Zion Can Save the Tank

With the latest news that Zion is out for a while with a strained abductor... the Pels are kinda cooked. They likely want to save face on the dumb trade they made and get out of the Zion business.

Its not a business I want in on all that much.... BUT the price is likely almost nothing.

What if we kill two birds with one stone? Save the tank and sit Zion while offloading vets and lock in a maybe star for next year... also help boost NOP chances at passing us... MFer that's three birds in one stone.

Maybe a pick goes here or there. Zion's deal is able to be waived btw... so we could just waive him if it isn't working out. Boston gets all the way out of the tax and gets Temu Hauser and a 100% rotational center (objectively).

NOP get players they can use to maybe save face a little.

The tank gets fed... we likely are adding hopefully second rounders but maybe the lesser of our 2027 firsts.

I don't think Zion is going to fetch much more than this and NOP may just waive him this offseason.

I'd do this... Just so I dont have to watch svi start anymore

Not sure I would want Zion to spend even 5 minutes fraternizing with any Jazz player
Who knows how he will destroy them

If that’s it then I’m in. We also need something to have perennial offseason hope for when we hear something akin to “he’s working with Malone this summer.”

How much adding Zion would start the repeater tax clock for the Jazz considering the Kessler and Keyonte George extensions to come ?

If the idea is dropping Nurkic and Svi is the difference for securing the pick, but in doing this trade we have a 3 year clock to gut our roster because every year the same wage bill grows exponentially because of the repeater tax, just like the Celtics had to do with their championship team - which they at least could after winning It all, not just as they were start to win - I'd say is way better to just waive Nurkic, Anderson and trade Svi.

Not a terrible idea. I think NOP will want something even if it's not a lot.

Zion would eat our cap space (along with everything else).

rjfan said:

How much adding Zion would start the repeater tax clock for the Jazz considering the Kessler and Keyonte George extensions to come ?

If the idea is dropping Nurkic and Svi is the difference for securing the pick, but in doing this trade we have a 3 year clock to gut our roster because every year the same wage bill grows exponentially because of the repeater tax, just like the Celtics had to do with their championship team - which they at least could after winning It all, not just as they were start to win - I'd say is way better to just waive Nurkic, Anderson and trade Svi.

Click to expand...

You are worried about boogie men that don’t exist. Zion can be waived if he’s not healthy. If he’s healthy you have a max player. We are in zero repeater danger lol.

Ferguson_Mellochill said:

Zion would eat our cap space (along with everything else).

Click to expand...

Maybe… or we waive him if we don’t like what we see. Read the post above… his contract is no guaranteed. Also our cap space lol. It ain’t gonna matter all that much.

I expect the Pelicans will want one of our young pieces. I doubt that is Svi. Brice? Collier? They would ask for Key, but that's a no. Kessler?

I would never suggest building around someone like Zion, in fact I don’t know that I really ever fully embrace the idea of “building around” anyone, but if you were doing something like that, I’d imagine someone like Lauri would be at the top of the list to pair him with.

This reminds me of a thought I had some 16-17ish years ago when Carl’s Jr. came out with a Philly cheesesteak burger. I ate it and thought it was fine. Not amazing but fine. I realized that it was fine because you’re a burger that’s got a cheesesteak in, something higher class than the burger. I wondered if this were reversed, if you made a cheesesteak that had components of a hamburger in it, if you’d view it worse, which I believe you would, as adding the burger would be a step down.

That’s kinda like a Lauri-Zion pairing — it all depends on your frame of reference.