Sparing the Heighword thread by addressing all your DLo/Warriors-related concerns here. Tread carefully!
The Bucks are the league standard-bearer right now, with the league’s marquee player. There’s zero chance they ever move Giannis *unless* he declares he hates it there and refuses to extend. In that unlikely scenario, one would assume the Warriors would be high atop his wish list, given the allure of sunny CA / Silicon Valley $, the dream hoops fit of him with the Splash Brothers, and his friendship and shared agent with Steph (plus potentially a shared antipathy for self-styled ”King” James and his cadre of NBA in-groupers, whom you know Steph, Klay and Giannis would quietly relish destroying).
If Giannis did come available, there would almost certainly be more appealing offers than what the Warriors could muster; but as AD showed, players today can all but force their way onto their chosen team. I don’t think what NOP ended up getting for AD is that far beyond the best the Ws could come up with.
Philly’s a wild card; who knows what they’re thinking now about the Embiid/Simmons pairing, or how they view DLo. It does seem pretty clear that Embiid and Simmons are a suboptimal hoops fit; and for players who have essentially grown up together, they don’t seem particularly close personally, either. I’d bet a lot they break them up at some point. Hard to see them doing so for DLo plus a top 5 pick as soon as this off-season, but weirder things have happened. A lot I think will depend on how well the Sixers coalesce this season.
The one thing I don’t get is the implication here and in a couple of other posts that the Sixers — beyond wanting to improve their own team —would have any interest in sticking it to Golden State. Why ... because the Warriors once upon a time deserted Philly? If there’s any team the Sixers would want to stick it to to spite their face, it’s of course the Celtics ... and even there, they happily gave you Tatum and a top pick for Fultz.
Of the three teams cited, the Wolves seem like by far the most sensible landing spot for DLo. They’re going absolutely nowhere with their current core; they have a mediocre 32 y.o. PG in Teague who expires this season and needs replacing; and probably most importantly, their one franchise player is BFFs with DLo, and a natural hoops fit with him. I’d assume the impetus to keep KAT happy alone is enough to make Minny highly motivated to move anything and everything for DLo. I doubt the Ws would have any interest in Wiggins, but I’d assume they could get anything else they wanted from Minny (say, Covington, Okogie, a top pick, and Teague or Dieng as salary ballast). Maybe not the best GS could for DLo, but I’d consider it — Covington slots in really well at SF for them. And I’d bet a lot it’s on the table for GS when they want it, for all the concerns of DLo being ”cotton candy.” Speaking of...
1. Chris Paul: 21 clutch makes in 78 clutch minutes
2. Nikola Jokic: 19 clutch makes in 65 clutch minutes
3. Zach LaVine: 19 clutch makes in 80 clutch minutes
4. Donovan Mitchell: 18 clutch makes in 57 clutch minutes
5. Buddy Hield: 17 clutch makes in 56 clutch minutes
6. Joe Harris: 16 clutch makes in 74 clutch minutes
7. Kyrie Irving: 16 clutch makes in 44 clutch minutes
8. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 16 clutch makes in 76 clutch minutes
9. D’Angelo Russell: 15 clutch makes in ONLY 27 clutch minutes
Yeah, he’s been pretty “feast or famine” overall, but as you suggest, much of that may be due to acclimating to a whole new system, with inconsistent rotations consisting largely of babies and g-leaguers. Plus, as with KD, Kerr perpetually trying to balance his philosophical affection for motion offense with the desire to maximize the talents of a player with elite iso-ball/P&R skills.
As far as shooting efficiency, I assume you’re still high on 21 y.o. Jayson Tatum (and his trade value) despite his current, sub-par .522 true shooting? I know I am. I feel like one should extend the same benefit of the doubt to 23 y.o. DLo and his .540 TS, but YMMV.
Also in the realm of mild overstatement, DLo doesn’t turn 24 till February 23, 2020. Are position players “about to” report to Spring training? I hope so, cos January and February kinda suck.
Edit: forward slashes and such. Multi-quotes on iPhone on a shaky bus trip are hard!
Those are of course three vastly different franchises, with totally different priorities.Yeah, there’s no way that Minnesota, Milwaukee, or Philly decide that saving the Warriors is so important that they have to immediately break up their contender
The Bucks are the league standard-bearer right now, with the league’s marquee player. There’s zero chance they ever move Giannis *unless* he declares he hates it there and refuses to extend. In that unlikely scenario, one would assume the Warriors would be high atop his wish list, given the allure of sunny CA / Silicon Valley $, the dream hoops fit of him with the Splash Brothers, and his friendship and shared agent with Steph (plus potentially a shared antipathy for self-styled ”King” James and his cadre of NBA in-groupers, whom you know Steph, Klay and Giannis would quietly relish destroying).
If Giannis did come available, there would almost certainly be more appealing offers than what the Warriors could muster; but as AD showed, players today can all but force their way onto their chosen team. I don’t think what NOP ended up getting for AD is that far beyond the best the Ws could come up with.
Philly’s a wild card; who knows what they’re thinking now about the Embiid/Simmons pairing, or how they view DLo. It does seem pretty clear that Embiid and Simmons are a suboptimal hoops fit; and for players who have essentially grown up together, they don’t seem particularly close personally, either. I’d bet a lot they break them up at some point. Hard to see them doing so for DLo plus a top 5 pick as soon as this off-season, but weirder things have happened. A lot I think will depend on how well the Sixers coalesce this season.
The one thing I don’t get is the implication here and in a couple of other posts that the Sixers — beyond wanting to improve their own team —would have any interest in sticking it to Golden State. Why ... because the Warriors once upon a time deserted Philly? If there’s any team the Sixers would want to stick it to to spite their face, it’s of course the Celtics ... and even there, they happily gave you Tatum and a top pick for Fultz.
Of the three teams cited, the Wolves seem like by far the most sensible landing spot for DLo. They’re going absolutely nowhere with their current core; they have a mediocre 32 y.o. PG in Teague who expires this season and needs replacing; and probably most importantly, their one franchise player is BFFs with DLo, and a natural hoops fit with him. I’d assume the impetus to keep KAT happy alone is enough to make Minny highly motivated to move anything and everything for DLo. I doubt the Ws would have any interest in Wiggins, but I’d assume they could get anything else they wanted from Minny (say, Covington, Okogie, a top pick, and Teague or Dieng as salary ballast). Maybe not the best GS could for DLo, but I’d consider it — Covington slots in really well at SF for them. And I’d bet a lot it’s on the table for GS when they want it, for all the concerns of DLo being ”cotton candy.” Speaking of...
Let’s see: he’s four inches taller than Kemba Walker, with six inches of wingspan on him. When Kemba was his age, he was nowhere near as good as DLo, in any respect: DLo’s a much better scorer than young Kemba by both volume and efficiency, a much better passer, much better three point shooter, and a better rebounder, with a better upside based on size alone (given similar positions, the marginal value in the NBA of four inches of height and six of wingspan is huge). There’s no guarantee he makes the leap in his mid 20s that Kemba did ... but if he’s cotton candy, what was young Kemba?the cotton candy of NBA guards.
To be clear, the only way they can add a max contract is by trading DLo (or Steph or Klay, haha). Totally agreed that they’ll be aggressive this summer, though, for the reasons you note. I like a lot of things about DLo, but think he’s a suboptimal allocation of resources on their roster as constructed. I’m still open to the possibility he makes the leap in defense and efficiency needed to stick around, but think it’s much more likely he gets moved, given the well-fitting Covington + Okogie as a fallback plan.But I suspect that they’ll want to remove the stink of the tank season from their new venue and that they’re going to be aggressive in free agency this summer (because for the 73rd time, I’m not discussing a trade this year, I’m discussing Golden State re-tooling this summer since Russell’s contract gives them the ability to make a max signing).
This could well be true, though I’d be curious to hear which light-years-better packages you think Simmons could fetch. I’m gaga about Simmons as a potential fit with Splash Bros, but I think his lack of shooting (and FT shooting) make him a problematic fit on a lot of teams that don’t have the two greatest shooters ever. I can’t see him fitting that well alongside a ball-dominant superstar like LeBron, Harden or Doncic, for example. Which teams beyond GS do you think of as great fits for Simmons?If Philly puts Ben Simmons on the market they can do light years better than D’Angelo Russell and a top 5ish pick.
Dangit, just as I’m trying to wrap my mind around why Philly should be especially motivated to bone the Warriors (see above), you want me to try to envision negative probabilities??Yeah, with 5.5 years of control there’s a -3,857% chance that they deal him at all. And a -37,189,256% chance that they give him away to the Warriors.
Hey we gave you McHale and Parish for a pick that ended up not being valuable, so deal with it! (Actually, I was “you” back then, but that’s another story, haha).I find it funny that people are cooking up trades for the Warriors that net them a star player for D'Angelo Russell plus a pick that may or may not be valuable.
Mostly agreed on the above, though I think you’re mildly overstating the case. Beyond the defensive shortcomings (which are less important in a PG), he’s not a “very flawed” player. He’s a great passer, floor general, and ballhandler and a good shooter, with great size for his position. If you believe in clutch, he’s also been one of the best players in the league this year with the game on the line. Per Anthony Slater’s recent column: “per minute, he has been the most potent “clutch” scorer in the NBA this season.”I like D Lo but he is a very flawed player and is about to turn 24. His usage is the highest of his career this season but he is still very feast or famine. His FG% is a touch above his career average however it is fairly low vs a guy who shoots as much as he does. And his shooting from deep has sagged a bit from last year as he has taken more shots. His rebounds and assists have fallen as well. His defense is poor too with the Warriors allowing almost a point more when he is on the floor while the opposing FG% goes up as well when he is not sitting. Some of this is a function on how barren the current Warriors squad is but the reality is, his offensive stats are essentially where they have been for a few years now if not worse.
1. Chris Paul: 21 clutch makes in 78 clutch minutes
2. Nikola Jokic: 19 clutch makes in 65 clutch minutes
3. Zach LaVine: 19 clutch makes in 80 clutch minutes
4. Donovan Mitchell: 18 clutch makes in 57 clutch minutes
5. Buddy Hield: 17 clutch makes in 56 clutch minutes
6. Joe Harris: 16 clutch makes in 74 clutch minutes
7. Kyrie Irving: 16 clutch makes in 44 clutch minutes
8. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 16 clutch makes in 76 clutch minutes
9. D’Angelo Russell: 15 clutch makes in ONLY 27 clutch minutes
Yeah, he’s been pretty “feast or famine” overall, but as you suggest, much of that may be due to acclimating to a whole new system, with inconsistent rotations consisting largely of babies and g-leaguers. Plus, as with KD, Kerr perpetually trying to balance his philosophical affection for motion offense with the desire to maximize the talents of a player with elite iso-ball/P&R skills.
As far as shooting efficiency, I assume you’re still high on 21 y.o. Jayson Tatum (and his trade value) despite his current, sub-par .522 true shooting? I know I am. I feel like one should extend the same benefit of the doubt to 23 y.o. DLo and his .540 TS, but YMMV.
Also in the realm of mild overstatement, DLo doesn’t turn 24 till February 23, 2020. Are position players “about to” report to Spring training? I hope so, cos January and February kinda suck.
We shall see. Before he landed in GS, I was hot on the idea of DLo as a future Celtic (Kemba’s obviously the better player now, but I think DLo’s age and size make him a better fit with the Jays and Marcus Smart long-term) so I don’t think I’m being a total Warrior homer in thinking he still has solid positive value on the trade market. Poking around Wolves and Knicks boards, I’ve definitely seen a fair amount of sincere slobbering over him. Whether that translates into GM interest remains to be seen. Watch this space!I am not ready to give up on him yet but NBAGMs are a lot sharper these days and few teams are going to help Bob Myers turn D Lo into another superstar. He can certainly be the centerpiece of a trade but its going to take more than just him and a pick to get most of the names mentioned in this thread.
Edit: forward slashes and such. Multi-quotes on iPhone on a shaky bus trip are hard!
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