You know the story. I'm bored at work. And when I'm bored at work I start thinking about the future of our favorite basketball franchise. Here's some trades I'd love to see happen during the draft.
Trade 1. Word on the street is that HOU would love to enter that Carmelo sweepstakes. If so, they're gonna need to drop a lot of salary. They need to drop player like Lin and Asik without taking back guaranteed money. This is pretty much limits you trades with teams that either have cap room or trade exceptions. Luckily, we have the latter. I'd offer..
HOU gets - our Paul Pierce trade exception
BOS gets - Jeremy Lin, Hou's 1st rounder (#25)
They clear cap space, we get a late first round pick. Win-win.
Trade 2(due to the CBA this trade may have to be combined with the HOU trade). I'm guessing the Knicks are going to do everything they can to build a competitive team in the hopes of convincing Carmelo to stay. If that's the case, I make this offer:
NYK get:
G Wallace
Lin
B Bass
BOS get:
Amare
Shumpert
New York gets better, but takes on 1 additional year of Wallace's deal. We give up vet talent to get out from under the last year of Wallace and Lin's deal.
Trade 3: Lets say the Lakers don't get lucky and get a top 3 pick. I've got to believe they're going to want to pair Kobe with quality vet talent. So we offer them...
LAL gets:
Rondo
BOS gets:
The ghost of Steve Nash
LAL 2014 #1 pick (draft Exum, if not available, draft Smart)
LAL 2019 1st round pick
LAL gets a all-star caliber vet, plus clears out Nash's contract. We get a premier young talent plus a future #1. Note: If Exum is not available, I would ask for the option to swap picks in 2016 as well. Note: Would not make deal if Exum and Smart are already off the board. Also, if LAL is not feasible, I would explore similar trade with Orlando.
Trade 4:
Charlotte is a team that has had minimal playoff experience. They have a decent core right now, but the offensive product from their wings is minimal. I'd see if they'd bite at...
CHA gets:
Jeff Green
BOS gets:
Bismack Biyombo
Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist
Charlotte gets a vet who immediately becomes their #3 scoring option, as well as a premium wing defender. We get two young players that are physical freaks, have crazy potential on D, and are both good teammates and hard workers.
Trade 5. Package our 17 and 25 and move up in the as high as we can. Hopefully in the 10-14 range.
Draft. If we have a top 3 pick, take Wiggins. If not, take either Exum or Smart. With LA's pick take Exum or Smart, whichever's available.
Re-sign Bradley.
Our 2014-15 roster would look like
PG- Exum, Nash, Pressey
SG- Wiggens*, Bradley, Stauskas, Shump
SF- Kidd-Gilchrist, Babb
PF- Sullinger, Olynyk
C- Amare, Bismack, Fav, Anthony
Love this lineup. They will have an awful record in 14-15, but there is a good core of young talent on that team. Plus, they are surrounded by good role model vets. I would also let Nash, STAT, and Anthony know that we'd be willing to work out 2nd half buyouts if they'd like to join a playoff team after the all-star break. This would help give our young'ns some additional minutes.
So we will be heading into 2015-16 with a lineup of:
PG- Exum, Pressey
SG- Wiggins, Stauskas, Bradley, Shump(I think he'd still be signed)
SF- MKG, Babb
PF- Sully, KO
C- Bismack, Fav
We'd be going into the summer of 2015 with 2 1st round (one of which should be a lotto pick) and roughly 30 million in cap space. The 2015 draft is supposed to be loaded with centers. We'd have enough cap room to bring in a max level talent. And since I'm sucker for nostalgia, I'd like to see us bring back Pierce and/or KG for one last hurrah. Can't think of a better pair of vets for the kids to learn from.
Future would look pretty darn bright if you ask me.
*Best case scenario. Would be replaced by Smart if we don't win the lotto.