shack009 said:
M.C. Swag said:
If Luka requests out, the Mavs would be decidedly worse than the rockets RN.
First off, this is extremely premature and wild speculation.
Second, I don't think that would be true. A Luka trade would have to include guys who can play right now.
The most comparable recent trade is the Anthony Davis trade, in which the Pelicans got Ingram, Lonzo, and Josh Hart to go with three first rounders and a pick swap. That is three guys who could start on a good team, one of which is a top 30-40 player in the league.
The Jazz just got Markkanen, Sexton, and Agbaji (who was just drafted in the lottery) in the deal for Mitchell, plus three first rounders and two swaps. The Jazz were winning games with these guys early in the year.
OKC got SGA in the Paul George deal. They had to shut SGA down last year to ensure they lost enough games. Now SGA is one of the 15 best guys in the league.
The point is, if the Mavs were to trade Luka, which they won't, they would have to receive young players who can really play immediately. Not just Keldon Johnson, like GuitarSoup would have us believe.
Your obvious problem is finding the teams with adequate draft capital as well as young stars. OKC, Utah, and San Antonio have the most FRPs.
I don't think that OKC gives you SGA and a bunch of firsts for Luka. Giddy is 20 and put up 17/8/6 this year. SGA is 24 and put up 32/5/5. Is Luka better? Sure. But Luka also gets $50mm more over the life of his contract than SGA. Wann trade Luka for Chet and picks? What will OKC's picks be worth if they have Giddy+SGA+Luka?
In Utah, they have Lauri, who was a nice surprise this year, but he is 26 and his defense blows. His contract the next two years is great, though. Sexton is still young, but he has had significant injuries. He has played half his games this year and missed 71 games last year. Lauri+Sexton+Kessler+Picks for Luka? I don't think Dallas is in a great shape there, either.
Rockets have some young players, but don't have all their picks.
Dallas could definitely get better younger players than someone like Keldon, but the Spurs are also one of the only teams that could give up 3 first rounders for the next two seasons. And one of the nice things about the trade that I proposed is that the picks are from kind of ****ty teams (Charlotte, Chicago, Toronto) and many teams that you trade to give you picks that would suck. The only bonus of my deal is it got rid of all the deadweight contracts the Mavs have. Not many teams could (or would) absorb that while giving major draft capital.
What package of young players and picks from another team would you suggest?