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

[DanSchwartzgan]

I don’t want to wade too deeply into the 2027 pick debate.  I will point out that the 2029 pick got us a top 20 player (though he is somewhat flawed and was a pending FA).  So, expectations for who this pick might bring should be high.

I’ve been thinking through how I might design compensation around something that nets us multiple players (since we have so little to trade).  LAC has a 2027 pick, but can’t trade it because they traded their 2026 to OKC (I think it is unprotected).  One way of compensating Philly for taking Holmes while we get Zubac is throwing an unprotected 2027 into the deal, but doing it in a way that benefits Philly without taking the Clippers completely out of the 2027 draft.  LAC could make the offer to Philly a best of Dallas or Clipper pick and retains the other (they have to have a pick, but it doesn’t have to be their own).

I wouldn’t trade an unprotected pick for Zubac (or Gafford since it came up).  But, if LAC sent me a second or two and that second rounder added to THJ got Charlotte to trade me PJ Washington AND it was done in a way I still had the MLE to offer to Thybulle (or part of the MLE), that starts to get interesting.  At that point, it isn’t a 2027 unprotected for Zubac, it is Zubac and a returning second that gets me PJ and a shot at Thybulle.