Draft night trade scenario (Thompson for Jennings?)

[Vlade4GM]

I know, not another "would you trade Thompson if we got Griffin?" thread but I think this idea is at least interesting.

Say we get the no.1 pick and Memphis stays at 6. We take Griffin and they miss out on the top bigs (Hill and Thabeet), so we offer them Thompson for the no.6 (I don't know if it needs fillers because I don't know when exactly teams are given their incoming cap space. Not sure how that works exactly.) and they take Jennings for us.

Why the Grizzlies do it? Easy, they need a PF in a bad way and Thompson provides them a good young PF who can rebound and has scoring potential. They're not likely to get a better big at 6.

Why the Grizzlies don't do it? I can't think of many reasons, but perhaps they don't think a backcourt of Mayo and Conley really cut it, and they decide to put Mayo at the point and grab a 2 like Evans or just take Jennings for themselves.

Why the Kings do it? While a talented young frontcourt like that would be nice to have, Thompson and Griffin are very redundant in what they offer. If Hawes and Griffin are the future starting frontcourt, then they're going to need a third man that is going to be a strong defensive presence rather than a guy like Thompson, who is not much of a defender. This way instead of relegating Thompson to coming off the bench (sure he'll be spelling both Hawes and Griffin, but he'll still be a bench player because no way they're not going to start Griffin) they can get a guy who can become their PG of the future for them. Hawes/Griffin/Nocioni/Martin/Jennings isn't a bad way to kick off the first big draft in this rebuild.

Why the Kings don't do it? Thompson had a very strong rookie year despite the lack of acknolwedgment around the league (not making the rookie all-star team or making the 1st/2nd all rookie teams) he was one of the best players to come out of last year's draft. While they still lack a lot of defensive talent in their frontcourt, in overall talent they have a young 3 man rotation that is pretty much set for the future. Should they trade a known quantity and a proven solid young big man for a risky PG prospect in Jennings? Does the old adage of not trading big for small stop them from doing this?

Not really sure if I'd do this exact trade, but I think the general idea behind it is worthwhile. I guess it depends on how impressive Jennings is in workouts.

 

[TTown Kings]

We might have to throw in one of our later 1sts to make it work. It would be okay if we do land the #1 and take Griffin, I don't think we can keep Griffin and Thompson. If Griffin is drafted, unfortunately JT has to go, which sucks.

 

[sidney]

We might have to throw in one of our later 1sts to make it work. It would be okay if we do land the #1 and take Griffin, I don't think we can keep Griffin and Thompson. If Griffin is drafted, unfortunately JT has to go, which sucks.

I agree and don't believe that Griffin and JT will work well together. If JT comes off the bench next year and his numbers lower, his trade value will take a dive. If Griffin is the guy, it'd be best to try and turn JT into another valuable asset right away.

Remember Channing Frye? Was all the buzz that first year and practically untouchable. Then he didn't improve much and got the soft label. Is Portland even picking up his team option this year? His value dropped like a rock

 

[RunNGun]

We might have to throw in one of our later 1sts to make it work. It would be okay if we do land the #1 and take Griffin, I don't think we can keep Griffin and Thompson. If Griffin is drafted, unfortunately JT has to go, which sucks.

I don't think that another pick would have to be added in this case. Thompson is proven to be a solid NBA player. Jennings still has bust potential and little proof that he can be better than a role player in the NBA. If they try to get the Kings to add more, then we nix the trade. If its straight up (or something else the of small value is given up) then the trade makes sense. Honestly, with the weakness of this draft I might have to believe that Thompsons value is higher than Jennings...but that's just an opinion.

 

[rainmaker]

Its too early to tell. Not a bad idea, but I would want to see how Jennings does in the pre-draft camps. If he is considered the top pg in the draft behind Rubio, then maybe. There's also the possiblilty that if he does real well at the camps he won't be around at 6. I could see the Kings taking Rubio with the 1st pick, and definately with the 2nd, jennings could just as easily go #3-5.

 

[SacTownKid]

I think the Grizz will draft Hill if they don't win the lotto, so I don't know if they will necessarily need Thompson.

 

[Vlade4GM]

I think the Grizz will draft Hill if they don't win the lotto, so I don't know if they will necessarily need Thompson.

This is assuming they stay around the sixth pick and Hill is off the board.

 

[bajaden]

I would never trade a good proven player for one thats never played in the league, unless he's a can't miss choice. I'm not sure that Jenning's falls into that catagory. Don't be so anxious to trade away talent for pie in the sky.

I would much rather trade the 23rd pick along with our first round pick next year (unprotected) for their pick. You don't become a sucessful team by trading away your building blocks for more building blocks. You keep doing that and you never actually start to build anything. To say that if we draft Griffin, we have to trade Thompson is ridiculous. How do you know that they can't play together. You need at least a three man rotation at the 4/5 positions. If we draft Thabeet, does that mean we have to trade Hawes? Of course not.

To say that we might have to throw in our 23rd pick along with Thompson to get a pick for an unproven player. Well all I can say is that I'm glad your not our GM.

 

[Nighthawk1]

I would never trade a good proven player for one thats never played in the league, unless he's a can't miss choice. I'm not sure that Jenning's falls into that catagory. Don't be so anxious to trade away talent for pie in the sky.

I would much rather trade the 23rd pick along with our first round pick next year (unprotected) for their pick. You don't become a sucessful team by trading away your building blocks for more building blocks. You keep doing that and you never actually start to build anything. To say that if we draft Griffin, we have to trade Thompson is ridiculous. How do you know that they can't play together. You need at least a three man rotation at the 4/5 positions. If we draft Thabeet, does that mean we have to trade Hawes? Of course not.

To say that we might have to throw in our 23rd pick along with Thompson to get a pick for an unproven player. Well all I can say is that I'm glad your not our GM.

I pretty much agree with you and Iw ould even go so far as to throw in our 2nd rounder this year into that draft pie... Unless JT is giving us Rubio then I don't think it should be considered..

 

[SacKings7]

I would never trade a good proven player for one thats never played in the league, unless he's a can't miss choice. I'm not sure that Jenning's falls into that catagory. Don't be so anxious to trade away talent for pie in the sky.

I would much rather trade the 23rd pick along with our first round pick next year (unprotected) for their pick. You don't become a sucessful team by trading away your building blocks for more building blocks. You keep doing that and you never actually start to build anything. To say that if we draft Griffin, we have to trade Thompson is ridiculous. How do you know that they can't play together. You need at least a three man rotation at the 4/5 positions. If we draft Thabeet, does that mean we have to trade Hawes? Of course not.

To say that we might have to throw in our 23rd pick along with Thompson to get a pick for an unproven player. Well all I can say is that I'm glad your not our GM.

The problem is, we have Hawes at C. It's not that Griffin and Thompson can't play together, it's that Griffin, Thompson and Hawes can't play together IMO. Because we need a defensive player in there somewhere

 

[Bricklayer]

That's a reasonable proposal...if you believe in Jennings.

I think if you get Griffin, then Jason's time is up, sooner or later. So using him to land a young PG would make a great deal of sense, and in this draft Jaosn is at least as good of a PF prospect as any of the PFs on the baord except Griffin himself, so a team pickind 3-6 might do it. But you have to believe that Jennings can grow a brain stem and potentially be that guy. If you said this was for Rubio I would 1) say that's impossible, but b) say just do it.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

I would never trade a good proven player for one thats never played in the league, unless he's a can't miss choice. I'm not sure that Jenning's falls into that catagory. Don't be so anxious to trade away talent for pie in the sky.

I would much rather trade the 23rd pick along with our first round pick next year (unprotected) for their pick. You don't become a sucessful team by trading away your building blocks for more building blocks. You keep doing that and you never actually start to build anything. To say that if we draft Griffin, we have to trade Thompson is ridiculous. How do you know that they can't play together. You need at least a three man rotation at the 4/5 positions. If we draft Thabeet, does that mean we have to trade Hawes? Of course not.

To say that we might have to throw in our 23rd pick along with Thompson to get a pick for an unproven player. Well all I can say is that I'm glad your not our GM.

thats just dumb. a late first rounder PLUS a unprotected 1st next year!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! what if we land the FIRST pick next year??? smoking some crack. unless that player we get at pick is a can't miss chris paul, amare stoudemire caliber player. i would rather keep next years pick and try our chances in the next draft. this one is considered a weak crop.

thompson has proved that he can play in the league. i'd rather keep him and griffin if it came down to that. this year's draft is weak compared to next year. i KNOW we aren't making the playoffs next year. there is a chance we end up w/ a top 3 pick. there is a stud named john wall next year if we keep our 3 headed big men rotation.

 

[Sptsjunkie]

I would never trade a good proven player for one thats never played in the league, unless he's a can't miss choice. I'm not sure that Jenning's falls into that catagory. Don't be so anxious to trade away talent for pie in the sky.

I would much rather trade the 23rd pick along with our first round pick next year (unprotected) for their pick. You don't become a sucessful team by trading away your building blocks for more building blocks. You keep doing that and you never actually start to build anything. To say that if we draft Griffin, we have to trade Thompson is ridiculous. How do you know that they can't play together. You need at least a three man rotation at the 4/5 positions. If we draft Thabeet, does that mean we have to trade Hawes? Of course not.

To say that we might have to throw in our 23rd pick along with Thompson to get a pick for an unproven player. Well all I can say is that I'm glad your not our GM.

Baja, normally I agree with your takes. However, I really think this is a gamble we would have to strongly consider. I love JT, but I just think his upside is limited and if we got Griffin, our biggest hole would be PG. Going for Jennings would be a gamble, but at this stage in our rebuilding it would be a reasonable one. Jennings has higher upside than JT and would fit well with our young team.

Also, I would NEVER and I mean NEVER trade an unprotected draft pick for the 6th pick. Especially at this stage of our rebuilding. Even with Griffin and Jennings and a new coach, there's a very good chance we are one of the worst 5-7 teams in the league next year. I would not risk giving up a top 3 pick in what should be a much stronger draft.

I am curious what you see as JT's ceiling though, because that is probably where our views diverge. If you see him as a potential all star, your ideas make more sense, but I have a very hard time seeing him in the all star game unless he sneaks in David West style.

 

[Aenadin]

why go for jennings when you can go for holiday right

 

[Smills91]

Some of you have a hyper inflated opinion of what Brandon Jennings is: a poor man's Steve Franics AFTER his PRIME.

 

[=LarryLegend=]

Some of you have a hyper inflated opinion of what Brandon Jennings is: a poor man's Steve Franics AFTER his PRIME.

this is a little extreme i think.

The Franchise didnt have the speed of BJ, speed kills look at Aaron brooks. I have seen some great passes by BJ also. granted Francis use to be able to dunk....Jennings can also throw is down pretty well. plus Jennings is a kid. give him some time...

 

[bajaden]

thompson has proved that he can play in the league. i'd rather keep him and griffin if it came down to that. this year's draft is weak compared to next year. i KNOW we aren't making the playoffs next year. there is a chance we end up w/ a top 3 pick. there is a stud named john wall next year if we keep our 3 headed big men rotation.

I think we are in agreement. I would rather just stay with what we have and add to it. Hawes and Thompson have had a year to play together. Thats invaluable experience in forming a team. Why throw away that small step forward in order to take a chance on someone that may or may not ever be our pt guard of the future. Especially Jennings, who I find intriguing, but is also the most mysterious of all the pt guards out there. We know less about him than just about any other player in the draft.

As far as my proposal, I was just trying to be as outragious as I could and still be reasonable. I wouldn't do my proposal, but I was curious how many people would. I think Thompson has a higher ceiling than most people here. Just my opinion so take it for what its worth. Its just one of those subjective things than neither side can prove one way or the other.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't trade Thompson. I just want to know what I'm getting in return, and, if possible, I want the odds to fall in my favor, more so than the other team.

In closing, just let me say this. If I were to trade one of the three, assuming that we've drafted Griffin, then I would trade Hawes. I would move Thompson to center, where he played in college. Why you ask? Because I think Thompson has a bigger upside. He's more athletic. He's tougher. He's a better rebounder and already a better defender, or at least a willing defender. Is he as skilled as Hawes? No, not right now, but he has similar skills. He's a pretty good passer, and a better ball handler in the open court. He can play down low and he can play in the high post. To me the only downside is that he's a couple of years older. However, he's proved so far to be more durable.

As far as being on crack. I'm not sure what that is, but I'm sure you've had experience, so maybe you can explain it to me..

 

[dj3ptspecialist44]

Baja, normally I agree with your takes. However, I really think this is a gamble we would have to strongly consider. I love JT, but I just think his upside is limited and if we got Griffin, our biggest hole would be PG. Going for Jennings would be a gamble, but at this stage in our rebuilding it would be a reasonable one. Jennings has higher upside than JT and would fit well with our young team.

Also, I would NEVER and I mean NEVER trade an unprotected draft pick for the 6th pick. Especially at this stage of our rebuilding. Even with Griffin and Jennings and a new coach, there's a very good chance we are one of the worst 5-7 teams in the league next year. I would not risk giving up a top 3 pick in what should be a much stronger draft.

I am curious what you see as JT's ceiling though, because that is probably where our views diverge. If you see him as a potential all star, your ideas make more sense, but I have a very hard time seeing him in the all star game unless he sneaks in David West style.

You can basically throw that worse 5-7 teams out the window. This team is better than what people give them credit for. With a real coach careful draft picks and trades I see this team competing for one of the top 8 spots in the playoffs. That's my opinion so if you don't agree with it that's fine, but the talent is certainly there and we competed against the best teams this year we just couldn't close games out, and that's due to defense and coaching. Sure those two things up and we are playoff bound. There are several teams on the decline in the West. Dallas, Utah San Antonio, Hornets, and others on the rise like the Blazer's and Nuggets and we could be added to that mix. Teams are getting older while others are getting younger. I hate the fact people just want to preclude the damn season before it even starts that we are going to be one of the worse teams. You could have said that for the Heat and a few other teams wait till after the draft and at least till 5 to 10 games into the season to just say we are going to be one of the worse teams.

 

[asakkings]

I dont see the problem with having 3 good young big men. If we get Griffin he would have the highest upside out of the 3 so we have to start him. We can bring Thompson off the bench to play PF and C, I think that would be a pretty good rotation.

Now if we can find a way to trade for Jennings without giving up one of our young bigs than it would be an awesome draft.

 

[gunks]

I'd do the trade if Jennings has proved something, which he hasnt. JT has. Dude is going to be pretty beastly next season when he isnt getting rookie calls, just wait. His blocks and boards per game will go up as his fouls go down.

I'd rather (if we were to get Griffin) have JT come off the bench as a 4/5 guy, and still play about 30 minutes a game. Move him when the time comes.

 

[Vlade4GM]

I dont see the problem with having 3 good young big men. If we get Griffin he would have the highest upside out of the 3 so we have to start him. We can bring Thompson off the bench to play PF and C, I think that would be a pretty good rotation.

Now if we can find a way to trade for Jennings without giving up one of our young bigs than it would be an awesome draft.

It's not a problem to have 3 good young big men, but for me the concern is Thompson not really being able to cover Griffin and Hawes' weaknesses, he's somewhat redundant. The point of this thread whether you like Jennings or not is the suggestion that perhaps it would be making the most of our assets if we traded Thompson, while he's still seen as a young starting quality PF for a guy who can be our PG of the future; whether you think that's Jennings or not.

 

[Vlade4GM]

I'd do the trade if Jennings has proved something, which he hasnt. JT has. Dude is going to be pretty beastly next season when he isnt getting rookie calls, just wait. His blocks and boards per game will go up as his fouls go down.

I'd rather (if we were to get Griffin) have JT come off the bench as a 4/5 guy, and still play about 30 minutes a game. Move him when the time comes.

Just curious, what constitutes as "proof" for you with amateur players?

 

[bajaden]

Just curious, what constitutes as "proof" for you with amateur players?

Well you and I both know that there isn't any proof. I've already stated my opinion on the trade. If the question is really, does Jennings = Thompson, then the answer in my mind is no. At least right now.

Here's another question. Would I trade Thompson for Lawson. Lawson appears to be a pretty good prospect. He's played on a winning team. He's also quick and has good pt guard skills. My answer would be no. And I know more about him, having seen him play countless times, than I do Jennings.

Here's another question. If Holiday had also gone to europe to play, and had a similar season to Jenning's, would he be rated higher in the draft than he is right now? He came out of highschool ranked right up there with Jenning's and DeRozan and a couple of others. Why has he slid? Because we had a chance to see him play on a regular basis. And doubts were raised about him.

Jennings may well turn out to be a great pt guard. For that matter so may Holiday. If, god forbid, we end up with the fourth pick in the draft, I would be willing to take a flyer on Jennings. All we would be giving up is a draft pick. That is unless Thabeet happened to slide to number 4. I gatta go with the big fella then.

 

[FakeInjury]

IF....we have that problem. Then we would need to evaluate for at least a 1/2 season in order to boost one or the others trade value. Let us assume that Griffin is that good and he is working 40+ minutes a game, it would potentially make Thompson expendable IF Thompson does not improve from last season. I do not see the problem in keeping both or even trading both. But i do see a problem in trading thompson before the very end of his contract.

 

[Dime Dropper]

IF....we have that problem. Then we would need to evaluate for at least a 1/2 season in order to boost one or the others trade value. Let us assume that Griffin is that good and he is working 40+ minutes a game, it would potentially make Thompson expendable IF Thompson does not improve from last season. I do not see the problem in keeping both or even trading both. But i do see a problem in trading thompson before the very end of his contract.

I see... so you want to trade Thompson after his contract ends?

Well, at least I know reading your posts is gonna be fun.

 

[Warhawk]

IF....we have that problem. Then we would need to evaluate for at least a 1/2 season in order to boost one or the others trade value. Let us assume that Griffin is that good and he is working 40+ minutes a game, it would potentially make Thompson expendable IF Thompson does not improve from last season. I do not see the problem in keeping both or even trading both. But i do see a problem in trading thompson before the very end of his contract.

Why?

 

[beb0p]

No way. There will be teams trying to give away picks as the draft approaches. We can keep JT AND pick up a young PG if we are patient and play the cards right.

Just as an example, the Pacers were going to throw in a pick to anyone who takes Jamal Tinsley. That deal may still be on the table.

Lastly, I don't think the PGs at the top of the draft (Rubio/Jennings) are better than the PGs at the bottom (Mills/Teague/Collison/etc). I'm just as confident that a good PG will fall to us at #23.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Not interested in Mills, Collison I'd take with our pick but I don't expect much more than a nice role player from him, and I'm not convinced Teague is a PG but he's definitely worth taking at our pick. Holiday is someone I'd like for us to trade up for.

 

[Aenadin]

why go for jennings?

if we do get blake

i hate to say it we trade thompson 21st pick and 31st FOR rubio

the 2nd round picks are just give aways for us any ways we pick em then drop em right

 

[Entity]

This doesn't make sense. Why can't we have 3 good froncourt players. Is there a rule I missed somewhere. What sense does it make to have 2 decent bigs then have **** on the bench. Which is what we have had for years and years. Pollard and Keon were ok by dynamic is not a word to describe either of them. If we got Griffin. A frontcourt of Hawes, Thompson and Griffin would be great.

With foul trouble and incosistancy there are plenty of min to go around and you get the choice of going with the hot hand. Last year Thompson and Hawes when starting only got around 32-35 min each the rest was given to small ball or other crap.

total of 96 min to go around for the pf/c positons. thats 32 min for 3 players.

Lets say we don't have Thompson and Griffin or Hawes gets in foul trouble early. Then what you go with whatever crap we picked up in FA to cover that time.

Besides you trade now and get a draft pick. Or you give it couple of years let them develop and mature then you have the chance to trade for a proven player.

If you think we would be good with Thompson or Griffin. How much better would we be with both.