Potential Free agent/trade/sign tracker
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
- Start date
I don’t think that’s financially viable for the Pels to do though. Trae is a couple years from a huuuge extension and Zion has the same coming a year later. Murphy also is probably going to ask for a hefty salary bump given how he’s pretty much been their second option with Zion out and CJ sucking so they’re probably going to have to move CJ as part of the deal lest their owner wants to hit Suns levels of cap hell.
One solution to the "we need more length" and "we need more scoring than we had at the end of the season" is to move on from Mitchell and make Monk your primary backup point guard, and also give him some combo 2 minutes. That allows you to keep Monk's offense without having his lack of length be compounded by playing him with Mitchell.
Trade 1
Huerter/Sasha/draft consideration for Jerami Grant
Portland sheds salary, gets some shooters, gets to test Sasha's upside, and gets a draft pick.
Trade 2
Mitchell/Duarte for Finney-Smith
Jordi gets a guy he loves and for a team that has no real future point guard prospects. Duarte is another defensive piece for them.
You would have a top 9 that features Fox, Sabonis, and Monk as your core offensive initiators surrounded by 6 different wings and stretch players (Keegan, Grant, Keon, Barnes, DFS, and Lyles). You could go with a lot of different looks and a lot of flexibility and switchability on defense.
Defensively, Keon, Keegan, DFS, and Grant are all plus defenders with good size and length for their positions. Keon can guard 1-2. Keegan can guard 1-4. DFS can guard 2-4. Grant can guard 2-4. Lyles at least hustles on D, and Barnes can be hidden.
Offensively, Grant can offer another scoring option in the starting lineup. Barnes might find more value as an iso scorer off the bench. All 6 of those wing players have shown the ability to knockdown outside shots.
A core 9 could breakdown minutes as follows.
Sabonis (34) Lyles (14)
Grant (28) DFS (20)
Keegan (24) Barnes (24)
Ellis (24) Monk (16) Keegan (8)
Fox (34) Monk (14)
You still have Len's size if you need it. You still have Colby to see if he can work his way into the backcourt rotation. You have Kessler as another defensive project. And you still have 3 roster spots, the #13 draft pick, and the MLE (probably looking for a smaller 2/3 type wing who can eventually either replace Barnes, or replace DFS and push Barnes up to the backup 4).
Trade 1
Huerter/Sasha/draft consideration for Jerami Grant
Portland sheds salary, gets some shooters, gets to test Sasha's upside, and gets a draft pick.
Trade 2
Mitchell/Duarte for Finney-Smith
Jordi gets a guy he loves and for a team that has no real future point guard prospects. Duarte is another defensive piece for them.
You would have a top 9 that features Fox, Sabonis, and Monk as your core offensive initiators surrounded by 6 different wings and stretch players (Keegan, Grant, Keon, Barnes, DFS, and Lyles). You could go with a lot of different looks and a lot of flexibility and switchability on defense.
Defensively, Keon, Keegan, DFS, and Grant are all plus defenders with good size and length for their positions. Keon can guard 1-2. Keegan can guard 1-4. DFS can guard 2-4. Grant can guard 2-4. Lyles at least hustles on D, and Barnes can be hidden.
Offensively, Grant can offer another scoring option in the starting lineup. Barnes might find more value as an iso scorer off the bench. All 6 of those wing players have shown the ability to knockdown outside shots.
A core 9 could breakdown minutes as follows.
Sabonis (34) Lyles (14)
Grant (28) DFS (20)
Keegan (24) Barnes (24)
Ellis (24) Monk (16) Keegan (8)
Fox (34) Monk (14)
You still have Len's size if you need it. You still have Colby to see if he can work his way into the backcourt rotation. You have Kessler as another defensive project. And you still have 3 roster spots, the #13 draft pick, and the MLE (probably looking for a smaller 2/3 type wing who can eventually either replace Barnes, or replace DFS and push Barnes up to the backup 4).
I agree. But that team at the end of the season that couldn't score also played some really good defense. My fear would be that if you add back in Heurter and Monk at the expense of Keon, then you are once again just fixing one problem at the expense of another.
The key to me is how you get Monk's scoring back in the lineup without killing the defensive progress. Monk getting his minutes at the 2 alongside Fox or Mitchell makes us way too small at the guard position. However, Monk as the backup 1/2 means that only half of your Monk minutes are alongside Fox (when you really need offense) and half of your Monk minutes are alongside Keon or Keegan at the 2. That should hopefully balance some of the bad defense/good offense we had with Monk with the great defense/bad offense we had without Monk.
The key to me is how you get Monk's scoring back in the lineup without killing the defensive progress. Monk getting his minutes at the 2 alongside Fox or Mitchell makes us way too small at the guard position. However, Monk as the backup 1/2 means that only half of your Monk minutes are alongside Fox (when you really need offense) and half of your Monk minutes are alongside Keon or Keegan at the 2. That should hopefully balance some of the bad defense/good offense we had with Monk with the great defense/bad offense we had without Monk.
To me, the Pellies are a great blueprint for how the Kings can make it work with Sabonis at the 5. JV is similar to Sabonis. Big, strong, but not super long and not really a rim protector. They make up for JV's lack of rim protection (and the fact that McCollum is not much of a defender), by playing a lot of length and defense at the 2-4. In the above hypothetical, we would have a lot more length and defense at the 2-4 (Keon, Keegan, Grant, and DFS). All of those guys are above average defenders with good length. Heck, you would still have Colby and Kessler as well, and both of them also profile as longish potential impact defenders. Basically, you don't need Domas to be super long and a rim protector if the guys in front of him are stopping most of the straight line drives that he would have to challenge.
We were 8th in defense over the last 30ish games. If Monk leaves, you could go out and try to get Delon Wright back. He would replace most of Monk’s playmaking and be much better defensively. Move HB to the bench for scoring, give Colby Duarte’s minutes and find a 4 that can be a scoring threat. A top 8 defense that can sneak back into the top 10 offensively is a legit threat.
Well, at least we all now know that @pdxKingsFan ain't secretly moonlighting as the Blazers' General Manager...
Well, at least we all now know that @pdxKingsFan ain't secretly moonlighting as the Blazers' General Manager...
We already knew that otherwise that loser Billups would have been fired last year
b) would have hired Jordi after drafting Kris
c) probably wouldn't have given Grant that stupid contract in the first place knowing Dame was gone
d) probably would have given Dame a heads up on Oregon parental custody before he decided to announce a divorce a week after the trade
Well, at least we all now know that @pdxKingsFan ain't secretly moonlighting as the Blazers' General Manager...
And Grant while a better player than Keon isn't worth a lotto pick even if it's an iffy draft AND what appears to be a cheap, solid role player in Keon. Also assuming Barnes is totally worthless is a mistake. Barnes might be someone to work in a 3 team deal so they can send him somewhere and maybe get something else for the Blazers as well. The Kings trade target package would likely include Huerter who is still young enough to entice a team as a wait and see option I'd think.
It's clearly time for a Player A/Player B here:
Player A:
PER 15.4
TS% .573
TRB% 5.8
AST% 13.8
STL% 1.2
BLK% 1.7
USG% 25.7
DWS 1.0 (1830 minutes)
WS/48 0.071
Player B:
PER 12.0
TS% .627
TRB% 7.1
AST% 11.1
STL% 2.5
BLK% 2.7
USG% 12.4
DWS 1.2 (978 minutes)
WS/48 0.114
Oh, and...
Player A
4/$132M
Player B
2/$4.5M
Yeah...let's trade Keon for Jerami Grant, sounds like a great idea.
Player A:
PER 15.4
TS% .573
TRB% 5.8
AST% 13.8
STL% 1.2
BLK% 1.7
USG% 25.7
DWS 1.0 (1830 minutes)
WS/48 0.071
Player B:
PER 12.0
TS% .627
TRB% 7.1
AST% 11.1
STL% 2.5
BLK% 2.7
USG% 12.4
DWS 1.2 (978 minutes)
WS/48 0.114
Oh, and...
Player A
4/$132M
Player B
2/$4.5M
Yeah...let's trade Keon for Jerami Grant, sounds like a great idea.
Not sold on Keon as a starter. He did an amazing job against the Warriors, but came back and played absoulutey putrid against the Pelicans. In 28mins of action, he produced: 0pts 1ast 2blks 1to 0rebs.
In games where he's played at least 20mpg, he's scored 5pts or less in 7 of them.. he needs a lot more confidence in his offense.
If we can get Grant without giving up Keegan, I would do it in a heartbeat. Keon should not be the piece that makes you pause on a potential trade. There's not much that separates Keon from other random role players like Josh Okogie, Garrison Matthews, Craig Porter, etc.
In games where he's played at least 20mpg, he's scored 5pts or less in 7 of them.. he needs a lot more confidence in his offense.
If we can get Grant without giving up Keegan, I would do it in a heartbeat. Keon should not be the piece that makes you pause on a potential trade. There's not much that separates Keon from other random role players like Josh Okogie, Garrison Matthews, Craig Porter, etc.
I would not trade Keon and #13 for Grant, and agree Grant isn't the solution to all of our problems, but let's also not pretend that upgrading Barnes' spot in the starting lineup to Grant, and keeping Barnes off the bench doesn't solve a lot of problems. If you can trade Huerter, #13 and filler for Grant then you do it.
Starting Grant, Keegan, and Ellis gives us three very strong, rangy defenders in the starting lineup. Grant can play as a legitimate #2 scoring option, allowing Keegan to float to a #3 role, allowing Domas to facilitate, and letting Keon play 3/D. Plus, you can shift Barnes' offense to the bench to help Monk (hopefully) provide some scoring pop. You would also still have Mitchell and Barnes as potential trade options, and have a full MLE.
And if you are worried about Grant's rebounding that is fair, but he would also be replacing Barnes in the lineup, so let's not pretend we are downgrading from Moses Malone on the rebounding front.
Starting Grant, Keegan, and Ellis gives us three very strong, rangy defenders in the starting lineup. Grant can play as a legitimate #2 scoring option, allowing Keegan to float to a #3 role, allowing Domas to facilitate, and letting Keon play 3/D. Plus, you can shift Barnes' offense to the bench to help Monk (hopefully) provide some scoring pop. You would also still have Mitchell and Barnes as potential trade options, and have a full MLE.
And if you are worried about Grant's rebounding that is fair, but he would also be replacing Barnes in the lineup, so let's not pretend we are downgrading from Moses Malone on the rebounding front.
If Keon is the starter the Kings need scoring next to him for sure. The thing about Keon is that between he and Keegan you have that perfectly matched 3 and D combo teams seem to have success with historically. It's like Raja Bell and Shawn Marion a little bit. Keon, Grant, and Keegan might not be talented enough in the end but the fit is perfect on paper.