Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Winter]

I've been thinking through consolidation trades with the losers of the Lebron 'sweepstakes'.  Now that our TPE is mostly gone and we are fairly close to the tax, I don't see eating a contract as a possibility.  We could trade a player straight up for another player (like Klay for Jovic or Strus), but the addition of Risacher makes our unlikely interest in Jovic even less than it might have been before.

GSW is the one I came up with.  People have proposed this before, but Gafford, PJ and Klay for Butler and Podz works legally and gets us back to 15 players.  It also gets us the additional creation we need and it helps GSW fill several needs for the rest of the Curry window with no Butler and no Lebron.  

The issue I see is Dallas would be a taxpayer.  We would still be nicely under the first apron (at which they would be hard-capped).  But, moving on from Gafford and Washington would completely reset the books going forward.  It 'could' create $60mm of cap space, but once you bring back Kyrie, Max and Naji, the space would be gone and you'd basically be operating under the tax and would use next season as your repeater reset instead of this season.  Besides the full MLE, we might also gain some benefit from having Butler's Bird rights next summer.  It worked with Middleton.

Podz/Larry/Sasser
Irving/Christie/Biberovic
Risacher/Naji/(Butler)
Flagg/Aldama/Martin
Morez/Lively/Cisse

That's a more balanced roster for sure. 

How does GS feel about Butler? I don't hear much about that. I can see why they might do that...  and I can see why the Mavs would do that (which likely means it would never happen). Butler certainly won't be happy in a crowded field of players, but we only have that problem for a year.

[BigDirk41]

I've been thinking through consolidation trades with the losers of the Lebron 'sweepstakes'.  Now that our TPE is mostly gone and we are fairly close to the tax, I don't see eating a contract as a possibility.  We could trade a player straight up for another player (like Klay for Jovic or Strus), but the addition of Risacher makes our unlikely interest in Jovic even less than it might have been before.

GSW is the one I came up with.  People have proposed this before, but Gafford, PJ and Klay for Butler and Podz works legally and gets us back to 15 players.  It also gets us the additional creation we need and it helps GSW fill several needs for the rest of the Curry window with no Butler and no Lebron.  

The issue I see is Dallas would be a taxpayer.  We would still be nicely under the first apron (at which they would be hard-capped).  But, moving on from Gafford and Washington would completely reset the books going forward.  It 'could' create $60mm of cap space, but once you bring back Kyrie, Max and Naji, the space would be gone and you'd basically be operating under the tax and would use next season as your repeater reset instead of this season.  Besides the full MLE, we might also gain some benefit from having Butler's Bird rights next summer.  It worked with Middleton.

Podz/Larry/Sasser
Irving/Christie/Biberovic
Risacher/Naji/(Butler)
Flagg/Aldama/Martin
Morez/Lively/Cisse

Why would GS do this trade? It makes them a worse team. We would be getting the 2 best players in the deal. I think Podz is better than PJ, but we can call them even for the sake of this. I don't see it appealing for GS unless they need to dump salary.

[Winter]

Why would GS do this trade? It makes them a worse team. We would be getting the 2 best players in the deal. I think Podz is better than PJ, but we can call them even for the sake of this. I don't see it appealing for GS unless they need to dump salary.

Butler is 36 and just coming off a bad ACL injury... which should keep for part of next season if I read it right (February). That's a pretty good reason to unload him.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Patrick Beverley: Rumor has it LeBron James makes his decision today!!! LOL.

x.com

[michaeltex]

Well, the WC is over and there are no other media events to take focus away.

Unless the crowd in DC does something attention-getting, that is.

[JamesConway816]

Thankfully Luka will be coming back for free in 2028 and we can see the mega star lineup of:

Luka
Kyrie
Coop 
Morez
Lively

Only two more years pal

[OBX Maverick]

Speaking of roster spots and in case you missed him, let us all celebrate “el cucaracha!”

https://x.com/mavs_ffl/status/2079212074379387224?s=46&t=mX3Z6eiAc7ISTBsXmYJkNA

---

[DanSchwartzgan]

Why would GS do this trade? It makes them a worse team. We would be getting the 2 best players in the deal. I think Podz is better than PJ, but we can call them even for the sake of this. I don't see it appealing for GS unless they need to dump salary.

Butler doesn't come back until probably February and won't be fully himself this season.  Keeping him means wasting $56mm worth of salary (not to mention Moody is also out).  Curry only has so many viable shots left.  Instead, GSW is getting three players who can contribute:

Gafford gives them a reliable option at center where GSW currently relies of the unreliable KP and Horford to fill their center minutes this season.

Klay gets them the nice reunion story for a season

PJ gives them much of what they were hoping to get in any Lebron signing.

It also saves them money and tax.  The hard pill to swallow is obviously Podz, but there is talk that landing on a number for him is going to be difficult (whether extended now or paid as a RFA next summer).  Put it all together and GSW gets three very useful players for essentially Podz (who they are facing a financial battle with soon).  If they love Butler so much, they can bring him back next summer.

Killer made a good point yesterday that Aldama, Sasser and Risacher are all players whose teams needed to make a financial decision on fairly soon.  So, Podz would be a further expression of this part of the Masai playbook.  Creating a huge expiring contract in Butler aligns with what happened with AD last year (and Butler is about as available as AD was also).  This has Masai MO written all over it.  Who knows what Masai might do with a large expiring contract at the TDL or alternatively, with the flexibility created by letting him expire next summer or using him as a S&T chip.  Podz fits the hole we have in the roster better than many of the alternatives we talk about.  He's a high IQ connector who makes quick decisions and hits his 3's.

[Mavs2021]

They simply cannot rely on Bron, Curry, Draymond, Porzingis and Horford to carry them through the regular season and not be completely injured or dead by March. They need playable character like Gafford, Washington and Thompson, but no to Podziemski alone. Give us Lendeborg or two unprotected 1st. Or give us Podziemski and Lendeborg and we throw in Naji Marshall.

[Winter]

They simply cannot rely on Bron, Curry, Draymond, Porzingis and Horford to carry them through the regular season and not be completely injured or dead by March. They need playable character like Gafford, Washington and Thompson, but no to Podziemski alone. Give us Lendeborg or two unprotected 1st. Or give us Podziemski and Lendeborg and we throw in Naji Marshall.

GS giving up Lendeborg now is probably the least likely thing I can imagine in this transaction (especially after this summer). Maybe a pick, but I suspect Podz makes more sense and I doubt we would turn it down if offered. 

In regards to picks, I'm not sure it would make any sense for GS to absorb 3 incoming players without any players going back.

Edit :: Klay Th0mpson stated in a TikTok video relayed by Will Simonds of NBCSportsBayArea.com that he wouldn’t rule out a potential return to the Warriors. “Never say never,” Thompson replied to a Golden State fan’s comment about missing him. Unless he signs an extension with the Mavericks, Thompson will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, when his three-year, $50MM contract expires.

[F Gump]

They simply cannot rely on Bron, Curry, Draymond, Porzingis and Horford to carry them through the regular season and not be completely injured or dead by March. They need playable character like Gafford, Washington and Thompson, but no to Podziemski alone. Give us Lendeborg or two unprotected 1st. Or give us Podziemski and Lendeborg and we throw in Naji Marshall.

A few notes to tease this ^ variation ....
1 Make your idea a 5-for-3, adding Martin, and Mavs can stay under the tax line.
Gafford, Washington,Thompson, Marshall, Martin
Butler, Podziemski, Lendeborg  
2 The roster and cap logistics fit for both teams. GS has 4 empty roster slots. GS is far below the tax line. 
3 Yaxel is NOT trade eligible yet, but he will be on Aug 1. If Mavs have him in their sights, gotta wait.

Do I like the idea of emptying out the roster of all the vets except Kyrie and Butler? No, not at all. I think it would cause problems in a multitude of ways, as you try to mold a whole set of new bodies who are mostly inexperienced and all clawing for minutes. Of course, this would open up a roster spot to bring back Powell!

[cow]

...and we throw in Naji Marshall.

No we will not.

[DanSchwartzgan]

They simply cannot rely on Bron, Curry, Draymond, Porzingis and Horford to carry them through the regular season and not be completely injured or dead by March.  

I was looking for deals for the teams that lose out on Lebron, but your mention of Lebron here brings up an interesting point.  

The savings generated by trading Butler/Podz for the three Dallas players is enough to get GSW far enough under the first apron to use the Taxpayer MLE for Lebron.  They wouldn't have to find a taker for Moody and could pay Draymond something in the $20mm-$21mm range.  So, another reason why Golden State might do such a deal.

Lots of ways to expand this or add picks.  I'll let others debate it.  Just the base framework is unrealistic enough without further complicating it.

[KillerLeft]

No we will not.

Man, I know you love him, but it's a contract year for him and it just doesn't feel like there's a future here. I think the options are: move him this summer, move him at the deadline or let him walk next summer. I suppose a sign and trade is an option, but they're going to have a lot of financial mouths to feed a year from now, and my guess is that they'll try to squeeze one more year in as non-tax team. I think I would.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The Athletic has reported on the Lakers’ interest in free agent Jonathan Kuminga since late June, but it appears that momentum has stalled with the sides far apart on terms and L.A. not overly motivated to push significant draft capital into sign-and-trade scenarios. Still, he appears to be the biggest upside play left on the table, and could re-emerge as a target if his market remains tepid. Cleveland, according to league sources, is the team most often connected to Kuminga other than the Lakers.

New York Times

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The Lakers are still monitoring the market for big men, team sources told The Athletic. They traded for Walker Kessler and signed Kevon Looney to play center, and Sandro Mamukelashvili can play the position, too. The team could address the position either by trade or signing, potentially adding Matisse Thybulle. The roster is currently at full capacity.

New York Times

[FireNicoHarrison]

They simply cannot rely on Bron, Curry, Draymond, Porzingis and Horford to carry them through the regular season and not be completely injured or dead by March. They need playable character like Gafford, Washington and Thompson, but no to Podziemski alone. Give us Lendeborg or two unprotected 1st. Or give us Podziemski and Lendeborg and we throw in Naji Marshall.

Good post.

Give us young Kids and picks for our veterans... That's good.

[Chicagojk]

The next trade may not be tied to Lebron as much as it is tied to Toronto/Clippers.    Both teams seem to have a lot of moving reports.  There were some reports that the Clippers were looking or a place to reroute Ingram to.    This may be a bigger issue than the Lebron wait.

[KillerLeft]

There were some reports that the Clippers were looking or a place to reroute Ingram to.

...and I wish them the best of luck with that, as long as they don't try to reroute him to the Mavs.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Luka and Thybulle finally on the same team.


[Charania] Free agent forward Matisse Thybulle has agreed on one-year, $3.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell ESPN.