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[PhoSita]

With priorities for the season changing, time to shift some deadweight. 

Trade #1
Who needs a backup SG?

Well, the Hawks could definitely use one with Lou Williams out for the year, and neither Morrow nor Tolliver are playing much. 

Jason Terry

for

Anthony Morrow ($4 million, expiring)
Anthony Tolliver (800k, expiring)


Trade #2
Who needs a backup PF?

The Nuggets seem like they could use one, seeing as Karl doesn't trust Anthony Randolph and Mozgov is superfluous (behing Koufos and McGee in the rotation).

Brandon Bass

for

Mozgov ($3 mil, expiring)
Randolph ($1.6 mil, 3 yrs)
Julyan Stone (750k, expiring)

[PhoSita]

In light of Adrian Wojnarowski's comments about the likelihood of Pierce and KG being traded, or of really any major moves happening, I want to reiterate these trade ideas.

I know they aren't exciting.  I know they wouldn't make the team better.  But if Danny Ainge's hands are really tied as much as Wojo believes they are, then at the very least he needs to make every reasonable effort to get rid of the long term contracts on the team of players who will likely play no role in the rebuild.  I think Terry and Bass both fall in that category.

Lee, in my opinion, has made a case for himself to be a keeper, at least for the next couple of seasons.  He and Bradley and Rondo seem to fit well together -- and with their defensive intensity, speed, and athleticism, they all fit into a common theme.  They compliment one another.

I would love to see Green get traded, if for no other reason than to get his money off the cap after this season or next.  But I just can't really see any team trading for him at this point.  He needs to stick around for another season or so to build up some trade value, and then hopefully we can trade him.  Or keep him, if he's really made a case for himself by that point.


In any case, the worst thing Danny Ainge can do at this trade deadline is sit on his hands.  Though his options may be severely limited in terms of "blowing up" the core, and the ownership group may put pressure on him to keep the team together enough to still make it into the playoffs (gotta have the revenue from those 2 home games!), he still has the ability to get rid of some of the salary deadweight on the roster.


Going into this season, the team was in "win-now" mode.  The depth of talent on the roster made sense in light of that.  Now that depth is a problem.  We're paying a bunch of guys a lot of money to field a borderline playoff squad.  However you felt about the team's chances prior to Rondo's injury, it's hard to escape that reality now.

[theswitch]

Yes, thank you. Getting rid of those two is priority number 1. That's 26 million bucks over the next two years. We would likely enter next season with just Rondo, Green, Lee, Avery, Sully, Melo and Randolph (31 million). Terry and Bass are useless to a rebuilding effort, especially at long-term deals. Any deal that gets rid of them without taking on a bad contract is a good deal.