06-06-2024, 07:12 PM
(06-06-2024, 07:04 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I think the range of your list makes sense. Obviously the question of what it takes has to account for whether this is a complete absorption of salary or a partial absorption (with a cap room team) or a trade match. Whether we are getting anything back in terms of draft equity also matters. I still take the position that teams with championship aspirations (especially if we aren't successful in the next couple of weeks) don't just give away assets to stand still. There is a world where the price to dump THJ is so high that you'd be better off putting the capital with an expiring player and trading for value rather than space.
FWIW, Dan Fravale on the Hardwood Knocks podcast mentioned Dallas "just sending two seconds to Detroit to get them to take THJ". It wasn't a prediction or even well thought out. It was more of a throwaway line as they were discussing what Dallas might do to keep DJJ. The problem is Detroit might be done bottom dwelling. There are rumors of guys they want to sign in free agency and rumors of trades they want to make for big dollar vets. So, it isn't a certainty they will be in the business of absorbing contracts this summer.
One hope might be that the new GM decides to kick the can for a season to evaluate things. I'm not sure 2 seconds is the highest and best use for cap room even if you are kicking the can. But, expiring contracts will likely be valuable come February. If they can rehab THJ and turn him into something for a team trying to manage cap space (or apron issue) for 25/26, then who knows.
On another podcast they were discussing Brooklyn's likely path. One commentator thought they might be a candidate for a trade that preserves/creates cap room in 2025. This might be the place DFS comes into play. I'm not sure he makes sense on a team that already has PJ, Maxi and OMax at Dorian's best position. Maybe he goes to a third team and Brooklyn gets THJ and a little something from both teams in terms of draft capital. This kind of financial engineering (with an eye toward 2025) is another path to possible THJ trades besides the obvious cap room and TPE teams. He's an NBA player who can be sold to a fan base (as often happens) despite the fact his best value is his expiring contract.
If the Mavs can turn Hardaway into air via the use of only two second round picks, they should jump on that. Problem solved.
I have gotten the sense from several of your recent posts that you aren’t quite sure how far you would be willing to go to retain DJJ. You haven’t quite said it in those terms, so I could be reading you wrong, but I almost feel like you are in the early stages of warning us he won’t be here, kind of like you did with Brunson back in the day. am I off on that?