12-16-2025, 12:06 AM
West is starting to get weaker overall. Doubt it's still 9-10 teams deep that are all within a few games of each other. Trade 1 of the centers for a guard, draft a guard, and getting past the 1st round is easily doable next year. Even with AD traded, could still be really solid, but would need Lively to play a lot of next year of course. Suppose it's a big risk to have all of AD/Kyrie/Lively healthy come playoffs next year but if they are then they can probably hang with anybody. If they aren't giving much for AD now, he may end up actually having more value as an expiring or on a cheaper deal next contract for a trade down the line.