I think if you go scorched earth and trade Don and Rudy that you need at least 1 or 2 exciting prospects this year to keep pique the fans interest.
And between Rudy, DM and the rest of the pieces, I feel like we could get a nice mix of young prospects and picks to engage the fans.
Probably but I do remember us talking with Gordon when all the rumors of Boston came out and he denied it... then his *** bolted. Danny knows what these situations are like... been on both sides of it... with Gordo and with Kyrie. If you talk to Donovan and he is like "I'll stay if XYZ..." you have to gauge how sincere that stance is and how long it will endure. We can't extend him this year so there isn't a "call your bluff" moment. The deals we have thrown out are likely not enough... but if someone gets wild with an offer I think you take it.
I'm kind of hung up on this idea that we should trade Bogey, Mike, Royce or JC to the Lakers for Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 1sts unprotected with swap rights on 2028. Its the only picks they can offer cuz NOP has their other picks... I think they are desperate and might just throw that out there... I know its forever out but if you did well in the draft the next couple years those are the types of assets that can put you over the top.
I would even be cool just keeping our guys and swapping the coach or making some minor changes... if I thought the guys were going to get along and maximize the talents they each have by playing together... Nothing wrong with being a perennial playoff team with a slight chance of more. I just think the pieces like Mike and Bogey will age out and Rudy and Donovan don't like each other (I know all the reporting is they are fine). They've both had a million chances to have each others back and figure it out and they choose to dig in further. Even if I thought Donovan was going to ask out in 1-2 years I'd keep em both if I thought they'd stop being dumb.
I think this is the way to go if we do not trade one of the big 2. The Snyder System isn't going to yield anything more than a statistical edge over a long number of games. It isn't designed for playoff success, we have seen that in spades the past 5 years. Keep everyone, maybe retool a bit with better wing defenders in place of geriatric slow players, and get a coach with a fresh look at the game, and see if he can get more out of the current team. We have exhausted what Snyder is capable of. Time to move on.
Oh yeah... look if they want DM and they DON'T end up with a top 4 pick then they need to send us all they future first unprotected and we aren't taking back Randle... Knicks fans likely thing Quickly plus a couple seconds and Randle is fair....
By baseline is the Paul George trade or close to it - the Clippers probably overpaid a bit, but I would take Barrett, someone like Burks/Rose to help make the numbers more manageable without long-term money and four first round picks in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028. Add in a pick or swap or two as well.
