I'd really like to keep him, but I'm not sure it's practical, or even possible. It would really suck to lose him just because other guys are grotesquely overpaid and under producing. The guy plays hard, he plays smart and he's been the consummate teammate. I'm a Shabazz fan. BNM
Napier, Harkless, Layman 2019 MIN/LAL 2nd to NYK for Lee, O'Quinn, Thomas (TPE), 2018 NYK 1st (Lotto Protected) Davis to BOS for 2018 BOS 1st Turner, Leonard, Vonleh, 2019 POR 1st to ORL for Fournier, Herzonja, Speights, Afflalo We save apx. $5M to get under cap. Lillard / McCollum / Baldwin McCollum / Lee Fournier / Herzonja Aminu / Collins Nurkic / O'Quinn That team is better than we have now and our picks this year would be: NYK ~15th POR ~19th BOS ~ 28th
For who? Serious question. Boogie - headcase in his 8th year in the league and still hasn't played for a winning team. Blake - asshole that's always injured. Paul George - half season rental who we would all hate when he leaves us for the Lakers. Anthony Davis - sure, but he's also always injured and we can't outbid BOS. Who is a practical target that would actually make us better? BNM
At this point, I'll be slightly upset if we keep Shabazz (he's too good and we can't pay him or start him), and slightly upset if we get a pick below 20 for him. I'm hoping for a pick between #15 and #20 for him. He's a starting caliber PG. Give him starters minutes every night and he's getting you 16-18PPG, 6AST, good efficiency, and very solid pressure defense. He's a smaller, more explosive verison of Jrue Holiday IMO.
There's no practical target that'd make us better. The only practical targets for trading CJ would be high draft picks.
Who's to say Napier and Ntilikina couldn't start together? Ntilikina is 6'5 with around a 7'0 wingspan. He could play the 2 and some 3. Offensively, Napier can play just as good off the ball as on it. Ntilikina can guard 2s. They could easily coexist in the same backcourt. Napier would give them that starting PG to help them make the playoffs and a PG that could start their for a while. Then they could ease Ntilikina into that other guard spot (Frank would still be a PG on offense, technically). If Ntilikina is ready sooner rather than later, that makes Hardaway expendable, which would clear $18M in cap space for them.
the money would work straight across for harrison fuckin' barnes. not sure if it makes us better or not in a vaccum. doubtful. the TPE for lee after would. i don't think it puts us in the same conversation as GS though, so the tax matters unless we are.
That's it? For those three, we better get a mid and late 1st, three late 1sts, two late firsts and the trading of Meyers/Turner, or something along those lines. Vonleh is still 22 and a plus on the defensive end with some untapped offensive potential. Napier is a starting PG (one that could be a 17/6 guy with + defense). Davis is again one of the most underrated bigs in the league and should fetch a late 1st from a contender by himself.
how much worse with the addition of lee and barnes? together they produce more than cj and whatever small forward we currently are starting.
Why would a team give up a first for Vonleh AND pay him when they could just draft someone equally as talented for a lot cheaper? And no way in hell would anyone give up a first for Ed Davis. Napier is the only realistic possibility imo. Maybe. Same thing I said about Vonleh could apply here as well. But at least Napier is a bit more proven.
Lillard would get absolutely blitzed and killed offensively because he doesn't have that elite scoring option next to him. That move gets us no closer to accomplishing anything, and doesn't make us better.
We can use the TPE for Lee independent of trading C.J. At 6'5" Lee can play next to either Dame and C.J.. or play with them in small ball/three guard situations. So, the real question trio makes us better: Harrison F. Barnes + Courtney Lee + Damian Lillard or Courtney Lee + C.J. McCollum + Damian Lillard I lean toward the latter, but unless we land an above average starting SF, I want to start Aminu at the 3, and either Collins or Vonleh at the 4. Barnes is better than Aminu, but he's not THAT much better. Lee would give us a legitimate 6MOY candidate coming off the bench. He would basically get close to starter's minutes (around 28.5 MPG, like Crabbe did his last two seasons in POR). BNM
teams couldn't leave barnes or lee open from three without paying the price. lee is above average at the very least and barnes was excellent as a warrior before becoming the focal point of the hapless mavs. he often shared the floor as small ball 4 with livingston and iguidala two 3pt challenged teamates. he would be a 2/3 option who still is a willing ball mover.
I'm not saying they would give up a first for Vonleh straight up. Here's how I evaluate Napier, Vonleh, and Davis according to following picks. 15th: 2.0 Napier: 1.9 20th: 1.6 Davis: 1.4 25th: 1.3 30th: 1.2 Vonleh: 1.0 Vonleh+Davis+Napier=4.30 Three ~25th picks = 3.9 Two ~15th picks = 4.0 So Vonleh isn't as valuable as the 30th pick, but including him in a trade should could help us get more in return. No way in hell would anyone give up a first for Ed Davis....? Per 36: 11PPG, 13RPG (5ORPG), good defense, could finisher around the rim. That type of big is crucial to have off the bench for a contender. Much more crucial than drafting the next Caleb Swanigan, Tony Bradley, or Anzejs Pasecniks.
unfortunately we don't see aminu at the 3 enough to know, when he was he proved to be a poor passer, dribbler/penatrator and his shooting seemed to take a hit with quicker defenders IMO
