Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Winter]

FWIW on Jrue, the DLLS guys spent the first part of their show talking about the interest in Jrue being real.  They think he's a Nico kind of guy and Nico tends to pay up for guys he likes.  In other words, they were laying the groundwork for a deal we might not like.  The reporting this week that Boston thinks they can get 'positive value' for Jrue may have been referring to a Dallas deal (or at least positioning it that way with Nico).  They see Sexton et al as a fallback position if they don't get Jrue, but said Nico tends to be hard to move off of guys he really likes.

I wonder if we could somehow move Klay in the outgoing.  I'm more worried about what I am left with than what I send out.  I'd like to be left with this 8 in my playoff rotation:

Kyrie/Jrue/Christie

Flagg/PJ/Naji

Lively/AD

I'd be willing to close with anyone there except maybe Naji.  We are already at a point where Klay isn't closing and neither is Gafford if everyone is healthy.  I'm also fine with the outgoing being centered around Gafford/Martin/Hardy and one more contract if we aren't giving up a pick or PJ.  I don't mind the salary or the age and like having AD, Kyrie and Jrue all expiring at the same time (presumably).

In an ideal world - one in which Nico isn't running the show - I could very well imagine trading AD and changing the timeline. I would prefer that.  I don't see the Mavs doing it though. It sounds too radical after so much was invested in AD. Not to mention the Front Office would take a PR beating.

Acquiring Jrue feels a little like an organization that wants to actualize all it's "win now" hype, forcing the issue and hurting future flexibility on a gamble. It just doesn't feel right. If I'm the front office, I would want someone who might bond with Flagg for a good season or two and especially while Kyrie is on the mend. It's hard to imagine Jrue as that player. It's a little easier to imagine Chris Paul because he knows CF, but even easier to imagine someone a bit younger and less expensive.

It feels that if you acquired Jrue, you would be locked into a decline with an aging AD, an aging Kyrie, and an aging Jrue - with less flexibilty I think. That seems unfair to someone like Flagg. What kind of team is he looking at in two years?