We likely can’t do a sign and trade unless we offload like 15M in salary. The issue if we let Mike go is that it takes like 3 moves to rework and pivot... it’s a lot of work for DL and he’d have to be pretty creative cap wise. The fact that we missed the tax by like 2M this year and there are pretty serious ramifications for starting the repeater tax clock shows me he’s no where near the cap manager we need for the job.
The problem is to do anything at all to address our real needs, Mike would have to sign for such a low amount, that keeping him would be essentially impossible. I think they would be better off trying to do just what you said there, and add in players such as favors, bogdanovich, or end of the bench guys, to try to retool around, say our core four or five guys.
I don't think we need to blow everything up the way a lot of people are talking, and look to move Gobert or Mitchell at all costs, but unless we can find exactly the right guy at a pretty damn low price, I think it makes sense to move a decent chunk of the team, to get the guy(s) we need, and fill in around the edges with more athletic higher upside end of bench guys, even if they are more raw and maybe have a lower floor than a guy like Niang.
And if we go this route, I really don't see any way we can keep Mike. Plus I don't necessarily think he helps us that much. If all we are going to get is 2/3 of a season, and a hobbled playoffs, the money is better spent elsewhere. And as he ages the injury concerns will just get worse.
The focus really needs to be on raising our ceiling, even if it means we have a somewhat lower floor.
And I agree we really need a shake-up in the front office. I think they've played the slow and steady wins the race game far too long, and even when they make a move that could be a splash, they get us Conley, a nice guy but one who really didn't help us that much all things considered. The whole availability being the best ability thing really matters. But Conley was the safe choice, which fits our FO's MO.
