Around the NBA - July 2017 Edition

It's a very tricky situation for Boston to bring in Gasol, which makes me believe that they wont.

 

Another idea to help BOS clear cap space and add a PF they need:
We Get: Crowder, Smart
BOS Gets: Aminu or Davis, Lottery Protected 2018 and 2020 1sts.

Would you do that? Would they?

 

Well, and I'm not even sure what Memphis could get for him on the open market.

 

I would do that in a heartbeat.... but I don't think they'd include Smart in that deal.

 

The best result I could see from this off-season as of now:
Send Aminu to a 3rd team, pick to BOS for Crowder.
Trade Crabbe to BKN for cap space, getting us under the luxery tax.
Trade (S&T?): Send a combination of Davis, Napier, Vonleh, Layman, Connaughton (~$14M to $15M) for a starting level PF.

 

Makes no sense for Boston to go after Gasol now, they would need to give up too much and gut their roster. They are good as it is, should only look to get good value for Bradley or Crowder. I think Bradley is the obvious one to move with his upcoming extension.

 

That's because most of East are struggling. A team like Hawks may think that with Bradley they still make playoffs and their pick becomes less valuable in the short term and they get a great 26-year old guard in return.

Or try and get Philadelphia's pick. That is probably the best deal for both teams, perfect really:

Philadelphia receive: 2018 Boston pick, Bradley
Boston get: Okafor, 2017 Philadelphia pick

 

I wouldn't even touch that with Oden's 10 foot pole. Mainly because I think Smart is trash. He hustles, scraps, and plays good defense, but I HATE his offensive game. Watching him uselessly drive into the paint for shitty shot after shitty shot/turnover during the playoffs soured me. Replace him with Bradley and you have my interest.

 

If they really wanted to trade him I'd entertain the idea of sending out a package for him. Gasol can play PF. He can defend on the perimeter and shoot the 3. The high-low between him and Nurkic would be absolutely nasty. This is a way to compete with Golden State. The rebounding, inside defense and grit from a Gasol/Nurkic frontcourt would be so much fun to watch.

We could also offer Pau a 2 or 3 year contract worth the MLE, by seeing if he wants to play with his brother. Collins would be our backup PF which would give us FOUR 7-Footers, three of which can shoot and all of whom could pass.

 

Apparently Smart has made major strides with his jumpshot so far this summer. I'm not high on him either, but I know some people are so I was seeing if the Smart fans out there would want this trade.

 

If I'm Portland I'm offering a starting package of 2018 and 2020 1sts, Vonleh, Harkless, and Aminu for Gasol.

 

Pacers waive Monta Ellis, wouldn't mind picking him up

 

They're lacking any depth at power forward. They had to renounce Olynyk. They're really hurting on rebounding now. If they got Gasol, they could play Horford at power forward.

 

Gasol can not realistically play pf at all.

 

I actually didn't see that you had two first rounders included in that. I wouldn't do that deal for two firsts.

 

They'd lose depth at every other position to make it happen though. They need to trade Crowder while getting rid of Rozier, Jackson, and Mickey. That would open up $5M in cap space after the Hayward signing. They could then go after someone like Ilyasova.

Thomas / Smart
Bradley / Smart
Hayward / Brown
Ilyasova / Tatum
Horford / FA Vet

 

I beg to differ. You really think he can't guard PFs?? Randolph would guard Cs and Gasol would usually guard PFs when they played together.



He's big, so many people assume he can't defend the against perimeter oriented PFs. However, he has quick feet and is a smart defender. Having Nurkic at the rim to protect it with Gasol in weakside would be a great tandem.

 

Supposedly Ainge is obsessed with building a super team. I just don't think Thomas/Hayward/Horford is a super team on the same level as Cleveland or Golden State.