06-25-2025, 10:01 AM
(06-25-2025, 06:58 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Nothing is off the table. Every thing we've talked about...trade for picks, trade for players (big ones like Jrue and small ones like Lonzo) are still on the table. The math works out that not trading anyone and just signing someone to the Taxpayer MLE appears to fit. But, it was always going to be that way if Kyrie did what so many expected. The position we are in means we aren't dependent upon the kindness of another team to fill the roster. We are dependent on a free agent to take our money, but that shouldn't be too hard.
To answer your question, I hope it is the latter. I'm not infatuated with any of the FA guards out there. The roster is unbalanced and signing a single fill-in guard doesn't do it for me. I hope our financial position lets us negotiate out of strength.
The news about Kai Jones is encouraging. I like his upside if his head is right. It means something else may happen. Maybe a two for one? Since we have to send more than we take back, a two for one requires that we send $2.3mm more than we take back so that we can fill the open slot (presumably with Jones). It has been reported that we want to get into the draft again. Maybe its a three for one with a player and a pick coming back (and Jones to fill the last spot created by the imbalanced trade). I can even see scenarios where we get under the first apron.
Like I said, nothing we've talked about is off the table in terms of concept. Gafford to Atlanta for 11 is gone, but even a Jrue trade is still possible.
Working through a potential 10-man rotation if all they did was draft Flagg and add a PG for TPMLE.
Russell* 26 | Williams 22
Klay 23 | Christie 22
Flagg 30 | Naji 18
Davis 34 | PJW 25
Gafford 20 | Lively 20
DNP-CD: Hardy, Martin, OMax, Powell
Injured: Kyrie