A few years ago...maybe more than a few...the Washington Bullets collected a nice pool of big men from years of drafting in the lottery. They were heavy in front court talent, short in the back court. We dangled a top 5 talent point guard and it was enough to secure one of those big men. For all his warts, the Sheed acquistion was pivotal to pushing us back into relevance and not long after, two straight WCF appearances. A Portland/Philly swap makes a lot of sense for both sides, similar to the Portland/Washington swap from a few years ago. It's been thrown around since this time last year, and I was very reluctant to part with CJ then. I think I'm ready now. Love the player, but the best trades are often the ones you feel initially bad about. I think its time and makes a lot of sense.
We don't trade CJ for any of Philly's bigs, that is just mental. The ones they will be willing to trade (Okafor and Noel) are not worth anywhere near as much, unless Philadelphia include also their pick in the next draft (and only do this when they already look like they are dead bottom so the pick is likely a top 5 pick, not now) which will be stacked with backcourt talent. Then you may end up with Okafor plus someone like Fultz or Jackson who will be a long term prospect. Straight up CJ for Okafor/Noel swap would be absolutely mental from our side.
A blue chip big for an inconsistent undersized SG who doesn't see the court when he puts his head down. Why is that mental. Unless you mean that he'll dump us.
Because CJ's stock is much higher than Okafor or Noel. Okafor's defensive game is poor and they couldn't even get Brooklyn's pick in a poor draft because Boston would rather take a project like Jaylen Brown than give it to them, and Noel has zero offense and will leave at the end of season anyway because Philly will not extend him. On the other hand CJ is our second scorer, one of the best shooting guards in the league and has star potential (he's basically already a star). I can't believe what a couple of below par games can do to people's perception. I swear some think CJ is some mid-tier average player. I will say it again, he is one of the best shooting guards in the league, he is one of the best shooters in the league and with shortage of good 2s, his value is extremely high. To dump him for Okafor or Noel would be borderline mental and a terrible, terrible move. I would maybe trade him for Embiid because I reckon Embiid is going to be absolutely immense if he can stay injury free. Crabbe for Noel or Okafor would be about fair.
Hmm, not sure what you're saying. Just because a GM was stupid enough to give a guy a contract doesn't mean that player is worth it. Crabbe would be a huge downgrade from CJ. You're last sentence seems to imply that Neil Olshey committed career suicide, because he actually spent 44 million in cap space on those players.
But what if Vonleh was added to that trade and Portland also took back Afflalo and Koufos? That would save SAC about $4 million. Would make them quite a bit younger.
