Smart, Thompson, Edwards for Wiggins, 7
and your proposal for addressing what would be an even bigger gaping hole at starting PG would be?
Davion Mitchell
so...a rookie that's a bit of a reach at 7 with no experienced PG on the roster for him to learn from? not what I'd go for.
also not thrilled with the idea of taking on Wiggins' deal and causing an even bigger glut at the swing position. Brown, Tatum, Fournier (assuming he's resigned), Wiggins, Romeo and Nesmith? having talent is great but man that's a logjam.
not against moving Smart and TT at all but thinking there's got to be a deal out there that provides more balance to the roster.
Mitchell isn't a reach at that spot at all. That is around where he has been going in mocks. ESPN put up a mock after the lottery and had GS taking Mitchell at 7, for example.
You do that trade you don't bring back Fournier and save the money. You do this trade about adding a top 10 pick and hoping that player is a hit. Gives the team a real chance at a 3rd foundational piece that the C's otherwise don't have.
PG - Mitchell, Pritchard
SG - Brown, Langford
SF - Wiggins, Nesmith
PF - Tatum, Parker, G. Williams
C - Horford, R. Williams, Brown
So that is the only 12 under contract for next year if you do the trade, with 3 open roster spots, which could be used on Ojeleye, Kornet, and of course Founier. They are under the tax, so they can add to the team some with that trade, though can't go crazy as Wiggins and Mitchell do make more than Smart, Thompson, and Edwards. Or they could just suck it up and pay the tax.
As for why GS might do that, they want to win a title next year and I absolutely believe that Smart and Thompson will help them more to do that than Wiggins and the rookie at 7 would, plus it saves them like 10 million off the cap (this year and like 35 million next year), which is huge given their tax situation. GS still has 14 so they will still be adding a lottery pick to the roster, but a starting 5 of Curry, Klay, Smart, Green, and Wiseman with Oubre (if they bring him back), Tristan, Looney, 14, Poole, Paschall, etc. is probably right there with the best teams in the league if Klay looks like old Klay and they otherwise stay relatively healthy.