Handlogten's Heros
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The issue is Was and Bkn will have a lot of space. I think Nets would move Claxton and would likely prefer Walker. So if you are sitting on like $100M in cap space... why not throw a $40M offer at Walker?So just to play devils advocate.....how many teams can actually pay Walker Kessler next summer?
WAS
CHI
LAL
BKN
DET
The first 3 seem to be teams that would be very interested in Kessler. BKN may have moderate interest in him....they still have Nic Claxton but they don't have their 2027 pick. DET doesn't make sense as a destination.
There are a few teams that could get there, of course, but in reality they would need to make moves before trade deadline to clear money. I doubt anyone is going to make a salary dump type trade just to make an offer sheet.
I think people are drawing parallels to Kuminga/Grimes/Thomas....IMO it's not the same situation as Kessler will certainly have some buyers. I think the Hayward parallels are valid and painful to think about, especially when it comes to tarnishing the relationship. But on the optimistic side, remember when nobody tried to screw the Lakers on an offer sheet with Austin Reaves? If the Jazz put out a message that they will match anything, maybe nobody wastes their time and they move onto something else.
After actually reviewing the cap space teams....I still think we're looking at a mistake but the Jazz position in RFA is stronger than I had thought. One team could really blow up your spot though.
Chicago and Lakers will have interest but may not get overly wild. Would likely try to engage in a sign and trade. So maybe its 35Mish and PO type thing. Maybe they all go a different direction... but who? The FA list is not great. Walker may legit be the #1 FA (Lebron excepted). Don't have to get an actual offer sheet to end up getting leveraged into a deal 25-40% higher than you could have signed him to.
The best "steals" in business... are ones an acquirer got before it hit the open market. We had exclusive bargaining rights and said "nah".