Middleton will be swimming in offers though I think. He'll be the fallback option for teams like Clippers, Dallas and Nets who will try to get elite free agents but might struggle, he will probably also be top of the list for Kings. He will get a max.
Curious, does CJ have the “it” factor? I wanted Issac so bad when he came out and still think the 21 year old could be a star with the right grooming and leadership around him. I don’t really see anyway a trade with Isaac and CJ in it could work but if I had the option of Gordon plus peices or Isaac plus peices for CJ id take the latter.
CJ has it a lot more than Isaac does. He has a lot of potential that'll remain unfulfilled, much like Andrew Wiggins.
If he gets traded, I'm guessing itll be something like Gordon to BKN for Crabbe, Napier, Kurucs, and a first.
I guess I can see that possibility, it’s just hard for me to close the book on a barely 21 year old kid with all his tools, I mean lots of us say Collins will be a beast some day and he’s the same age as Isaac.
I think BKN likes Kurucs too much as well as their cap flexibility. Honestly its entirely possible Kurucs becomes what Gordon already is, Nets aren’t being run by clueless people anymore
Nets are probably the best run franchise in the league now. They've picked so well in the draft (LeVert, Allen, Kurucs are all very good), picked up some bargain talent (Dinwiddie), managed to get a good player AND a pick for absorbing his contract (Carroll) and the only blemish on their record is taking Crabbe's contract - which I reckon they might waive and stretch in the Summer anyway. They got some bargains in free agency as well (Ed).
Crabbe expires next year though. Then again Gordon has a descending deal so will be like $16.5million at the end of it. I think they'll make a play for Harris first, then Mirotic, and then maybe move for Gordon. They won't include Kurucs in any kind of deal.
They want their flexibility for next summer. They're not going to refuse to trade a bad contract for what theyd likely view as a good young piece at a position of need because of cap space 2 summers from now.
Possibly. LeVert is up for extension next year anyway. I totally forgot about Joe Harris. Also awesome contract and a cool player. Thier contracts for next year: Dinwiddie $10.6million Joe Harris $7.7million LeVert $2.6million Allen $2.4million Kurucs $1.7million Musa $2million Graham $1.65million Total = $28.5million for 7 useful players The $18.5million elephant in the room deal for Crabbe and they need to re-sign Russell. If DLo takes a team friendly deal ($15million?) and they can somehow get out of Crabbe's deal they could be a player in free agency. They will have room for 1 max player anyway, I hope they don't use it to get Jimmy Butler as that would be a waste. Marcus Morris is another player they would probably have ahead of Aaron Gordon BTW. He'll likely not get more than $12million per year.
That is why I'm saying for him to be our first contact. Some of those other teams have dreams of landing Durant or Kawhi. If we showed Middleton love right away and made it clear he wasn't a fallback option for us like with those other teams then we have an outside shot. It's probably still not great but that's what I'd try in that scenario.
