A year with no clear-cut #1 (barely even a clear-cut top-10) is the worst possible time to empty the pantry to trade up to the top pick.
I would trade Collins for the #1. Shoot, I would trade Collins for Tillie if he passed the medical exam! OK, seriously - Dame is off limits, and this draft is too messed up to risk Nurk. CJ - sorry, but yeah I would do it. To seriously contend in this era you need at least 2 major stars and CJ isn't it. Even in this draft there is a 50/50 chance of finding someone better. (EG Okongwu could be the next Bam)
Thats my point I dont think we'd have to empty the pantry, if it was a lock the player would be next Davis or Lebron we wouldn't have a shot. Im thinking Edwards & Trent could replace CJ.
I see your line of thought there, but you have to balance that with the likelihood of picking someone #1 that's barely top-10 caliber most years. And no one is giving up the top pick for cheap regardless of the draft class.
It's not likely there will be a robust market for the #1 pick so there will be teams trying to buy low.
The more interesting question for me is... "Who would you take if we traded up to 12 (Sac seems to like trading with Neil)?"
I posted this in trade ideas but it's applicable in here too: I have a complicated trade idea and I don't think it would be considered tampering. The Pistons have a team because of Blake Griffin's contract that needs to try and win next season. They also have the most cap room in the league. Not to mention D. Rose only has a year left on his contract and the Lakers are interested in him. Basically, I think the Pistons might be in the market for a running mate for Blake Griffin and someone locked into a contract to provide continuity for their future, someone with great character and leadership, someone like CJ McCollum. So if we talked to the Wolves and the Pistons about a trade that would consummate two days after the draft, we could ask the Wolves who they would want the Pistons to draft at 8 that the Pistons would like to keep if the deal fell through and who the Wolves would like us to draft at 16 and 46 that we would want to keep should the deal fall through. We stay in contact with the Pistons and the Wolves during the draft so regardless of how the picks went, we could keep the deal alive. At the end of the day if the Wolves had who they wanted at 8, 16 and 46 for Anthony Edwards then in two days the last part of the deal could be completed. That part of the deal would be us striking a long term contract with Christian Wood for around 15-16M per season, then a sign and trade that would send CJ to the Pistons for the newly signed Wood and the rights to the player drafted 8th, followed by a trade for the rights to Edwards in exchange for the rights to the players drafted 8th, 16th and 46th. We end up with Dame, Gary, Trevor, Wood, Nurk, Hoodie, Zach, Edwards, Nas, Ant, probably pick up Wenyen for the min, possibly Rio, then a free agent at 14 or 15 million from cap space, the MLE and BAE. Obviously one of our moves would be to get a solid backup PG probably with the MLE (maybe Kris Dunn) but we could just get the best young experienced player available for 14 or 15 million to add depth (maybe Montezl Harrell) and one more pretty good piece with the BAE (no idea). I would also want to extend Gary during the abbreviated off season. It would make it so we would be really competitive this season but our future, for the rest of Dame's career and beyond would be very very bright. Dame at point with Gary and Edwards on the wings, with Wood and Nurk in the post has the potential to be absolutely the best starting lineup in the league. Then depth with Zach, Nas, Wenyen, Ant, and our free agents we pick up in this off season. We could be looking at a dynasty pretty quickly if Edwards pans out and Wood continues on his trajectory.
