Guitarsoup said:

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TheNotoriousP.I.P. said:

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Man I'd really love to see us trade up for Cason Wallace and I think it's doable. We could have one of the deadliest defenses in the league with him, Wemby, and Sochan.

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I just think that both Black and Wallace are gone at #9 and it would be so expensive to trade up to there, you could get a veteran that is proven for the same price.

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I've seen some mocks that have Wallace dropping to the 13-14 range. Some think he is the best defensive player in the draft so he seems like the type of player that the Spurs are looking to draft.

Mavs are open for business at pick 10

Y'all want immediate help. Keldon Johnson is worth more than #10, especially if Black and Cason are gone.

I still think a more likely trade is to Portland because they deparately want to win now. I dont think Keldon alone would get it done. So for the Spurs a reasonable option is a 3 way. Find a team willing to trade a good starter for several picks. Send our picks to team x, send good player to Portland and send us the #3 pick.

Ag Natural said:

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I still think a more likely trade is to Portland because they deparately want to win now. I dont think Keldon alone would get it done. So for the Spurs a reasonable option is a 3 way. Find a team willing to trade a good starter for several picks. Send our picks to team x, send good player to Portland and send us the #3 pick.

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I don't know that the Spurs would want Brandon Miller, though. He's clearly a big knucklehead and I think the Spurs have had their fill of knuckleheads from Alabama for a while. If Scoot is there, sure.

In the interview process, when teams ask Miller about the first degree murder where he delivered the gun to the mruderers, he gives them a paper filled out by his attorney saying he can't talk about it, but is willing to talk about anything else. Teams have not liked that at all.

Spurs have draft capital and cap space, plus guys like Keldon. Not sure we really move the needle there much, if Portland really wants to win now. Portland also doesn't have a bunch of awful contracts to dump, which makes it more complicated, because they are operating as a team over the cap and have to send out money.

If Scoot is there and you want to go all in for Scoot, you could do something like Collins, Keldon, Branham, the 33rd pick and next year's unprotected 1st for Nurkic, Little, and 3rd pick. I just think they want more and I don't think the Spurs do that either. No reason to give up 3 25 or younger guys plus multiple picks to get the one guy and it leaves big holes on the team while taking on players that don't really help. I don't think the Spurs will rush things enough to do something like that.

After Wemby, just draft Sochan's new polish teammate, Brandin Podziemski, and call it a night.

Quote:

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His player comparison list is also as diverse as his game.

"Manu Ginobili, Luka Doncic, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jalen Brunson," Podziemski told HoopsHype. "I take bits and pieces of all four guys that are athletic, but people criticize them for their athleticism. They're super high IQ guys and figure out ways to make the team better."

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Enzo The Baker said:

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After Wemby, just draft Sochan's new polish teammate, Brandin Podziemski, and call it a night.

Quote:

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His player comparison list is also as diverse as his game.

"Manu Ginobili, Luka Doncic, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jalen Brunson," Podziemski told HoopsHype. "I take bits and pieces of all four guys that are athletic, but people criticize them for their athleticism. They're super high IQ guys and figure out ways to make the team better."

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Somebody else (LawHall I think) posted this about Podziemski from the Athletic.

Quote:

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Podziemski is polarizing, which is unsurprising given his journey. His counting stats of 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists are outstanding. He's a great shooter and hit 43.8 percent of his 3s this past season. On the surface, those are high-end numbers, but if you dig deeper, his numbers tanked against quality competition. In his six Tier A games, per KenPom, Podziemski had just a 53.8 true shooting percentage and saw his rebounding rate and assist rate drop by about 25 percent. In the five games he played against top-50 KenPom defenses, he averaged just 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds.

This would probably be worth overlooking as small sample, but the track record on players who transferred from the high-major level down to a lower level is not exactly long or littered with immense success stories. Outside of players who moved to powerhouse Gonzaga, only five such down-transfers have been selected going back through the 2011 NBA Draft. And I'm not sure any are entirely equivalent to Podziemski, who simply couldn't get on the floor at Illinois then became a draft prospect at what a person could reasonably consider a mid-major in Santa Clara.

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Of course, I'm sure just about every player you draft in the 2nd round has question marks so who knows.

Someone put together an aggregation of all the mock drafts:

Lol I'm just having fun. The 10th pick is available and that's where Wallace is projected.

Besides, Keldon doesn't really help the mavs. We don't need another offensive player.

Ag Natural said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Some of yall clearly don't watch much NBA or have not paid any attention at all to the way the Spurs operate. With the style of offense and defense the Spurs want to play there are going to be specific types of players pursued.

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So they Spurs don't want team-first All-Defense, great passing and shooting players?

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Some of the chatter is interesting. But when Brook Lopez and Grant Williams and Jordan Poole are brought up I just cringe.

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Maybe, but what if the teams are offering future draft picks to unload those contracts, and the Spurs give up nothing?


The Spurs cap space might be used to sign a free agent, but maybe they use it to "help" other teams unload high contract players, especially if it is very possible that in 5-7 years, that other team is down while Wemby is hitting year 4 or 7 .

Iowaggie said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Some of yall clearly don't watch much NBA or have not paid any attention at all to the way the Spurs operate. With the style of offense and defense the Spurs want to play there are going to be specific types of players pursued.

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So they Spurs don't want team-first All-Defense, great passing and shooting players?

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Some of the chatter is interesting. But when Brook Lopez and Grant Williams and Jordan Poole are brought up I just cringe.

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Maybe, but what if the teams are offering future draft picks to unload those contracts, and the Spurs give up nothing?


The Spurs cap space might be used to sign a free agent, but maybe they use it to "help" other teams unload high contract players, especially if it is very possible that in 5-7 years, that other team is down while Wemby is hitting year 4 or 7 .

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I think we will see a lot of players such as Poole or Ayton that are flawed and overpaid dumped cheap this summer.

Teams with major tax issues:

Atlanta
Milwaukee
Phoenix
Clippers
Maybe Lakers, depending on what they match on Reaves, what they do with Dlo and Rui.
Nuggets
Knicks
Philadelphia if they bring back Harden
Miami
New Orleans
Brooklyn
Minnesota
Washington - when they decide to overpay to keep Kuz and Portzingas.

I think with how punitive some of this apron stuff is, our FO could REALLY take advantage of some desperate contenders with too much dead salary. Dallas has several contracts they need to shed at 10, Washington at 8 I'm sure would love to move off of Gafford. If Wallace is there at 10, I think we could make something shake with Dallas, and I think Zach Collins may be the piece that could make something work.

Collins+44+next years Charlotte pick for Bertans and 10. Dallas sheds an expensive nonproductive player, gets a cheaper upgrade from Wood that could actually start next to Luka, and get some more breathing room to make other moves. That would put us at about $119MM if you include Tre's cap hold, about $1.5MM for pick 33, and the cap holds for pick 1 and 10. That leaves about $15MM for a Center, and maybe that's enough to poach Naz Reid or Brook Lopez if you backload it. So then that would leave you at:

C: Reid/Lopez, Bassey, Birch
PF: Sochan/Wemby, McDermott, Bertans
SF: Wemby/Sochan, Keldon
SG: Devin, Malaki
PG: Wallace, Tre, Wesley, Graham

Plus pick 33. And you don't have to give up any of your most valuable future firsts to do it.

I think future firsts are shooting up in value. I don't think I want to give up a future first, a mid-second and a 25yo center that just put up 17/8/4 as a starter post-AS break in just 28mpg for the #10 pick and have to take on

That 4th quarter was amazing. I remember thinking we were done and then Jackson and Kerr went crazy.

And that clip reminded me how much I hated Najera on the Mavs

Celtics fire sale?

Enzo The Baker said:

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Celtics fire sale?

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Going to be really interesting to see what they do with the new CBA. Almost makes them keeping Brown a bad idea with him likely due the super max. And they probably won't be able to keep guys like Grant Williams not with Tatum due an extension in a year (he'll opt out of his player option to re up at a larger deal). They already have $120 mill on the books next year, not counting Brown or grant, and that's only with 6 guys.

On Brown, I don't know if his trade value is as high as the Bill Simmons types think. They were throwing around Portlands pick plus Simmons and change or Dame plus change, Houston's 4 plus players and other picks if they don't get Harden, and while Brown is a damn fine scorer, his defense really dropped off and he isn't a creator at all. I just don't think he's worth that, especially if the Celtics are unwilling to pay the super max for him. But he's also a 26 year old who just averaged 26/6, so who knows. I don't think he's a guy that carries a team. But As a Spurs fan, I'd be willing to part with several of our other picks plus someone like Keldon to pair him with Wemby though .

Simmons is a hard core Celtics homer. He thinks they can trade some of their bench guys for all stars.

I think what we will see is having one (legit) max player and 3-4 guys in the 12-20mm range is way more valuable than having 2 or 3 max players.

The Warriors have 125mm tied up just with Steph, Klay and Poole, plus they have Green (27mm option) and Wiggins (25mm.) Those five have them screwed.

Having draft picks and several very good players that are just under that star level can really build a team well and you won't be able to have depth without doing that.

That's why I think my idea earlier of getting OG Anunoby and Caruso or something like that works. Gets us two guys that will never be max guys, but are very good at their role.

Plus keeping picks around.

The other thing with the guys in the 12-20mm range is that your ability to trade is so much easier, because it is easier to fit those guys in on other teams.

Jaylen Brown is essentially a better version of Keldon. They both shoot about the same percentages for their careers from 2, 3, and the FT line and they both rebound pretty well for wings. Neither is a very good defender, but Brown is slightly better and averages about a steal a game. Neither one is a distributor, but Brown is better at creating his own shot. I think there's a role for a pure scorer next to Wemby, but I don't know if the amount that Brown will cost is enough of an upgrade over Keldon.

West Texan said:

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Jaylen Brown is essentially a better version of Keldon. They both shoot about the same percentages for their careers from 2, 3, and the FT line and they both rebound pretty well for wings. Neither is a very good defender, but Brown is slightly better and averages about a steal a game. Neither one is a distributor, but Brown is better at creating his own shot. I think there's a role for a pure scorer next to Wemby, but I don't know if the amount that Brown will cost is enough of an upgrade over Keldon.

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Yea, I'd rather have a $18.5 million KJ over $50 million+ cryptic JB. Hard pass at the super max level.

I think what we've seen recently is that teams that hand out the supermax/max contracts to one dimensional players, no matter how great at that one dimension, have come to regret those deals. They end up regretting them even more when they give out multiple max deals to guys with the same one dimensional skill set. I'm of the opinion that you can ALWAYS find a guy between 6'5'' and 6'8'' to put up 20 points a game if you give them the usage rate to support it, so you shouldn't be paying max money for a guy that puts up 20/5/3. To me that's essentially a replacement level performance. Your max guys have to be multi-dimensional. No matter how much money Giannis or Jokic make, it doesn't cripple their team because those guys can be the best center, forward or guard on the floor depending on what the team needs on any given possession.

For that reason, Jaylen Brown is a huge pass for me, he just doesn't bring enough to the table to be a max guy. And going forward the Celtics have big questions because their 2 max guys essentially play the same position and have to rely on elite shot making in order to win them games.

I want the Spurs to build a team of players that are versatile, elite on defense and who are able to sacrifice for the team. The sacrifice part has to do with not caring about the PPG or other counting stats. We were truly blessed to spend so long with a player like Manu who could have averaged 25 PPG if he spent his career starting and demanding the ball, but instead he embodied the spirit of the organization and did what was necessary to win, including being a distributor and creator when needed and bringing consistent winning energy off the bench. It's hard to imagine any of today's stars willingly being bench players and never averaging more than 13 shots a game for their careers.

I think Wemby and Sochan are the perfect start to rebuild this winning culture. A star level lead guard is next on my must have list, and then you fill out the roster with whatever generic 3 and D wings you can find to start next to that group.

The lesson learned from many of the "super teams" over the past 4-5 years has been that there is only one ball on the court at a time still, so if you put together a group of guys that MUST have the ball in their hands in order to have value, then you are not building a winning team. The talent of a group of KD, Kyrie and Harden is undeniable, but even a fool could have seen that with only one ball, you were never going to get full value out of having 3 guys like that on one team, they just took turns going one on one. The Mavs learned the same thing with their Kyrie/Luka experiment, only one ball. I think it affirms my beliefs on what drives winning in the NBA that we see the current matchup of Heat and Nuggets in the finals, both teams embody the spirit of sharing the ball and taking the right shot over playing hero ball. Bam is one of my favorite players in the league, and he stars all the while only taking 14 shots a game.

The interesting thing in my opinion has been that these winning players I'm talking about, Giannis, Jokic, Bam, Manu all ended up being available to pretty much any team. None of them were top 10 picks, and two were second rounders. I don't know if that is relevant, or just coincidence but perhaps it plays into the positive mindset they have because they haven't grown up playing in a spotlight that encouraged them to "get theirs" at the expense of winning.

If I'm the Celtics I would push hard to get him to sign for a reasonable amount. He's eligible for the SuperMax because he made 2nd team All NBA. But he is NOT one of top 15 players in the league. Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, Paul George and Kawhi all didn't make it due to games played (and those are guys off the top of my head).

BTW, after watching him completely crap the bed in the playoffs this year there is no chance that I"m paying him that much and putting him with our young core. He showed horrible basketball IQ repeatedly.

In defense of Brown, he played much better in the Finals last year and actually looked like Boston's best player considering how awful Tatum was. Could have been that his injured hand was bothering him?

M.C. Swag said:

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In defense of Brown, he played much better in the Finals last year and actually looked like Boston's best player considering how awful Tatum was. Could have been that his injured hand was bothering him?

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He's been a turnover machine his whole career so far. I do think he has value. It's just concerning that his judgement can get so bad. That's not the kind of player I'd want to build around.

Ya for sure, I wouldn't give him the super max either. Just saying he has showed much more in higher leverage games. Basically, I think he played the worst basketball of his career at the worst possible time.

M.C. Swag said:

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Ya for sure, I wouldn't give him the super max either. Just saying he has showed much more in higher leverage games. Basically, I think he played the worst basketball of his career at the worst possible time.

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That is the dilemma for all teams going forward. Everyone is terrified to lose assets. But it's probably just as bad to overpay the wrong guys as well. If Brown agreed to a contract similar to Keldon then it would be a no brainer.

Haha ya it's gonna sting but if I'm Boston, I think I just sign him to whatever number and make it work. Like, they're so close. If they simply run it back, they're basically a top 5(?) team going into next season. Idk what move gets you closer than that.

Without the new CBA, i dont think Boston hesitates giving Brown the massive extension. but with the new rules especially in the 2nd tax apron (not being able to trade 1st rounders, not being able to use the MLE or send out cash/take back money, etc), i'd say that likelihood is about 60/40 now. giving that large of a deal to him, and Tatum up next, will really hamstring filling out the middle of their roster, but at the end of the day, i still think they pony up the cash. i dont think he'll get the massive trade haul some project, so i am not sure the Celts have much choice.

that being said, he's a def upgrade from Keldon despite his recent showing (could very well be bc of injury). if he can go back to his defensive abilities from his first few seasons, even more so. and even at 50mill per over 4 years, he would be up for his next extension when Wemby is up for his 1st so it doesnt hamstring the roster that much.

its not really PATFO's way though, but an interesting thought exercise nonetheless.

HummingbirdSaltalamacchia said:

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Without the new CBA, i dont think Boston hesitates giving Brown the massive extension. but with the new rules especially in the 2nd tax apron (not being able to trade 1st rounders, not being able to use the MLE or send out cash/take back money, etc), i'd say that likelihood is about 60/40 now. giving that large of a deal to him, and Tatum up next, will really hamstring filling out the middle of their roster, but at the end of the day, i still think they pony up the cash. i dont think he'll get the massive trade haul some project, so i am not sure the Celts have much choice.

that being said, he's a def upgrade from Keldon despite his recent showing (could very well be bc of injury). if he can go back to his defensive abilities from his first few seasons, even more so. and even at 50mill per over 4 years, he would be up for his next extension when Wemby is up for his 1st so it doesnt hamstring the roster that much.

its not really PATFO's way though, but an interesting thought exercise nonetheless.

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I read through all the new CBA stuff and I feel the reaction has been a little overblown. You can still overpay your current players to keep them, in fact they raised the amount of increase you can give. You can still draft guys. In fact, they are creating an exception salary slot for second rounders now (which I didn't realize was an issue. It turns out luxury tax teams can only sign their 2nd rounders to minimum salary 1-year deals right now because its the only way to fit them in the cap unless they use their MLE). They are basically making it more beneficial to keep your drafted guys and not acquire expensive veterans via the MLE or via trade. You can still trade your 1st round picks. The 2nd apron restriction says you can only trade them out to 6 years. Non 2nd apron teams can trade them out to 7 years. They are also adding a 3rd spot for 2-way players on each team.

At some point if you are Boston though you cannot do that, 50 million for Tatum and 50 million for Brown ties up 100 million in essentially the same position and really limits how you build a team around those guys. They are close to winning right now because they can afford to have Horford, Smart, White, Williams and Brogdon complimenting Tatum and Brown.

If I were them, I'd be exploring how to ship Brown to Portland. Maybe a 3 team trade that sees Brown go to Portland in exchange for Shaedon Sharpe + bad contract to make the numbers work, the #3 pick plus a future first is a deal that Portland could make. Then (to make it Spurs related) Boston ships the number 3 pick + Sharpe + a bad contract to San Antonio in exchange for Keldon and either the Chicago or Toronto future pick.

So:

Portland gets Jaylen Brown to pair with Dame and try to win now and gives up Sharpe , the 2023 #3 pick + 1 future first. A lineup of Dame, Brown, Grant and Jurkic should make them more competitive on paper and satisfies their need to put a star with Dame.

Boston ends up with Keldon and future 1st from Portland plus a future 1st from either Toronto/Chicago. Keldon replaces much of what Brown already gives and is on a value contract for the next 4 years of the Celtics championship window. The Celtics also have would get two additional 1st's in this scenario to continue to upgrade around Tatum. The Celtics don't necessarily get market value for Brown, but they get some flexibility to replace his production and do not tie up 40-50 million per year with him.

Spurs end up with the number 3 pick and Shaedon Sharpe in exchange for Keldon + either the Chicago or Toronto pick. It's a small sample size, but at the end of the year when Sharpe got starter minutes, he averaged 23/6/4 on decent shooting. Now your future lineup can be

Starters:
Amen Thompson (19)
Devin Vassell (22)
Jeremy Sochan (20)
Victor Wembanyama (19)
Zach Collins (25)

Bench:
Shaedon Sharpe (20)
Malaki Branham (20)
Doug McDermott (31)
Bad contract guy

That's obviously a team that is going to lose a lot of games next year being that young, but it's the purest version of finding out what you really have and letting the young guys explore how to develop their games. Perhaps, fill out the team with a couple more veterans that can help mold the young guys into winners and the future looks really bright for that core.

I have no clue what it would take to acquire him (or if he's even reasonably available) but Immanuel Quickley would fit real nice in silver and black.

West Texan said:

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I have no clue what it would take to acquire him (or if he's even reasonably available) but Immanuel Quickley would fit real nice in silver and black.

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Knicks are set to way over pay him to stay. You are right, he would fit in great

AggieEP said:

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At some point if you are Boston though you cannot do that, 50 million for Tatum and 50 million for Brown ties up 100 million in essentially the same position and really limits how you build a team around those guys. They are close to winning right now because they can afford to have Horford, Smart, White, Williams and Brogdon complimenting Tatum and Brown.

If I were them, I'd be exploring how to ship Brown to Portland. Maybe a 3 team trade that sees Brown go to Portland in exchange for Shaedon Sharpe + bad contract to make the numbers work, the #3 pick plus a future first is a deal that Portland could make. Then (to make it Spurs related) Boston ships the number 3 pick + Sharpe + a bad contract to San Antonio in exchange for Keldon and either the Chicago or Toronto future pick.

So:

Portland gets Jaylen Brown to pair with Dame and try to win now and gives up Sharpe , the 2023 #3 pick + 1 future first. A lineup of Dame, Brown, Grant and Jurkic should make them more competitive on paper and satisfies their need to put a star with Dame.

Boston ends up with Keldon and future 1st from Portland plus a future 1st from either Toronto/Chicago. Keldon replaces much of what Brown already gives and is on a value contract for the next 4 years of the Celtics championship window. The Celtics also have would get two additional 1st's in this scenario to continue to upgrade around Tatum. The Celtics don't necessarily get market value for Brown, but they get some flexibility to replace his production and do not tie up 40-50 million per year with him.

Spurs end up with the number 3 pick and Shaedon Sharpe in exchange for Keldon + either the Chicago or Toronto pick. It's a small sample size, but at the end of the year when Sharpe got starter minutes, he averaged 23/6/4 on decent shooting. Now your future lineup can be

Starters:
Amen Thompson (19)
Devin Vassell (22)
Jeremy Sochan (20)
Victor Wembanyama (19)
Zach Collins (25)

Bench:
Shaedon Sharpe (20)
Malaki Branham (20)
Doug McDermott (31)
Bad contract guy

That's obviously a team that is going to lose a lot of games next year being that young, but it's the purest version of finding out what you really have and letting the young guys explore how to develop their games. Perhaps, fill out the team with a couple more veterans that can help mold the young guys into winners and the future looks really bright for that core.

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I like the framework for sure, but I think Portland values Sharpe a lot and they need to send out more salary to bring in Brown. Nurkic almost certainly has to be traded, which is fine b/c Portland is way down on him.

How about expanding this way:



Portland gets:
#33 pick from the Spurs
Jaylen Brown from Celtics
Bassey from Spurs

Boston gets (I think they need more here, throw in some seconds?)
Two First Round Picks
Keldon Johnson
Nurkic

Spurs get:
Rob Williams from Boston
Little from Portland
Sharpe from Portland
#6 from Orlando
#11 from Orlando

Orlando gets
#3 from Portland

We bring in Orlando because we don't want Alabama players implicated in major crimes, assuming Scoot goes #2.

At 6 we can pick up Black or Ausar or Hendricks and at 11 we can get Walker or Wallace.

Or maybe we trade 11 to Utah for #16 and #28 and pick up Bilal Coulibaly and Andre Jackson Jr or James Nnaji.

I sure wouldn't be upset to end up with Wemby at 1, Black at 6, Bilal at 16 and Nnaji at 28 with those moves.

Still have some money to go get someone like Bruce Brown

Collins/Rob Williams/Nnaji
Wemby/Doug
Sochan/Bilal/Little
Vassell/Sharpe/Branham
Black/Brown/Wesley

Guitarsoup said:

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AggieEP said:

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At some point if you are Boston though you cannot do that, 50 million for Tatum and 50 million for Brown ties up 100 million in essentially the same position and really limits how you build a team around those guys. They are close to winning right now because they can afford to have Horford, Smart, White, Williams and Brogdon complimenting Tatum and Brown.

If I were them, I'd be exploring how to ship Brown to Portland. Maybe a 3 team trade that sees Brown go to Portland in exchange for Shaedon Sharpe + bad contract to make the numbers work, the #3 pick plus a future first is a deal that Portland could make. Then (to make it Spurs related) Boston ships the number 3 pick + Sharpe + a bad contract to San Antonio in exchange for Keldon and either the Chicago or Toronto future pick.

So:

Portland gets Jaylen Brown to pair with Dame and try to win now and gives up Sharpe , the 2023 #3 pick + 1 future first. A lineup of Dame, Brown, Grant and Jurkic should make them more competitive on paper and satisfies their need to put a star with Dame.

Boston ends up with Keldon and future 1st from Portland plus a future 1st from either Toronto/Chicago. Keldon replaces much of what Brown already gives and is on a value contract for the next 4 years of the Celtics championship window. The Celtics also have would get two additional 1st's in this scenario to continue to upgrade around Tatum. The Celtics don't necessarily get market value for Brown, but they get some flexibility to replace his production and do not tie up 40-50 million per year with him.

Spurs end up with the number 3 pick and Shaedon Sharpe in exchange for Keldon + either the Chicago or Toronto pick. It's a small sample size, but at the end of the year when Sharpe got starter minutes, he averaged 23/6/4 on decent shooting. Now your future lineup can be

Starters:
Amen Thompson (19)
Devin Vassell (22)
Jeremy Sochan (20)
Victor Wembanyama (19)
Zach Collins (25)

Bench:
Shaedon Sharpe (20)
Malaki Branham (20)
Doug McDermott (31)
Bad contract guy

That's obviously a team that is going to lose a lot of games next year being that young, but it's the purest version of finding out what you really have and letting the young guys explore how to develop their games. Perhaps, fill out the team with a couple more veterans that can help mold the young guys into winners and the future looks really bright for that core.

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I like the framework for sure, but I think Portland values Sharpe a lot and they need to send out more salary to bring in Brown. Nurkic almost certainly has to be traded, which is fine b/c Portland is way down on him.

How about expanding this way:



Portland gets:
#33 pick from the Spurs
Jaylen Brown from Celtics
Bassey from Spurs

Boston gets (I think they need more here, throw in some seconds?)
Two First Round Picks
Keldon Johnson
Nurkic

Spurs get:
Rob Williams from Boston
Little from Portland
Sharpe from Portland
#6 from Orlando
#11 from Orlando

Orlando gets
#3 from Portland

We bring in Orlando because we don't want Alabama players implicated in major crimes, assuming Scoot goes #2.

At 6 we can pick up Black or Ausar or Hendricks and at 11 we can get Walker or Wallace.

Or maybe we trade 11 to Utah for #16 and #28 and pick up Bilal Coulibaly and Andre Jackson Jr or James Nnaji.

I sure wouldn't be upset to end up with Wemby at 1, Black at 6, Bilal at 16 and Nnaji at 28 with those moves.

Still have some money to go get someone like Bruce Brown

Collins/Rob Williams/Nnaji
Wemby/Doug
Sochan/Bilal/Little
Vassell/Sharpe/Branham
Black/Brown/Wesley

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Fultz, Suggs, Cole Anthony, and Scoot is a lot of young PGs for Orlando.