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

[ItsGoTime]

The LaVine thing makes sense (BTW, one national podcast I listened to was discussing DeRozan for Ayton, which I thought made some sense if Paul is also gone or going somewhere.  No traditional PG, but Booker and DeRozan provide plenty of creation).  I’m also a fan of your construct where Dallas gets Toppin and Hartenstein plus 2024 for #10.  I’d actually do it for less than that.  Toppin and Sims would be fine with me but Hartenstein is obviously better.

I think the play here is for Barrett to go to Chicago along with Grimes or Quickly.  The Bulls are rebuilding around Patrick Williams, Barrett, a NY guard and #10 (plus Ayton if they do the deal for DeRozan).  NY gets someone who can play off the ball or on and spread the floor in LaVine (a better fitting version of Barrett).

There is absolutely no guarantee Dallas gets a player better than Toppin with #10.  He was drafted even earlier than #10 in his draft (kind of proving the idea that the new car loses value the moment you drive it off the lot).  But, you’ve filled a need (Toppin and Maxi are your PF’s) and you have things you can send along with two picks to get a center or a defensive wing or whatever your next trade target is.  I’m probably a bigger Toppin fan than most, but he produces when he gets minutes.  He’s a bit like Josh Green in that respect.  Not a bad thing when you already have two superstar scorers.

That’s a pretty dang quick rebuild for Chi. Not bad and makes sense. Also looks like deals that make everybody pretty happy. I do wonder if Chi would look to squeeze another pick or 2 in, which NYK would tap out of as they would be giving up quite a bit. That’s where I also feel the Sims deal makes it much more stomachable seeing the run Hartenstein just had for them. Of course I prefer Hartenstein also with the added benefit of getting off McGee’s contract.