Socnorb11 wrote:Denver has far better assets than the Lakers, and they'd be instant title contenders with AD. It's not worth it if he's not willing to sign an extension, though.
Denver prob doesn't have the assets. They don't need a C, they have the best passing big man in the history of the league who is, IMO, as valuable as Davis today. RPM backs that up, they're almost identical. (Side note: Jokic's second half last night was a masterpiece in leading a team to a win.) They don't have future draft picks to trade, they can't package their backcourt depth to overload the frontcourt esp since that backcourt depth has a lot to do with their success this year.
The best move for NOP is to wait for the season to end, hope that the Knicks win the lottery. That gives them three angles to play.
1. Lakers. They know AD would re-sign and play with LeBron.....or do they? People said the same about PG13. There's no guarantees with this stuff. The Lakers young core that everyone keeps saying is developing is not developing (save Kuzma) while the kids from their draft classes are growing in spurts. Lonzo Ball wouldn't even be a top-5 pick if we redrew the 2017 draft today* and Ingram if we redrew 2016 would not make the Lottery in hindsight.** The Lakers have a heap of overrated players and I think Magic gets a wake-up call in that regard this week and this off-season when he can't make a deal for the kids he drafted. The Pels can get the most volume from the Lakers but the least quality. The Lakers have no extra picks to move, and their 2019 2nd round pick is already traded away. If Davis (who is often injured) ends up here with LeBron (who is the GOAT but no spring chicken and go look at the bbref page for Jordan and see what he did after 34) and not much else, he's going to be more frustrated than if he stayed in NO with Jrue. This Lakers thing w/ LeBron is going to get ugly.
2. Celtics. They don't know AD would re-sign, but they think he would and that he would help them keep Kyrie--and where is Kyrie going? We're still a year away from the year when the CBA burst of money drops off the books so money is still a little tight. NY is the real front-runner if Kyrie decides to decline his player option in Boston and go elsewhere. Boston needs to wait for the season to shake out because they have their first-round pick and Sacramento's for sure (unless somehow SAC finishes > PHI, then they get the PHI pick), and they get the Clippers first round pick if the Clippers make the playoffs, and they get the Memphis first-round pick if Memphis finishes out of the bottom 8 (unlikely, it's tank time in TN.) They can move picks and a combo of Tatum, Brown, Yabusele, Williams, Smart. They offer medium value and medium volume.
3. Knicks. Knicks can ship them the 1-1 for Davis if they get it, virtually straight-up. Maybe they ask you to take Hardaway Jr as part of the deal to get some cap space so they can then make a play for Kyrie in Free Agency, extend Kristaps, and have a legit shot at the East with Brow/Kristaps/Kyrie/Knox/Ntilikina/Dotson/Robinson and other role players. This is probably the best deal the Pels can get and the best landing place for Davis, but it really hinges on whether or not the Knicks can tank their way to Zion.
*Mitchell / DeAaron Fox / John Collins / Tatum / Kuzma.
**Simmons / Siakam / Jamal Murray / Sabonis / LeVert / Taurean Prince / Jaylen Brown / Hield / DeJounte Murray / Dunn / Poeltl / Zubac / Juancho Hernangomez .... that's 14 guys I'd take all day ahead of Ingram if we redrew that draft.
