Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[mvossman]

I think there is value to analytics but we'd probably trade everyone not named Cooper based on last year.  Naji was asked to carry a ton of burden last year which wasn't the role anyone envisioned for him when he was brought in.  His role should be to come off the bench, get buckets, play hard on both ends of the court and check anyone who gets into Flagg's airspace.  Everyone's treating him like he's making 20+ million a year when it's less than half of that.  And I know I'd rather cheer him on than one of our 20+ million players who phoned it in for most of the season.

Actually the analytics say he was pretty good in the role we asked him to play when Flagg was not on the court.  He is perfect to play Flagg backup for 15-20 minutes a game.  Is he going to be happy with that?  Will he still want to be here?  He is very likely not going to get the minutes this season that he got last season.  The arguments for trading him are that you might get a significant asset for him at his peak value, he might not be happy with a reduced role and they may not be able to retain him on a reasonable contract.  I think the trade value ship has sailed and for what its worth there has very little noise suggesting he is on the block.