aren't? His stats and percentages are terrible

He's very replaceable.

I'd rather have Bryn Forbes tbh

Well, my memory is clearly starting to fail me, lmao.

[tondi123]

Devonte at 12 million next season is a great deal. Would we want to be paying him that four seasons from now? Probably not. Hope he does well though. Its always nice to see a guy come out of nowhere and make some big money.

[King Ken]

Get a lottery protected 1st for someone you spent a 2nd rounder on is elite asset management

[vorbis]

Read on Twitter

full details on the finalized Devonte' Graham trade.

welcome to Charlotte, Wes Iwundu.

and welcome to Charlotte, The Draft Rights to Tyler Harvey Who Was Drafted In 2015 And Still Apparently Hasn't Signed For Some Reason