I would not trade Jaylen for Gobert, but I would deal Hayward and picks for Gobert. Word on the street is that Mitchell will never forgive Gobert for the COVID-19 thing and wants Gobert gone. If we were to deal Hayward anywhere, Utah is the only place that would be fair to deal him to. If Hayward was OK with it and so was Brad, absolutely we deal Hayward and our three 2020 first-round picks for Gobert (get Gobert on an extension, and I’d add 2022 and 2024 to the pile of picks). Then we get focused on convincing Gobert to stick with us beyond 2020-2021 as our number two guy to Tatum’s number one status, with Brown as our clearly third best player (may even surpass Gobert someday).
This would be essential to shutting down Giannis, Embiid and Anthony Davis, which would make it easier for Tatum/Brown to out score Giannis/Middleton, Embiid/Simmons, and James/Davis.
Maybe we even somehow do it as Gordon declining his option and then doing a sign-and-trade with a long-term deal that perfectly matches Gobert’s salary this year (and maybe we get super lucky and Gobert agrees to an extension before the trade is finalized). This has the double-benefit of getting us below the luxury tax line, especially after dealing the three first-round picks. It would be nice to see Hayward secure long-term security and save face by going back to Utah to end his career. Hayward loved Utah and Gobert would love being as close as possible to his home country of France, so this could be THE deal that gets us to beat LA next year.
Stroke of genius for bringing up this trade idea. Let’s make it happen!