2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

It was an unprecedented move to overhaul a championship roster after two years lol, this season’s result is why not many teams do it… Hubris was their downfall

 

Great discussion on the Indiana/Westbrook trade hypothetical scenerio.

It actually made me re-think Westbrook’s value this off-season. Westbrook’s trade value will completely be that of a expiring contract for rebuilding teams, in exchange for giving the Lakers long contracts they don’t necessarily want.

For example, someone brought up why the Pacers would trade both Turner+Hield for Westbrook and only the 2027 pick. That’s a valid point, the Pacers could probably get a future 1st for Turner alone, another 1st for Hield from another team, picks for Brogdan, etc.

It makes me think the most possible trade scenario between the Lakers and Pacers would be to trade Westbrook and 2027 pick for both Brogdan and Hield, NOT Turner. Turner is going to have a big trade market this summer, especially because he’s a expiring contract. However, I could see a lot of teams hesitating on taking on either Hield and Brogdan.

Hield’s contract pays him $20 million until the end of 2024, by that time he will be close to 32 years old and near the end of his prime. Hield is who he is basically at this point and I doubt he will ever become a defensive stud, but he’s a solid 3 point threat with not great defense. Brogdon’s contract runs until the end of 2025, where he actually would be a very good fit on the Lakers but there are injury concerns with him. Brogdon will also be 33 by the end of his contract, plus he plays the same position as Haliburton so he becomes redundant for the Pacers.

I now absolutely see the appeal of a expiring Westbrook contract for the Pacers. If they do this trade, they will have a completely clean roster cap space wise with only about $11 million on the books in the summer of 2023. You throw in a Lakers 2027 pick, which at this rate looks like it’s going to be a high lottery pick and it becomes a no brainer for them. This is exactly what a rebuilding team should want, they have their first building piece in Haliburton. They can now have so much cap flexibility and a draft pick to build around Haliburton just a summer from now.

I was looking at the salary cap situation for rebuilding teams and there’s only really 2 other teams that would benefit from a big Westbrook expiring contract, and that’s the Knicks and Portland.

For the Knicks, there’s grumblings that Randle and the team aren’t happy with each other. Randle’s contract with them is a albatross, it runs until 2026 and it’ll pay him $30 million in its last year. They also have a longer contract in Fournier which runs until 2025 paying him $19 million in his last season. If they dump Randle/Fournier for Westbrook, it sets the Knicks up to only have around $4 million dollars on their books in the summer of 2023 for a grand reset. See where I’m going with this? If I’m a rebuilding GM this is very appealing.

Lastly would be Portland and the big long contract there is… Dame Lillard. Millard’s contract runs until the end of 2025 and will pay him almost $50 mil in the last year. Portland is clearly rebuilding with the moves they’ve made. If they agree to dump his salary, they would have about $15 million in salary on the books for the summer of 2023. For this one, Dame would be 35 years old by the end of his contract. He’s starting to show signs of breaking down so the last year or two of his contract could end up looking really bad if he’s constantly hurt….. but if I’m the lakers, I would go all in on this and even try to offer multiple picks. The issue here is that there’s reports that the Knicks are going to be aggressive trying to get Dame as well this summer. Knicks have more draft assets to offer than the Lakers. The Knicks also have enough 2023 expiring contracts to offer Portland for salary dump purposes as well (Rose/Nerlens Noel/Alec Burks/Kemba). I think the Lakers lose out on the bidding war here.

In all likelihoods, I think the two best case scenarios from the Lakers standpoint is the Pacer trade or they try to make the Portland/Knicks trade into some sort of 3 way trade where Dame goes to the Knicks, Portland gets expiring contracts, and the Lakers get some combination of long and expiring contracts from the Knicks.

 

The Lakers should seriously consider this trade if they are intending on staying in win now mode. But, if they are going all in on 2023 free agency, then they are better off just letting Westbrook expire. If I'm Indy, I would love to move Brogdon off of the books. Including Hield as a "semi" asset and absorbing Westbrook's short term money are the price they have to pay to move Brogdon, but they also get a draft pick (or two). One draft pick going out would be fair, but Indy would try to fleece us. For us, a line up of Brogdon at the 1, Hield at the 2, AD at the 5, James at the 4, and the best possible two way wing at the 3 would be solid. Another thing about this trade is we don't have to stress out too much about bringing back Monk. We could try to use the tax payer MLE on a big wing, like Covington.

 

yeah, our only chances are teams looking to unload long-term salary. there's not a lot of them. ny already laughed at us, and indy hates us.

if dallas wants to punt next year, they could move bertans/hardaway for russ and clear some serious space. honestly, they've played fine without hardaway this year, and bertans is a bit player for them. they could buy westbrook out with cash we send.

we save money in the short term, get back-end rotation guys, and free up cash to pay monk i think?

 

Turner is injury prone and adding two more guards isn't going to change much. We need size, another 4-5 and a long 3-4.

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/Vrv4Fwww3cAB4w1m9

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/Ep7EWzSS2WrPLC9JA

 

I don't think we should pick and choose to move Russ. If Indy or Dallas make that move, we sign it on the spot

 

I think we should make whatever move we can to enhance AD. I'd rather go after Wood over Turner. Dallas? Are talking Hardaway? Who else?

 

My thoughts exactly.... the Lakers aren’t going to be in a position to openly pick and choose. In my opinion it’s going to be either Indiana/New York dumping their salaries or we end up trading Westbrook to Houston for Wall. I would also avoid the Westbrook/Wall swap as well because we are not getting any assets at all in return. Even in a salary dump scenario, all it means is we are getting players that can play but for teams just don’t need their long contracts right now.

Besides, the entire league knows Houston is going to buyout Wall anyways. If we really want him, we will get him as a vet minimum signing after the buyout.

 

Wood or Turner would be good in terms of a replacement for AD. I don't know if it's a good idea to go with a twin towers lineup, even if Wood and Turner are stretch 5s. You see how we get out run by younger legs on opposing teams. I mean, if we could revisit the Houston scenario. Lakers get Wood and Wall, Houston gets Westbrook, THT, and the 2027 1st. In my mind, this trade is really THT, 1st for Wood, (which would be a solid trade). Add to that the fact that we get rid of a migraine headache and add an expiring PG that might be able to contribute is icing on the cake. Lakers now have a stretch 5. AD could now be traded without worry of bringing back a big. Lakers could just go for best possible return, no matter what position they play.

 

That deal was never on the table. That was made up by us to pump Westbrook value. Wood is much more valuable and Houston would never do it

 

Good to know. I wonder if Houston would do the following deal:

Lakers get: Wood, Green, Wall and Nwaba

Rockets get: AD and Westbrook

Green is a good young player.

 

I don't get offended. Being offended is mental weakness.

 

AD ain't getting traded bro...that guy is too talented to give up for less than a top 5 player. Who has one that is on the trading block? I'm not ready to give up on Anthony Davis. Now...IMO...another similar talent...Ie Wood, maybe Turner (Turner is risky) paired with AD is the best possible scenario. They can both run in an uptempo offense, stretch the floor for each other, and coupled with Lebron, that's 3 legit guys with size to go to in a half court set. Plus that added length allows more flexibility defensively. If it meant giving up Russ,Talen, Nunn, draft picks etc..fine..make that move. Just moving Russ, draft picks etc for more guards as the goal? Negative. John Wall? IDK..the man says that he's not interested in a buyout anywhere.

 

So is msg board stalking.

 

Hell no!!!!

 

I hope this is a joke.

 

I'm scrolling the page, broseph, what stalking?

 

Well, it's not a joke. Some folks here do not understand the concept of buying low, selling high, etc. As soon as a player gets good, then they want to trade for them! And as soon as our players get bad, they want to trade them. Green is going to be an all-star really soon. He is an excellent young player. Much different situation, but I remember people complaining about trading Vlade Dive for Kobe! Yeah I have been around a while. Where is Jerry West when you need him?