We Can Do This! (Dallas & Boston)

[twslam07]

Boston Gets: Kosta Koufos & Dallas' 2017 2nd Round Pick
Boston Gives: Amir Johnson
Why for Boston? Gives them a big defensive center to allow Horford to play PF. He's also younger & on a very good deal for the next two years while Johnson is going to get a much bigger payday next year. Also pick up another 2nd to work with.

Dallas Gets: Ben McLemore
Dallas Gives: Devin Harris & Dallas' 2017 2nd Round Pick
Why for Dallas? Exchange one of their many PGs (Williams, Barea, Harris, Curry) for a young SG with some upside. Can also fill in and give them an option behind Matthews when he needs a spell.

Sacramento Gets: Amir Johnson & Devin Harris
Sacramento Gives: Kosta Koufos & Ben Mclemore
Why for Sacramento? Shift an ill fitting piece in Koufos for a better fitting piece at PF (Johnson). Also allows us to push Cauley-Stein to the bench to continue bringing him along slowly. Lastly, we get a more steady backup PG that is still a strong defender.

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PG - Collison / Harris / Cousins
SG - Afflalo / Temple / Richardson
SF - Gay / Casspi / Barnes
PF - Johnson / Tolliver / Labissiere
C - Cousins / Cauley-Stein / Papagiannis

Among 5 man lineups that had at least 300 minutes logged in the '14-'15 season, Collison/McLemore/Gay/Thompson/Cousins was the 4th best lineup. This starting lineup is arguably better.

Collison = Collison
McLemore < Afflalo
Gay = Gay
Thompson < Johnson
Cousins = Cousins

Sessions < Harris
Stauskas < Temple
Casspi = Casspi
D. Williams < Tolliver
Landry < Cauley-Stein

Malone =< Joerger

And you may ask that it might have been more of a "fit" element that made that starting lineup so potent. Well I think Afflalo & Johnson may be just as good filling their shoes.
Johnson vs. Thompson
Johnson ('15-'16) Per36: .136 USG% / .602 TS% / .585 FG% / .233 3PT% / .570 FT% / 11.5 PPG / 10.1 RPG / 2.8 APG / 1.0 SPG / 1.7 BPG / 1.9 TOPG / 4.3 FPG
Thompson ('14-'15) Per36: .127 USG% / .500 TS% / .470 FG% / .000 3PT% / .622 FT% / 8.9 PPG / 9.6 RPG / 1.5 APG / 0.6 SPG / 1.0 BPG / 1.5 TOPG / 4.3 FPG

Johnson Career Shooting %s: 71.6% 0-3 ft. / 46.6% 3-10 ft. / 37.9% 10-16 ft. / 40.0% 16-3pt / 31.5% 3pt
Thompson '14-'15 Shooting %s: 61.4% 0-3 ft. / 44.1% 3-10 ft. / 38.1% 10-16 ft. / 37.3% 16-3pt / 00.0% 3pt

Johnson Shot Attempts ('15-'16) Per36: 8.5 FGA / 0.9 3PA / 2.4 FTA
Thompson Shot Attempts ('14-'15) Per36: 7.7 FGA / 0.0 3PA / 2.6 FTA

So what do you have? You have a PF that will do a lot of the same things Thompson did (play defense, defend PFs & Cs, rebound, make open jumpers, and stay out of the way on offense unless he's needed) but do them better and more efficiently.

Afflalo vs. McLemore
Afflalo ('15-'16) Per36: .179 USG% / .531 TS% / .443 FG% / .382 3PT% / .840 FT% / 13.8 PPG / 4.0 RPG / 2.2 APG / 0.4 SPG / 0.2 BPG / 1.2 TOPG / 2.2 FPG
McLemore ('14-'15) Per36: .172 USG% / .552 TS% / .437 FG% / .358 3PT% / .813 FT% / 13.4 PPG / 3.2 RPG / 1.9 APG / 1.0 SPG / 0.3 BPG / 1.9 TOPG / 3.0 FPG

Afflalo Career Shooting %s: 61.5% 0-3 ft. / 40.6% 3-10 ft. / 46.7% 10-16 ft. / 42.3% 16-3pt / 38.5% 3pt
McLemore '14-'15 Shooting %s: 71.1% 0-3 ft. / 29.4% 3-10 ft. / 42.5% 10-16 ft. / 40.7% 16-3pt / 35.8% 3pt

Afflalo Shot Attempts ('15-'16) Per36: 12.1 FGA / 3.6 3PA / 2.0 FTA
McLemore Shot Attempts ('14-'15) Per36: 11.2 FGA / 5.3 3PA / 2.2 FTA

Here we added a guy who's a better shooter all over the floor with a similar usage, better rebounding, & better ball handling. I would expect his TS% to get up to a higher level if he takes a similar amount of threes as McLemore did with Cousins drawing doubles. Is his defense as good as McLemore's was? I would say no, but Afflalo used to be a good defender. Perhaps Joerger can tap into that again (probably wishful thinking on my part).

Overview
There are many around the NBA that underestimate what this team can achieve when the fact of the matter is that a lesser team was on pace for 49-33 before...well...you know. Now we have a better starting lineup (that would appear to fit together similarly to '14-'15), much better bench, and an equal to better caliber coach. We can do this! Make it happen Kings!

 

[whoopdeedoo]

I see your posts pop up often on the front page, they are fun to read! You really like making trade and breaking them down don't you? Do you normally propose trades that you think could actually happen or mainly enjoy the conversation that comes with along with the trades? Maybe both.

 

[DesertFox]

I still think Rudy is going to go. I can't see Barnes or Casspi as 3rd stringers.
They've talked up Barnes and his ability to play some 4, which is essentially what Casspi and Rudy do.
And with WCS and Tolly, there isn't exactly a ton of pt at pf.

 

[Hoovtrain]

Nice trade

 

[twslam07]

I see your posts pop up often on the front page, they are fun to read! You really like making trade and breaking them down don't you? Do you normally propose trades that you think could actually happen or mainly enjoy the conversation that comes with along with the trades? Maybe both.

Appreciate it! I would say both. I get a kick out of putting my self in Vlade's shoes.

 

[KingMilz]

I've been wanting Devin Harris for a while not sure if need Amir that much if we plan on developing WCS/Skal which should be the goal we just don't have the pieces to sacrifice winning for development imo.

 

[KingsFanGER]

Why should we push Willie to the bench? We are right at the bottom of the league, when it comes to talent without taking DMC into account. We should develop and trust the small amount of talent, that is there. If WCS doesn't pan out, we are heading into a multiple year long full scale rebuild. Would Amir be a better fit, than Koufos? Maybe: if Papa can play some backup minutes, or we want a smaller bench unit with Barnes or Casspi at the 4.
But basically I'm fine with our frontcourt even in the case of a Koufos trade. Cousins will play major minutes and if he goes down this team is in free fall anyways. Willie/Skal/Papa/Tolliver make an inexperienced, unproven but versatile frontline and when Barnes/Gay/Casspi log some minutes at the 4, which is pretty much inevitable when facing teams like the Warriors or Blazers, I don't see the need for just another big.

We need a guard, who is a good to great defender, a solid shooter and a good playmaker. Easier said than done.....
If Harris fits this profile, than we should go for him. Despite being German I can't stand the Mavericks, so I don't know much about Devin Harris. All I know is that injuries messed up his career.

I'm still fond of trading Gay for a good defensive wing and betting on Lance Stephenson to fix our playmaking difficulties off the bench. Temple + Stephenson makes a nice big, long backup guardline.
I mean the guy is the biggest butthead and knucklehead currently playing in the NBA. If we want to go full grind it out bad boy style, than at least do it right.

 

[King Baller]

Devin Harris is 33 years old and has played 12 NBA seasons. He was the 5th pick in the 2004 draft. Other players of note from that draft are Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Shaun Livingston, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin and way back at pick 43 is Trevor Ariza.

I'm not sure how much Harris has left as I don't follow the Mavs. In the few games I have seen him play he was solid but not spectacular. My impression is he is not the player he was in 2008, but in limited minutes off the bench he would be an OK backup PG.

 

[NoBonus]

I used to feel that any logical and well thought out trade was just never going to happen for Sac... but lately, it seems like common sense has been prevailing... I would not be surprised at all if this went down. Nice leg work and analysis BTW.

 

[notoriousBEN3]

I can dig it. Not earth shattering, but well rounded moves for all teams involved

 

[NoBonus]

I can dig it. Not earth shattering, but well rounded moves for all teams involved

That's what I am saying... no frills, level headed, basketball move.

 

[pshn80]

I'm not one to think up trades. I'm happy to have Vlade and staff do that. But this trade I like because I agree we need to: 1) keep Rudy, 2) get a starting PF (have Willie come off the bench), and 3) get a decent back-up PG. And it's time to move Ben. Koufos I'd like to keep but this would be a good trade-off.

 

[kingsboi]

Getting Devin Harris now? ehhh he doesn't really do much for a team anymore...Amir Johnson would be a decent get but at the expense of Koufos? I'd pass.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Getting Devin Harris now? ehhh he doesn't really do much for a team anymore...Amir Johnson would be a decent get but at the expense of Koufos? I'd pass.

Devin Harris is not really any more exciting than Ben McLemore at this point but would at least fill a need. But to my eye Johnson is a better player than Koufos, and I'm not sure that Koufos' big body in the middle is that needed with WCS (and hopefully PapaG) to backup Cousins. Johnson would probably give us a significantly bigger contribution than Koufos.

That said, I'm primarily interested in finding some option to acquire a PG (starting PG if possible) with our fungible assets. This deal would send two of those fungible assets to get a very unexciting backup PG. If that's the best we could do I'd probably pull the trigger. But I'd really try to pry away somebody - Rubio, Dragic, Knight, Bledsoe, even an injured Tyreke - but somebody to ostensibly start in front of Collison before signing off on this.

 

[kingsboi]

Devin Harris is not really any more exciting than Ben McLemore at this point but would at least fill a need. But to my eye Johnson is a better player than Koufos, and I'm not sure that Koufos' big body in the middle is that needed with WCS (and hopefully PapaG) to backup Cousins. Johnson would probably give us a significantly bigger contribution than Koufos.

That said, I'm primarily interested in finding some option to acquire a PG (starting PG if possible) with our fungible assets. This deal would send two of those fungible assets to get a very unexciting backup PG. If that's the best we could do I'd probably pull the trigger. But I'd really try to pry away somebody - Rubio, Dragic, Knight, Bledsoe, even an injured Tyreke - but somebody to ostensibly start in front of Collison before signing off on this.

By the sounds of it, that's making a trade for the sake of making a trade. Not making the team better at all really IMO. Trading for Tyreke right now with his three knee procedures is suicide....Knight/Bledsoe are the most realistic options here. I feel Rubio is staying for this season so Thibs doesn't throw a rookie out there right away, this way...he can learn behind Rubio and when the inevitable injury happens, that's when Dunn comes in and takes over.