I think that was the case before the FVV injury ..... now, not so much. That was the one player they could not afford to lose to injury. Any other position, they were built to weather the storm, point guard, not so much. Reed & Amen are going to have to grow up quick. JD Davison may get some run too. As it stands now, they just have to survive until December 15th. Who knows .... maybe those two surprise us and they don't have to make a move.
I still think it is the case. I do think the injury takes us from contenders to dark horse contenders without a trade. We need FVV's ball handling in the playoffs, but I think we are still good enough for the regular season (although thinner).
There is still the option of using FVV salary to get a PG upgrade. My favorite choice would be Derrick White, given that he's basically a superior version of FVV. But hes probably way too costly. Someone like Tyler Heero or Dejounte Murray may be considerations, or at least that level of a player.
It is not possible because FVV would have to consent to give up his/team’s bird rights. No vet player with his history is going to do that. It could happen next off-season, but do seriously think Ime would sign off on it? FVV will at least play out his contract to the deadline in 26/27. I think he has delusions that he will play in the playoffs this year.
There is zero chance with this injury that FVV opts out of his player option. If he picks up his option, the team that trades for him gets early bird rights. And short of him turning back into an All-Star, he's not sniffing any salary above early bird rights of a $25mil contract. You can argue that perhaps FVV will reject a trade to a team that he doesn't want to go to. But the bird rights issue is a non-factor given where he is in his career.
If it happens, we will have to use several of our premium 1st rounders to close the deal. I guess we have them for a reason..
For White? Yes. For the other guys? I don't think they require anything major. If Miami sucks this season and put Herro on the market, they are unlikelu to get a package better than Tari and Rockets own 1st due to Herro needing an extention soon. Murray is arguably negative salary at this point and Pelicans may just want to dump his salary if Fears is ready sooner than expected. In either case, these are possible options beyond just trading Tari for some backup pg that makes no money.
