2022-23 Season Discussion and Speculation 4 - Trade season continues - No player trade restrictions

[BobbieL]

My prediction is we'll just get a small Crowder move at the deadline.

But Ayton gets traded to Toronto this summer.

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You are probably correct with Crowder. I mean - if thats the case would Eric Gordon be the worst player they could get. I think I would prefer him over Nwora and Hill. Three team deal of course

If it only costs the seconds they get from Milwaukee then sure.

I'm pretty open minded this deadline. Kind of find myself in the middle where I don't think they should completely punt this season but I'm also strongly against trading a 1st for a rental. If a 1st is involved it has to be for someone who's going to be here past this season.

I just doubt we see any major roster shake up with Mat only taking over days before the deadline. But I do expect a much different roster by next fall.

As far as Ayton, unless he's come to them and said 'I want to be traded and here are the teams I'll OK a deal' he's not getting traded at the deadline. You just can't go to him for approval and risk getting a no.

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The cap would have to be something like

Milwaukee: Crowder
Houston: Nwora, Hill, Ibaka draft picks from the Bucks and either Payne or Saric

Suns: Gordon

[Ghost of Kleine]

OG and FVV for Crowder, Saric, Payne, Craig (works in the trade machine)… How many picks would it take?

Despite what Toronto may want for themselves, If that's the deal going out, then it should realistically not be anything more than 3 first with protections on two and maybe light protection on the 3rd. Anunoby's value should require the two 1sts, one with very light protection ( maybe top 6) on one and top 10 on the other due to his imminent contractual investment looming! And Van Vleet should honestly only command 1 first ( with protections) due to his age, height/ athleticism deficiencies, and especially the consideration that he'll need to be resigned soon But is seeking a contractual investment of around 25- 30 million ( more likely 30 million) that will be paid out through his 30's.

Between the two players, that equates to around a 70 million investment or possibly more alone. So definite value offset considerations there.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Last night's fiasco still irks me. To be so utterly demolished at home, with pretty much whole crew sans Booker... Is any kind of trade actually gonna turn things around..? Sincerely, i do not think so. Looks like a wasted season. But at least it could force Ishbia to bring new, competent coach and executives for 23/24.

I’m not that mad. If you think about it, Suns were too hyper focused last season and they were drained by the playoffs. They are taking it easy this season to the dismay of most fans. Also I don’t believe James Jones will be looking to waste the season. He understands CP3 doesn’t have another ten years so he’ll look to improve the roster.

I appreciate your optimism and wish I could share it. Quite frankly this years team sucks. We are only not-crappy when Book is playing, and even when he was playing we didn't do anything to demonstrate we actually had what it took to beat the best of the best. If anyone pays attention to my comments on here (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't ) you're probably tired of hearing this, but something began to crumble in this team's collective minds towards the end of last year and the Dallas series completely broke them. And I think there's no chance of it coming back without significant changes. Remember how good we were last season when Book was out? We were still streaking and blowing teams out. Now with a few exceptions we're either getting blown out at home by 30 or squeaking by **** teams for Ws. And I don't think a healthy Cam Payne and Landry Shamet can explain that difference. This team is cooked. And I do think that Monty holds at minimum some blame. The more I see guys getting healthy and we still more or less suck the more I'm looking at the first seat on the bench.

Perhaps Ayton is a bad apple and trading him would right things. I'm skeptical. Also skeptical we'd ever find out because I think the odds of Jones making a big move are low. But honestly I'd rather he did nothing that get shafted in a trade. I'm not ready to advocate for it quite yet (getting close though) but if Ishbia cleans house I'd rather not have our next GM taking over at a deficit.

This team plays uninspired disjointed dispirited ball and after the (would-be) lofty heights of the past few seasons I am utterly fed up with it.

I take a far more simple view. The past two years the suns have been successful because they had two All NBA guys leading the way. That's how it works in the NBA these days. Chris Paul is now showing his age and isn't an All NBA type player anymore. Combine that with Booker getting hurt and here we are.

You need two star players in today's NBA. It's not an easy task but the number 1 big picture franchise goal moving forward should be to find that second all nba type guy to pair with Booker.

We're all super fans who like to argue about the 11th man but at the end of the day the NBA is a star driven league and your best players matter expedientaly more than everyone else.

I know it's the meta around here to hate on Jones but I do think he gets this about star players. Look at his career, he played with plenty. Also look at his track record, he traded for CP to get that second star and they wanted Durant this summer.

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[Desertfox]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

[Qwigglez]

I take a far more simple view. The past two years the suns have been successful because they had two All NBA guys leading the way. That's how it works in the NBA these days. Chris Paul is now showing his age and isn't an All NBA type player anymore. Combine that with Booker getting hurt and here we are.

You need two star players in today's NBA. It's not an easy task but the number 1 big picture franchise goal moving forward should be to find that second all nba type guy to pair with Booker.

We're all super fans who like to argue about the 11th man but at the end of the day the NBA is a star driven league and your best players matter expedientaly more than everyone else.

I know it's the meta around here to hate on Jones but I do think he gets this about star players. Look at his career, he played with plenty. Also look at his track record, he traded for CP to get that second star and they wanted Durant this summer.

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Absolutely agree with this. Which is why I find it difficult when people are proposing Suns might look to trade Ayton for lesser parts. I don't see Jones doing that in order to save cap space. Suns won't have cap space with Booker's super max and Bridges making $20 mil and Cam Johnson likely making the same money. Jones will be fine slim picking veteran minimum type players, and honestly you only need to hit on one of those players once a year. We got it with Payne, we got it with Craig, we are getting it with Damion Lee, even last year you could include Smack. It's a method that worked for the Warriors last year to win the championship. Fill your bench with these kind of vets and build around the nucleus of the team.

[Slim Charless]

What about…

Ayton to Atlanta
John Collins to Toronto
OG & Capela to Phoenix

Would need some minor tweaks but feel like this is a decent trade for all teams - might need to also give a draft pick to Toronto. Thoughts?


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I think I like the trade for all parties

That's a moronic trade. Jdookie701 spends all day bashing Ayton...and now he thinks Ayton can get us OG and Capela?

There's no universe that trade happens in. Ever.

LMAO

[bwgood77]

My prediction is we'll just get a small Crowder move at the deadline.

But Ayton gets traded to Toronto this summer.

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Ayton to TOR looks like real to me as well. But I don't like it. No one on that roster that really interests me but Siakam. You can bet your mama's farm that we'll be lamenting our weakness at center for the foreseeable future if we move DA.

OG + FVV for DA (+ Cam?) looks like the deal to me. IMO, that'd be a great way to ensure Book never sniffs another Finals in our uni.

I like FVV, a little better than Rozier (though both are having bad years). It may be more likely if they trade him and someone wants to pay him, that he gets dealt before the deadline, since he will be an UFA and maybe not an asset TOR can utilize at all. If some team that couldn't sign him this summer because they are over the cap wants him, they'd HAVE to trade for him now unless they can work out a S&T later...or a deal this summer, but for your deal it would have to be a double S&T.

I am not so sure the Suns would want to pay FVV $30-$35 million a year. And then OG would be up the following summer. It will be interesting to see if Cam can stay healthy and stay consistent. He has been great to start the last two years but inconsistent or not very good coming back from injury.

We may be able to get him for cheaper now than we wanted on extension and/or can see what/if he gets RFA offers and just match.

Hard to say. I think we will look at Ayton trades this summer, and if there is any animosity between him and others at all (I won't really speculate)...and we will see if he gets back to his consistency and closer to WC player of the week level once healthy.

If Toronto wants young players to put around Barnes, they may want younger than Ayton even. And I don't know for sure if they'd want to pay him, but at his age or younger, there are not really any better true Cs. Bam (if you consider him a true C) is better but he isn't going to be traded, nor is anyone else. Then of course they could get Victor.

[Sunlight]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

This belief has been debated for 1000+ pages around here. There are some like yourself who think Ayton can be that second star moving forward and those like myself who just don't see it.

While it gets tedious and repetitive it is a worthwhile thing to debate because the success of that second star (whomever it is) is likely to the the determining factor for the success of the team in the future.

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[bwgood77]

Last night's fiasco still irks me. To be so utterly demolished at home, with pretty much whole crew sans Booker... Is any kind of trade actually gonna turn things around..? Sincerely, i do not think so. Looks like a wasted season. But at least it could force Ishbia to bring new, competent coach and executives for 23/24.

I’m not that mad. If you think about it, Suns were too hyper focused last season and they were drained by the playoffs. They are taking it easy this season to the dismay of most fans. Also I don’t believe James Jones will be looking to waste the season. He understands CP3 doesn’t have another ten years so he’ll look to improve the roster.

I appreciate your optimism and wish I could share it. Quite frankly this years team sucks. We are only not-crappy when Book is playing, and even when he was playing we didn't do anything to demonstrate we actually had what it took to beat the best of the best. If anyone pays attention to my comments on here (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't ) you're probably tired of hearing this, but something began to crumble in this team's collective minds towards the end of last year and the Dallas series completely broke them. And I think there's no chance of it coming back without significant changes. Remember how good we were last season when Book was out? We were still streaking and blowing teams out. Now with a few exceptions we're either getting blown out at home by 30 or squeaking by **** teams for Ws. And I don't think a healthy Cam Payne and Landry Shamet can explain that difference. This team is cooked. And I do think that Monty holds at minimum some blame. The more I see guys getting healthy and we still more or less suck the more I'm looking at the first seat on the bench.

Perhaps Ayton is a bad apple and trading him would right things. I'm skeptical. Also skeptical we'd ever find out because I think the odds of Jones making a big move are low. But honestly I'd rather he did nothing that get shafted in a trade. I'm not ready to advocate for it quite yet (getting close though) but if Ishbia cleans house I'd rather not have our next GM taking over at a deficit.

This team plays uninspired disjointed dispirited ball and after the (would-be) lofty heights of the past few seasons I am utterly fed up with it.

Hard to know how we will play if fully healthy. We've only been fully healthy for 7 games, and even looked really bad with Booker near the end of his healthiness, except the 58 pt game we barely won. We got crushed by DAL, BOS and NO before that, and only beat a Clips teams resting 6 of their top players.

But at the same time we didn't have Cam. Or CP3 for the Mavs game. Against BOS he only had 4 pts and 4 ast, but against the Pels he had 24, 8 and 7.

Only a couple of WC teams are playing well though. We are still only a half game back of the 5th seed and 1.5 back of the 4th. With full health and a piece from a Crowder trade, I think we are probably about as good as anyone. We've played well against Den, Mem and Sac too, severely shorthanded for all of those. Who knows if the Pels can get healthy, but they are in free fall.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

To me if a guy needs specific conditions to be successful that basically eliminates them from me considering them a 'star' player.

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[Slim Charless]

I’m not that mad. If you think about it, Suns were too hyper focused last season and they were drained by the playoffs. They are taking it easy this season to the dismay of most fans. Also I don’t believe James Jones will be looking to waste the season. He understands CP3 doesn’t have another ten years so he’ll look to improve the roster.

I appreciate your optimism and wish I could share it. Quite frankly this years team sucks. We are only not-crappy when Book is playing, and even when he was playing we didn't do anything to demonstrate we actually had what it took to beat the best of the best. If anyone pays attention to my comments on here (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't ) you're probably tired of hearing this, but something began to crumble in this team's collective minds towards the end of last year and the Dallas series completely broke them. And I think there's no chance of it coming back without significant changes. Remember how good we were last season when Book was out? We were still streaking and blowing teams out. Now with a few exceptions we're either getting blown out at home by 30 or squeaking by **** teams for Ws. And I don't think a healthy Cam Payne and Landry Shamet can explain that difference. This team is cooked. And I do think that Monty holds at minimum some blame. The more I see guys getting healthy and we still more or less suck the more I'm looking at the first seat on the bench.

Perhaps Ayton is a bad apple and trading him would right things. I'm skeptical. Also skeptical we'd ever find out because I think the odds of Jones making a big move are low. But honestly I'd rather he did nothing that get shafted in a trade. I'm not ready to advocate for it quite yet (getting close though) but if Ishbia cleans house I'd rather not have our next GM taking over at a deficit.

This team plays uninspired disjointed dispirited ball and after the (would-be) lofty heights of the past few seasons I am utterly fed up with it.

Hard to know how we will play if fully healthy. We've only been fully healthy for 7 games, and even looked really bad with Booker near the end of his healthiness, except the 58 pt game we barely won. We got crushed by DAL, BOS and NO before that, and only beat a Clips teams resting 6 of their top players.

But at the same time we didn't have Cam. Or CP3 for the Mavs game. Against BOS he only had 4 pts and 4 ast, but against the Pels he had 24, 8 and 7.

Only a couple of WC teams are playing well though. We are still only a half game back of the 5th seed and 1.5 back of the 4th. With full health and a piece from a Crowder trade, I think we are probably about as good as anyone. We've played well against Den, Mem and Sac too, severely shorthanded for all of those. Who knows if the Pels can get healthy, but they are in free fall.

Health is a mediocre reason for this season. It's a factor but there's other issues. Did we say the same things when we beat the Kawhi-less Clips or the MPJ/Murray less Nuggets a couple years ago? No. We said "that's what happens"

Same theory here. I'll not bring up my opinion on Monty again, but suffice to say, there's more than 1 reason why we have sucking this year.

[bwgood77]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

This belief has been debated for 1000+ pages around here. There are some like yourself who think Ayton can be that second star moving forward and those like myself who just don't see it.

While it gets tedious and repetitive it is a worthwhile thing to debate because the success of that second star (whomever it is) is likely to the the determining factor for the success of the team in the future.

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Maybe he can, maybe he can't, but how realistic is it to trade for a star, and who exactly are the stars? What is the threshhold. Are you saying Brown and Middleton are stars? Harden still star level? Who is Denver's second star? Is JJJ a star?

Which teams aside from the LAL, LAC and BKN have two stars in your opinion. Atlanta?

[bwgood77]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

To me if a guy needs specific conditions to be successful that basically eliminates them from me considering them a 'star' player.

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Not too many guys can pull 2nd/3rd stringers to a great record though. Does putting up good #s on a bad team make you a star? Not saying Ayton IS a star, just responding to your general comment.

[Jdiddy701]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

My question is who’s a solid PF in todays NBA? IMO, Crowder is the perfect PF next to Ayton. A traditional PF who does most of their work in the paint would only make Ayton worse. I’m not sure there’s any PF in the league that would make Ayton better. A player with all the tools that Ayton has should excel with guys like CP3 and Booker.


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[bwgood77]

Six big trades we want to see at the 2023 NBA trade deadline

Crowder finds a new home, Part 1
Brooklyn Nets get: Jae Crowder
Phoenix Suns get: Seth Curry, Kessler Edwards, two second-round picks

The Jae Crowder situation has dragged on all season long, with Phoenix effectively having to play down a man despite dealing with all sorts of injuries along the way. It's untenable for that to last through the deadline.

At the same time, if the price Phoenix was looking for was one teams were willing to pay, this saga would've ended months ago. Thus, we find ourselves at an impasse.

Brooklyn can at least give Phoenix a good player in Seth Curry, who can space the floor around Devin Booker and play off the ball. Curry's contract is up after this season and Edwards has a team option for 2023-24, which, along with the extra second-round picks, would leave Phoenix with more options in the future as Mat Ishbia gets set to take over as owner.

The Nets, meanwhile, need another rugged forward to be able to throw out there in playoff games. Brooklyn can't win a size battle with, say, Joel Embiid. Instead, the Nets need to lean into what they are and put more length, quickness and switchable defenders alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Crowder, in theory, can provide that. And if the Nets add Crowder, Curry becomes even less likely to be part of a closing lineup in a playoff game in Brooklyn.

-- Tim Bontemps

Pascal to Phoenix
Toronto Raptors get: Deandre Ayton, Dario Saric, 2023 Phoenix first-round pick, 2026 swap rights, 2027 Phoenix first-round pick (top-10 protected in 2027, top-4 protected in 2028, unprotected in 2029)
Phoenix Suns get: Pascal Siakam

With Ishbia expected to have his purchase of the Suns finalized within the next week, as reported by ESPN's Baxter Holmes and Adrian Wojnarowski, let's get bold in Phoenix to take advantage of the team's remaining window with Chris Paul at point guard.

Siakam would give Phoenix another shot creator on offense to complement Devin Booker as well as a Swiss army knife on defense. The Suns could start traditional lineups with Siakam at power forward next to either Bismack Biyombo or Jock Landale, their remaining centers, but would surely finish games with Siakam in the middle flanked by Cam Johnson -- a unit that could switch any pick and would provide ample floor spacing for its stars to create one-on-one.

By including Saric, Phoenix would actually cut this year's luxury tax bill by at least $10 million, though Ishbia would have to be prepared for a larger payroll in 2023-24, when Saric's contract is up. Siakam will make about $5 million more than Ayton next season.

For the Raptors to make this trade while getting a weaker package of draft picks than what the San Antonio Spurs got for Dejounte Murray would require them to value Ayton as a key part of the return. Although Ayton's development in Phoenix seems to have been stalled, an athletic 7-footer would fill a need in Toronto's slumping defense.

The Raptors also get younger by swapping Siakam, who will turn 29 in April, for the 24-year-old Ayton. And they forestall the possibility of Siakam making an All-NBA team this season and becoming eligible for a supermax extension.

-- Kevin Pelton

Crowder finds a new home, Part 2
Phoenix Suns get: Patrick Beverley, Wenyen Gabriel and Juan Toscano-Anderson
Los Angeles Lakers get: Jae Crowder and Cameron Payne

The Suns are currently getting nothing from Crowder, whom they sent home before the season began. They reportedly would like to trade him, but have no interest in long contracts even when attached to reasonable young talent. Beverley, Gabriel and Toscano-Anderson are all on expiring contracts, like Crowder, while Payne still has three years remaining on his deal.

Beverley would replace Payne as the primary backup lead guard behind Chris Paul. Payne has struggled with injuries for the past couple months, as has Paul. Beverley has shown he can coexist with Russell Westbrook, so he should be able to make it work with Paul as well, despite their history. Beverley brings an attitude, and injects grittiness and defense on a teamwide level. Beverley has the second-highest Defensive Real Plus-Minus score among point guards -- the fifth best among guards overall -- and would help give the Suns a defensive edge that they've lacked all season with Crowder out.

Gabriel and Toscano-Anderson are long, athletic wing/forward types who have shown they can contribute as rotation role players. With the way that injuries have rocked the Suns this season, healthy role players in the frontcourt provide tangible value as well for a team that still has postseason aspirations.

Beverley is redundant on the Lakers, with both Westbrook and Dennis Schroder playing well and LeBron James as the de facto point guard. Their well-documented need is shooting, and Crowder would immediately fill the glue guy/3-and-D forward role that he has perfected in recent seasons. Crowder has knocked down two 3-pointers per game on average in his past five seasons. When healthy, Payne would also give them 3-point shooting as a backup perimeter guard, and with the Lakers' salary-cap situation, having him signed for an additional two seasons after this one would be a plus for them.

-- Snellings

https://www.espn.com/nba/

[Desertfox]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

To me if a guy needs specific conditions to be successful that basically eliminates them from me considering them a 'star' player.

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By that criteria Booker is not a star, since he needed CP3, Ayton, and Mikal to be successful. You could even add Lebron, since he needed the "superteam" to win. Plenty fo good players on bad teams that went nowhere cause they didnt have help...

[Jdiddy701]

Six big trades we want to see at the 2023 NBA trade deadline

Crowder finds a new home, Part 1
Brooklyn Nets get: Jae Crowder
Phoenix Suns get: Seth Curry, Kessler Edwards, two second-round picks

The Jae Crowder situation has dragged on all season long, with Phoenix effectively having to play down a man despite dealing with all sorts of injuries along the way. It's untenable for that to last through the deadline.

At the same time, if the price Phoenix was looking for was one teams were willing to pay, this saga would've ended months ago. Thus, we find ourselves at an impasse.

Brooklyn can at least give Phoenix a good player in Seth Curry, who can space the floor around Devin Booker and play off the ball. Curry's contract is up after this season and Edwards has a team option for 2023-24, which, along with the extra second-round picks, would leave Phoenix with more options in the future as Mat Ishbia gets set to take over as owner.

The Nets, meanwhile, need another rugged forward to be able to throw out there in playoff games. Brooklyn can't win a size battle with, say, Joel Embiid. Instead, the Nets need to lean into what they are and put more length, quickness and switchable defenders alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Crowder, in theory, can provide that. And if the Nets add Crowder, Curry becomes even less likely to be part of a closing lineup in a playoff game in Brooklyn.

-- Tim Bontemps

Pascal to Phoenix
Toronto Raptors get: Deandre Ayton, Dario Saric, 2023 Phoenix first-round pick, 2026 swap rights, 2027 Phoenix first-round pick (top-10 protected in 2027, top-4 protected in 2028, unprotected in 2029)
Phoenix Suns get: Pascal Siakam

With Ishbia expected to have his purchase of the Suns finalized within the next week, as reported by ESPN's Baxter Holmes and Adrian Wojnarowski, let's get bold in Phoenix to take advantage of the team's remaining window with Chris Paul at point guard.

Siakam would give Phoenix another shot creator on offense to complement Devin Booker as well as a Swiss army knife on defense. The Suns could start traditional lineups with Siakam at power forward next to either Bismack Biyombo or Jock Landale, their remaining centers, but would surely finish games with Siakam in the middle flanked by Cam Johnson -- a unit that could switch any pick and would provide ample floor spacing for its stars to create one-on-one.

By including Saric, Phoenix would actually cut this year's luxury tax bill by at least $10 million, though Ishbia would have to be prepared for a larger payroll in 2023-24, when Saric's contract is up. Siakam will make about $5 million more than Ayton next season.

For the Raptors to make this trade while getting a weaker package of draft picks than what the San Antonio Spurs got for Dejounte Murray would require them to value Ayton as a key part of the return. Although Ayton's development in Phoenix seems to have been stalled, an athletic 7-footer would fill a need in Toronto's slumping defense.

The Raptors also get younger by swapping Siakam, who will turn 29 in April, for the 24-year-old Ayton. And they forestall the possibility of Siakam making an All-NBA team this season and becoming eligible for a supermax extension.

-- Kevin Pelton

Crowder finds a new home, Part 2
Phoenix Suns get: Patrick Beverley, Wenyen Gabriel and Juan Toscano-Anderson
Los Angeles Lakers get: Jae Crowder and Cameron Payne

The Suns are currently getting nothing from Crowder, whom they sent home before the season began. They reportedly would like to trade him, but have no interest in long contracts even when attached to reasonable young talent. Beverley, Gabriel and Toscano-Anderson are all on expiring contracts, like Crowder, while Payne still has three years remaining on his deal.

Beverley would replace Payne as the primary backup lead guard behind Chris Paul. Payne has struggled with injuries for the past couple months, as has Paul. Beverley has shown he can coexist with Russell Westbrook, so he should be able to make it work with Paul as well, despite their history. Beverley brings an attitude, and injects grittiness and defense on a teamwide level. Beverley has the second-highest Defensive Real Plus-Minus score among point guards -- the fifth best among guards overall -- and would help give the Suns a defensive edge that they've lacked all season with Crowder out.

Gabriel and Toscano-Anderson are long, athletic wing/forward types who have shown they can contribute as rotation role players. With the way that injuries have rocked the Suns this season, healthy role players in the frontcourt provide tangible value as well for a team that still has postseason aspirations.

Beverley is redundant on the Lakers, with both Westbrook and Dennis Schroder playing well and LeBron James as the de facto point guard. Their well-documented need is shooting, and Crowder would immediately fill the glue guy/3-and-D forward role that he has perfected in recent seasons. Crowder has knocked down two 3-pointers per game on average in his past five seasons. When healthy, Payne would also give them 3-point shooting as a backup perimeter guard, and with the Lakers' salary-cap situation, having him signed for an additional two seasons after this one would be a plus for them.

-- Snellings

https://www.espn.com/nba/

The person who thought of that last trade should probably be fired.


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[Desertfox]

I'll just point out that Ayton was killing it as the #2 next to Booker when CP3 went down. All we need is a solid PF and PG that dont have injury concerns next to our core of Booker, Ayton, and Mikal and a solid bench.

Ayton has never had an elite or even a solid true power forward supporting him yet. The same guys who are criticizing Ayton are always putting haystack-like CamJ next to him. At the same time Booker has one of the best defender(Mikal) in the league and one of the best point guard(CP3) of all time supporting him.

My question is who’s a solid PF in todays NBA? IMO, Crowder is the perfect PF next to Ayton. A traditional PF who does most of their work in the paint would only make Ayton worse. I’m not sure there’s any PF in the league that would make Ayton better. A player with all the tools that Ayton has should excel with guys like CP3 and Booker.


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Markannen, which we could have had for almost nothing... if only JJ realized he was the GM.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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