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I think they offer unprotected picks to keep from dealing Kuminga and Podziwhateverthe and then in three years when looks dire Markannen can just force a trade out of town Kawhi style.
This is such a re ed take. Those picks are going to be late-lottery. And the whole design behind not taking the 8th pick was to ac ulate assets for a deal like one for Lauri. This team has to pick a lane, and commit. If they aren't going to build through the draft, and instead be committed to trading for a star, then ing do it.
I think they offer unprotected picks to keep from dealing Kuminga and Podziwhateverthe and then in three years when looks dire Markannen can just force a trade out of town Kawhi style.
This. I think this upcoming season is a semi-tank. The Spurs will try to win with what they have, but other than a few modest improvements (namely CP3) they're going to let it ride.
After two full seasons of watching Wemby (now with a legitimate PG all season long) and other young pieces that may have a place (Castle, Sochan, et al) they'll go into a loaded draft with a ton of capital and ready to wheel and deal.
The right time is after next year's draft.
If your the spurs you do this. I don't know how other teams will fair down the road, but with a load of teams being tank minded as of late, I have a feeling the market for FA is only going to get hotter. Despite having Wemby, I'm still not sold players are going to be throwing themselves to be on the spurs, but he definitely greases the wheel.
You need salary going out. If there's no Kuminga, I don't see Ainge doing the deal.
Replacing Sochan with Markkanen, yes. Shipping out Vassell? , no.
For the sake of discussion, let's go over potential forward targets around the league because Spurs desperately need a high quality forward. Our forward rotation is among the worst in the league.
Celtics and Knicks have their cores set.
Bucks have no good forwards except Giannis.
Magic are building around Wagner and Banchero.
Cavs and Heat have no good forwards.
Pacers and Sixers just signed Siakam and PG.
Chicago just signed Pat Williams.
Hawks have Jalen Johnson and now Risacher, will be interesting to see how they develop.
Nets have Cam Johnson, but he's not on the level required to be Wemby's running mate.
Raptors just gave a big extension to Scottie Barnes.
Hornets have Miller who could be a target because of their inevitable incompetence, but that's at least three years down the road.
Wizards just started their rebuild.
Pistons got another brick-layer in Holland, as if Ausar wasn't enough.
Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves have their cores set.
Clippers are imploding, nephew is obviously past it.
Mavs just got PJ Washington.
Suns have ancient KD.
Pelicans are interesting with Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, but neither will be for sale anytime soon.
Lakers are done.
Kings and Warriors are looking for a forward.
Rockets have a bunch of potentially good forwards, none are available.
Jazz have Markkanen.
Grizzlies have Bane who probably won't be available for the foreseeable future.
Trailblazers just started their rebuild.
Correct me if I missed someone, but that's the status of potential forward targets if we talk players with at least elite role player upside and not just regular roster filler.
Other than upcoming drafts, I really don't see the forward situation getting much better over the next few years. Ones that could become available will be too old.
Everything but SA25 and ATL25 are on the table.
Utah already has 3 FRP next year anyway (their own, MIN, and CLE).
Here is Utah's warchest (not counting SRPs)
2025: Own, MIN, CLE
2026: Own w/ swap rights from MIN and CLE
2027: Own, CLE, MIN, LAL (Top 4 Protected)
2028: Own w/ swap rights from CLE
2029: Own, CLE, MIN
It seems to me like you can nicely fill in the gaps for Ainge here.
SA26 (with the ATL Swap Rights attached), SA28 (with BOS Swap Rights attached), SA30 (with MIN & DAL swap rights attached) and MIN 31 are probably the most attractive to Ainge. The 30 MIN swap and 31 MIN FRP could be so huge for Ainge. He'd control their draft from now until 2031, with the exception of 2028.
IDK those ATL picks for 26 and 27 look pretty intriguing, especially with Dybantsa and Boozer coming in 26 and the Hawks being a trainwreck and probably losing Young. Then the 2030 and 2031 give Ainge even more control over Minnesota. Anything goes wrong there and he has them by the balls for years in my suggested trade.
Adding Lauri isn't going to get the Spurs into le contention with the current roster anytime soon. When the 25 draft rolls around you'll be happy to land two top ten picks.
Atlanta isn't going to be good next year and the spurs will be also be in the lottery, two shots for top ten picks in a deep draft. Spurs may be adding two players with higher upside than Lauri, then you lay the foundation for a dynasty.
People are getting over excited because the spurs added an over the hill 39 yr old pg.
Does that beat Kuminga + Podz + unprotected 2026 + unprotected 2028 + top 6 protected 2030 + 2031 swap?
I agree completely. Sochan still makes sense for both teams as would taking back Collin's contract.
Spurs Get:
Lauri
Collin's contract 2/51M
Jazz Get:
Sochan and Graham
26 and 27 Hawks picks
2031 Wolves and Spurs pick.
People forget we rarely lose trades…… I’m not worried we are going to be fleeced. We are not desperate
This narrative is so ing dumb. Who is Ainge, a ing mind controlling Jedi master?
Just go into any negotation with an already established max that you are willing to pay and anything over that is no go. It's really not that difficult, tbh.
Detroit, Washington, Portland, Chicago, Toronto, Utah, and Brooklyn are all easily worse than Atlanta. You could put SA, GSW, LAC, Charlotte, Atlanta and maybe Miami (depending on what happens with Jimmy) all in the same tier. Even with flattened odds, there's a good chance that Atlanta pick is in the 11-14 range - not the 6-10 as many are assuming. Atlanta not being good isn't the question - it's who will be worse then them.
I would expect the outgoing salary to be Wiggins. Doubt Utah would value Kuminga over an extra unprotected GSW pick.
I wouldn't give up any swap, tbh. The Spurs have enough draft capital to not have to go through a year without a first round pick.
The Warriors have a vanishingly small window. They can't afford to leverage their roster too badly. I'm not sure Utah has much of a chance of snagging GS's depth players.
Probably not... though if I'm Ainge I'm not sure I want Kuminga, he (slightly) raises the floor when they probably just want to bottom out. Rather than Kuminga (or Vassell for that matter), Ainge *should* want to get the highest pick possible in the next two drafts to find his superstars, and then use that warchest to build around them (much like the Spurs should be doing now that they landed Wemby).
The MIN angle I think is the best thing we have working for us. With that, Ainge extends his death grip on MIN's balls even deeper. As Gobert ages and KAT maybe starts to fall off... it would make Utah the natural destination to deal Ant if they need to reset (which I don't think will happen... but this is the Houston/Brooklyn - Brooklyn/Phoenix strategy which appears to be paying dividends for those teams).
If I'm Ainge and I don't get the 26 and 30 unprotected I'm probably trading with GSW. Those are the whole reason the Spurs could beat the Warriors offer.
You consistently have some of the worst basketball takes I have ever seen on the internet
The window is long gone.
They can prolong Steph's career with Markkanen and be a first, maybe second round exit, but even that is an optimistic scenario.
They blow the load on Markkanen, then what?
They'd try to trade Wiggins for some useful role players, but noone is taking his contract without positive assets attached.
They're ied and can only dig themselves deeper at this point, tbh.
Yeah I just don't see why Lauri hitches his wagon up to Podz + Kuminga vs. Wemby, particularly if GSW throws its future out to get him. 47 of the 82 games he'll play will be taxed at 12.5%, so I don't see his deal being more lucrative.
Well, then let him trade with the Warriors.
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