A lot of us have met the Harden trade rumors with skepticism for some good reasons. I don’t know that the Nets actually have enough assets to get the deal done, as any first round picks we receive would likely be the 30th pick with Kyrie/Harden/Durant playing in the East. The Sixers wouldn’t really have any net positive players outside of Harden and Embiid, and that duo alone with role players isn’t really a better situation than what we could create here in Houston. Plus there’s the bad blood with Morey. Then last night Harden called cap on IG and we made the Covington trade and suddenly it got me thinking... what if we are trying to clear cap space for 2021 when Giannis Kawhi and PG are FAs? One crucially ignored aspect of free agency is that it is the only way other than tanking to gain assets without giving up anything in return. Even when you draft a player you are giving up that draft pick that could have been traded for something. FA is the fastest way for a team in our spot with star power but limited assets to take a step forward, and perhaps Stone knows this. Now for the juicy part: if we unload Russ for expiring contracts and a first round pick, we would have enough cap space to sign Giannis and trade Gordon + House + whoever we draft 16th + up to 3 additional first round picks for Booker, KAT, Embiid, or Jokic. Who’s down? Edit: Depending on the specific star we trade for, it could be possible to keep House and do Gordon + whoever is picked 16th + 3 first round picks and end up with a roster like Nwaba / Harden / House / Giannis / KAT which in my opinion would be a prohibitive championship favorite
Nice post. But I don't think even Harden is netting us a D. Booker/J. Murray type due to ages/contracts. Not sure how some middling 1st's plus Gordon is supposed to.
I think Giannis is re-signing with Bucks (given today's trades) Kawhi AND PG want to be in SoCal.... not in South Texas
I can see PG joining but only if Westbrook is still here. It's not happening either way because they'd have to move Harden first yadda yadda.
If they win, he will stay, if not then they are ****ed. If he chooses not to stay, the key is which teams have the cap space to sign him. Most of those teams are trash, with the exception of Miami. Who do you think Giannis would rather play with, Jimmy Butler or Harden + Booker/KAT/Embiid
More details: Initial trade would be Westbrook for Otto Porter Jr (28M expiring) + 5M filler + FRP. Bulls are being reported as wanting to acquire a PG and just basically renounced the rights to Kris Dunn. Guess who their coach is? Billy Donovan. This would also generate an 8M trade exception. 2021: Sign Giannis w cap space Trade Gordon + #16 + 3 FRP + filler for Booker, KAT, or Embiid try to keep House (4M expiring) re-sign Mclemore re-sign Nwaba using early Bird rights re-sign Otto Porter Jr using Bird rights MLE on a Josh Richardson/Jeff Green type player 8M trade exception + pick for another depth piece Harden Nwaba Otto Porter Jr Giannis KAT/Embiid Richardson Mclemore House Jeff Green Alternatively: Harden Booker House Porter Giannis either team wins you the title
