06-27-2021, 10:06 PM
(06-27-2021, 07:57 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: There certainly does feel like there's at least a tiny bit of smoke here. So, let's pretend this is the case and the best buddies with Nico and wants to be coached by Kidd is a thing. What is the minimum Portland would take.
BTW, over half of the 2023 picks have been dealt and most of those have some level of protection to them. We have to have an unprotected pick to free up 22, 24 and 26.
BTW II, NY doesn't have to say yes if we offer to remove the protection on our 2023 pick. There is precedent for this costing an additional second.
I'm not sure Portland would tear it down. But, I suspect they would prefer to be able to sign Powell, use the MLE and stay under the LT. So, cap room could be a factor in compensation. Fortunately, we can help with that. Those of us who thought DJJr. might be a player here might get a chance to find out if this were to happen.
McCollum, Powell, Covington and Nurkic would be a nice start if Nurkic could stay healthy. They like Simons and he gets some minutes at PG and could be the future there. But, do you bet the rest of McCollum's career on Simons or do we need to provide a starting PG as part of the exchange (I'm thinking someone better than Brunson).
I think the biggest question is how do they view KP. Is he a fit or would they rather have the assets we might get for KP? Does Hardaway have any value here?
It takes $31.4mm to match Lillard's $39.3mm saving almost $8mm. Ideally you'd do that rather than going under the cap. Then you'd create a TPE by trading JRich into space and take back Jones Jr. saving another $10mm. Unfortunately, that probably still isn't enough to get them under the tax.
Am I the only one, for reasons of realism and things that are actually worth getting excited about, who is more focused on us pilfering their other good players if Dame leaves? Those four "new foundation" players that Dan mentioned are each better than every current Mav other than Luka (GTHO if you're one of those who are going to argue that that isn't true regarding KP for any one of them. It requires colossal Mavs homerism to assert that KP was better in '20-'21 than any of those four). If they want to give away one or more of them after the Lillard trade, lets get in on that.