I think my response to your general take is why would you prefer someone like LaVine when we could target Jerami Grant?
- Grant is only a year older
- Grant makes $13-15 mil less per year
- Grant is under contract 1 more year (4+1 vs. 3+1)
- Grant would probably cost similar in a trade
- Grant would improve our defense
If the emphasis from your POV is to find another scoring option that won’t cost us a lot in a trade, Grant seems to be the better target. His ability to play defense, protect the rim, and give us some much needed length in the frontcourt (7’2.75” wingspan & 8’11” standing reach) allows him to still impact the game even if he’s having an off night scoring, if others have a hot hand, etc.
I can see a world where Grant is ahead of Murray in the offensive pecking order initially, but a couple years down the road, that order could flip. The plus side of having someone like Grant instead of LaVine is that even if his offensive role is diminished over time (due to the development of others), he can still fill that 3&D role and help the team win. If LaVine’s scoring role is diminished, you still have a defensive weakness out there.
Couple everything mentioned above with the fact that Grant is a really solid complement to Sabonis at PF (which is really hard to find) and it seems like a no brainer when deciding between LaVine and Grant so I’m curious to get your take on why you might prefer LaVine?
You could also expand the target to be both Grant & Thybulle (sending out Barnes & Huerter from a salary perspective and likely to a 3rd team) and have a rotation of…
PG - Fox / Ellis
SG - Thybulle / Monk
SF - Murray / Vezenkov
PF - Grant / Lyles
C - Sabonis / Len
- 4 plus defenders around Sabonis in the starting lineup
- A lot of length around Sabonis (Thybulle, Murray, & Grant all have 7’0”+ wingspans)
- A lot of weakside rim protection help for Sabonis (Thybulle, Murray, & Grant are all pretty solid shotblockers)
- 4 solid floor spacers around Sabonis with Murray being our elite movement shooter
- Many good go-to scoring options in Fox, Grant, Monk, Sabonis, & Murray
- Great 6th man option in Monk with Ellis, Vezenkov, Lyles, and Len being solid bench options.
- You have the option to close out games with Monk (more offense) or Thybulle (more defense) depending on the game/situation
There’s a lot to like about that team. Especially come playoff time.