Schrodinger's Bobcat: 5 Potential Destinations for This Season's Most Talked About Trade Block Resident
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 1:36 pm
From a humble beginning as an expansion team in 2015, the Charlotte Bobcats, under the direction of GM DarthVegito, grew steadily from a 7 win team made out of the scraps of other teams to a respectable 51 win team in 2018. That offseason, they made the decision to mortgage their future to put together a team that was poised to hoist the hardware come spring. The front office did an impressive job of lining up their expiring contracts so that they had plenty of bird rights, and with the sequence of their offseason schedule,they'd be able to drop an unprecedented amount of money on returning players so that they could keep the important pieces while adding up oversized one year contracts to their role players to make salaries work for post-UFA trade scenarios.
In RFA, they were able to swoop in and grab Phil Milburn and Gary Perez, two young, promising big men who were coming from teams that weren't in the right positions to match overvalued contracts. With Milburn, anyway, they decided to focus intensely on getting the young talent ready for a starting role at PF as they filled out the rest of the roster. With John Wall already in place, the Bobcats filled out their roster by resigning Klay Thompson to a Supermax, dealing Lavar Ball to the Warriors for Rudy Gobert (who later got dealt to the Celtics for Nikola Vucevic and Isaias Stumpf) and working out a deal to dish their 2022 1st round draft pick and two comically oversized Thomas Elliott and Kevin Wright contracts to the Magic for DeAndre Jordan.
At the time, it seemed like a no brainer. Even though the calculating Magic GM knew that the 2022 could be valuable since the Bobcats would have to sell off quickly with the enormous tax bill they'd be facing in 2019 alone, the Bobcats would have a team where their 2nd unit could've probably m ade the playoffs. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Kyrie Irving made the extremely confusing choice to go play for the Pelicans rather than chase a championship, and the Bobcats finished with a 54-28 record..only 3 wins better than they had done the previous season. Furthermore, a DeAndre Jordan playoff injury doomed their Finals chances, and the team collectively shut down and faced a tough first round exit and an even tougher future of offseason after offseason with the delinquent tax bill limiting their options.
Fast forward to 2021. Not one to lay down during a season where they don't have a pick to tank for, the Bobcats stock up. They trade for reigning MVP Kevin Durant to be the focal point of an offense that includes bomber Klay Thompson and Phil Milburn, who at this point, is the best player on their team. They even luck out on Ty Lawson signing on a vet min to run that offense. Unfortunately, they got Durant a year too late, and they'll have him two years too late next year as well. With the season off to a losing start a couple months into the season, the Bobcats stay in the rumor mill by placing Phil Milburn on the block and then claiming "Philtheburn is gone."
The majority of the league thought this meant that he'd be traded, although it is feasible that Vegito steeled himself and decided not to trade Milburn after all. But let's drop that latter scenario and take a look at 5 destinations where we might see Milburn head to before the All Star Break.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Like the Bobcats, the Bucks have no pick to play for this season. They're in a tough division and have already made several moves this season to try to position themselves into a more competitive spot in a division that features the defending champion Bulls and the ever-dangerous, Anthony Davis-led Detroit Pistons. They recently upgraded their lineup overall by turning Damion McNary and Elfrid Payton into Timothy Pulley, Boris Hailey, and Ricky Rubio. They are already paying a pretty hefty tax bill at the end of the year, but they should be in a decent spot to pay it off. Adding Phil Milburn to the mix (with the right deal) would leave the Bucks more competitive this year. Here's what that deal would look like:
Phil Milburn for Boris Hailey, 2022 Wizards 1st, Cuttable Salary
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
The Wizards have accumulated quite a collection of good (but not great) talent, and this could be their chance to combine some assets to get a star who would be very complementary to D'Angelo Russell. They're another team without their pick next year, and they're just outside of the playoff window for now in an extremely competitive Eastern Conference. There's a deal to be made here, and it probably slants slightly in favor of the Bobcats, but it might be worth considering if the Wizards want more than one player to be a certain part of their future.
Phil Milburn for Jarvis Chambers, Leroy Haugh
UTAH JAZZ
What an up and down season it's been so far for the Utah Jazz. After a Finals appearance last season, they've been all over the map in terms of record this year. Some stretches have been dismal and others unstoppable. It's anyone's guess as to where they land, but a Utah Jazz team with Phil Milburn would allow Joseph Kight to move down to SF and James Gebhardt to play SG, where he seems like a much better fit. There are two potential deals that could work out here. They are:
1. Milburn for Stark/Shumpert and J.R. Johnson
2. Milburn for Stark/Shumpert, Robert Neeley, Jazz 2022 1st, 10 points
BOSTON CELTICS
The Atlantic Division is a madhouse right now. The Philadelphia 76ers have managed to keep a stronghold on the first spot, but the Celtics and the Knicks are not all too far behind. The Knicks just upgraded their SF situation by cashing in a 2023 1st for Khris Middleton from the Pacers' fire sale. The problem with the Celtics is that they already have a pretty complete team...one that already has a strong PF in Karl Anthony-Towns. They are playing Dario Saric at the 5 spot, so they're already one of the smaller teams out there. They do have plenty of cap space, and it'd be risky, but they could shuffle some things around to try to get Milburn (who does a lot of big man things better than Dario) at Center or even play him as a SF. They'd probably need to find another trading partner to balance this move out, but feasibly:
Milburn for Dario Saric, Robert Oxford
TORONTO RAPTORS
At the bottom of the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Raptors have a young team that will be, perhaps, dynastic when all of their rookie contract guys come up. They'll need to dump Kawhi Leonard's albatross of a contract next year (imperatively), or else they'll find themselves in a tax situation just as brutal as the Bobcats now find themselves mired in, but that's another story for another season. In any case, that Raptors pick could provide a pick equivalent to what the Bobcats would've had, and chances are, their 2024 pick will be bad, but if they can't successfully navigate out of a potential tax crisis on the horizon, it might be worth it for the Bobcats to take on some contracts and shoot for a string of lotto picks as they repay their tax bill. The Raptors can't rename players once they're out of the lotto anyway.
Milburn for Valanciunas, Lozano, Raptors 2022 1st, Raptors 2024 1st.
In RFA, they were able to swoop in and grab Phil Milburn and Gary Perez, two young, promising big men who were coming from teams that weren't in the right positions to match overvalued contracts. With Milburn, anyway, they decided to focus intensely on getting the young talent ready for a starting role at PF as they filled out the rest of the roster. With John Wall already in place, the Bobcats filled out their roster by resigning Klay Thompson to a Supermax, dealing Lavar Ball to the Warriors for Rudy Gobert (who later got dealt to the Celtics for Nikola Vucevic and Isaias Stumpf) and working out a deal to dish their 2022 1st round draft pick and two comically oversized Thomas Elliott and Kevin Wright contracts to the Magic for DeAndre Jordan.
At the time, it seemed like a no brainer. Even though the calculating Magic GM knew that the 2022 could be valuable since the Bobcats would have to sell off quickly with the enormous tax bill they'd be facing in 2019 alone, the Bobcats would have a team where their 2nd unit could've probably m ade the playoffs. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Kyrie Irving made the extremely confusing choice to go play for the Pelicans rather than chase a championship, and the Bobcats finished with a 54-28 record..only 3 wins better than they had done the previous season. Furthermore, a DeAndre Jordan playoff injury doomed their Finals chances, and the team collectively shut down and faced a tough first round exit and an even tougher future of offseason after offseason with the delinquent tax bill limiting their options.
Fast forward to 2021. Not one to lay down during a season where they don't have a pick to tank for, the Bobcats stock up. They trade for reigning MVP Kevin Durant to be the focal point of an offense that includes bomber Klay Thompson and Phil Milburn, who at this point, is the best player on their team. They even luck out on Ty Lawson signing on a vet min to run that offense. Unfortunately, they got Durant a year too late, and they'll have him two years too late next year as well. With the season off to a losing start a couple months into the season, the Bobcats stay in the rumor mill by placing Phil Milburn on the block and then claiming "Philtheburn is gone."
The majority of the league thought this meant that he'd be traded, although it is feasible that Vegito steeled himself and decided not to trade Milburn after all. But let's drop that latter scenario and take a look at 5 destinations where we might see Milburn head to before the All Star Break.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Like the Bobcats, the Bucks have no pick to play for this season. They're in a tough division and have already made several moves this season to try to position themselves into a more competitive spot in a division that features the defending champion Bulls and the ever-dangerous, Anthony Davis-led Detroit Pistons. They recently upgraded their lineup overall by turning Damion McNary and Elfrid Payton into Timothy Pulley, Boris Hailey, and Ricky Rubio. They are already paying a pretty hefty tax bill at the end of the year, but they should be in a decent spot to pay it off. Adding Phil Milburn to the mix (with the right deal) would leave the Bucks more competitive this year. Here's what that deal would look like:
Phil Milburn for Boris Hailey, 2022 Wizards 1st, Cuttable Salary
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
The Wizards have accumulated quite a collection of good (but not great) talent, and this could be their chance to combine some assets to get a star who would be very complementary to D'Angelo Russell. They're another team without their pick next year, and they're just outside of the playoff window for now in an extremely competitive Eastern Conference. There's a deal to be made here, and it probably slants slightly in favor of the Bobcats, but it might be worth considering if the Wizards want more than one player to be a certain part of their future.
Phil Milburn for Jarvis Chambers, Leroy Haugh
UTAH JAZZ
What an up and down season it's been so far for the Utah Jazz. After a Finals appearance last season, they've been all over the map in terms of record this year. Some stretches have been dismal and others unstoppable. It's anyone's guess as to where they land, but a Utah Jazz team with Phil Milburn would allow Joseph Kight to move down to SF and James Gebhardt to play SG, where he seems like a much better fit. There are two potential deals that could work out here. They are:
1. Milburn for Stark/Shumpert and J.R. Johnson
2. Milburn for Stark/Shumpert, Robert Neeley, Jazz 2022 1st, 10 points
BOSTON CELTICS
The Atlantic Division is a madhouse right now. The Philadelphia 76ers have managed to keep a stronghold on the first spot, but the Celtics and the Knicks are not all too far behind. The Knicks just upgraded their SF situation by cashing in a 2023 1st for Khris Middleton from the Pacers' fire sale. The problem with the Celtics is that they already have a pretty complete team...one that already has a strong PF in Karl Anthony-Towns. They are playing Dario Saric at the 5 spot, so they're already one of the smaller teams out there. They do have plenty of cap space, and it'd be risky, but they could shuffle some things around to try to get Milburn (who does a lot of big man things better than Dario) at Center or even play him as a SF. They'd probably need to find another trading partner to balance this move out, but feasibly:
Milburn for Dario Saric, Robert Oxford
TORONTO RAPTORS
At the bottom of the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Raptors have a young team that will be, perhaps, dynastic when all of their rookie contract guys come up. They'll need to dump Kawhi Leonard's albatross of a contract next year (imperatively), or else they'll find themselves in a tax situation just as brutal as the Bobcats now find themselves mired in, but that's another story for another season. In any case, that Raptors pick could provide a pick equivalent to what the Bobcats would've had, and chances are, their 2024 pick will be bad, but if they can't successfully navigate out of a potential tax crisis on the horizon, it might be worth it for the Bobcats to take on some contracts and shoot for a string of lotto picks as they repay their tax bill. The Raptors can't rename players once they're out of the lotto anyway.
Milburn for Valanciunas, Lozano, Raptors 2022 1st, Raptors 2024 1st.