I'd like a little more interaction on my trade idea from the last page. The more I've thought about it, the more I like it for both teams.
Celtics: Harris (sign and trade, 4 year 8-10 million a year contract), Allen, Prince
Nets: Hayward (sign and trade, 4 year, 20 million a year contract)
Nets: In all likeliness, Harris is gone anyway. Allen lost his position to Jordan because Durant and Irving wanted him to start. Prince is a 3D rotation player (who shot 37% from the field this last season and has struggled to play defense against the best wings in the NBA). They replace that with Gordon Hayward, a player that Irving recruit to sign with the Cavs back in the day and was exciting to play with for the Cs. Hayward is a veteran talent ready to contribute at a high level in the playoffs. He can play on or off ball, which makes him a perfect complimentary piece to Irving and Durant.
Irving-Dinwiddie
Hayward-Lavert
Temple-Musa
Durant-Kurucs
Jordan-Vetmin signing
This gets pretty tough financially for the Nets unless Hayward is willing to opt-out and work a sign-and-trade to make it happen. That's about the only downfall for the Nets. That team is a really high-level team.
For the Cs, the benefits are diverse and great
1. This solves the luxury tax problem for at least another year.
2. This gives us great bench depth with veteran players
3. This gives us a quality big man to add to the rotation that may end up being our long-term starter
4. This gives us a great shooter that played with Walker, Brown, and Tatum on team USA.
5. This gives us another 3-D player in Prince to rotate in instead of Ojeleye.
6. This gives us multiple mid-level contracts, giving us great flexibility. If another big name came up in free agency, they would have the contracts to offer instead of needing to include Walker, Brown, or Tatum.
7. We aren't the bad guys if we trade Hayward to a contender that genuinely wants him
After this trade was completed, I think the Cs should consolidate their picks and try to move up to 7 if possible. Then, they should should offer their 2021 pick to the Hornets to take on Kanter (assuming he opts in) and Poirier, opening those roster spots, freeing up some more cap space, and create two small trade exemptions that could be helpful to get another rotation player.
Walker-Smart-Hayes?(2020 7th pick?)
Harris-Langford
Brown-Prince
Tatum-GWilliams
Theis-Allen-RWilliams