Which direction do you want the team to go the rest of the season?

[Handlogten's Heros]

There's real downside to trading protected picks too, though. It means you quite often will be very limited in picks you can trade away. Since we have a bunch of other picks now, we should be good, but without those, we couldn't trade a pick until '28 IIRC.

I don't see that as downside though... if you went to the holder of that pick and was like "lets unprotect that ****" they'd likely be like "cool...done.". It almost protects you from doing the stupid **** you should not do.

I get what you are saying and it might be why I'd try and get more value by just trading an unprotected pick rather than losing value in the trade while haggling on protections.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Trade JC for sure while he's hot. He has value and doesn't fit our timeline.

He’s in the range where he’s still young enough to be a key part of the team for another 3-4 years.

 

[Elizah Huge]

I also think we learned a controlled rebuild can be the best patient path. Don't do what Minny did... put a bunch of cakes in the oven and bake (sorry).

Minnesota went all-in too early and on the wrong piece. This isn’t revisionist either I said the same thing at the time.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Trade JC for sure while he's hot. He has value and doesn't fit our timeline.

I would move him in the right deal, but he likely plays about as good as he has this year for the next few years... so he fits the medium term. It has to be a really good offer... like if LA comes with the picks they can move then I will be fine moving on. If it is just like a protected suns pick.... pass.

His production to contract value is likely to remain high/solid.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Minnesota went all-in too early and on the wrong piece. This isn’t revisionist either I said the same thing at the time.

There is a thin line between making bold moves and making dumb AF moves... they crossed the line with violent disregard.

 

[fishonjazz]

He’s in the range where he’s still young enough to be a key part of the team for another 3-4 years.

Ya he is tough one. Would depend on what we were getting back. Need to be a good offer.
Also I really hope the front office has a good idea of whether he is gonna re-sign or not and for how much.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Ya he is tough one. Would depend on what we were getting back. Need to be a good offer.
Also I really hope the front office has a good idea of whether he is gonna re-sign or not and for how much.

I would understand if we re-signed him or traded him. I can see the logic in both.

 

[sip]

I don't see that as downside though... if you went to the holder of that pick and was like "lets unprotect that ****" they'd likely be like "cool...done.". It almost protects you from doing the stupid **** you should not do.

I get what you are saying and it might be why I'd try and get more value by just trading an unprotected pick rather than losing value in the trade while haggling on protections.

I think a lot of the time a team getting the pick wouldn't want to have the pick changed to unprotected because it then gives the team more pathways to get better which in turn could hurt that pick.

 

[sip]

I would move him in the right deal, but he likely plays about as good as he has this year for the next few years... so he fits the medium term. It has to be a really good offer... like if LA comes with the picks they can move then I will be fine moving on. If it is just like a protected suns pick.... pass.

His production to contract value is likely to remain high/solid.

Odds are going forward he takes on a smaller role but at probably a much larger salary. All of a sudden if he is getting paid 20-25mil a year but is averaging closer to 17pts, 3rbs, 3asts then does he become a bad contract? Particularly since he is on the wrong side of 30.

 

[LogGrad98]

You are putting way too much trust in Ainge. I like the guy but he has never found a star player outside of a top 10 pick. He is great at acquiring draft assets but he isn't anything special at actually putting them to work outside of the top 5. You can also make a strong case that Presti is every bit the wizard that Ainge is when it comes to acquiring draft assets while the griz and pelicans gm's have been insane at identifying draft talent over these last few years.

Except Ainge has a championship through trade under his belt, so there is that.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Odds are going forward he takes on a smaller role but at probably a much larger salary. All of a sudden if he is getting paid 20-25mil a year but is averaging closer to 17pts, 3rbs, 3asts then does he become a bad contract? Particularly since he is on the wrong side of 30.

The cap goes up 50% over that time and it'd be fine. I'd probably front load the deal a bit to protect it if I could. I don't see his role shrinking... I doubt he drops off a cliff production wise. This is the best he's ever played and he has become a better playmaker.... we know he can always go back to being a bench gunner too.

 

[sip]

Except Ainge has a championship through trade under his belt, so there is that.

That was 16yrs ago. Just because he did that once doesn't mean he can do it again. He tried it with Kyrie and Hayward and it didn't work out and then he brought in Kemba who turned into the worst contract in the nba. No one is saying Ainge hit on things but we also can't just completely ignore the misses as well.

 

[LogGrad98]

That was 16yrs ago. Just because he did that once doesn't mean he can do it again. He tried it with Kyrie and Hayward and it didn't work out and then he brought in Kemba who turned into the worst contract in the nba. No one is saying Ainge hit on things but we also can't just completely ignore the misses as well.

Same for everyone else as well then. And most of them do not have a manufactured championship under their belt. And he just pulled off 2 of the most lopsided trades in league history. IMO his skills in this regard are underrated.

 

[sip]

The cap goes up 50% over that time and it'd be fine. I'd probably front load the deal a bit to protect it if I could. I don't see his role shrinking... I doubt he drops off a cliff production wise. This is the best he's ever played and he has become a better playmaker.... we know he can always go back to being a bench gunner too.

If his role doesn't shrink then we are screwed. If he is your number 2 guy then you will never be more than a middle of the pack team. That is just reality. He is a good player but by no means is he a great player.

 

[sip]

Same for everyone else as well then. And most of them do not have a manufactured championship under their belt. And he just pulled off 2 of the most lopsided trades in league history. IMO his skills in this regard are underrated.

You are seriously jumping the gun on calling these trades some of the most lopsided in league history. Particularly the cavs deal. We are definitely happy but we still have no clue where all these picks will land. Now if you want to take about one of the most lopsided trades in league history then look no further than the SGA trade and it still has a bunch more picks to convey. The Westbrook for CP trade may also be in that category in the near future.

 

[str8line]

He’s in the range where he’s still young enough to be a key part of the team for another 3-4 years.

I'd rather trade for assets while he's at his peak and give the young players the court time they need to develop. Stack those assets for our championships in 2026-2030. 4-peat. Lauri would be 32-years-old with four rings.

 

[Step-Back Hook]

I don't know. I feel like even if we trade several veterans it is going to be too late to have a high chance for highest picks. Lauri, Sexton, Kessler, Ochai seems just too good to lose more than 1/3 of the games post trade dead-line. The bench would be worse and we would miss Mike and JC for sure but the rest of our schedule is also one of the easiest in the league.
If the trades will not happen until right at the trade deadline I think this team might have 29-30 wins with 26 games left to go.

We might have to lose like 20 out of them to get into lotteries. Not sure if it is worth more than getting Lauri and Kessler some post-season burn. These two will need help for sure in the future but here we have one of the best defensive rookies and as it seems, an all nba caliber scorer. I would love to get someone like Scoot but it just does not seem likely to happen.

 

[str8line]

I don't know. I feel like even if we trade several veterans it is going to be too late to have a high chance for highest picks. Lauri, Sexton, Kessler, Ochai seems just too good to lose more than 1/3 of the games post trade dead-line. The bench would be worse and we would miss Mike and JC for sure but the rest of our schedule is also one of the easiest in the league.
If the trades will not happen until right at the trade deadline I think this team might have 29-30 wins with 26 games left to go.

We might have to lose like 20 out of them to get into lotteries. Not sure if it is worth more than getting Lauri and Kessler some post-season burn. These two will need help for sure in the future but here we have one of the best defensive rookies and as it seems, an all nba caliber scorer. I would love to get someone like Scoot but it just does not seem likely to happen.

Mike is a great influence on the team and likely not worth much so keeping him is no big deal.

 

[Coach Ellis]

Personally, I think the Jazz should still be in assets acquisition mode.

If I were DA, I’d be working the phones to try to move Conley, KO, Beasley and maybe Vando (depending on the value coming back). Im okay with taking on a bad contract or two right now to add high quality assets. If we can be an opportunistic buyer and get a young player back that can maybe be a part of our core group moving forward. . . Im not opposed to that.

If they win, they win. If they lose, they still win. I’m just enjoying the moment.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

If his role doesn't shrink then we are screwed. If he is your number 2 guy then you will never be more than a middle of the pack team. That is just reality. He is a good player but by no means is he a great player.

If he is the second best scorer its not ideal. But he is an efficient high volume guy right now. We have a MEGA efficient high volume guy... and we might have a great defense if Lauri and Walker continue to come together and we add some wing help. We are a great offense... so I'm not sure we'd be screwed there. We aren't contenders in the next year or two... so medium term 2-3 years its fine... long term we need something better or to add something more dynamic.

The recipe without a mega star is tough... I just wouldn't scrap JC until I had something better.