2024-25 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

And i think that too can be addressed for a fraction of the price -- Jevon Carter gets you there (he has a PO, stay and rot behind Pedo Giddey or bolt and try to recover some career value) . Fultz maybe... need to see how the rest of the season goes for him. Or DS Jr reunion with Luka can address that need.

 

those guys are all worse spot up shooters than gabe, though. there's a reason we spent the mle on him, and it wasn't just "stupid rob", imo.

 

Definitely but the scenario in which he's dealt is to significantly improve the front court. Gotta give to get. There's a reason they cost what they cost vs Gabe cost what he cost. On an asset to contribution ratio based on what we have to shop (where there's real money attached) , Kleber followed by Gabe are the least valuable players. To me, a top 14 center > Gabe's contribution and you Bandaid the loss the best you can. I think that overall gain greatly outweighs what's going out.

 

I'd be trying to put Vando in a trade over Gabe tbh, but I know his contract is less appealing.

 

Pincus was on Irwin's pod today



Lakers have currently $900k-ish to play with.

-Goodwin prorated on 3/11: $408k if it's for the rest of the year. $422k this year if it's on a multi year deal. Usually these conversions are done with at least a second non/partial guarantee.

-Jemison prorated is $364k for the rest of the year, $408k this year if it's a 2+ year deal.


- the value of Shake's non-guarantee for trade purposes and how you can adjust that amount anywhere from $1 to the full annual value of $3m. So if you need to match to the dollar in a trade, that's valuable.

A lot of other cap stuff, in particular about the new CBA but those were the most pressing items for us.




Also on Irwin's pod two days ago and he reiterated it yesterday. Cam is gone the second one of the two way deadlines hit. From within the team, he's heard that Cam is first out. And that makes sense based on how far under the dog house JJ has him buried.

 

I absolutely love Vando. He is an ideal regular season player and what he gives us is unique in probably the whole NBA. But there's 3 worries with him: health, being exposed against better teams/playoffs and shooting. I'm not advocating shipping him for whoever, but he's in the top3 list for guys I'm willing to trade to improve the team (that hold any value), ahead of Rui, behind Kleber and a tough call with Gabe.

I don't think I agree with you on this one. I think Gabe's role is quite important in the team, because Luka or AR are constantly hunted on defense and he helps offset that when he's out there. I agree Goodwin can replace Gabe but then we would need another Goodwin

I'm only trading Gabe if it's to upgrade him or in case we really get another version of him on someone cheaper, who can guard, shoot and dribble some

 

So for this uber specific scenario, it boils down to: would you trade Gabe for a top 10 center? I'd do that 100/100 times and ask if it was Nico on the other line. Cause that's what Claxton is with Luka, that's the bump he gets.

I didn't anticipate that being a hot take. Yes, we can't enter next season without a POA defender. I'm just not wanting to spend $11m on a 6'2" (that's generous) one IF we can better allocate those funds to improve the starting group. The replacement will likely be worse at something if the replacement is from the TPMLE or vet min pool... unless you steal someone left in the cold because they're not longer a $10m+ player in this CBA. We're a team that agents will find those situations more attractive with Luka on board (just see the 3pt% bump the other starters have with Luka on the floor) . OR you call up the tank teams like Portland and see what's the ask on Camara ($2.2m). If Sabonis is traded this summer and Kings don't want to pay Ellis on his next deal (only $2.3m next year) when they're rebuilding (like how Nico didn't want to pay Grimes), you look into that. With the cap squeeze, you can find situations like that. Just have to be opportunistic. Not sure either are all that realistic but that's how I'm more interested in slicing the pie.

 

1. i'm not sure that claxton, in particular, is even available.
2. as such, i think you're overestimating the centers that will likely be available to us.
3. we value gabe differently. and keep in mind that to turn gabe into a claxton, other stuff is going out the door that will make replacing gabe difficult.
4. hayes has been quietly pretty good this year, and it may be easier to find another hayes on the scrapheap than to trade for a center who might be substantially better AND fit our current scheme.

in all, i'd rather see what kleber's expiring + shake can get us and maybe just live with whatever that yields (maybe a second hayes-level center).

with the other thoughts, i'll say two more things:

1. i've read that camara might be the least touchable guy on portland.
2. relatedly, not all gms are nico (lol), and i'd argue most teams are actually overpaying role players even while rebuilding these days, hoping they'll be able to trade them later. the teams to look at in terms of letting potential rotation players walk over money would be your small market playoff teams who are paying tax (denver's basically lost one a year since the title).

 

Mark, the dead guy...

 

yeah, they're still sitting him some, but man i was excited about that pick up. very curious to see if our medical staff was right or once again very wrong (but in the opposite direction).

 

My money is on "buyers remorse", maybe not Dalton but the pick got Rob pause for another second. There might be a deal in the summer that Rob is thinking about and that pick is/was crucial. So far, it doesn't look good (for the Lakers) and our so called "doctors", no way they were wrong... right

 

might be the one "who got away" but I'll always be curious why he failed the physical.

Maybe he had coke in his dufflebag and came in stoned or something, and that was their nice way of saying "hard pass"

 

And he might not be. Maybe Sharpe is and I'm more than happy with that move. I think two things: nearly any non-star is always available on a tanking team. Just a matter of the current price. Price this summer for Claxton might be quite different than the ask in December or January just as it was with DFS. Secondly, Rob likes talking trades with GMs he's had positive dealings with in the past. I think we'll definitely talk to the Nets this summer about one or both. I'd still like to shake (no pun intended) Rob for getting Shake and not Sharpe but apparently (reportedly) at the time we didn't want give up an extra second and wanted the additional ball handling.

I think the list is pretty grounded. Claxton and Duren as my two trade swings, I don't expect Duren to be on the table as I do think he's too good for what we have to offer. But the interest was there when we "traded" for Williams, so at the very least we'll call them again. Then it's the likes of 4 bigs on bad teams. Two players between the two mid levels, which would require Bron cooperation. Then three minimum level guys. I don't think there's any reason not to walk away with two of guys mentioned here, if we want... it'll depend on how they decide to build Luka's roster this summer.

Which is fine. It'd be a boring place if we all assigned the same value to each of the guys. I'm also not kicking him out the door, I'm pitching a total of one center scenario that I'd move him for. I'd say that's putting quite a high value on him. It's not like I'm trying to pawn him off to Washington straight up for
Richaun Holmes. I'm also just being realistic that we have very few ways to get a $20m+ player and virtually all of them require either Gabe or Rui going out. Based on how the organization feels about Rui and how JJ has gotten him to play post-AD trade, i think it would really have to be a no brainer of a trade for them to move him and none of those in the 20m-35m range are available (so unless Luka/Nico II happens...).

Yeah, Hayes has played way over his head. Hopefully it's not an anomaly and is the result of JJ and Luka. I do have some concerns his agent will want him paid off what they're doing for him and not his external value.

I agree, there are multiple avenues Rob can pursue this summer to address the position he has previously disregarded. The fact that Luka values it means something will get done this summer though. As a team, yeah maybe they're better off with a Sharpe and Reed summer or Jalen Smith and Adams. But I still start at the top of the talent call sheet (Claxton/Duren) because I think the ceiling is higher. If it's a no, I'm not losing sleep, up in arms over it. Keep it moving and solidify the spot. Just please don't enter the season AGAIN with it up in the air.

That puts you in the mix for:
Brandon Clarke - don't think MEM moves him
Robert Williams - gettable if Portland is willing to trade with us
Kelly Olynyk - gettable
Obi Toppin - elite athlete... not a a C, but could be fun with Luka. Indy is always looking to balance their books but also not a fan of trading with us
Gafford/ Washington: Mavs fans will riot if Nico gives us anything else
Isaiah Stewart - would have to clear it with Bron

I'm good with a few of those.

Maybe. I will say that Portland consistently has the most unreasonable asks in the league for their players. I really like him and would probably overpay for him. Back to what I said with Claxton, if the team's bad enough i don't think anyone who's not a headliner is truly off limits. There is also the matter of they don't like dealing with us and vice versa according to reports.

They're not all Nico but I think these smaller market teams without super billionaire owners can be even more tax adverse. So if you're tearing it down but tell the owner you want to pay a backup a 4x multiplier for use as a future trade asset. That's not always a conversation that goes the GM's way. This CBA squeezes the hell out of the middle class players (or those awaiting that deal) .

 

A Robert Williams/Hayes tandem at center would be just fine with me, with Koloko hopefully still in the fold as well. I'm less worried about Williams' injury concerns when you know going in he's a 20 minutes a night guy only and we have at least one other guy with a similar skillset.

 

I wouldn’t trade Vando unless it was for another great defensive wing. That being said, I hope he’s here for a long time.

 

yeah, i just don't have center as that high a priority anymore, i guess. paul reed or steven adams (not sure if he's still all there, but if he is) is fine by me if hayes is still here. if we just go in with one more playable center in addition to what's been the post-luka core (luka/lebron/AR/rui/hayes/gabe/vando/knecht), i think we should a) win a lot and b) keep lots of trade avenues open should things go south.

kleber, gabe, and rui are all expiring next year, so unless i'm no-brainer upgrading, my sense is their value will be stronger closer to the deadline, right?