If we do end up needing to trade Dame, I'd demand that Philly pay through the nose. Simmons, thybulle, maxey, four first round picks unprotected, swaps in alternate years, and every second round pick they own. **I'm not even sure I want Simmons, but I am definitely holding some residual animosity for their evaluation of a proposed CJ-Simmons framework.**
I like Simmons and may want to keep him for a year or something. But, I wouldn't be opposed to then flipping him elsewhere for multiple picks. Same with CJ, Covington, Nurkic. Guys that wouldn't be on our timeline anymore. Accumulate as many young guys and picks as possible ala OKC.
Trouble is, if they're trading for Dame, it's to win NOW, and if they give up too much, it undercuts that. They're already short of forwards and they'd be trading us TWO for NONE in return. If they give us Thybulle, they're going to want RoCo. And then we offer DJJ instead, and we're at an impasse...
I do kinda wonder how much value we could extract in a Dame to Philly, Simmons to GSW 3-way deal. Assuming Draymond were the expensive piece that came our way, which young prospects would we receive from both Philly and GSW? I mean, imagine going into the season with a starting lineup of CJ/Norm/Roco/Green/Nurk, with Maxey/Ant/Thybulle/Moody/Wiseman in development on the bench, and a minimum-salary third string of Elleby, Mclemore, Snell, Brown and Zeller. I think I could get behind that route.
I guess I am warming up to the idea that the starting 5 is pretty strong. CJ has immense scoring talent and we do not know how a new coach will, hopefully, improve other aspects of his game. If NO can't get a good return on CJ then there is no reason to unload him just for the sake of appearances. Dame will miss games, CJ can pour in buckets in those situations. Can always try again to trade him at the deadline. Fuck Morey and Ben Simmons. I would try to unload DJJ and/or Ant for a real PG with experience and another big tough badass rebounder defender tough guy. i.e. a healthy version of Zach. Ant has real value to teams who need shooting. Nurk will miss games and I don't think Zeller is enough rim protection.
I just don't see the Warriors trading away Green. And I certainly don't see us taking him back if we're dumping Dame. It would be Wiggins, and ick. Best case scenario: (I'd like Moody instead of Wiseman ideally.)
We might as well trade Nurk in that scenario as well. (In a separate deal) He will want out and we might as well get something for him before he walks or gets injured again.
There's a lot of talent for sure but three guys in the starting lineup that are 6'3" and under hasn't been a recipe for success anywhere else. Dame and CJ have never been able to defend well together and they don't fit together on offense either. Maybe Chauncey can make magic happen and make all of the talent that seems mismatched cohesive. We know we've never seen anyone but Stotts coach the Dame/CJ back court. That being said, I hope I never have to find out if Chauncey can make it work because I'm still hoping for a trade that sends CJ and picks out and brings back an all star forward.
The other day, I had @Minstrel telling me they wouldn't want Simmons and Green together. Now I've got you telling me they wouldn't want to give Green up to get Simmons. Can the two of you just figure out our between yourselves?
I don't see any reason they would want Simmons and Green. Simmons is the more desired talent, youth and all, but Green would make Dame happy for at least another couple years I'd think.
Dame loved playing with Dray but he also really loved playing with Bam... well Simmons is pretty much those two guys in one package with the exception of the ability to hit free throws... I will say again, I think that can be fixed though. If we can put the package together to get Simmons, there's just no way we should want Dray instead... now if we need the Warriors to add to the package that gets Simmons and Dray costs us less, then I can see taking Dray at that point.
On Sirius NBA, Sam Mitchell's take was that Neil went all in last year by giving up two firsts for Roco. So now getting a championship-level roster ain't gonna happen. SM said that Neil may be essentially looking out for Portland's future when Dame inevitably asks for a trade. IMHO, that's a long way of saying blow it up and trade Dame for young talent and picks. Trade CJ too. I think SM's sentiment is shared by a lot who just can't see any way for Portland to surround Dame with enough talent to get deep into the playoffs.
I would take simmons over Dray too. But like you said, dray is gonna be cheaper and he might be ok with coming here to play with Dame. If there is any truth to Simmons actually not wanting to come here then fuck him. I want Dame to be happy and motivated. Dray would do that too. I don't think Bam will be available at all. Miami is going for it with their Lowry acquisition.
He's wrong, I'm right. Sorted. Green is FAR more valuable to them than Wiggins. He's probably more valuable than Simmons would be just because he talks on D. Simmons is a great individual defender, Green transforms the whole team.
