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

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Hopefully it comes down to "just" GWill and some version of the 2027 for PJ and they are negotiating protections and not additional young talent.  If someone asked this summer if we'd deal Reggie and a protected 2027 and a 2030 swap with SA for PJ on a declining contract, I suspect we would have done it.  

Unfortunately, that deal puts Dallas into the tax this season and adds $2.5mm of salary next season.  So, my guess is Dallas would like to push some salary to Charlotte.  That will cost something (a player or less protection on the 2027 pick).  Their team is essentially Ball, Miller, Williams, their 2024 high lottery pick and whatever they get for Bridges this summer.  If GWill is in the deal, he and Nick Smith and Richards are the beginnings of a bench.  Bouknight was a mistake at #11.  They declined his option and he's RFA (expiring) this summer.  I suspect they'd rather move off him and claim they got something for him.  What else does Dallas have to pay to add a Holmes Bouknight swap into the PJ/GWill deal.  The benefit to Dallas is substantial as they not only move back under the tax this season, but they create enough space for the full MLE this summer.

Trading our 2027 1st to upgrade Grant Williams to PJ Washington is a losing move.  

We'd be so much wiser to just wait until the offseason and trade more draft capital for an actual good player like Jerami Grant.