(04-17-2023, 03:30 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: All of these are fair points and are great reasons why not to do it.
But I'm looking around the league and its hard to find a better center that could be had for cheaper. Gobert's contract, and general decline, is enough for Minnesota to pay to get off of his deal. I'm operating under the assumption that they hated the twin towers experiment and are willing to throw in a great defensive wing in McDaniels in such a deal. The Mavs securing a defensive wing in the mold of DFS and getting their defensive minded center (while getting off of some bad money) is enough to make it worthwhile.
The Bullock+THJ+Bertans for McDaniels+Gobert deal actually saves the Mavs money this year and keeps them right under the luxury tax.
I don't know. As much as I'd like a Duren/Gafford/Hartenstein, I don't think those guys will be readily available. Gobert is. And even in his decline he's still a top 10 guy at his position.
I just don't see them including McDaniels in any deal. He made a legit jump this year. Also, there one saving grace that they said a lot was they were able to keep McDaniels in the Gobert trade. It would be high comedy to see them move him to get off Gobert.
They may be stuck with Gobert. Minny has made huge mistakes, but their GM is still pretty well thought of. They will look for a way out of this. It will either be two ways. Move KAT for a big package and build around Edwards and McDaniels or move Gobert. To move Gobert, they may need to look at packages for near expirings such as Bertans and THJ. I can't imagine there will be a lot of demand for Gobert with teams giving up good assets. May be a sort of KP type package.
Let me add, this is a pretty important playoff series for KAT. Can he be a top 30 NBA player. If so, a threesome of Edwards, KAT and McDaniels show some promise. Not contender status and they are limited with draft picks, but a good sneaky move or two and that could be a solid team. KAT needs to show up though in the playoffs.