If we don't land a top 4 .... what's plan B ? We'll have three picks , something like 16 , 20 & 24. You could package all three of those picks to get up to maybe #7 or so and take a high upside guy like Jalen Johnson who's probably the closest thing to a star outside the consensus top 4. I think he's a boom or bust type of player .... he'll either be really good or flame out really quickly. Maybe you use all three picks 16 Kai Jones PF/C Texas 20 Jared Butler PG Baylor 24 Ayo Dosunmo SG Illinois Maybe you use 16 & 20 to move up to #10 10 Baylor Guard Davion Mitchell or UConn Guard James Bouknight 24 Trey Murphy iii , a 6'9" wing with a 7'1" wingspan Maybe you use one pick and push the others to a future draft with protections that are "less than lottery protected" , something like top 8 or 10. 16 Ziaire Williams #20 traded to Indiana for a 2022 pick top 10 protected #24 traded to Sacramento for a 2022 ick top 10 protected. OR #16 traded to Indiana for a 2022 pick top 8 protected #20 traded to Sacramento for a 2022 pick top 8 protected. #24 Trey Murphy iii There's a heck of a lot of options with three picks in the first round ....
....or we could have a repeat of 2001 and 2012 with 3 1st rounders. Everything is going to be hit and miss until the picks hit the floor and play with the current squad.
Trading picks to jettison EG and or Wall are NOT part of the plan. Those two have to either go out the door as expiring contracts or actually expire into cap space. They both expire after the 22/23 season and that trade deadline could see huge action or go into the 23/24 league year with almost 70 million in cap space between the two.
I know what you're say. However, if they want to keep Wood, they have to show progression as a team next yr and the following yr. Wood is only going to get better, I think this off season is going to benefit him greatly. However, if we don't get to the playoffs within the next 2yrs, we can have another Harden situation on our hands.
Comon guys, we all know, anything less than top 4 would be a huge disappointment So far, everything is going by plan, we are playing our young guys and we are losing...
I'm not really concerned with "keeping Wood" unless he improves dramatically in the next two years , earning that "Max Contract" he's talking about and IF that happens , this team will post a much better record as a result. That problem will take care of itself. When Wall & EG are in the last year of their deals , teams looking to create cap space will take them off your hands and will give you assets to move them instead of costing you assets .... and you have the ability to bring back 120% of their salaries via trade .... and this is where you can make a move to acquire a proven star to add to Wood / Tate / KPJ / Martin and your 5 draft picks from the last two years. Worst case you just allow them to expire and go into that offseason with a brinks truck full of cap space to use in the FA market. Tho you only spend that if there's a bona fide star willing to join the roster.
Of course we'll all be disappointed but it won't be the end of the world ..... and we will have to have a plan B in place should the worst happen.