Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

1. Orl-Issac sucks on offense but hes young and was in conversation for dpoy prior to last season injury (dont see orl doing it tho)

2. Pacers- Brogdan is solid fit albiet another injur prone player

3. Det- unfortunately Grant will get marginalized by Lebron on offense but maybe he'll be the guy who does the dirty work

4. cha- 2 injury prone players but have skills to help us

0 interest in wall, he'll probably take a buyout anyways if hou doesnt trade him

 

No to the Rocket, would do the other trades.
High risk high reward with Fultz and Gordon. Fultz had looked good when healthy over the last 2 years. Hayward is probably the best player of any of the names but like Fultz who knows if he can stay healthy.

Personally feel the best about a Pistons move. Grant get you a big wing defender who is still an offensive threat: despite whatever he thinks he is he's an ideal 3rd man on a title contender. Cory Joseph is a decent PG as well and can platoon with guy like THT at the guard spots

 

same. go to hell, wall/westbrook swap. it's so happening, too. we'll give up a heavily protected first, and they'll cut westbrook, who will join the clippers and accept a backup role to play for the league's greatest living coach.

can't see orlando giving up on isaac, despite his obvious and very troubling injury issues. same way i wouldn't give up AD, but on a smaller scale--if he gets right, you've just pissed away your best asset. also don't understand detroit giving up grant after seemingly recommitting to him at the deadline this year.

would definitely do those and the others, though. and i think the issue is about the other parts of the deal--how many picks and who's giving them up?

 

the worst of the bunch is the Detroit one but I’ll take that because I can’t watch another year of Brick

 

I could probably talk myself into most of these except John Wall. Just have no interest.

 

i'd say ORL but isaac hasn't played since the bubble and that's very concerning (and odd)

indy's package is the best on paper but brogdon is injury prone and hield can't defend

charlotte's is the one i'd take despite hayward being injury prone too

 

Olynyk would give us very good minutes alongside AD.
Grant fits AD too and could be a trade asset moving forward too.

I think it's my second favorite the Detroit one after Charlotte.

But I'm on the team Wall. As long as Russ is out without a buyout or picks attached, it's great for us

 

You do the Wall trade only if you have nothing else or you're just waving the white flag trying to save money till the rebuild hits (this would be terrible for the Lakers as I think they go back to the post-kobe, pre-Lebron morass very quickly)

you do the Orlando trade (obvious stipulation Orlando wants to do this) if you are trying to build for the future while still staying relevant but not confident about being a title contender

Detroit/Charlotte/Indiana are my 3 preferred as I think you get a title contender out of those 3.
-Charlotte is the highest upside as Rozier is good player and Hawyard is easily the best player involved in any of the trade scenarios, it's also the riskiest because it's Hawyward.
-Indiana is the safest option but it would have to be tied to other moves as the glut of smallish guards who don't defend doesn't get solved with this move even the overall talent does get better
-Detroit would be the best option IMO btw risk and reward: you fix the huge problem of adding size/athleticism/scoring with Grant, Joseph gets you a solid PG, Olynk gets you stretch 5 who can eat up 15 mpg a a game. If you resign Monk and Howard, I think folks are underestimating how this move would make the Lakers very scary again. Joseph/Monk/Reaves/THT isn't exceptional but unlike Bradley/Russ/Bazemore/Augustin this is a rotation of NBA level players who have complementary skillsets and are not just one-dimensional guys. More importantly, the frontcourt is a legit NBA title contender level: Lebron/AD/Grant/Stan/Olynk/Dwight is very good. With Grant and hopefully an improved THT, you get back to your defensive identity as well but with enough shooting to space the floor

 

Hornets
Pistons
Pacers
Magic
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Rockets

I’m still a big fan of Rozier being the 3rd best player on this team and still would do this trade despite Hayward always out for half the year.
Trade with Pistons would give us the most useful players. We’d replace a lot of depth we lost. Grant is the wing we need, Olynyk can play the 4/5 with AD, Cory is instant offense off the bench.
Brogdon is as often injured as Hayward. We got the same production as Hield from Monk at a big discount (hoping we resign him). And Hield doesn’t play defense.
Magic has the most damaged goods but the bigger upside. If Fultz and Isaacs get their heads on right, they are young and dangerous… big if though.
Rockets is last ditch effort, addition by subtraction. Maybe we can turnaround and trade him during the season?

 

For me

1. Magic- young players with lots of potential
2. Hornets/Pacers- good players but injury prone
3. Pistons-mediocre players
4. Rockets- wash

 

Mitch, if true, do us a solid and take Russ before you clean out your desk.

 

Unless we are going to trade Lebron, which we should do but won't, we might as well keep Russ and let him and Lebron expire. With Lebron being our main guy next year we won't be going anywhere anyway. No sense taking on bad contracts. Let our young guys develop and see if AD can stay healthy. Let's see if AD can be a true number one. I'm tired of Russ, Lebron and bad basketball and I think AD is too. If we are going to be losing games at least be working on the future and not trying to resurrect the past. Those last few games were so much fun to watch. I would like to see those young guys hustling on defense like that with AD anchoring them. I also want to know what Rob can do without Lebron in the mix. The worst thing we can do is extend Lebron and try to build around him yet again, surely we are not that foolish.

 

Big problem in that: we're not walking away from the Bron business. He's not walking away from us either... at least not until his son is drafted/signed and I still have us as the favorites to land him.

There is too much money in it for us. Bron at 40 will still be the biggest worldwide draw in the NBA. He's #1 in jersey sales and we're #1 in merch, that's no coincidence. AD isn't marketable. Not like that. And on Bron's end, he wants to be in LA for his fam and for his business. Perfect marriage of convenience that goes well beyond what happens on the basketball court.

 

Damn.

Sorry, Mitch.

 

mitch getting the axe may kill hornets deals for us. which sucks. takes a name out of the "bidding".

 

Glass half full: depends on what our working relationship is with him. Haven't heard much in recent years about where we stand with him or his feelings about the Buss kids. Maybe he asks for more to prevent the whispers of alleged favoritism (KG to Boston). Maybe the new guy isn't a top tier GM and we can pounce on his inexperience.

 

Hearing a lot of Hornets fans clamoring for Vogel as their next head coach.

That would certainly kill any potential for a Westbrook trade with Charlotte (unless it was a multi-team trade I guess).

 

Charlotte after all those years seems to be finally on the right track and MJ decides to clean house. I know they were disappointing this year but they get a nice foundation

 

I like the Magic deal a lot. I think it’s a win/win for both teams. Fultz, Ross and Isaac are exactly the kind of complementary players we need to surround Lebron and AD with. Orlando is going nowhere with their young core, so it gives them cap flexibility once Westbrook is off the books in a year.