Luol Deng Discussion: No #Dengdump, Rather Stretched Into Cash

...has not happened yet but Deng is grounding us.

 

Pincus thinks Zubac/Cleveland 1st/5 mil cash (most you can offer)/2nd would be enough to move Deng.

2 1sts/2nd/cash would have multiple suitors in his opinion.

 

If Deng is the rock, what is IT? The pebble

 

A pet rock? He’s a rock that just stands there while his man scores on him at will.

 

Sure! @Punk-101 here's the sitch:

If we can trade Deng/Zubac/Cleveland 1st/2020 1st for no salary returning we're looking at total salary of roughly 34.8 million. That leaves about 66.2 million or so to spend with a roster of Randle (cap hold), Ingram, Ball, Kuzma, Hart, and Bryant.

George would cost 30.3 million
LeBron would cost 35.4 million

You'd be left with only about 1.7 million (roughly a veteran minimum contract. You'd also have the 4 million Room Exception to spend.

As for Julius, with his Bird Rights, we'd then be free to give him any sort of contract we want. Recently a rumor came out that his value in the market will roughly be somewhere between 12-15 million. We could give him that with no penalty, or more if we felt like "rewarding" him for being patient.

 

Thanks for filling us in, Wade


I’m feeling pretty good about this situation if Pincus is right. I’d gladly give up Zu, 2 2nds, cash and a first to dump Deng and be able to go after George, LeBron, AND key in all this, retain Randle. If that means we get to keep Ingram, Kuz, Zo, and Hart, then those draft picks mean very little, because the chances of us finding another Kuz or Randle with those picks, are not high. We have drafted very well, yes, but we have missed on good amount of guys too, and we haven’t drafted someone that’s putting up the numbers Randle is right now since like..Kobe? We rarely get a chance to pick a player with that potential.

 

Statistically speaking, we honestly haven't missed much in the last few years. Most 2nd round picks are useless and most late 1sts are not much better. We've drafted at a fairly high level since 2012 with guys like Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre at least still serving some function. Most 60th picks are useless, but we were able to turn Sacre into a viable roster spot for a few years.

I agree though. If we can move Deng attached to two 1sts or a 1st and two 2nds, things get veeeery interesting this summer. If we could do that as well as trading for George, we'd be in such a strong place it's preposterous.

 

I’m not knocking out drafting history at all. My point was that the chances are those 2nd round picks are more likely a crazy eyes Brown, Goudelock, Kelly, Sacre, Caracter, Morris, or Ebanks, than even a Zubac, let alone a Clarkson. and if we have to give up a first, the likelihood that that player would be a Randle is slim to none, be a Kuz is unlikely, and you’d be hoping for a Hart. You really can’t do much better in the draft where we selected than we have the past few years or so, and I’m ok with giving up maybe players that match what we already have for cap space to swing for the fences, if it allows us to keep said players. But, I think we’re agreed on all these points anyway.

 

Yeah I completely agree, I was just giving our scouting department props. I mean this genuinely: there's been no better team in the draft than us since 2012. Our only "miss" since 2012 was Anthony Brown and arguably Ryan Kelly, even though it can be argued that drafting even close to an NBA player is impressive in the 2nd round as most of those guys don't make it.

If we could move Deng without giving up Kuzma or Hart or Bryant, I think we're in AMAZING shape. I know Kuzma wants to be more, but giving him that time to develop off the bench, he'll be an absolute assassin for us in 4 years. Fielding a team of:

Ball/
George/Hart
Ingram/
LeBron/Kuzma
Randle/Bryant

with the room exception to spend still (Lopez hopefully) is honestly jaw dropping. That team has so much amazing potential for now and for the future, it's incredible. That team is worth sacrificing Chandler Hutchinson or Khyri Thomas and a couple more late picks. Like you said, if we're lucky we get 2-3 more Josh Harts. Is that worth holding on to over LeBron/George/Randle? F*** no. As much as I love our scouting department, that's not even a question. I hope the Lakers, George, and LeBron see it the same way.