10-04-2020, 12:00 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-04-2020, 12:09 PM by StepBackJay.)
(10-04-2020, 10:55 AM)loki Wrote: Dallas would have to send out about $22.7M in salary to trade for OPJ. If it's a draft night deal, OPJ would also have to agree to an early opt-in of his last year. That might be realistic since he gets out of a losing situation in Chicago, but the same thing would apply to THJ opting in if he is part of the trade. I can't see Tim agreeing to opt-in early so he can be shipped to a lottery team.
A deal at the trade deadline seems a lot more likely. Whether we have the ammo to pull it off could depend on what we do with our draft picks and the MLE this offseason. Sending THJ for OPJ feels a little weird in general. Chicago has no real use for Hardaway, so finding a third team could be necessary. But then that third team would almost certainly prefer to just take OPJ. Without THJ, it becomes very difficult to match salaries. I wouldn't mind bringing Courtney Lee back on a big one year contract so we have the necessary expirings to pull a trade like this off.
The alternative is to simply wait until 2021 and sign OPJ in free agency without giving up any assets. I'm very impatient to see the roster improved, but this is probably the best way to go unless we can really fleece Chicago.
I think the opt in/out deadlines are prior to the draft.
I think any OPJ deal would probably involve Wright and THJ outgoing plus a pick or two. Bulls likely have no use for THJ so I imagine there'd be a third team acquiring THJ and sending out pieces that the Bulls would be interested in. Or Bulls would just hold onto THJ (since 18 is already the prize) and then flip him later. THJ is probably worth at least a late first round pick to a contender.