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The Lauri Thread

The Lauri questions are back in full swing:

- Is he too good for us to safely keep our top 8 protected pick?
- Should we look to trade him? What is his trade value?
- Can we sit him if healthy and is on his way to All Star/All NBA?

1 no we've hardly played good teams. I don't think the pick is in jeopardy at all
2 no why ?? we want good players to start competing from next year on. He's unique, a great dude, on board with the plan and wants to be part of Utah. Don't care what his trade value is, because you're not going to get anything near as good as he is within the next 5-6 years from it. If we trade Lauri everything is kicked down the road another 3 years.
3 Can't see that we'll need to
 
1 no we've hardly played good teams. I don't think the pick is in jeopardy at all
2 no why ?? we want good players to start competing from next year on. He's unique, a great dude, on board with the plan and wants to be part of Utah. Don't care what his trade value is, because you're not going to get anything near as good as he is within the next 5-6 years from it. If we trade Lauri everything is kicked down the road another 3 years.
3 Can't see that we'll need to
FWIW, I generally agree with you, but just don't feel as strongly.

- We need to be bottom 4 to guarantee a top 8 pick and bottom 6 for me to feel pretty comfortable. There are a bunch of bad teams right now, so bottom 4 is far from guaranteed, but I think we'll be bottom 6.

- I wouldn't want to trade Lauri for a bunch of picks, but I think if you can get a young promising player like Castle, Harper, or Ausar then I could get behind that.

- I think we have some trimming around the edges before we would need to full on sit him. For example just play him less minutes or trade Nurkic, or many other things. I do think we'll sit him towards the end of the year to maximize our lottery odds, it's just a matter of how soon we get desperate.
 
FWIW, I generally agree with you, but just don't feel as strongly.

- We need to be bottom 4 to guarantee a top 8 pick and bottom 6 for me to feel pretty comfortable. There are a bunch of bad teams right now, so bottom 4 is far from guaranteed, but I think we'll be bottom 6.

- I wouldn't want to trade Lauri for a bunch of picks, but I think if you can get a young promising player like Castle, Harper, or Ausar then I could get behind that.

- I think we have some trimming around the edges before we would need to full on sit him. For example just play him less minutes or trade Nurkic, or many other things. I do think we'll sit him towards the end of the year to maximize our lottery odds, it's just a matter of how soon we get desperate.

yeah i think he'll sit games toward the end partially to look after his body maybe partially tanking. But i doubt we need to in order to stay in the top 8. I can't see another team giving someone like Harper etc. I'd certainly want to think about were that the case.

we'll know more about how bad we are and other teams by about 25 maybe 30 games
 
I love, LOVE, L-O-V-E Lauri, but I think we have to trade him before the deadline -- and the sooner the better b/c (1) he's going to generate too many wins, (2) his value is so high because of how well he's playing, and (3) gives the acquiring team time to really benefit from him during the year and tee up playoff aspirations.

The more I think of the team we have now and the future we can build assuming we can get into the top 5 again for the 2026 draft (which I think has to be the committed goal), the more I think we make the trade for Detroit work and convince them to include Ausar Thompson. I can't believe they really think he's good enough to be truly untouchable. I think we make him the key piece of a trade and it's him, Tobias Harris and a 2026 first. I think that price should be enough to convince them to part with Ausar Thompson. And I think for the impact he could have on our team, he'd be worth it. This still leaves them with some assets to make other moves down the line and they position themselves to stay at the top of the East, and not just for this year.
 
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