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

[omahen]

That is interesting.  Once 12/30 passed, the opportunity for the acquiring team to extend him six months after the trade (but before free agency) went away.  That changed the calculus on what teams would likely pay.  Many of the deals that might have included young players from Atlanta or Indiana are too risky without a path to avoid free agency.

I heard one commentator out of Toronto call Michael Grange of Sportsnet a 'mouthpiece for the team'.  He's the one who named Dallas, Atlanta and Indy as the teams most likely to pursue.  As soon as he put Dallas on his list, Stein (with strong connections in Dallas) tapped the brakes (but didn't deny it) by saying the interest from Dallas is overstated.

Behind Dallas at +200 is Memphis at +300 followed by Atlanta and Indy at +500 followed by Sacramento and Philly. It takes real salaries to match Siakam at $37mm.  Philly gets there with expiring veterans (probably not what Toronto wants).  Sacramento doesn't really make sense next to Sabonis.  Indy does make sense next to Turner, but probably doesn't help Toronto unless they are willing to give up a prized youngster (too much flight risk for that).  Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas have real NBA players they can include in a deal (which seems to be Toronto's preference) without destroying their roster.  To me, the most likely places Siakam would stay if traded there are Philly and Dallas, so I think the odds do make some sense.

Good post. Only a comment about Memphis. I don't think they would touch their core of Morant, JJJ, Smart and Bane for such a deal. Perhaps, but I don't think it is very likely, Smart. Other than that their contracts are Kennard, Adams and Clarke. I don't think Toronto would have any need for Adams or Clarke. Kennard is meh, basically expiring contract. Their rookies are also really nothing special. So I think Mavs can make more interesting offer.