Expectations going into the new year and where we stand.

[luckyman]

Tonight shows how hard it is to keep a big lead. Thank you Boston/Milwaukee.

[Bricklayer]

What would ya'll think about getting Faried while clearing Asik and Ajinca, plus our top-10 or lotto protected 1st? I was bored and wrote up this 3-way trade over on the realgm trade boards.

NOP out: Asik, Ajinca, lotto or top 10 protected 2018 1st
NOP in: Faried, (M. Richardson?)

DEN out: Faried, Arthur, (Mudiay?), lotto or top 10 protected 2018 1st
DEN in: George Hill

SAC out: G. Hill, (M. Richardson?)
SAC in: Arthur, Asik, Ajinca, (Mudiay?), NOP protected 2018 1st, DEN protected 2018 1st

Pelicans consolidate two nearly unplayable Centers for an instant energy 3rd big. Faried is dependable enough to spell AD and Cuz and fit well next to either of them or alongside Cunningham in a small line-up giving both star-bigs a rest. Same contract length of 2 years and saves a few million. If the Kings would want to dump Malachi Richardson's salary in exchange for Mudiay, Pels could take him.

Cousins/ Faried
Davis / Cunningham/ Diallo
Hill / Miller / Allen
Holiday/ Moore /Clark
Rondo / Nelson /Jackson

Nuggets get George Hill to bring some high-quality vet leadership and defense to the back-court, allowing Murray to come off the bench in a super-sub role while he continues developing. Faried and Arthur aren't in the rotation, and they have plenty of depth up front to be okay with clearing their salaries away. They could also included Mudiay to the Kings if they decide it's time to move on and if the Kings are interested in taking him on to back-up Fox (and Mason III?)

Jokic / Plumlee
Millsap / Lyles / Hernangomez/ Lydon
Chandler/ Craig / Jefferson
Harris / Barton / Beasley
Hill / Murray

Kings pull the ol' taking on salary in exchange for 2 picks that will likely be in the late teens/high 20's. George Hill was a nice mentor for Fox and the youngins, but with veterans Vince and Z-bo still on board, they shouldn't miss him too much. Plus, with Bogdanavic's play-making looking like a point-guard/point-forward, that should also help. They can have the option to take a flyer on Mudiay in exchange for M. Richardson, or they can pass if they decide they have enough PG developing to focus on with Fox. The contracts they're taking back are all 2 years, same as Hill's (Arthur has a player option for next season, Asik only has a partial guarantee of 3mil after next season). Having 3 firsts in the draft should leave them with a lot of options to add good, young talent.

Cauley-Stein / Koufos / Papagiannis
Randolph / Labissiere / Giles
Bogdanavic / Carter/ Jackson
Hield / Temple
Fox / Mason III

Thoughts? Suggestions for improvement? Thanks.

I think...you might be helping Denver more than you help the Pels, and that's the last thing you want to do.

[Rheem654]

I think...you might be helping Denver more than you help the Pels, and that's the last thing you want to do.

Hmm... yea that's a good point. Maybe there's a way to get Faried without the getting Hill./or maybe Faried isn't worth giving up the pick for, and could help us more taking up Denver's salary.

[bahmamamba]

The sixers coach looks like a drunk uncle lmao

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk

[AUSSIE_PELICAN]

J.Simmons and S.Mack for Ajinca, Asik and a top 8 protected 2018 1st.

[pawel]

Would You rather give him Miller or Moore's minutes?

[pawel]

It is great deal for Pels (dumping wise).
But more useful will be probably big - and not SG/SF.

I would rather spend this pick on combo forward or big.

[Pelicanidae]

I don't see why so many people are eager to see Miller or anoore replaced. Both of them are playing solid defense, making smart passes, and absolutely shooting lights out. Replacing either of their minutes with, say, Johnathon Simmons who is shooting 31% from 3 on the season, sounds counterproductive.

[Mythrol]

I would do many trades if it involved getting Back a capable backup 5.

[tyler]

I don't see why so many people are eager to see Miller or anoore replaced. Both of them are playing solid defense, making smart passes, and absolutely shooting lights out. Replacing either of their minutes with, say, Johnathon Simmons who is shooting 31% from 3 on the season, sounds counterproductive.

He could be a back-up 2 or take Cunningham's mins

[Pelicanidae]

He could be a back-up 2 or take Cunningham's mins

He could, but with the resurgence of Ian Clark, I don't think we have a need for yet another shooting guard. As for replacing Cunningham, it's true that Simmons is a considerably better scorer but he's also much more ball dominant, and is actually a worse rebounder per 36. His win shares are basically identical to Cunningham's, both offensively and defensively, and they're both net net negatives on box score: the real kicker is that Simmons has a contract that's three times as large.

[PELICANSFAN]

With us getting Hill back shortly, not sure why we would target Carroll and give up a 1st rounder to do so.

[Rheem654]

I would do many trades if it involved getting Back a capable backup 5.

Saw Kyle O'Quinn is likely to be traded from the Knicks to open up minutes for Willy HG. He would be a great fit, and he's only on a 4mil contract with a player option for next year. Only thing, I don't think Knicks want to take back any more Centers, especially unplayable ones with Noah already on the roster. Maybe a 3 team trade somehow.

[tdcreator]

Thing is we need bigger wings even with Hill eventually coming back (I think he plays small ball 4 off of bench or guards big 3's like Melo and Lebron). We get killed by big 2s like Derozan and Simmons would be a better version of tony Allen. You could play Simmons or Hill at the 3 and Moore and Miller become great subs ( like they should be anchoring our 2nd unit) or one starts and the other becomes a great sub. I'd like to see a starting lineup of Rondo, Jrue, Miller, Davis, and Boogie with a bench of Moore(SG), Simmons(sf), Hill(PF). That could be a lock down backup defense and if we somehow grab Noel, wow. You could sub that whole squad for 4 minute stretches anytime.

[Pelicanidae]

Thing is we need bigger wings even with Hill eventually coming back (I think he plays small ball 4 off of bench or guards big 3's like Melo and Lebron). We get killed by big 2s like Derozan and Simmons would be a better version of tony Allen. You could play Simmons or Hill at the 3 and Moore and Miller become great subs ( like they should be anchoring our 2nd unit) or one starts and the other becomes a great sub. I'd like to see a starting lineup of Rondo, Jrue, Miller, Davis, and Boogie with a bench of Moore(SG), Simmons(sf), Hill(PF). That could be a lock down backup defense and if we somehow grab Noel, wow. You could sub that whole squad for 4 minute stretches anytime.

The same Nerlens Noel who has already made it expressly clear he expects a huge contract, when we already know that we'll have no cap this offseason after Boogie resigns?

Unless we offload Asik (unlikely) we will have very little money to do anything. We're already going to struggle to resign Rondo and Clark (which we'll want to based on what we've seen) on minimums, if we also need to resign our backup big, and possibly find a replacement for Cunningham if he does decide to leave, then we'll be doomed. We should only be looking to trade for guys who have either better contracts for tangible improvements (Simmons doesn't provide that) or multiple years left on their deals.

[Rheem654]

I think J. Simmons would be a good addition, especially if we're clearing Asik and Ajinca's contracts in the process. You don't want him cutting into Moore or Miller's minutes too much, but Miller has the size to play small-ball PF, so I agree it would lead to Cunningham's minutes being reduced more than anything, which would be fine.

Mack would be okay, possibly a better back-up PG than Nelson due to his size on switch-defense. That would increase our depth a lot a lot. I think the Magic might like Simmons though and want to keep him or at least get better return value for him.

That trade would also clear about 3 mil in salary to make a move for a back-up Center, or we could have the Magic include Speights, although a different back-up would probably be a better fit.

Cousins/ Speights / Diallo
Davis / Miller / Cunningham
Hill / Simmons/ Allen
Holiday/ Moore / Clark
Rondo / Mack / Nelson / Frank J.

Cousins
Davis
Hill
Holiday
Rondo
---------
Moore
Miller
Simmons
Mack
Cunningham
Clark
Speights
---
Nelson
Diallo
Jackson

[tdcreator]

The same Nerlens Noel who has already made it expressly clear he expects a huge contract, when we already know that we'll have no cap this offseason after Boogie resigns?

Unless we offload Asik (unlikely) we will have very little money to do anything. We're already going to struggle to resign Rondo and Clark (which we'll want to based on what we've seen) on minimums, if we also need to resign our backup big, and possibly find a replacement for Cunningham if he does decide to leave, then we'll be doomed. We should only be looking to trade for guys who have either better contracts for tangible improvements (Simmons doesn't provide that) or multiple years left on their deals.

I see it the other way. I'm trading for 1 year contracts to clear cap space. I'm killing 2 birds with one stone by getting players that would help this year and if they don't resign for cheap then they can go. Noel is on a cheap contract, fills a need, and expendable after the season. I could see Ajinca, Diallo, and a second could make it happen and if Noel doesn't resign we've save 6 million next year. (5 for Ajinca and Diallo contract)

As for Simmons, he would be a good sub at the 2 or 3. Let's say we give up a first, Asik, and Allen for henzonja and Simmons. We save 4 million on Asik plus we have Simmons and Miller to sub next year. With around 10 million in space. Hopefully with a deep playoff run players will want to come play for a little less.

Next year (80 mil in contracts (101 cap 122 luxury cap) 42 million roughly available for cousins and others)
Jrue, Jackson (25, 1)
Moore, Simmons (8,6)
Hill, Miller (13,2)
Davis (25)
Cousins (? -20 now)
MLE (8 million) on a big and throw a little more at Rondo or vice versa

[AUSSIE_PELICAN]

Would You rather give him Miller or Moore's minutes?

Cunningham and Allens.

Simmons plays SG and SF.
Hill plays SF and PF
Miller plays SF and PF

Rondo/Mack/Nelson/Jackson
Holiday/Moore/Clark
Hill/Simmons/Miller/Allen
Davis/Cunningham/Diallo
Cousins/Davis/Diallo

You play alot of 4 wing and Davis or Cousins in th playoffs.

I'd eventually try and trade out Allen for a C to cover injuries also or wait for a buyout.

[tdcreator]

My infatuation of Diallo is gone. He's just to small for the position to me. I'm ready to move on. Give me players that can play so start moving Diallo, Asik, Ajinca, Allen, and even Nelson and Cunningham if we get a pg and big back in the deals.

[Rheem654]

My infatuation of Diallo is gone. He's just to small for the position to me. I'm ready to move on. Give me players that can play so start moving Diallo, Asik, Ajinca, Allen, and even Nelson and Cunningham if we get a pg and big back in the deals.

Agreed

[boardtown]

My guess is Dell does not try to get rid of Asik unless it is part of some bigger move. He has shown the tendency to absorb sunk costs and ride out contracts - e.g. EG and RA. He might trade picks to get his guys, but he doesn't trade picks to unload them.