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

[DanSchwartzgan]

Yes, you've got your timeline correct. It's exactly what Rich Paul is telling other GM's as we speak. I think you missed Dan's point in this reply though. I think Dan was talking about the timing of the trade being executed, noting that a team would not make that trade today for instance, but instead wait all the way until the deadline, because said team will need the potential players in a Davis deal, to continue being competitive the next 3 weeks.

To Dan's point, I did find it comical all the talk about the Hawks injury report last night. Like Dan, I think there's no way a team makes a trade RIGHT NOW, this week, or next week. It will most likely be the day of Thursday, February 5th. Which maximizes the timeline we laid out above.

I took it that he agreed and was expanding on the point with more specifics.

I think there might be a couple of exceptions from what I wrote after waking in the middle of the night.  One is Kuminga related and unlikely.  But, today is the first day GSW can move on from him.  IF AD is somehow involved, GSW might be able to pull that off today depending on what happens with Green and whether they prioritize moving Kuminga quickly or having  Green for two more weeks.

I think Nowitzki Way identified the other one...something that doesn't involve a center and replaces the outgoing with something else.  Adding Naji to replace ZR is an interesting construct that probably adds to the draft capital coming back.  If this is done with Kennard instead of OO, then yes, it could be done any time.  But, as FG has pointed out, including OO instead of Kennard is more likely to keep ATL out of the tax (especially if Naji is outgoing in the deal).

It is a shame that Shams got it wrong with his first post.  It confirmed our fears that all is lost until the summer with AD.  AD knew better and said so and Shams changed his position.  Clearly a team that really wants AD can see beyond six weeks.  A trade for Davis is about more than just the rest of this season.  I find it interesting that Paul's press releases (through his mouthpieces) now seem to be less from a Mav's POV.  He's actually the one who seems more 'desperate' to get something done.  Dallas and Atlanta seem to be in the mode of trying to sway public opinion and pressure the other side.  "We don't have to make a bad deal...we can wait"...versus..."we aren't giving up X no matter what".  Those hard stances always soften when a deal is made and both sides find a compromise they can sell to their fans.

I like NW's version where Naji (more valuable to a playoff run now) replaces ZR in ATL.  I'm not ready to go where FG is demanding OO, ZR AND the NO Pick.  I think the inclusion of Naji might be needed to get you OO.  I've never thought there was a snowball's chance of getting the NO Pick.  The "win" for Atlanta will be getting Naji and not having to give up that pick.  The "win" for Dallas will be getting a young-ish center replacement in OO who was previously off the table (which might open the door for a Gafford deal that adds even more to the youth movement). 

One note regarding pressure on the Mav's.  I think this most recent AD injury may have solved the tension of the AD conundrum.  We now have every right to shut him down for the rest of the season (and RP knows this).  Whereas, if he hadn't of gotten injured, we might have won a few more games between now and the TDL as we would have been forced to showcase him.  Dallas still needs to trade him for financial reasons, but the pressure of AD ruining the tank is no longer there.  It doesn't appear the ligament injury will dramatically lower his value from whatever that value is/was.  So, now we get the fun of posting the same ideas over and over again until 2/5 and the joy of people telling us how smart they are that their genius predictions have somehow been validated (even before anything happens).