ROSTER TALK: Mavs favs for Vogel if no HC job exists. Kyrie handshake deal?

[mvossman]

I've been threatening to do a Collin Sexton post for a while, but just haven't felt motivated.

Then, I heard Dan on Hardwood Knocks do an entire pod on Sexton and Iztok on 77 Heaven talking about doing the deal that helps to set up "THE" deal in the summer of 23 (when you can trade 24/26/28 and do pick swaps on the odd number years once the draft has passed).  He pointed out the trade target might not be obvious in terms of current team need.  Maybe it is someone like Dinwiddie who has been devalued for some reason, but has upside from where he is currently valued.  Sexton comes to mind for me...especially in the mid-teens as that is probably a very trade-able contract.  I'd argue more trade-able than Hardaway.

So, here is the math.  THJ to Detroit for Kemba.  The Pistons can't quite fit that under the cap unless the send out a small contract like Lee or Livers, so it is two for one with someone coming back with Kemba.  I'll use Livers and now THJ fits under the cap in Detroit and Dallas is $575,000 under the apron.  The hard cap is solved as long as we end up below the apron when the dust settles.  If Cleveland ends up with Powell, Frank or Green and Livers, you can start Sexton at $14mm-$16mm depending on whether it is Frank or Green and depending on how much room you want under the apron for flexibility.

You still have to overcome BYC (but you have a $5mm trade spread again).  You also have to keep Cleveland under the tax, compensate them for Sexton and figure out a place for Powell to end up as Cleveland doesn't need another center.  None of that is insurmountable.  Cleveland has some cheap contracts at the end of their bench.  BYC can be overcome by sending one of those to a fourth team...presumably one like Utah that could use an expiring big.

That's enough detail for now.  What it comes down to is would you do expiring Powell for expiring Kemba?  Either is in the 11-15 range on the roster and wouldn't get regular minutes.  I say who cares.  Then, would you trade THJ for Sexton?  You get what you need in terms of bench creation and I think a mid-20's sixth man of the year who has scored 20+ in his career (but whose stock is down because of injury) would be way more trade-able than Hardaway.  Finally, would you add Frank or Green to the package to get Sexton's starting money into that mid-teens area and give Cleveland something to show for their trouble?

I suppose this makes sense from an asset perspective.  I know there is a purpose but not a fan of giving Timmy up for Kemba.  I feel like maybe Detroit should be paying the S&T tax to Cleveland?  I realize the idea is to make this move to turn Sexton into an asset and he is very talented offensively, but I really don't like him as a player.  He is a terrible defender and very selfish on offense.  He does not seem like a Kidd kind of player, and in order to build his value we would need to play him 30 minutes a game.  To be honest, I don't know why Detroit would not make this move as they have a lot more room to maneuver and can let him run wild without worrying too much about it.