TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[Jason Terry]

I'd be all for subbing in Conley/Vanderbilt instead of Bojan.  But, that deal doesn't accomplish everything I'm trying to accomplish.  The critical part is moving Bertans and getting max level space in 24.  Out of all the max-level guys that summer, the most likely target is Sabonis (which would rip Sacramento's heart out, but I can't help it if they traded for a guy who won't extend his current deal).  Every other move would be about creating space for him while also finding cheap bodies that make sense alongside the Doncic/Sabonis pairing.  Here are the holes I see:

Sabonis
DFS           Maxi
Green
                 Hardy
Luka

I'd probably still do the Bertans/Pic for Bojan thing even if I also did your deal.  1. It gets rid of Bertans and frees money in 24 while maintaining flexibility with Bojan if you don't get anyone in free agency.  2. There is some agent stuff to all of this.  Sabonis and both Bogdanovic's are with Wasserman (as is overpaid McGee and D. Rose).  I've got a little conspiracy theory stuff going on here that I didn't put in the already too long post.  3.  I don't mind using picks if it helps me fill the holes above so that the team is ready to go as soon as Sabonis is signed.

IF NY really wants Bullock, I need to fill a hole up above.  Moving C. Wood?  I'll take back a one year salary, but I need a young player to fill another hole.  Same this summer if someone wants Dinwiddie.  Conley/Vanderbilt for LeVert (through THJ) is a great example of the kind of deal I'm talking about.  Conley expires and you have the Vanderbilt hold against your cap (though I'd prefer he be RFA instead of UFA).  The deal doesn't hurt you much in 22/23 or 23/24, but it still sets you up for the summer of 24.

This is where my thinking is as well. We need to get creative on how we build this thing. Stealing a Sabonis for nothing in UFA would go a long way. IMO, this would need to be Luka and Sabonis setting this up in advance. The timmy mac reports are true. Luka needs to take a role in team building, it’s a good thing for keeping him long term. 

Sabonis is age, talent, motor and need appropriate for Luka. At the price of free it would be a huge shift in how close we would be. It would allow us to use our picks to make constant improvements year to year like the best teams do instead of giving up all our picks for one player.

The space situation really boils down to Hardaway, Bertans, McGee and whatever long term money we add (Wood) between now and summer 2024. Which is why we need to start this process now and move Hardaway if we can do it without giving up assets. The other side of this to me is ALSO not giving up any assets to dump our players between now and then. Do this AND add a Sabonis for free and all of the sudden we are in a perfect position. This could mean keeping Bertans and sitting him out the required games next season to where we can buy him out with minimal hit.

And if we extend Wood we could trade him i believe if it came down to it. I’m not too worried about making the space for Sabonis