How???
Now that we have Dunn at PG as a cheap (yet highly motivated) replacement for Smart, here’s one way come August 19:
BOS In: Kawhi
BOS Out: Smart, Timelord, Richardson, Parker, GWill, Edwards, 2023 1st, 2025 1st
Smart/Timelord/Richardson/Parker/two picks allow LAC/Ballmer to save face. Smart is a starter, Timelord is possibly a future starter, Richardson is great depth, and Parker is a nice rotational piece for their top ten. GWill/Edwards fill out their roster/make the dollars work (we may have to send them elsewhere in the trade and/or include one or two second rounders to move them off our books).
If you’re LAC and told you’re losing Kawhi no matter what because he wants to come back to the Eastern Conference, this package is a lot better than losing him to NY for nothing.
RosterDunn/Pritchard
Brown/Langford
Leonard/Nesmith
Tatum
Horford/Fernando
Round it out with:
MLE 4/5 who is 6th man
Ring-chasing 1/2 at the min.
Re-sign Ojeyele to a 1-year min.
Re-sign Kornet to a 1-year min.
Bring back IT as 14th man, 1-year min.
Note: Begarin and Madar remain stashed.
We’ve got our Big 3 come playoff time, we’ve still got a decent amount of youth to grow older with Tatum/Brown, and we’ve got veteran leadership in Horford/Leonard. Absolutely love bookending our Big 3 with high IQ defensive stalwarts in Dunn and Horford, too. We would definitely have the best defensive team in the league when Kawhi is back.