I think the way to get around the damn Chicago pick is we make another trade with Chicago and make the pick unprotected. We trade combination of players along with taking protection off the pick for a Chicago player. At this point best we could hope for would be A 3% chance at top pick. We then have future 1st rounders to make trades. Tired of having this pick holding up all potential trades.
Given our current place in the standings, unprotecting it is extremely risky. I'm more upset at how close we are to the hard cap. Even if we get into tax territory, we would have to send out multiple contracts for KD but will not have any way to meet the minimum roster requirement by paying more tax because the hard cap would have been triggered. That Gary Payton signing is a major roadblock and a few of us called it from the start. And his injuries and inability to play while less than 100% only makes it worse. Any KD to Portland deal can only happen in the summer.
It doesn't have to be a big trade we trade them cash and the protection is removed. They just have to agree to it, which has always been a mere formality. Some in here think that Chicago would unprecedentedly not be open to having the pick guaranteed to them along with a sweetener because we might pursue a player that they might pursue but I think they would do what has been done in the past because otherwise they'd look like they are hard to deal with going forward.
You could trade Ant, Nurk, Hart and all of our future picks freed up by removing the conditions on the Chicago picks for KD, Claxton and two of their min contract guys... and you could do that right now, wouldn't have to wait for the summer. We'd be under the tax too. I'm not saying that I know that would be good enough for Brooklyn but I don't think it's too far off in terms of value.
Why would BK realistically do that? Claxton is a DPOY candidate and would fit a timeline with younger players they get back for KD. Of course there are ways around the hard cap, but not realistic ones. Just because we can trade Dame for Westbrook and it works salary wise doesnt mean it is realistic.
I get it... And my original point (that you replied to) was given their lack of draft picks, a full rebuild around young, unproven talent (like Sharpe) doesn't make sense because they don't have other assets to build around him with.
Durant and the Nets are talking about the new direction of the franchise after the Irving trade. Could Durant also want out now? Could Portland swing a deal for him? They’d have to give up a lot, but at this point in Lillard’s career, with time slipping away, this may be the last chance they have to pair him with another star.
Nets are not doing anything with Durant until the summer. You're 4-5 months early in this speculation
ON THE OTHER HAND: apparently a bunch of teams are preparing to make a run at Durant as a free agent, so if the Nets think he really might leave, then their hand will be forced. Yes, they could do a sign-and-trade, but what if he wants to go to the Suns (or whatever) and doesn't want them to give up assets to get him?
Oh good.... KD is gonna kill another critical period for making moves. He was the main reason why things were frozen last summer for so long.
Well, if Windhorst said it.... it must be true. Exactly. Due to Durant's contract situation - the Nets have no reason to rush and trade him in the next 24-hrs. It would be much better for them to wait until the summer to do anything.
Unless someone was to give them a Godfather offer, Brooklyn should absolutely not deal Durant anytime soon.
windhorst is the first Big media guy to report that…this is called the Durant thread. Which means information about Durant.
