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

[DanSchwartzgan]

Since yesterday was kind of a 'keep Wood' love fest, lets go the other direction today.  What team might possibly trade for him with the idea of keeping him.  I don't expect this to be popular.  In fact, it is probably a step back to take a step forward type move.  But, it checks some boxes.  It reduces our tax payment a bit.  It moves Bertans in a deal where we take back an even bigger contract.  It provides a Maxi replacement who is RFA after the season and gives us a very young center who certainly qualifies for the concept of getting them before they arrive.  It also gives us a secondary ball handler off the bench who can take some pressure off of Luka and SD.  Nothing here impacts long term salary unless the RFA is retained.

I've asked the question several times and no one has answered.  If Wood is UFA this summer, who has the means and need to sign him.  The only answer I come up with is Charlotte.  They have cap room.  Their 32 year old starting center is a free agent.  The future at center there is really young (21).  They possess the 30th ranked O in the league and could use someone who puts the ball in the hole.  They want to move on from Hayward and don't appear to want to pay P.J. Washington.  The best FA centers on the market are Wood and Naz, but there is no guarantee they go to Charlotte (or even make it to the summer as FA's).  

So, the deal is:

Hayward/Washington/Kai Jones

for

Wood/Bertans/Bullock

I've got Jones backing up Powell at center until the day he can start.  He is a high-variance kid at 21 with incredible speed which would add another player who can get out on the break.  His mobility should also help defensively and he's shown some flashes of an outside shot.  I've got PJ coming off the bench in Maxi's absence and potentially signing him (or S&T) this summer.  And, I'd rather pay $30mm to Hayward for a year providing some secondary playmaking and scoring from the bench than $23mm to Bertans guaranteed over the next two seasons.  Note that I have Maxi as third string in the depth chart below.  That is for the rest of this season due to injury.  That will sort itself out as Powell and Washington are both FA's this summer.  I like the Hayward timeline as Hardy might be ready for the role I envision for him once Hayward's contract is up.  He is the kind of veteran scorer who used to be a star that you often see on really good teams.  Yeah, the money is tough, but the group below is $12mm under the LT before resolving Powell and Washington.

Powell/Jones       McGee
DFS/Washington  Maxi (for now)
THJ/Hayward       Frank/Pinson
SD/Green            Hardy
Luka/SD              Walker