(05-31-2025, 11:55 AM)RasheedsBigWhiteSpot Wrote: I'm all ears for a move like that. Truly. But hit me with some specifics.
I'd be game for a simple 3 team trade of:
Mavs get P. George and #2 (Dylan Harper)
Sixers get AD
Spurs get something of value from the Sixers that compliments them other than another ballhandler. Perhaps #3, McCain and a nice pick.
I do think the Mavs should probably get #35 back for taking on George. I think PG, as a 6th Man, would thrive in that role.
MY INITIAL THOUGHTS:
1 i don't think that moving to PG from AD really improves the problem of health/availability or massive salary clogging the roster. PG is about a wash with AD in those areas.
2 I'm not convinced Harper will be a TOP player. I do think he will be a solid starter for someone. But his athleticism is NOT special, maybe even a bit subpar, which is probably going to give him a ceiling that's not high.
3 Those being said, there's enough utility in there that I would do that deal on its face. Except --
There's one hidden issue which would be a deal-killer for about every team, including the Mavs. That's the fact that it causes about a 10M bump in the Mavs payroll, when they are already about 1.2M over A2 and would be committed to getting below it far enough to allow some room to navigate.
Solvable? Likely, at least on paper. But it's a HUGE impact deal to get where you need to go to carve out a TxpMLE window. Even my preferred Ball trade (with Martin, Hardy, DP all outgoing) doesn't even get you back down to A2. And trading Gaff is no longer an option, with AD gone, But it's now basically mandatory to do some major cost cutting even AFTER moving AD, which means the original deal to trade him has to be weighed inclusive of the cost of the salary-shedding one(s) also required, to see if the overall price to trade AD has become a price too great.
It's an intriguing exercise, but the point is that a simple solve for moving AD to erase the issues he brings may not really erase them from the roster after all, while adding a need to shed talented players with well-priced contracts just like I really don't want to do for AD in the first place.