The more I think about it, the more I think we need to avoid trading a 1st round pick this year.
We should hold onto our 1st round pick flexibility to give us the ability to go after a big upgrade down the road (if needed). If we’re trading 1sts now, we’re essentially committing to our current core being good enough to compete for a championship team. I don’t think we need to paint ourselves into that corner just yet. We have time considering the age of our core.
With that in mind, I have two trade scenarios which I think could make some sense for us…
TRADE #1
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BKN Gets: Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd
BKN Gives: Royce O’Neale
Why for BKN? The Nets are currently the 11th seed with a 17-27 record. Keeping a 30 year old expiring in O’Neale doesn’t make a ton of sense. Instead, they flip him for a couple guys who still have 1.5 years left on their rookie deals and a 2025 2nd. Most importantly, they preserve their cap space for the 2025 off-season giving them a chance to add a big name alongside Bridges, C. Johnson, and Claxton.
PG - Dinwiddie / Mitchell / Smith Jr.
SG - Bridges / Thomas / Walker
SF - Johnson / Duarte / Whitehead
PF - Finney-Smith / Simmons / Watford
C - Claxton / Sharpe / Clowney / Giles
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SAC Gets: Royce O’Neale
SAC Gives: Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd
Why for SAC? Mitchell and Duarte are more or less no longer in the rotation and O’Neale would give us a solid 3&D wing defender who has good length and can guard multiple positions. With his length, strength, defense, ballhandling, passing, and rebounding, you could get away with playing him at SG, SF, or PF.
PG - Fox / Monk / Ellis
SG - Huerter / O’Neale / Jones
SF - Murray / Vezenkov / Edwards
PF - Barnes / Lyles
C - Sabonis / Len / McGee
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TRADE #2
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ORL Gets: Harrison Barnes
ORL Gives: Jonathan Isaac
Why for ORL? The Magic are currently in the 8th seed but are 27th in 3PA, 30th in 3P%, and 6th in DefRTG. Isaac is obviously very impactful defensively when he plays but the Magic also have Carter Jr. and Bitadze who can take over his minutes and provide good defense to help lessen the loss of Isaac. In exchange, they get a great shooter in Barnes who can help open up the paint for Banchero and Wagner to feast. Barnes’ deal also comes off the books right before Banchero is due for a new contract.
PG - Suggs / Anthony / Fultz
SG - Black / Harris / Houstan
SF - Wagner / Barnes / Howard
PF - Banchero / Ingles / Okeke
C - Carter / Bitadze / Wagner
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SAC Gets: Jonathan Isaac
SAC Gives: Harrison Barnes
Why for SAC? Barnes has mainly been delegated to the 6th option (Fox, Monk, Huerter, Murray, and Sabonis). If you’re that low in the pecking order, you ideally want someone who can impact the game in other ways. Isaac gives us a DPOY level type defender who is very long & versatile. He easily has the ability to play next to Sabonis at PF defensively. It’s just a question if Isaac can improve his shooting and stay healthy. At the very least, he’d be an upgrade as our backup C and help lockdown the defense.
PG - Fox / Ellis / Mitchell
SG - Huerter / Monk / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte / Edwards
PF - Lyles / Vezenkov
C - Sabonis / Isaac / Len / McGee
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Obviously, you could do both of these trades at the deadline (Barnes, Mitchell, Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd for Isaac & O’Neale). That’d be a lot of defense, size, & length added to this core.
Barnes for Isaac may be a bit tough to swallow just because if Isaac goes down with an injury, you’ve essentially traded a starter for nothing. I’d probably lean towards just doing the O’Neale deal and see how adding a long, versatile 3&D wing helps this group. And if we resign O’Neale to a reasonable contract, he could easily hold 1st round pick trade value (which would be a good ROI since we would have only given up Mitchell, Duarte, & the 2025 SAC 2nd).
We should hold onto our 1st round pick flexibility to give us the ability to go after a big upgrade down the road (if needed). If we’re trading 1sts now, we’re essentially committing to our current core being good enough to compete for a championship team. I don’t think we need to paint ourselves into that corner just yet. We have time considering the age of our core.
With that in mind, I have two trade scenarios which I think could make some sense for us…
TRADE #1
———————————
BKN Gets: Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd
BKN Gives: Royce O’Neale
Why for BKN? The Nets are currently the 11th seed with a 17-27 record. Keeping a 30 year old expiring in O’Neale doesn’t make a ton of sense. Instead, they flip him for a couple guys who still have 1.5 years left on their rookie deals and a 2025 2nd. Most importantly, they preserve their cap space for the 2025 off-season giving them a chance to add a big name alongside Bridges, C. Johnson, and Claxton.
PG - Dinwiddie / Mitchell / Smith Jr.
SG - Bridges / Thomas / Walker
SF - Johnson / Duarte / Whitehead
PF - Finney-Smith / Simmons / Watford
C - Claxton / Sharpe / Clowney / Giles
———————————
SAC Gets: Royce O’Neale
SAC Gives: Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd
Why for SAC? Mitchell and Duarte are more or less no longer in the rotation and O’Neale would give us a solid 3&D wing defender who has good length and can guard multiple positions. With his length, strength, defense, ballhandling, passing, and rebounding, you could get away with playing him at SG, SF, or PF.
PG - Fox / Monk / Ellis
SG - Huerter / O’Neale / Jones
SF - Murray / Vezenkov / Edwards
PF - Barnes / Lyles
C - Sabonis / Len / McGee
———————————
TRADE #2
———————————
ORL Gets: Harrison Barnes
ORL Gives: Jonathan Isaac
Why for ORL? The Magic are currently in the 8th seed but are 27th in 3PA, 30th in 3P%, and 6th in DefRTG. Isaac is obviously very impactful defensively when he plays but the Magic also have Carter Jr. and Bitadze who can take over his minutes and provide good defense to help lessen the loss of Isaac. In exchange, they get a great shooter in Barnes who can help open up the paint for Banchero and Wagner to feast. Barnes’ deal also comes off the books right before Banchero is due for a new contract.
PG - Suggs / Anthony / Fultz
SG - Black / Harris / Houstan
SF - Wagner / Barnes / Howard
PF - Banchero / Ingles / Okeke
C - Carter / Bitadze / Wagner
———————————
SAC Gets: Jonathan Isaac
SAC Gives: Harrison Barnes
Why for SAC? Barnes has mainly been delegated to the 6th option (Fox, Monk, Huerter, Murray, and Sabonis). If you’re that low in the pecking order, you ideally want someone who can impact the game in other ways. Isaac gives us a DPOY level type defender who is very long & versatile. He easily has the ability to play next to Sabonis at PF defensively. It’s just a question if Isaac can improve his shooting and stay healthy. At the very least, he’d be an upgrade as our backup C and help lockdown the defense.
PG - Fox / Ellis / Mitchell
SG - Huerter / Monk / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte / Edwards
PF - Lyles / Vezenkov
C - Sabonis / Isaac / Len / McGee
———————————
Obviously, you could do both of these trades at the deadline (Barnes, Mitchell, Duarte, & 2025 SAC 2nd for Isaac & O’Neale). That’d be a lot of defense, size, & length added to this core.
Barnes for Isaac may be a bit tough to swallow just because if Isaac goes down with an injury, you’ve essentially traded a starter for nothing. I’d probably lean towards just doing the O’Neale deal and see how adding a long, versatile 3&D wing helps this group. And if we resign O’Neale to a reasonable contract, he could easily hold 1st round pick trade value (which would be a good ROI since we would have only given up Mitchell, Duarte, & the 2025 SAC 2nd).
