Aloha,
I do believe that the Lakers will try to trade Russ for sure after his exit interview meltdown. But for me, I’m not sure any of the realistic trade proposals really elevate us into serious title contention. Both Brogdon and Harvard make me very nervous with their injury histories over the last several years. The question for me is how much would Westbrook be willing to give up in a buyout. From his interview it’s pretty obvious that he has little desire to remain a Laker. Is dead salary of say 12 mil for 3 years worse than Haywards 30 mil for 2 years if he is not playing? If Westbrooks agent can find him a few years at 10 to 15 mil perhaps he would lower his buyout amount. A buyout would allow us to retain Malik who I believe is ready for an expanded role, allow us to utilize the bi annual exception of 4 mil and save our draft picks for possible trades this summer. If I had to pick one player among Hayward, Brogdon and Malik, it would be Malik.
As a fan, I would like to see the decisions quickly but the trade partners that have been mentioned may want to wait for the playoffs to end to see what their assets would bring league wide.
We are probably looking at a few months of rumors and speculation. Not exactly fun for me.
I still remain optimistic the Lakers will be able to move Westbrook for two or three rotation players. As for timing, it’s doubtful a trade would happen before June 23rd, the day of the NBA draft.
Only hope for early news is Indiana or Charlotte, whose season is now over, winning the race for Russ’ $47M expiring contract so they can salary dump rotation players on long-term contracts.
Otherwise, it’s going to take forever for the Lakers to trade Russ and hire a new coach.
Trade Anxiety was a great title, Michael.
I find myself torn between the Pacers and the Hornets as trading partners. Here’s a ranking of the various trade options:
1. Turner, Hield, and Brogdon. Turner is key to this trade.
2. Hayward, Rozier, and Oubre. Rozier is key to this trade.
3. Brogdon and Hield. Love a big backcourt.
4. Hayward and Rozier. Worry about a small backcourt.
5. Wood and Gordon. Missing a point guard.
6. Grant and Olynyk. Missing a point guard.
How would you rank these returns?
What other players would you target?
I doubt if there will be a race to trade for Russ. Perhaps the Hornets try to get something done with Hayward for draft assets to trade. The Pacers are different. I actually look at the Lakers as a fall back plan if nothing else pans out. The Pacers have maintained that they are not looking for a complete tear it down. I think they will see what they can get for Brogdon and Buddy. As for Turner they have stated over and over again that they would like to extend him. If they can’t they will explore the market for him. There will be several teams making offers. Unless someone offers a godfather offer early they may even wait until after the playoffs are over. As far as the deal I’m most interested in, it would be the one that could save draft capital to be used in other trades because none of these deals will get us beyond a 4th or 5th seed unless we luck out in free agency like we did with Malik and a couple of kids make giant leaps.
There’s no doubt a better market for the players we want from the Pacers than those we want from the Hornets.
While Brogdon has injury issues and Hield defensive issues, Turner is still 26 and led the league in blocks.
Hayward, while only losing same number of games as Brogdon, has had more serious injuries. Rozier has same defensive issues as Hield but also lacks size. Oubre is a frustrating player with potential.
I’m also interested in any deals we could make to move Russ without giving up a pick, e.g. Russ for Brogdon and Hield or Russ for Hayward and Rozier.
My dream trades are still deals where we sent Russ, THT, Nunn, and both picks for Turner, Brogdon, and Hield or Hayward, Rozier, and Oubre.
My rank of the players we’re targeting:
1. Myles Turner – Stretch five, rim protector
2. Christian Wood – Stretch five, rim protector
3. Malcolm Brogdon – Point guard, elite shooter
4. Terry Rozier – Point guard, elite shooter
5. Jerami Grant – Bigger 3&D Wing
6. Gordon Hayward – Bigger 3&D Wing
7. Buddy Hield – Elite volume 3-point shooter
8. Eric Gordon – 3&D bully ball shooting guard
9. Kelly Oubre – Bigger 3&D Wing
10. Kelly Olynyk – Stretch five
Love to see your ranking of these 10 players. Thanks.
1. Grant
2. Rozier
3. Brogdon (injuries)
4 Heild
5 Oubre
6 Wood (PF only))
7 Hayward(injuries)
8 Gordon (34 and injuries)
9 Olynyk
10 Turner. only because we have no chance.
Looks like one of us wants size via a stretch center and the other via a power forward. Both know we need a new point guard. Here’s our combined ranking, lower is better.
1. Malcolm Brogdon – 6 points
1. Terry Rozier – 6 points
1. Jerami Grant – 6 points
4. Christian Wood – 8 points
5. Buddy Hield – 11 points
5. Myles Turner – 11 points
7. Gordon Hayward – 14 points
7. Kelly Oubre – 14 points
9. Eric Gordon – 16 points
10. Kelly Olynyk – 19 points
Actually, Brogdon, Rozier, and Grant would be the ultimate three new starters for the Lakers. Now if we had a third first round pick to use …
Only 2 guys who move the needle for me are Brogdon (if actually healthy…a HUGE “if”) and Jerami Grant (if his stats aren’t just a result of playing on bad teams). Only time I’ve ever seen the Pacers talk about moving Turner was before they traded Sabonis. But anything built around AD being the best dude on the team is bound to fail in the end…imho