Building Around Cooper: A Backward-Looking Thought Experiment

[KillerLeft]

I don’t think it’s hard.

You trade PJW if you think you’re getting an upgrade over PJW … OR if you think you’re getting a shot at a major upgrade via the draft that’s worth the risk. I’m not worried about his salary given the current structure.

Klay and Naji are expiring anyway so they’ll likely be gone or used to do something else. That’s $27 mil.

I see this as year one of a three year turnaround project.

The ONLY player I’m confident will be on this roster when the team is ready to compete is Cooper Flagg. If some of the current guys are still around, awesome.

I agree, but would pushback ever so slightly on the word "upgrade." I'm not 100% sure they can get "upgrades" in talent by trading PJW, Gafford or anyone else (they might be able to, might not), especially since they're ideally also targeting younger players. But, I'm supremely confident that what should matter more is how the players fit together, and I'm reasonably confident that the right fit makes players "upgrades," FUNCTIONALLY speaking. It's kind of a semantic debate, because I think most here would see the results (of the right sort of trades) and assume the new players were better, whether they were or not. 

Again, I think complementary players on a bad team or even next to the wrong great player can seem pretty underwhelming basically right away. I can't help but view everything through that lens, right or wrong.