Trae young ain't coming here. Trae Young to the Spurs makes so much sense it's scary. I think it's he opposite, he'll lose you a lot of regular season games because of his style/defensive gaps but taht same style also means he can explode in the playoffs and single-handely beat literally anybody in one game, like he did against Boston last year or the Knicks the year they went ot the ECF. Honestly I am fearful of him pairing with Wembanyama on the roll - it's scary as hell and Wemby can erase his defensive mistakes.
I'd give up a real package for Trae. Said it last year and still believe that this offseason. Yes he has a lot of warts, but at the same time players with no issues are NEVER going to be on the trade market or FA market. And Trae for all his warts is better than everyone except Sengun on this team. My trade, assuming Jalen Green still has roughly a mid-first value on the market, would be Green + 9th pick + future lottery protected 1st of some kind and either FVV or Brooks for salary matching. They can also send back a salary they don't want if they take FVV.
I've seen enough for Green a sa creative ball handler to now be confident his ceiling his much higher than Trae. Green isn't a midget by NBA standards unlike Trae and he has become a good defender on top of that. His combo of agility with the ball in his hands at 6'6" is rare. Green is in the quickness and agility class of Maxi, Ja, Fox but much taller than all of those guys.
The problem with Green is that basketball is played on the court and not by measurement of physical tools.
This is my thought, except I don’t know if I’d give up any future assets. Green + 9th pick + FVV or Brooks. Take it or leave it. If we’re trading FVV and Green, they can throw in AJ Griffin to make the money work (the Rockets have shown interest in him in the past). It’s a compelling package if they want to retool rather than rebuild.
Well those tools show on the court hence why many non rocket fans who eat j him on the sidelines say it. They don't say it based on measurable. They say it based on watching him play.
Trae is gonna be a spur. Just lay back and let it happen; it makes too much sense. They need scoring, they have cap space, Wemby can help hide Trae’s terrible perimeter defense, oh yeah…the spurs own Atlanta’s picks/swaps the next 3 yrs so there’s a big incentive for Atlanta to deal with spurs. Getting into a bidding war for Trae’s services is fine if we are trying to jack up the price on the spurs, but trading for Trae would be a poor use of our hard earned prospects and assets. In the “star” catagory he’s on the low tier. You don’t want to lock up a huge chunk of your salary cap on one of those guys.
He could work on SA for that reason, but with us his defense approach of "plastic bag floating in the breeze" would kill us IMO. But he's never really been one to lift up his teammates and has a history of issues with his coaches. So I'm not sold on him being a home run anywhere, even though SA seems like a solid fit for him.
All this Trae to Spurs talk seems really premature, and Spurs reporters are playing down the possibility. Besides, aside from Atlanta’s own picks, what do the Spurs have to offer? Keldon Johnson? Sochan? Bleh. https://spurswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/20/san-antonio-spurs-trae-young-trade-rumors-doubt/
I agree the Spurs make a ton of sense, unfortunately. Could easily see that happening. He could also end up on the Lakers and that would work as a starting lineup, with LeBron and AD holding down the defense. They'd have to lose a ton of bench depth to acquire him though. I would probably rather that than have him end up with Wemby, since the Lakers probably only have a couple years left until Bron retires and AD really gets into his decline phase.
He's better than anyone our roster save Sengun. Playoffs every year with mid rosters. He carried (in a weak conference yes) roles players to the ECF. He was all rookie 1st team and 3x allstar. He accomplished most of that relatively young as well. You put solid coaching and solid players around him and he will lead his team to the playoffs and he has that crazy shooting skill that if he gets hot can make a playoff run.
Lottery protected 1sts aren't worth much these days. If the Rockets were to give up one it would likely be our 2027 pick. Which assuming the front office/coaches are sold on Trae enough to make this trade, should put the Rockets more in the 20s range draft pick. So we're not really that far apart in terms of assets given up. I personally don't think the Hawks make this deal though. They're in a situation where they can't tank for the next 3 years, so they probably want more present assets to win now than just blow it up like a normal team in such situation.
Trae may be the more talented player, but I think I'd prefer FVV for this team .... he's a steady force guiding this young team where Trae is gonna go off the rails at times all on his own & FVV is a vastly better defender. Trae's shot selection is terrible. Sure, he might make some of those 4 pointers .... Then there's the fact that he has 3 extra years on his deal where FVV has one plus a team option, you can be a player in FA if you choose to - before paying Sengun, Amen, Jabari, Cam & Tari. 43 wins. That's the high water mark for Trae in the East.
Trae Young is not a Udoka type of player...Udoka likes 2-way players therefore would make more sense for us to trade for Dejountay Murray than Trae...however, neither of those players will make significantly improve us so I'll pass
I'd rather us avoid max guys who are great offensively and terrible and/or/ lazy defenders. I'd pass on Trae, Harden, Donovan Mitchell, etcc. I also think Udoka would prefer guards who can at least hold their own defensively.
