Potential Free Agent/Trade/Sign Tracker, '25-'26 Season
- Thread starter twslam07
- Start date
twslam07
All-Star
Another idea to throw around…
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DAL GETS: DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas, & 2026 CHA 2nd
DAL GIVES: Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, & Naji Marshall
WHY FOR DAL? With Irving rehabbing, the Mavs will be desperate for some go-to scoring, ballhandling, and playmaking. Both DeRozan and Monk fit that description and can help keep them afloat until Irving is back (giving them a great shot at making a run at a title). Both of these guys can also come off the bench when DAL is fully healthy giving DAL a formidable bench. Lastly, they also get two attractive future 2nds to help them add young, cheap talent over time.
PG - Irving / Monk / Williams
SG - Christie / Hardy
SF - Flagg / DeRozan / Martin
PF - Davis / Prosper
C - Lively / Valanciunas / Powell
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SAC GETS: Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, & Naji Marshall
SAC GIVES: DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas, & 2026 CHA 2nd
WHY FOR SAC? The Kings significantly improve their size, length, defense, & shooting. However, they do lose scoring & playmaking. Washington slots in as an excellent fit at PF next to Sabonis and allows Murray to move back to his ideal position (SF). Marshall gives them another tough, lengthy, forward who can defend and knock down the 3. Thompson gives them a sharpshooter off the bench that can help with the scoring. Gafford gives them a legit backup C who can defend at a high level and protect the rim. They’d still be in desperate need of a real PG, but again, they’d have much more size, length, defense, and shooting to help improve in other areas. They could plan on seeing if Carter has what it takes to be a lead guard/PG this year with the ability to explore a trade for a star PG next offfseason by using LaVine’s massive expiring salary as a good way to make contracts work.
PG - Ellis / Carter
SG - LaVine / Thompson / Davis
SF - Murray / Marshall
PF - Washington / LaRavia
C - Sabonis / Gafford / Jones
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DAL GETS: DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas, & 2026 CHA 2nd
DAL GIVES: Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, & Naji Marshall
WHY FOR DAL? With Irving rehabbing, the Mavs will be desperate for some go-to scoring, ballhandling, and playmaking. Both DeRozan and Monk fit that description and can help keep them afloat until Irving is back (giving them a great shot at making a run at a title). Both of these guys can also come off the bench when DAL is fully healthy giving DAL a formidable bench. Lastly, they also get two attractive future 2nds to help them add young, cheap talent over time.
PG - Irving / Monk / Williams
SG - Christie / Hardy
SF - Flagg / DeRozan / Martin
PF - Davis / Prosper
C - Lively / Valanciunas / Powell
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SAC GETS: Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, & Naji Marshall
SAC GIVES: DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas, & 2026 CHA 2nd
WHY FOR SAC? The Kings significantly improve their size, length, defense, & shooting. However, they do lose scoring & playmaking. Washington slots in as an excellent fit at PF next to Sabonis and allows Murray to move back to his ideal position (SF). Marshall gives them another tough, lengthy, forward who can defend and knock down the 3. Thompson gives them a sharpshooter off the bench that can help with the scoring. Gafford gives them a legit backup C who can defend at a high level and protect the rim. They’d still be in desperate need of a real PG, but again, they’d have much more size, length, defense, and shooting to help improve in other areas. They could plan on seeing if Carter has what it takes to be a lead guard/PG this year with the ability to explore a trade for a star PG next offfseason by using LaVine’s massive expiring salary as a good way to make contracts work.
PG - Ellis / Carter
SG - LaVine / Thompson / Davis
SF - Murray / Marshall
PF - Washington / LaRavia
C - Sabonis / Gafford / Jones
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I dont think mavs part ways with pj washington, he fits nice with AD
We could try and make a run at lively though, as he will be buried behind AD
We could try to get some talented bench guys like Anthony black, mathurin, jarace walker, mcconnell, isaiah joe, cason wallace, ajay mitchell etc.
Some of those you should be able to buy low
We could try and make a run at lively though, as he will be buried behind AD
We could try to get some talented bench guys like Anthony black, mathurin, jarace walker, mcconnell, isaiah joe, cason wallace, ajay mitchell etc.
Some of those you should be able to buy low
twslam07
All-Star
Davis will be playing PF next to Lively at C. He won’t be buried behind him.
Davis has always had a preference for playing PF over C, and I think it’s wise (at least in the regular season) to appease that request to help save his body for the playoffs. The Mavs can easily go with a C rotation of Lively & Gafford and allow Davis to play full time at PF which then leaves minimal minutes to be had at backup PF.
Now you could say Washington can play SF and get his minutes there, but the Mavs just lucked into Cooper Flagg who will likely be logging big minutes at SF/PF right out of the gate.
Washington is much more expendable now that they’ll be adding Flagg to their roster. Even many Mavs fans are very much open to the idea of moving him for someone like Monk or DeRozan as they’ve been vocal about a need for another scorer/playmaker (especially with Irving rehabbing).
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Washington is also up for an extension that the Mavs absolutely cannot afford to pay next season. There is plenty of reason for them to move him but that also means he’s going to be in high demand around the league.
If they plan like that, then its a good trade.
I thought lively doesnt fit AD and Kyrie offensively, because will have to be parked inside to be effective.
I would try to do it without derozan though, and try to get a proper PG with derozan.
It’s not a bad idea, the problem is a trio of Sabonis/LaVine/DeRozan is a clunky fit offensively, and limits you defensively. I think Sabonis wants to play as the hub, running DHOs, setting screens, finding cutters. Maybe DeRozan and LaVine can learn to play like that with time and have a better synergy with Domas, but we haven’t seen it up to this point.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Ex nba players need to get off tv
I wouldn't hate MPJ. Obviously works with a Domas-type hub, still just 26 and has been a rock solid starting wing for 3+ years now. Only 2 years left on his extension, so honestly lines up with what we have going here with LaVine/Domas/Monk in terms of timeline.
Keon-LaVine-MPJ-Keegan shooting around Domas-hub playmaking? Like come on now, that'd give us a real chance to be a great offense.
Keon-LaVine-MPJ-Keegan shooting around Domas-hub playmaking? Like come on now, that'd give us a real chance to be a great offense.
You know I've got to say it though.... LaVine, MPJ, and Domas in the same lineup is going to get crushed on the other end by anyone even vaguely good at getting into the paint. We'd have very little size to defend near the basket and two perimeter defenders who can't stay in front of anyone.
Sure, but the magic solution isn't out there. Assuming we are still going to try and compete (because vivek), getting a mpj caliber wing and offensive player makes a ton of sense. The win condition for a domas and lavine lead team is offense; so just go make sure we are one of the best in the league at it.
Also, assuming we learn our lesson and play tons of Keon+Keegan together for massive minutes, the defense has a pretty good chance to be average, despite whoever else is on the floor with them.
whitechocolate
Bench
I'll be rooting for DeMar wherever he ends up. His game is nice, and he always brings it. He did right by us too. He's a future hall of famer, but people don't talk about him like they should.
I think we just tried to put a top offensive lineup on the court last year but it didn’t work.
I think the move to make is to deal Deebo, and Insert a defensive player into the lineup to go with Keegan and either Keon or Carter. 3 defenders on the floor at all times. I think the organization needs to trust Keegan can take a jump as a secondary scorer or third scorer. He can’t take that jump if he’s surrounded by Monk, Lavine, Deebo and Domas.
I would add 3 and D guys and then find a good PG
Throwing away the defensive side of the game isn't any kind of a solution though. It's going to result in the same number if wins (40-46) and more struggles to get past the play-in round. If we can't find a way to rescue the defense from bottom 5 territory (where it's been since Mike Brown was fired and Fox was traded) we'll barely be better than .500 even if we have a top 10 offense. I don't think that Keon and Keegan together is a salve for having poor defenders at every other position. We had that this season and saw other teams headhunt the matchups they wanted.
Ok who then? What's the trade solution?
Because if a quality starting wing, that's an excellent offensive fit with our team is available for DDR, your option better be as good
Dozens of other names have been suggested in other trade proposals. I made a whole off-season plan already here which involves a DeRozan trade. The rumored Miami trade interest makes sense. Maybe we get a draft pick out of it and/or work out a sign and trade to get Davion back.
I'm not entirely against the idea of taking back a veteran in a trade for DeMar instead of my usual preference for a young player and/or a first round pick but there's so many other factors to consider when trading for a veteran (years remaining in career, injury risk, contract size, willingness to re-sign, fit on both ends of the floor) that it makes it a lot harder for me to identify a team that has a need for DeRozan and also has a comparable player they're willing to trade that fits what we're trying to build. And then on top of that it has to be a legal trade under the CBA restrictions. With that many moving pieces needing to line up, usually only one team comes out ahead in those kinds of deals and historically speaking it's rarely the Kings.
And anyway, there's probably no trade that the two of us are going to agree on if you're starting out with the premise that Michael Porter Jr. is a good fit for this team. Denver may be looking to trade him because he's not a core piece for them anymore. That should tell you something. A lot of people really seem to like MPJ but I'm not one of them. He's not far above LaVine for me on my list of guys I don't want anywhere near a franchise that I root for. Yes he's only 26 (will be 27 in a month) but he's got a worrying injury history, is ineffective as a defender at any position, and his career playoff averages of 13 pts, 7 reb, and 1 assist in 30.9 minutes per game are pretty underwhelming. That's a significant sample of 75 games too.
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Dozens of other names isn't an answer. And your proposal is not realistic in the slightest because Vivek will not reset. I too, agree, we should reset but our owner will not allow it.
You may not like it, but it quite literally is an answer.
It's an avoidance. I can't interact with "dozens of other trade proposals" because 1. They aren't what you think and 2. It gives the illusion that thr mythical perfect name is actually out there.
Put a name on paper. If mpj isn't the answer, who is? Especially if we operate under the assumption that vivek will not reset
It's not an avoidance we're just speaking two different languages here. You're asking for one name and I already gave you three names. The fact that you somehow missed that tells me how this conversation is going to go. I could make a list of around 20 players that I would be willing to maybe structure a DeRozan deal around and you could probably do the same. Then if we go down each of our lists I'm going to cross yours off because they don't play any defense and you're going to cross mine off because they're not scorers.
Also, you already showed that you hold the trump card. Vivek apparently loves players like Buddy Hield and Zach LaVine. Judging by the player types he's gravitated to in the past, he's probably foaming at the mouth at the possibility of trading for MPJ. I have no response for that. I could just set an auto-response of "45 wins max and hoping to win a play-in game" to every offense-only trade proposal or I could point to the last 20 years of Kings history. But if you're going to counter with "yeah but this is what Vivek wants" it sounds like you don't want my opinion about the basketball merits of the trade anyway. Which is fine, but I don't particularly care to argue about what you or I think Vivek wants. I'm hoping what we're actually concerned with as an organization right now is what Scott Perry wants.
I don't think the situation is totally hopeless though so I'll throw a fourth name into the mix... Keegan Murray. That's the scorer who I would replace DeRozan with. He may not be ready to be the guy yet but neither was DeRozan once upon a time. Putting Keegan in that role opens up the possibility of trading DeRozan, LaVine, et al for a PG or a defensive big and creating genuine roster balance not just compromise roster balance.
You've said absolutely 0 names since you responded to my initial post. Instead, making me go reread a month old post about a rebuilding package that isn't realistic.
Here's the kicker, I didn't even really go to bat for MPJ. Since you enjoy making others go reread posts, you can go reread mine. I said he wouldn't be awful, considering he's shown he's a quality starting wing and is undoubtedly one of the best shooters in basketball. No, he doesn't fix the defensive problems and we'd be all-in on offense, but it's at least an option to upgrade on what we were last season. And it's pathway for this core to potentially be successful, which I think is the very likely route we take next season in keeping this team together.
Why would Scott Perry be independent of what Vivek wants the team direction to go in? If Vivek's directive, when hiring Perry, was "I want wins and I want them now", Perry isn't going to just go full firesale and tell Vivek to wait 3 years for the team to built back up. That's how he gets fired in 2 years.
I also don't hate elevating Keegan Murray into the 3rd option role either. I thought he showed real growth the last 3 months of the season and his stat profile showed someone ready to take on a much bigger USG role. I've said this before, but if you could keep LaRavia with the promise of starting him perhaps, I really like the idea of Keon-Keegan-LaRavia around LaVine and Domas as an effective unit. Trying to go get someone like Naji Marshall or PJW are 2 other names I think could fit that mold of quality 2-way guys that stay out of the way offensively.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Murphy is on 24 coming off a 20/5/3 and is a good defender
I think Scott Perry has a good relationship with Joe Dumars. Would love to get either Trey Murphy or Herb Jones if the price is right.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Rather Murphy with his offensive upside I’m sure it’ll take two firsts at the very minimum
In the exact post you quoted I named a player I would trade for on Miami. And I also didn't expect you to re-read everything I wrote in that other thread. The names of the players involved in the trades are all in bold. All it would take is 5 seconds to skim through and find the players I wanted to trade for from Detroit. I don't think that's all that burdensome.
I did also explain why I made the DeRozan trade and the problem I was trying to fix there so it might have been helpful if you did read it. Do you expect me to write out all of that twice? You're in such a hurry to prove me wrong for some reason that you keep flying right past the point. Yes obviously Vivek wants to win and it's Scott Perry's job now to make that happen. Trading for a player who makes us worse on defense is not going to accomplish either of their goals. It may accomplish your goal of putting together a better lineup on paper but wins on paper don't mean anything. Defense isn't something you can just choose to be bad at and still have a winning team. The only way this team takes a step forward is by fixing the defense until it's at last average. That means trading or benching LaVine and it probably also means moving Domas to PF and Keegan back to SF.
More to the point, we just don't need another spot-up shooter right now. LaRavia can fill that role in addition to Keon and Keegan. We need an actual starting PG and we need someone to soak up minutes at C. The ideal player I'm always looking to draft or trade for is a Draymond Green type of glue guy to captain the defense. However many bites at the apple Perry gets with his draft picks and trade assets, I would hope that he devotes them to finding that player. Domas is already a pretty good third option on offense assuming he stays. And I've got Keegan developing into not a third option but a first option scorer. I don't think 25ppg on higher volume is unobtainable for him. He just needs to stay aggressive and start earning trips to the free throw line in addition to his mid-range pull-up jumper and catch and shoot or dribble hand-off threes. That second option guy we can find in time. I don't expect this all to come together at once but we have limited trade assets so we'd better use the few we do have to solve problems not reinforce existing ones.
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