If we can find willing partners to fleece, take the best offer. It would be addition by subtraction. I am concerned we might have to sweeten the deal with picks but he is such a net negative, it might be worth trading a heavily protected pick. Just look how much better the Suns were without him and that is not because of Jalen.
I think KD has more value than people expect. He's still one of the best scorers in the NBA. Rockets just need to create a bidding war between 2-3 teams that feel like they need his on court production to win a title. I'm not giving up ANY picks to get off KD, no way in hell, we are a rebuilding team, picks are worth more than anything to us right now.
I’m out on the KD/Jabari mentorship program. It’s too much salary, trade equity, and training time for the 2 tall shooters if they don’t thrive while playing together. Anchors us to being slower and less comfortable with the ball, and limits lineup flexibility too much. Depending on the demand and what’s going on behind the scenes, we need to trade 1 or the other to improve the team speed, passing, 3 point shooting volume, on ball defensive pressure, and depth.
The Heat probably are the easiest fit if we do decide to trade KD (this "report" reads more like speculation though). Riley said he's not going anywhere but will quit if they order him to tank. They want length and a scorer to put next to Bam. Sounds like a good fit to me. Only thing is, I don't know if Herro is really a great fit. He kind of has similar strengths and weaknesses to Reed. I don't know if Herro can share a court with Sengun or Sheppard. So, making the salary work is tricky. Wiggins and Mitchell works, I think, but only if Wiggins picks up his player option, so he'd basically have to agree to the trade, and I don't know if we'd want to extend him. (Depends on the money, perhaps?) Other than that, you start getting into either a three team trade or making major further trades to balance the roster (sending Sengun and/or Reed elsewhere.)
Herro trade isn’t that tricky at all. He’s probably the easiest. KD for Herro + Dru Smith works in trade machine. Maybe their 1st in this years draft I don’t think Herro would be that bad at all. Helps our guard rotation & shooting, can choose to extend, S&T him, or just let him walk after a season. He’d at least be decent until Reed shows he is confident & consistent enough to take over for Herro. Anything to help our piss poor guard rotation
He'd be a good fit on offense but a horrible fit on defense. Also have to mention that him and Amen hate each other. And Herro struggles to stay healthy. I'd definitely rather have that hypothetical Wiggins + Mitchell package. Mitchell also helps our guard rotation (especially playmaking which was a big issue). And Wiggins at least tolerably replaces KD's three point shooting, albeit coming nowhere near KD's entire scoring package.
Detroit losing in the first round would hopefully make them desperate for a veteran star like KD, kinda of like how the Rockets were. However, the Pistons supporting cast is far more along than the Rockets so things may actually work out well for them in the Eastern conference.
KD is exactly what Detroit needs from a basketball standpoint. They are desperate for an elite shooter. That’s basically all they are missing.
well shouldn’t Stone get the boot too for that terrible, premature and unnecessary extension of Ime? If my GM costs me $60 million I am showing him the door lol
the big problem is…you shouldn’t trade with Pat Riley. Stone is still licking his wounds from the Olidipo trade. Riley is notoriously cheap
One difficulty with Detroit as an option is that there's basically only one realistic package from them to match salaries: Stewart, LeVert, and Robinson. Do we want those guys? Do they want to give up three rotation players for KD?
