Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[mvossman]

If you look at recent NBA champions, it seems like all of them have two bigs in the playoff rotation with at least one of them who can play both the 4 and the 5. I call that guy the swing big. KAT/Robinson, Chet/Hartenstein, KP/Horford, Jokic/Gordon, Draymond/Looney, Giannis/Lopez. That swing big is crucial for lineup flexibility and for those teams to play with space in the playoffs. Jokic will never play the 4, but he has an offensive game that provides all the value of a swing big. The same will be for Wemby when he wins a championship. I think this is part of the reason Minny was willing to dump Randle. They already have that model with Naz/Gobert.

I think this FO thinks Morez can be that swing big. He will play next to Lively as a 4, and he will play the 5. I have heard him referred to as a small ball 5, but he the same size as Gafford (actually a little bigger). His offensive game is going to have to develop to get there, and I think the FO is banking on the huge improvement he made from Freshman to Sophomore to continue.

This plan fits perfectly with Flagg. Your two bigs are elite defenders and strong play finishers while your big wing is an elite creator (and plus defender). Who it doesn't fit with is Gafford and PJ. I never saw Gafford as a long term piece here, and now that we have another viable starter at center he makes even less sense. If we are starting Lively/Morez/Flagg then putting PJ into the lineup pushes him or Flagg down to the two. Don't think that will make a lot of sense. One of the intriguing options with PJ was to play small ball (a valid term for him) center, but that no longer makes much sense. I am struggling where to fit him into the lineup, especially given the increased premium on shooting due to inserting Morez into the mix.

In the short term this team desperately needs to add some offensive creation. Somebody like Coby White for the MLE or a trade would make a ton of sense.