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

[DanSchwartzgan]

@JakeLFischer
Dallas has been one of the teams engaged in acquiring Siakam, sources said. The Mavericks continue to be linked to various versatile forwards, from Andrew Wiggins to P.J. Washington to old friend Dorian Finney-Smith, according to league sources.

 
The Hornets have indicated that they will be more active this deadline, with influence from new ownership, than how the front office has conducted business in previous transaction windows. Charlotte is said to have all players available outside of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams, per league personnel. 

Wiggins and PJ both look like crap so far this season.  Both have the potential to be buy-low swings that can pay off nicely.  Both have the potential to just be dead weight on the cap.  Given what we might be willing to give up, these two seem more likely than DFS.  IOW, Wiggins/PJ is a different type of conversation than DFS.

Neither Wiggins nor PJ is a game changer...small incremental change depending on the outgoing.  But, the outgoing shouldn't be that much in the case of PJ and you might even get an asset for taking on Wiggins.  PJ is a declining salary that runs the same length as Kyrie's contract.  You can get him with less outgoing salary (need $9.35mm) versus Wiggins (need $16.8mm).  The Wiggins deal runs a year longer and escalates.  He's a bigger financial risk, but peak-Wiggins is the better defender on a team that needs more D.

My guess is the PJ deal would be Holmes and an asset (Holmes plus Hardy keeps Dallas barely under the tax).  He hasn't played well enough to garner much more than that.  I like the Hardy fit with Ball, Miller and Williams.  Wiggins would probably be Holmes/GWill and maybe something coming back to Dallas.  I could see GS doing this if Holmes was expiring.  If that were the case, they could lower salary while letting GWill take on the role Wiggins fills for that team.  Maybe GS pays someone like Washington to take a year of Holmes in their TPE.  People can add 2nds and other players around the fringes, but that would be my guess in terms of the base assets to be dealt if something like this were to happen.