HALLELUKA: Luka Clinches All-NBA 1st team. 4th in 5 years

[Scott41theMavs]

That's a realistic trade proposal. Collins isn't really "wing-y" enough for me, but at least he's an upgrade overall on what Maxi brings (and younger). It seems like a lot to give up for Collins, which means, as I said, that it's probably realistic.

We love our boys in blue?

Now put on your red Atlanta jersey and have another look at Kleber and Brunson. You see a number 5 (at best) and back up point guard. Kleber is already 28 so you can't really expect much improvement. On the other hand, Collins is a borderline all star.

I am actually affraid Atlanta would be expecting much more for Collins. Unless both Capella and him play for the remainder of the season and really suck at it.

The trade gives up four (presuming our 2020 and the GSW pick) significant assets. All Dallas would have left to throw in would be DFS and our 2025. Part of the team success is built on value contracts. If we trade away all of our team for a player like Collins, at least we have our third star, but we also have a team to fill out with no cap room - plus the risks of the 2025 pick. Four significant assets is a lot for Dallas to give up. I understand that it may not be enough for Atlanta and that Dallas might get outbid. But we have to be quite careful about what we trade. Dallas's best past trades have been about opportunism. Giving up everything for a third-best player on a championship team is quite risky. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Edit: part of any optimism I would have here would be about Atlanta's stupidity. Good as Trae is, he's no Luka, and they passed on Luka for Young and (snicker) Cam Reddish. On the other hand, thank goodness they were so dumb, because otherwise, we probably draft WCJ over Trae, and are still hoping that DSJ and whoever we drafted in 2019 can eventually become something worthwhile. Scary thought.