NBA TRADE TALK: TDL over

[F Gump]

Gotcha. 

So isn't a more simple THJ/Harris swap, just letting Harris walk a little better? 

.....

I'd be tempted to make a deal like that and view a retained Brunson and DFS as the real prize.

Let me be clear - the whole point of my idea is with the end goal of keeping both JB and DFS.

My thinking on why just letting Harris walk would not be better is: Obviously you can't get THJ on next year's team for 10M. It's 19M or not at all. I don't think he's going to be worth 19M, either now or later, which I see as a real problem.

But if for 10-11M (ie, MLE or so) you can get most of what THJ is, with some possible upside, I think that's a plus. It does mean you've only saved 9M when swapping THJ for Harris, but that's why the rest of the deal .... where you get Lopez (who saves 6M off of DP salary, and likely can do all of what DP does for that price) and you move Burke (saving 3M next year, and clearing a roster slot/role for Dragic this year).