01-21-2022, 11:56 AM
(01-21-2022, 09:13 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: First, you can't trade the 2022 first until the pick is made, which means this can't be done until June and at that point Orlando can't send Harris at his current expiring deal to trade match Hardaway.
But even if you could, if you leave Bamba out of this (optional), you are paying to give Hardaway away. If he's so bad you have to drop down in the draft several spots to move him, then the TDL is hopeless. Green would take that spot in the rotation, so there is no point in signing Harris to a contract that is worth less than the TP MLE. Plus you already have Brown and Frank who do similar things for much less.
You've posted this several times and until you made the Bamba part optional, I assumed you had a higher opinion of Bamba than I do. If you watch how we are defending right now, we need bigs who are more mobile than Bamba (if healthy Turner wasn't going to work, Bamba certainly won't). I think PJ Washington or Batum or Thaddeus Young or Toppin would be much better fits for this scheme. I'd like to get a guy like that and move Maxi to the bench with Powell. I'd also like an upgrade over Burke as our third PG. The question is how can you deal for any of that without giving up DFS, JB or Green when we can't deal a pick until 2026?
Teams do that pick swap BS to circumvent the non-consecutive rule all the time. Question is whether you can also do that with a 1st and 2nd round pick. "If the pick doesn´t fall into the top 16 the Magic have the option to swap their 2nd for our 1st."
You can easily get the Knicks to waive that protection and we can trade our 2025+ picks for Lillard. It looks like the Knicks have their own big plan for Zion, and the more unprotected picks they can offer the Pelicans the better for them. So having an unprotected Mavs picks makes even more sense under these circumstances.
If Cuban is willing to pay for THJ + Brunson + DFS + Powell + Kleber, I´ll happily keep THJ for the Lillard trade.
I like the team, we just need a Lillard-esque upgrade for THJ and one legit C. We don´t need to trade half the team. They earned that trust over the last 25 games. The only question marks are the Porzingis health evalution and the Brunson/DFS re-sign status. Those are not on-court performance issues.
This team doesn´t have the guaranteed 1st round exit stink all over them. It´s not a championship team yet, but NOW it´s good enough that a Beal or Lillard could buy into being the missing piece (and some ring-chasing minimum veterans)