the 2nd apron is hanging over their heads and moving Russell is the best way to get some breathing room but Russell was a good player for them last season, arguably putting up better numbers than Simons, so if they have to dump Russell it could go a long way toward explaining their reluctance to also give up draft assets, especially considering they don't have much in the first place
I think it's Rui and Gabe Vincent coming back for Jerami. I think the negotiation is obviously about draft capital coming here with those two. I think we should be willing to take an unprotected swap in 2029 and an unprotected or very lightly protected (top one or top three at the most) pick in 2030.
I agree but maybe an Ayton-->Pelicans/Ingram-->Lakers/Russell+Rui-->Blazers (+draft assets) changes the equation quite a bit
that is not a legal trade the Lakers are 500-600K below the 2nd apron. Grant's salary is 29.8M. Lakers would have to send out at least 29.3M to aggregate salaries Rui + Vincent = 28M...no Russell + Vincent = 29.7M...yes (but it's two guards and they are already light in the back court) Russell + Vanderbilt = 29.4M...yes It just about has to be Russell going out in order for the Lakers to execute a legal trade. But the problem with those two trades above is that as soon as the Lakers officially sign Bronny, they are in 2nd apron hell and they'd still have to sign a 14th player however, Russell + Rui for Grant + Walker/Reath put the Lakers over 4M below the 2nd apron giving them lots of breathing room. The issue with that trade is it kind of looks like a lateral move. Both Russell and Rui were solid contributors for the Lakers last season (32 pts; 6 rebs; 8 asts. 42% shooting on 10.5 three's/game. 9.2 winshares). If Cronin is asking for two first's on top of that, the Lakers are justified in telling Portland to pound sand and looking elsewhere
If the sticking point really is they don't want to send two firsts or a first and Knecht, why not 1 first and both 2nds they have in next year's draft? They have their own and the Clippers. Both of those could be in the 40s in a supposed loaded draft that could be used as ammo to move up with our own pick (if we likely miss the playoffs).
It's not most of us you have to convince. We don't know what our front office is demanding for Jerami or how far Joe is willing to compromise that and we don't know what the max the Lakers have been willing to compromise from what I'm sure is a low ball ideal for them. I think most of us would be very happy if it were a first round pick with very limited protections (top 1 or top 4) or none and a swap with similar protections. This could preserve one tradeable first for the Lakers. I also hope both sides are being creative. What might other teams give up for DLo, Rui and/or Vando? Would that make up the difference in draft compensation between what the Lakers are offering and what we need to feel good about the trade? Again, I really think there is a good chance that when all of the GMs including Pelinka and Joe are in Vegas starting late this next week, face to face discussions will happen and they'll likely figure something out. Now that DeRozan is off the market Jerami is by far the best single piece available that the Lakers can acquire to increase their chances at a title... far better than Kuzma both in terms of overall ability and fit.
Why? We’ve shown we can tank hard with those guys. If we can’t get value, be patient. Maybe they’ll have more value at the deadline.
Why what? How is playing at a celler dweller level with these guys playing me-ball going to raise their value? I'm just saying I want to get max value for these guys ASAP. If that's at the deadline so be it. But I seriously doubt their value will go up. It's probably more likely to drop.
We don't know. Their value could go up or it could be the same. The only way it goes down is if they get hurt. On the other hand, a team might have a player who also gets hurt and is desperate for help. It is impossible to know for sure.
How could it possibly go up? Everyone knows who these players are. Unless Ant starts playing lockdown D and Grant decides to start pulling down twice as many boards... Which would be awesome. If we're waiting for that we're setting ourselves up for another CJ situation.
Brogdon is the red flag there. He was supposedly worth one or two 1sts, and instead we sent out two 1sts and two 2nds to get rid of him. (I doubt anyone was predicting Deni is worth three or four 1sts, given how much better Bridges is and that being a historic but fairly comparable haul of picks not likely to be any better.)
We paid to get rid of Brogdon? I think the Blazer management would disagree with this. I disagree as well but then again I know as much about Deni as you do. (Nothing)
Deni was easily worth the price we paid. Brogdon probably would have gotten us a late first because a good team would be the one most likely to want him. Deni would have been the #1 overall pick if he had come out in this draft. So think of it as a trade up. One of the benefits of collecting a bunch of picks, is your ability to cash them in for a young player that you know is good, rather than drafting players and hoping they're good.
We sent out 4 picks instead of taking back 1 or 2 picks as presumed by most, so yes, we paid to get rid of him. Whether it ends up being a worthwhile trade is a different matter entirely. Other GMs, aka impartial observers, have reportedly said we overpaid. Trade grades seemed to be lower than Wizard fans and many here felt of the price paid for Deni. So, you may approve of the acquisition cost, but saying he was easily worth the price is quantifiably false. It's TBD whether he lives up to the overpay. Sure, it's likely a trade-up, but it also probably wouldn't have taken four picks to move to the top of this draft, so that's a moot point.
You know what matches perfectly? Rui/Vincent/Knecht = $31.8 million Grant/Reath = $31.8 million I'd still want a first with Knecht. We're taking on Vincent's awful contract. Maybe a swap. Rui/Vincent/Knecht/2029 FRP/2030 swap for Grant/Reath.
