Trade Idea: Delay a year, 2017 BKN pick for 2018 LAL or PHI pick + Saric

[obnoxiousmime]

I'm not sure I would do this, but I was thinking of ways to avoid this potentially tricky issue of Fultz and Thomas coexisting, especially with Bradley and Thomas going into their contract year.

Boston trades: 2017 BKN pick
Philly trades: 2018 LAL or PHI pick, whichever is better (no protections) + Dario Saric

Why Boston does it:

Next year's draft has more "Big SF" or PF/C types which is what we need more than another guard. LAL and PHI might improve a little but they should still be pretty bad. Along with BKN's pick, it gives us a good shot at getting into at least the top 3 next year. If we get a shot at Doncic who is just as hyped as Fultz, that would be great too.

The players we draft next year would then have their 4-yr rookie deals up around when Thomas and Bradley (and Hayward?) are expiring, depending on how many years we give them.

Saric is young but he would fill a need right now. He's cheap and still on the books for 3 years. He can score and hopefully his 3 pt. shot will continue to improve.


Why Philly does it:

Brett Brown is claiming Simmons will play PG next year, but frankly that's ridiculous. Fultz would be the superstar guard they've been looking for for a long time. Simmons should play both F spots depending on matchups and use his speed advantage there. That would make Saric a luxury.

Could they keep no. 3 and take somebody like Fox? Sure, but the guy can't shoot and it's going to take him longer than Fultz to develop. Use the #3 on a tough-minded F like Jackson to play alongside Simmons. Or, if they really like Saric give us the #3 and we'll take Jackson (I think Jackson is too skinny now to play PF but at least he's tall and he has that potential).

With a core of Fultz, Simmons, Jackson (or Saric), and Embiid they wouldn't care as much about losing the 2018 pick. How many more picks do they really need at this point?

What do you guys think? There are different versions of the trade of course (what if Jaylen were involved somehow?), but the main part of it is we'd basically be giving them Fultz and getting back a good pick in the 2018 draft + something else that's a better fit. What we'd be sacrificing is an extra year of time and gambling that 2018 will have players as good as Fultz available.

This would enable us to re-sign Thomas. If we conclude in 2019 that it's simply not possible to build a contender around him we could deal him then, though that depends on how much we pay him. It might be hard to deal him if he's 30 yrs old, making the max, and still has 3-4 years on his deal. Ugh. Nevermind, let's just draft Fultz...

[Roy H.]

We'd potentially be downgrading from the 1st pick to maybe the 4th or 5th pick, or worse.

Isn't that terrible value?

[PAOBoston]

So the C's would trade the #1 overall for Saric and a pick where you do not have any clue will land next season?

What if Philly and LAL actually improve and do not have a bottom 5 type record? You just traded away a possible franchise player for Dario Saric and a late lotto pick. Ouch.

#givemefultz

[tazzmaniac]

I like Saric but I don't think he has star potential.  The more obvious trade would be #1 for #3 and best of Sixers or Lakers 2018.  If Colangelo really looked desperate for Fultz, I'd also ask for the best of Sixers or Kings 2019. 

[obnoxiousmime]

So the C's would trade the #1 overall for Saric and a pick where you do not have any clue will land next season?

What if Philly and LAL actually improve and do not have a bottom 5 type record? You just traded away a possible franchise player for Dario Saric and a late lotto pick. Ouch.

#givemefultz

Yep, it's definitely a risk. But I don't think Thomas, Bradley, and Fultz sharing minutes is a good long-term scenario. I wouldn't mind dealing Thomas this offseason to be honest, with the only thing stopping me is that it would be such a humongous blow to the team's morale. On the other hand, I don't want to pay Thomas a crazy max salary and I certainly don't want to lose him for nothing.

Keeping all three of Thomas, Bradley and Fultz is just not going to work past the end of next season, no matter what management says publicly. Somehow they need to get something back in a trade for Fultz, Bradley, or Thomas. This is just the "Fultz" option I could think of since we're not going to get somebody like Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Karl Anthony-Towns and maybe Nikola Jokic in a deal for this pick. Those are the only players besides players on the Warriors that I think is worth dealing the pick for.

If you can't get one of the young "special" players for the pick, the only other option is to roll it over and hope you have some luck again, or that the draft is deep enough for you to get a star with a later pick.

[Big333223]

We'd potentially be downgrading from the 1st pick to maybe the 4th or 5th pick, or worse.

Isn't that terrible value?

Sure seems like it.

You'd have to be totally convinced that Fultz could not play with IT and also that he'll never be as good as IT (otherwise, you draft Fultz and trade IT). You'd also have to be convinced that Saric is going to be a star.

EDIT: You'd also have to not like anyone else in the draft. If really all you were concerned about was Fultz' fit, trade Philly for their #3 and the better of their 2018 picks. But again, you'd have to hate the fit with Fultz and also think he wouldn't  be great.

[PAOBoston]

So the C's would trade the #1 overall for Saric and a pick where you do not have any clue will land next season?

What if Philly and LAL actually improve and do not have a bottom 5 type record? You just traded away a possible franchise player for Dario Saric and a late lotto pick. Ouch.

#givemefultz

Yep, it's definitely a risk. But I don't think Thomas, Bradley, and Fultz sharing minutes is a good long-term scenario. I wouldn't mind dealing Thomas this offseason to be honest, with the only thing stopping me is that it would be such a humongous blow to the team's morale. On the other hand, I don't want to pay Thomas a crazy max salary and I certainly don't want to lose him for nothing.

Keeping all three of Thomas, Bradley and Fultz is just not going to work past the end of next season, no matter what management says publicly. Somehow they need to get something back in a trade for Fultz, Bradley, or Thomas. This is just the "Fultz" option I could think of since we're not going to get somebody like Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Karl Anthony-Towns and maybe Nikola Jokic in a deal for this pick. Those are the only players besides players on the Warriors that I think is worth dealing the pick for.

If you can't get one of the young "special" players for the pick, the only other option is to roll it over and hope you have some luck again, or that the draft is deep enough for you to get a star with a later pick.

Still, it shouldn't dissuade them from making the pick this year. Draft the player, worry about minute etc later.

[Celtics4ever]

I have to wonder if the OP is a Philly Fan.   Take the BPA and let things sort themselves out.  Who care if IT and Fultz are on the same team. We will be fine.

[wdleehi]

The 76ers could offer that plus the number 3 pick this year and there is still a good chance the Celtics say no.



Celtics have depth.   They need top level pieces. 

[obnoxiousmime]

The thing is, we desperately need that multidimensional F/PF type like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Draymond Green, or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Or, we need that rare C like Towns or Cousins if he wasn't a head case.

Unfortunately those guys are not available (in Cousins case I think they wanted to keep their cap space open and maybe let him mature a few more years). To make things worse, that type of player wasn't available at the third pick last year and isn't available at #1 this year. For whatever reason the last two years have just had a drought of that type of player that we really need. There aren't even any centers available. Instead, it's just been PGs and GF types which doesn't exactly help us.

Let's say Hayward turns us down - I'm not excited about any of the other FAs like Blake (massive injury risk), Ibaka (regressed the past few years, doesn't rebound), Millsap (too old), or one of the one-dimensional centers out there (Monroe). I suppose we could try to sign Millsap if he would agree to a short-term, say 2-year deal. This would have the benefit of giving Jaylen some minutes at SF, which he has earned. With Hayward here Jaylen would be blocked at both SF and SG (Bradley).

If Hayward signs with us, we solve a lot of our offensive issues but lose all our cap space. We'd still need somebody to play next to Horford and the only option is a trade. So do we consider dealing Bradley/Crowder/Jaylen/Smart for somebody? Who is even out there that would be worth it?

[obnoxiousmime]

I have to wonder if the OP is a Philly Fan.   Take the BPA and let things sort themselves out.  Who care if IT and Fultz are on the same team. We will be fine.

Haha, I'm not a Philly fan. I actually would prefer to draft Fultz and deal Thomas but it's probably impossible. Horford didn't come here to play with a 19 year-old. Hayward potentially is not going to come here either if he knew that was the plan.

I guess we just have to roll with drafting Fultz and then prepare ourselves to lose either Thomas or Bradley for nothing. I don't think it's realistic to keep all 3. Bradley and Thomas are not both going to re-sign unless there is clarity at the 1 and 2 spots and their jobs are secure.

Fultz will be making 7-8 million a year for three more years at that point. Thomas will demand 30 million/year for 4-5 years. Bradley will demand 15-20 million at 4-5 years. You do the math.

[max215]

This is an extremely high-risk, low-reward hypothetical.

[PhoSita]

For goodness sake stop this madness.

We are not trading that pick for anything less than an outrageous haul.

[Surferdad]

I have to wonder if the OP is a Philly Fan.   Take the BPA and let things sort themselves out.  Who care if IT and Fultz are on the same team. We will be fine.

Haha, I'm not a Philly fan. I actually would prefer to draft Fultz and deal Thomas but it's probably impossible. Horford didn't come here to play with a 19 year-old. Hayward potentially is not going to come here either if he knew that was the plan.

I guess we just have to roll with drafting Fultz and then prepare ourselves to lose either Thomas or Bradley for nothing. I don't think it's realistic to keep all 3. Bradley and Thomas are not both going to re-sign unless there is clarity at the 1 and 2 spots and their jobs are secure.

Fultz will be making 7-8 million a year for three more years at that point. Thomas will demand 30 million/year for 4-5 years. Bradley will demand 15-20 million at 4-5 years. You do the math.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think both Bradley and Thomas are under contract through next season.  Plus, I don't think Ainge will lose them for nothing anyway, he will deal one or both if it comes to that.

[PhoSita]

A number one pick in hand is worth two top ten picks in the bush.