Match.com

[MexicanMamba]

“Matchmaker, matchmaker, bring me a match! Find me a find, catch me a catch!”



In the continuous war against a shortage of points in the Clippers’ bank, I figured it was time for yet another early season article. With Day 60 looming and the trade deadline a few sims after that, it seemed like a good time to scour the league’s trade blocks for this season and try to play matchmaker by coming up with deals that would make sense for the players listed. I’ll even try to give my idea of what the actual deal could look like, and not just which team is a fit. Though the trade structure you may not always be able to take seriously …



Let’s get started!





HAROLD BYE, 30



Team: New York Knicks



Contract: $48,052,861 in 2043 and $105mil over the NEXT two seasons after.



Season Stats: 33.4 Mins, 15.3 Pts, 8 Rebs, 3.9 Asts, 1.4 Stls. 44/88/40 shooting splits. 14.6 PER.



Trade or Keep:



The Knicks should probably hope to trade Bye, but I do not think they will find a taker for such a large contract on a player that has already hit the dreaded 30 mark. Harold Bye is playing very solid basketball this season, but he just is not a true game changer. So, teams trying to compete probably do not see him as the missing link and teams with huge chunks of cap space for a salary dump aren’t likely to want to take him on on such a long-term deal and tie-up their cap space in future seasons. With all of that in mind, the Knicks are likely best to stand pat this season and see if the price to dump the contract next season dips.



Best Fit:



Rockets. No, really. Well, sort of. Okay probably not really but I can’t come up with much that makes sense for Harold so, I am just going to talk about something silly. The Rockets are in a bit of a SLOE No Man’s Land. Attention has understandably been elsewhere, and the team has been uninspiring for quite a few seasons, which I imagine can make it even more difficult to get the motivation to work on it. I thought they grabbed a very solid player in the draft but then TC (and a lack of insurance protection) decimated them. So, the Rockets are a bad team that also has very little in terms of high-end assets to give them hope for the future.



Harold Bye does not solve those problems. However, there is a deal that I can think of that could give both sides a bit of what they want/need.



Trade Structure:



Rockets send: Obi Toppin



Knicks send: Harold Bye, Knicks 1st round picks in 44 and 46



The Knicks have started the season playing good basketball (8-5 after two sims) and so while they may have their eyes on the future (dumping Bye’s contract) they may not want to do it at the expense of a possible playoff berth. The Rockets have had Toppin on the block since last season but his age and high price tag ($51,530,133 this season, but a team option next season) have made finding a trade partner difficult, especially when more dynamic players were all on the block this off-season. So, what does this deal do? For the Rockets, obviously it ties up their cap space for a couple more seasons, but it gives them a couple of potential lottery tickets to do so in those Knicks picks. For a team needing assets, it would not be a terrible gamble to make, especially if free agents may not be keen on signing there yet because of recent performances. For New York, they get rid of long-term salary in Bye, opening room to place in free agency or re-sign some of their own, while also adding a more explosive player than Bye for this season, thus not entirely giving up on this season.







BROOKS JACKSON, 29



Team: Portland Trailblazers



Contract: $33,000,000 in 2043 and $34,500,000 in 2044.



Season Stats: 33 Mins, 17.6 Points, 5 Rebs, 4.1 Asts, 0.7 Stls. 46/79/31 Shooting splits. 14.1 PER.



Trade or Keep:



Once again, the Blazers are playing mediocre basketball with a couple of great players, likely due to the lack of game planning. A deal probably does not NEED to be made with Jackson, who is playing well, but I say trading him is a solid idea if for no other reason than to show engagement and spread out your talent.



Best Fit:



Since I have inside information into this, I’ll say that one of the fits that does make some sense to me is a deal that has been discussed before and that being Jackson to the Suns. The Suns have a very good rotation along the perimeter with Reynolds, Avdija, Dangerfield, Quackenbush and Nicks, however there are games when Avdija decides to go rogue and take way too many damn shots and so, his mentality might be best served along the bench unit where he can be the legit leader. Or if he stays in the lineup, Jackson is also a more assertive player in the bench unit. Quackenbush has positive skills for the Suns, but he seems to lack aggressiveness and Jackson or Avdija would take control of the second unit.



Trade Structure:



Might as well show up here to pop in my first 3-way deal!



Trailblazers send: Brooks Jackson (To the Suns), 6 Points (To the Bulls), Charles Houle (Bulls), Eric Manuel (Bulls).



Suns send: Carle Gabauer (To the Blazers)



Bulls send: Jere Ratliff (To the Blazers)



Why does this all make sense? For the Blazers they are flipping Jackson and points to obtain defense, defense and defense. Neither Gabauer nor Ratliff are going to light up the scoreboard (and won’t demand the ball), but when your lineup already consists of Dort, Sneed and Lynch, you have all the scoring you’re going to need. Carle steps right in as an upgrade over Bulter (who can be a positive off the bench) and Ratliff can go to Small Forward which allows Sneed to take his athleticism and 6’8” frame to Shooting Guard. I already mentioned most of the Suns’ positives above, but they also get clear of salary a season earlier by taking Jackson instead of Carle. And then the Bulls just earn a few points for a player that isn’t used much by them and has no place in their future plans.





CRISTIANO FELICIO, 29



Team: Orlando Magic



Contract: $56,159,233 in 2043 and $59,821,792 in 2044 before a Team Option year in 2045.



Season Stats: 22.8 Mins, 11.2 Points, 5.8 Rebs, 2 Asts, 1.2 Balks. 55/67/28 Shooting splits. 16.5 PER.



Trade or Keep:



Given the team’s success in free agency and luck in training camp, if the Magic were able to move Felicio’s money and allow them to zero in on even more asset collection, it’d be a homerun.



Best Fit:



I considered a couple of different teams here, and almost went with the Bucks but as I thought about it more, I think that the team who would benefit the most from Felicio is the Dallas Mavericks. They currently have a surplus of wings and guards, a few that can score, score, score but they are so thin up front that they are running Elwood Berger at Power Forward, who has absolutely 0 skills that translate to that position.



Trade Structure:



Orlando Magic send: Cristiano Felicio, 7 Points



Dallas Mavericks send: Michael Morley, 44 Mavericks 1st



The Magic get to not have to pay Felicio next season for the price of 7 Points. The Mavericks get a big man to pair with Ortega and can get Berger back at his natural position. It costs them a 1st this season but that pick shouldn’t be a great pick and is worth the cost of trying to put the most complete team together. They even get 7 points for their trouble to (perhaps) use to dump Felicio’s salary the following off-season IF they don’t want to let that tax bill get too crazy considering the RFA max they are likely going to have to pay out to Gauss Losing Morley dips into their firepower, but Kuyekendall is an assassin, Gauss can pick up some more of those touches and Felicio is well-rounded on the offensive side as well.





TASMIN MITCHELL, 29



Team: Washington Wizards



Contract: $57,663,433 in 2043 and Team Option next season.



Season Stats: 26.5 Mins, 16.3 Points, 4.9 Rebs, 2.2 Asts. 58/68/20 Shooting splits. 16.6 PER.



Trade or Keep:



Trade. Wizards are starting off on a decent pace, but they should probably be looking at ways to get a bit younger pieces to be able to shift around to build the team back up. An unfortunate tumble by Liberty in TC has already hurt things.



Best Fit:



Milwaukee Bucks. The team is still one more dynamic player from competing at the tip-top I feel like. Tasmin Mitchell does have some fouling issues, which means you need to ensure you have a capable back-up, but when he is on the court he has been as efficient a scorer as I can remember. This would allow Patrick Williams to slide down to the Small Forward spot where he is more than athletic enough to thrive. This team would be incredibly difficult to handle offensively due to their attacking nature with Mitchell Robinson, Tasmin Mitchell, Patrick Williams and Tex Harrison being well into the 90s in inside scoring.



Trade Structure:



Bucks send: Arden Silva, Ja Morant, Onyeka Okongwu, 10 Points



Wizards send: Tasmin Mitchell



The Bucks get the full-on attacking offense that would be a terror for everyone else and the Wizards get back Arden Silva, who they could either keep around or try to flip again at the trade deadline if the move if done immediately, and a young big man with some upside to play around with. I think I’d like to keep Silva if I am Doug, and if there’s a way to do that, definitely go find it (Maybe adding Dillard and Ecker and more filler?) but adding Tasmin is an idea I see merit in in general.





ZACK KELLER, 27



Team: Detroit Pistons



Contract: $19,250,000 for 2043 and then Unrestricted Free Agency



Season Stats: 33.1 Mins, 17.1 Points, 6.8 Rebs, 4 Asts, 2.1 Stls. 49/88/42 Shooting splits. 18.8 PER.



Trade or Keep:



I could see this one going either way. Keller is a piece that is worth having around, even for as young a team as the Pistons are, but what is his price tag going to be in the off-season? He will be 28 then and isn’t a max guy in the open market (At least I assume he won’t be) but there is such a wide range of prices between minimum and maximum, and a guy like Keller can be tough to predict. So, is it smarter to trade him while you can and get more future ammo? Or take the chance in UFA? Hell if I know, but I’m going to pretend the answer is TRADE, so that I can come up with a silly trade idea.



Best Fit:



Due to his easily matching salary, age, and skills, Keller could fit on any number of teams. Does Chicago make another move along with Keller and try to win a bunch of games this season? Would the Magic want his bird rights as they attempt to re-shape their team in the off-season? Would Raby try to add him to Delmar and Loredo so that he could feel better about his team’s chances? Hell, he’d look good in a Clipper uniform between Bone and Nnaji (if I don’t trade him). All of this could make sense, but, for the fun of it, let me say the Knicks. Since I don’t anticipate Bye getting moved, it would make a lot of sense for the Knicks to try adding a piece to make sure they squeeze the most juice out of this team as possible.



Trade Structure:



Knicks send: Volker Kapp, 45 Knicks 1st and 7 Points



Pistons send: Zack Keller



Kapp is a solid prospect without an expiring contract and a wild card of a 1st rounder that could cash-in for the Pistons. Might just be better off keeping Keller, but if not, this is a good return for an expiring contract player that isn’t going to sniff an All-Star or All-League list.





I’ll end this by not bringing up specific players, but two teams who have a lot of players available, so I do not need to pull individual players.



BULLS



They might be the biggest wild card for this season because of the number of young players that they have under contract. Sim 1 and 2 were a bit of a roller coaster ride, which is to be expected with that amount of youth. I could see several teams being willing to part with some points to take Richard Hunt from them for a big push this season. I already brought up Jere Ratliff possibly being moved. With some very good players on the trade block however, Josh could throw caution to the wind (again) and add players that might help them now and in the future. Keller and Nnaji make the most sense of the players listed on the trade block and they could make those deals and still have a ton of ammo for trades in the coming seasons to get back to championship contending.



CLIPPERS



And then there is my squad. Look, I blew it all up in the off-season and am willing to blow it up even more if the right deals come along. As my trade block says, there’s several quality depth pieces that could be had for points. Or I’ll drop them in a package deal with some of my more appetizing players to do something bigger. I’d even move some of my younger players like Jaxson Hayes or Raiquan Gray, if it either mean packaging them for a win-now player (with at least SOME youth still in him) to allow someone else the honor of playing with their upcoming Restricted Free Agency, OR I’d trade them for even younger players of the same skill level, so I had control of them for longer. Frank Daily is a young player I grabbed in UFA this season that promptly went Green/Blue and has the potential to be a good defensive piece. I’d deal him in a similar way as Gray or Hayes.



Then there’s Zeke Nnaji. My Center who is probably better suited as a Power Forward. I could have written him into this article specifically but where’s the fun in that, when we might have some negotiating to do??? He’s a really good player that offers both offensive and defensive strengths and can be a player that is a big part of a championship foundation.



Whichever player on my list you might like, I welcome all the chatting I can muster up about them. So, don’t be shy!




And I’m tired of writing, you’re probably tired of reading, AND I’ve reached the amount of words that I need to fit this article in and another one (or a podcast?) still to gain all my media points for the season.



PEACE!


Word Count: 2500+

[TheSyndicate]

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[MexicanMamba]

Ctrl-F "Nuggets". Alt-F4

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[digiskunk]

Damn, this is a great article, thank you for posting it—I'm now taking notes! But also I want to propose an additional player to this list: Ethan Bledsoe, Utah Jazz. http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player164.htm

Ethan is a starting-caliber 24-year old G/G center who's only being paid $12,111,933 for the next 2 seasons ($5m-6m per season). With some training, he could easily go B/B ... And I'm sure a lot of teams would like to get out of the tax and acquire a cheap stud in exchange for scraps & points.

[MexicanMamba]

Damn, this is a great article, thank you for posting it—I'm now taking notes! But also I want to propose an additional player to this list: Ethan Bledsoe, Utah Jazz. http://pbsl.ijbl.net/players/player164.htm

Ethan is a starting-caliber 24-year old G/G center who's only being paid $12,111,933 for the next 2 seasons ($5m-6m per season). With some training, he could easily go B/B ... And I'm sure a lot of teams would like to get out of the tax and acquire a cheap stud in exchange for scraps & points.

I'll plug it into the article and pretend they're my words to max out my points

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[greepleairport]

2500+ words indeed, claim 8 points. This was dope man, loved it