Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[SkenfromLMF]

Deandre Hunter fits like an absolute glove on this team. Capela obviously as well. I think if ATL didn't trade Capela for the 10th pick they aren't going to take a smaller package now because the Mavs aren't suddenly going to add Green/Hardy in the deal.

To take Collins off their hands, Hunter and/or Capela should be the consolation. I still think there is a 3-team trade here with PHX that ships Collins off to them and the Mavs get their choice over Hunter or Ayton.

Edit:
Was playing around in the trade machine. I don't think there's a realistic avenue for the Mavs to get Ayton anymore much to my dismay. But there does still seem to be a 3-team trade that makes sense for everyone:

DAL- Capela+Hunter
ATL- Ayton+THJ
PHX- Collins+Bullock+McGee

PHX gets 2 starters for Ayton at positions of need plus a center. This increases their salary by ~8 mil, but they're in cap hell anyways and McGee+Bullock are flexible enough to be S/W and/or come off the books quickly.

ATL gets a starting center in return for Capela at roughly the same value, but also get well below the tax line getting off of Hunter. They replace Hunter with another shooting wing that they need. This move clears 15 mil of salary for them.

The Mavs they obviously nail down their rotations. If we expand the SAC/OKC deal, the net salary coming in is ~54 mil (21+20+12) and the net outgoing is ~52 mil (17+18+10+6). Overall an increase of 2 mil from where they used to be with Bertans

Rotations are if they can't offload Holmes (and I doubt they can)
Luka/Hardy/vet min (Dragic finally?)
Kyrie/Green/
Hunter/Pinson
Maxi/OMP/Vet min (Morris? Love?)
Capela/Lively/Holmes

Total roster salaries after the trade: ~172 mil. This is assuming Kyrie signs for his full max starting ~48 mil. If he takes a slight discount (say 40~ mil starting salary), then the Mavs avoid paying luxury tax and the 1st apron all together. If they found a way to offload Holmes (and say replace Powell at the vet min with him), then they'd be able to just squeeze out the MLE but the math is tight.

Edit 2: I've realized above is an overcomplicated trade and the Mavs can easily just cut PHX out of it and deal with ATL directly. Theoretically, THJ+Bullock+McGee is enough for Collins and either Capela or Hunter as payment. The money is largely the same and the rotations look like:

I disagree with the edit. Ayton is the primary motivation for Atlanta (secondary is moving off of Collins) when proposing this to the fans. I think this is the Value and savings that Atlanta really desires to make happen. Getting someone else to take Collins...