Bulls and kings don't do this trade
Ur giving them 50 cents for a dollar
I don't see how giving them a good starter, a large expiring, t 2nd rounders and 1st rounder likely to be in the 20s would amount to an allstar calibre player in butler. Also Bulls seem to want to be a contender as they signed gasol
Also sully or olynyk plus an unproven rookie in smart should not be able to get the best big man unless the Kings front office was that terrible
Thanks for your thoughts.
I agree that in normal circumstances, that offer would not fetch you Jimmy Butler. But the deal we're discussing needs some context.
With the cap rising, the Bulls can afford to pay Jimmy Butler. The question is, does their thrifty front office led by owner Jerry Reinsdorf tie up cap space that could be used in the 2016 and 2017 offseason and gamble on the health of Rose, Noah and Gasol? Or does he cash in on Butler's improvement and net an above-average starter who is a year younger than Butler, a massive expiring contract, a late 1st and a very early 2nd? To me, if Rose/Noah/Gasol are all healthy, a team of
Rose/Hinrich
Bradley/Snell/[Hinrich]
Dunleavy [?]/McDermott/[Snell]
Gasol/Mirotic/Gibson
Noah/[Gasol]
while worse than a squad with Butler, is still very capable of winning a title. If they
aren't healthy, they obviously wouldn't win with Bradley, but one has to wonder if they would compete for a title with Butler + Mirotic alone, either. If they accepted the Bradley-led package, they'd be completely destroying any chances, however slim, of winning a title with an unhealthy Rose/Gasol/Noah trio + Butler + Mirotic, and
slightly lessening their chances of winning a title with a healthy Rose/Gasol/Noah trio + Mirotic + Bradley. However, the upside is that for that risk, they would have enormous amounts of flexibility in a cap-expanding environment with the controlled contracts of Bradley + 2 picks and the expiring Wallace deal to make a splash in the 2016 or 2017 offseason, and pair a better player than Butler with Mirotic. I'm too lazy to do the math, but I would bet that the Bradley deal clears space for a target like KD, and greatly increases their ability to complete mismatched (in terms of salary) trades in coming offseasons.
On the Sacramento deal, Smart is as unproven as every other rookie is. What we do know about him is that he's starting for a playoff team (say what you will about their overall record, it's irrelevant; they're easily above .500 since he started playing heavy starter minutes), averaging around 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists as a starter, has ridiculous +/- averages (+2.9 since the All-Star break, +3.1 as a starter, +9.7 in 24 games playing 30-39 minutes, etc.) and appears to show at least average long-range shooting ability (one of the major concerns about him coming out of college). There's not many prospects within 2 years on either side of his age group that would be more enticing to point-guard-hungry Sacramento than Marcus Smart.
Olynyk (who I assume they'd choose) would be a force under George Karl. He's a fantastic second tangible piece for them.
Our pick this year + that Brooklyn 1st (arguably the most valuable of all of them) could get you in the top 12 of this year's draft easily or could net you a solid mid-1st prospect right now + a potentially top 5 pick in 2017. Let's just say for the sake of comprehension they move up to the 10-12 range with those two picks. This could be their team next year:
Smart/Collison
McLemore/Stauskas
Gay/Justice Winslow
Olynyk/Carl Landry/Jason Thompson
Caulie-Stein/Bhullar!/[J. Thompson]
plus a ton of cap space. Say what you will about cap space being fool's gold for a team like Sacramento (even though it's still in California and pretty awesome), but for 3-5 years after this deal Sacramento will have a competitive offer for any star that comes on the market despite owing a draft pick to Chicago, thanks to a deep prospect pool and that cap space.
Though I don't think it'd be necessary, I'd add the 2016 Minnesota 1st [or two future seconds] in the Butler deal and add the 2016 CLE 1st in the Cousins deal. The logistics would still work for Boston.
On another note, I think the reason I'd be so attracted to this (likely fantasy) team is its frontcourt versatility. Not many frontcourts would be able to match up with us over 82 games or ever a 7-game series. All of those power forwards do things well independently and especially next to Cousins. Even if Zeller doesn't improve at all this offseason, he's a fantastic backup center and has the skills to play alongside Cousins in spot minutes.
Want to bruise the other team under the basket? Cousins and Sully are your guys.
Want to run a pick-your-poison high-low and not give up any ground defensively with athletic big men? Cousins and Bass will get the job done.
Want to terrorize offenses with a no-access paint zone controlled by athletic freaks that can fly in for boards and start the fast break themselves? Cousins and McCullough are capable of that.
Want to spread the floor 4-wide and tire defenses running back and forth between the block and the three-point line? Cousins and Jerebko could make that happen.
Want to run an unguardable fast break offense for five minutes a game with two 7-footers? Cousins and Zeller fit the bill.
Topic: Thinking aloud about Boston's offseason (Read 6162 times)