In regards to a possible trade involving the Suns and ourselves, we could go for a package like the following...
They receive
- #9 pick
- Courtney Lee
Why?
If Trae Young is there at #9 they will get the point guard they want. This would give them a starting unit of Trae Young, Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Chriss/Bender, DeAndre Ayton.
The inclusion of Courtney Lee is to balance salaries and gives them a veteran 3-and-D player for their bench unit. Their second unit would include: Brandon Knight, Troy Daniels, Courtney Lee, Jared Dudley, Tyson Chandler.
My assumption is that the Suns will try to get better next season and make a jump similar to Timberwolves did going from 16 wins to 29 wins. Ideally they would net more wins than but this deal gets them two top ten picks and a valuable veteran. It also clears the path to a starting place for Josh Jackson at SF.
We receive
- #16 pick + #31
- TJ Warren
- Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender
Why?
If we don't believe Trae Young is a potential superstar, and we don't believe that the players available at #9 are going to be all stars, then we might as well trade back in order to acquire young talent and more assets.
On the player front TJ Warren gives us a player that averaged nearly 20 points per game last season and is on a reasonable contract. As for the other player, Chriss offers better rebounding and rim protection and could pair well with KP, while Bender offers better shooting and again could pair well with KP, either player would be a decent addition and we would be betting on a former top ten pick from 2016 coming good on their potential.
As for the draft picks we should be able to get a nice haul with #16, #31 and #36. We could even package them to move up back into the lottery or include them in trades in order to get upgrades that way. Lot's of options.
If we headed into next season with the following we would be in pretty good shape:
- PG: Ntilikina / Burke / Mudiay
- SG: Hardaway / Smith or Walker (#16) / Dotson / Baker
- SF: Warren / Vanderbilt (#36)
- PF: Chriss or Bender / Thomas / Wagner (#36)
- C: Kanter / Robinson (#31) / Noah
*Note: I've not included KP because I wouldn't play him next season unless he is 100% ready and we are in a play off fight
Zhaire Smith and Lonnie Walker both present excellent value at #16 and have a decent amount of upside. Okay so we have lot's of guards, but Baker and Mudiay will not be here this time next year unless they do something surprising. So potentially in the 19-20 season we would have Ntilikina and Burke rotating the point guard spot, with Hardaway and Smith/Walker rotating the shooting guard spot. Dotson is nice depth and does have enough size to log minutes at small forward in certain line ups. In an ideal world Kevin Knox, Miles Bridges or Robert Williams fall to #16 then we could snap one of them up.
As for the second round picks they really are tough to project. I looked at CBSsports' 60 pick mock draft and two names stood out to me. The first prospect is Mitchell Robinson. Now I have a feeling he'll go late in the first round but he might just be there at #31 because he's a risky selection because of the fact he didn't go to college. However, he ticks a lot of boxes for what teams look for and would be an ideal fit next to a healthy KP long term. The other name that stood out to me was Moritz Wagner. Now he's not the quickest player by any means, however he is a big guy that can shoot and has decent has decent handles for a big man. He's like a lot of European players with parts of his game but he would be an ideal fit for a second unit adding floor spacing and scoring potential. He could even develop into a potential starter next to Porzingis. Other options could be Mevlin Frazier (SF, Tulane), Justin Jackson (PF, Maryland), Jarred Vanderbilt (SF/PF, Kentucky)
Essentially in our position we should be in talent and asset acquisition mode. In this trade we get Courtney Lee's contract off the books, hopefully we can then get Noah's off the books soon after, and we can evaluate what we do with Kanter, Thomas and Hardaway at a later date. But if we don't think Trae is a superstar, then this trade sees us get a near 20 a night guy in Warren, a former top ten pick (Chriss or Bender), and two young prospects to add to our second round pick to add to the team. It could be a nice way to continue the rebuild if Fizdale and our front office put their mark on this team built around prospects they rate.