Transaction Discussion Part 4 (Trades, Free-Agency, News, Rumors & Ideas)

[Kelphus]

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Two different sports bloggers noted last night that Morris "liked" this post on Twitter.....

[ejftw]

We are already hard capped and I do believe Nico will pick up his PO and Zu is definitely sticking around. The Morris speculation leads me to believe that RoCo is a key target to stick around, but assuming the Morris move includes acquiring a guard like Dinwiddie (maybe Graham?), it kind of negates a need for Wall.

Firmly don't believe that Hartenstein ends up returning either, and at $7M, which would be the majority of the tMLE, I'd rather go for vet minimum backups, like a Drummond, Dwight or Biyombo. Hell, even DaJ at the min would be preferable to Isaiah at $7M.

But assuming that we don't move Morris for a PG, the Wall speculation is the type of no brainer that a bottom tier reported like Fisher would try to take credit for to prove he has reliable sources.

[nickhx2]

F tier articles and sources, yo

[Dynamix]

Here are my random shots in the dark:

- Mook is gone
- Batum and RoCo stay
- Hart gets a 2y/$10M deal
- At least two out of Zu/Luke/T-Mann/Coffey will remain Clippers

My gut tells me the FO wants to wait and see what we look like when Kawhi/PG/Norm are all healthy (and if Boston or Preston can actually contribute) before making any major moves, unless there's something too juicy to pass up over the summer.

[Captain Ballmer]

Here are my random shots in the dark:

- Mook is gone
- Batum and RoCo stay
- Hart gets a 2y/$10M deal
- At least two out of Zu/Luke/T-Mann/Coffey will remain Clippers

My gut tells me the FO wants to wait and see what we look like when Kawhi/PG/Norm are all healthy (and if Boston or Preston can actually contribute) before making any major moves, unless there's something too juicy to pass up over the summer.

We'll only have tpMLE to offer for this. Hopefully we don't waste our only bullet on another slow-footed big who is unlikely to get a single playoff minute on a healthy Clippers team. I like Hart and what he does for league minimum in a regular season.

Reggie(24)/tpMLE guard(24)(Wall-Rubio?)
PG13(28)/Norman(20)
Kawhi(30)/PG13(10)/Powell(8)
Batum(14)/Kawhi(10)/Covington(14)
Zubac(18)/Covington(16)/Batum(14)

Kawhi 40 mpg
PG13 38 mpg
Covington 30 mpg
Batum 28 mpg
Powell 28 mpg
Reggie 24 mpg
tpMLE Guard 24 mpg
Zubac 18 mpg

Kennard+Mann+Morris out of the picture for me right now. Hopefully we can upgrade our Center or Guard position via trade includes this group. Aiming to get young and athletic options.

[TrueLAfan]

Well, it’s not for 24 minutes, but my choice for the TpMLE, Delon Wright, has averaged 21.1 mpg in the last 5 seasons. His line looks like this:

7.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 TO on .455/.355/.806

Those numbers don’t jump out as brilliant or anything, although theyre very good—but a few things factor in:

--He gets moved a lot; six teams in five years. He’s one of those players with enough value to be a trade asset, but not one that a team has kept. His play has been consistently good throughout different systems and cities.
--Despite that movement, he’s a winner. His teams are 199-158 in the games he’s played.
--Wright’s scoring is a bit down since the Hawks wanted him to focus on D this year. He’s got one of the best +/-on the team this year, even though he barely shoots. He's a slightly better scorer than that line shows.
--He doesn’t make mistakes with the ball. His A/TO ratio is over 3:1; it’s close to 4:1 this season.
--One of his major strengths is D. He’s a very, very good defender.
--He’s durable. Played in over 90% of his team’s games in the last five years.
--He’s not old—he turns 30 tomorrow.

[Captain Ballmer]

Well, it’s not for 24 minutes, but my choice for the TpMLE, Delon Wright, has averaged 21.1 mpg in the last 5 seasons. His line looks like this:

7.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 TO on .455/.355/.806

Those numbers don’t jump out as brilliant or anything, although theyre very good—but a few things factor in:

--He gets moved a lot; six teams in five years. He’s one of those players with enough value to be a trade asset, but not one that a team has kept. His play has been consistently good throughout different systems and cities.
--Despite that movement, he’s a winner. His teams are 199-158 in the games he’s played.
--Wright’s scoring is a bit down since the Hawks wanted him to focus on D this year. He’s got one of the best +/-on the team this year, even though he barely shoots. He's a slightly better scorer than that line shows.
--He doesn’t make mistakes with the ball. His A/TO ratio is over 3:1; it’s close to 4:1 this season.
--One of his major strengths is D. He’s a very, very good defender.
--He’s durable. Played in over 90% of his team’s games in the last five years.
--He’s not old—he turns 30 tomorrow.

You are the guy consistently put Ayo Dosunmu's name in last years draft. You have a taste for that type of guards. So i'll take your words on this, easy yes from me.

[esqtvd]

Well, it’s not for 24 minutes, but my choice for the TpMLE, Delon Wright, has averaged 21.1 mpg in the last 5 seasons. His line looks like this:

7.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 TO on .455/.355/.806

Those numbers don’t jump out as brilliant or anything, although theyre very good—but a few things factor in:

--He gets moved a lot; six teams in five years. He’s one of those players with enough value to be a trade asset, but not one that a team has kept. His play has been consistently good throughout different systems and cities.
--Despite that movement, he’s a winner. His teams are 199-158 in the games he’s played.
--Wright’s scoring is a bit down since the Hawks wanted him to focus on D this year. He’s got one of the best +/-on the team this year, even though he barely shoots. He's a slightly better scorer than that line shows.
--He doesn’t make mistakes with the ball. His A/TO ratio is over 3:1; it’s close to 4:1 this season.
--One of his major strengths is D. He’s a very, very good defender.
--He’s durable. Played in over 90% of his team’s games in the last five years.
--He’s not old—he turns 30 tomorrow.

Always love your stuff, Mr True. Fact and argument not eye tests and opinions.

You are proposing Delon Wright as the backup PG I presume? He put up some solid numbers until Trae's emergence as the Hawks' Mr Everything. Got bumped over to SG, where he was meh.


I admit I've never watched him play but his numbers are very clean at his best: 5 apg and a 3:1 turnover ratio, a plus rebounder and a decent enough [36%] 3-point guy.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wrighde01.html

Reggie is our new Bev--we dump him at our peril. PG is trying to lead but I don't think they're buying his rah rah shi*it. Kawhi is a sphinx, a deus ex machina. They just aren't leaders though I give them credit for making a show of it now. Frankly, I wouldn't follow either one except to a bar. And only if they're buying.


I don't foresee any Top 10 PG--or even 20--slipping their way to the Clips under the sal cap. Delon Wright looks like an ace pick here to split the minutes with Reggie.

[TrueLAfan]

Yeah, Wright would be pretty great. The problem is that people are sort catching on to him. With Atlanta, he was about the perimeter player that tried to play D and was efficient and took care of the ball. We may get priced out. We may to S&T, which is rough because of our cap situation. Don’t know if $5-6 million is enough. Maybe the fact that he'd get 25 mpg on a title contender could sway him. Don't know. Hope so.

Thing is, we’d have so many trade options after that. Any combination of Mook, Mann, and Luke could be moved. They all would be tradeable. If you don’t think so, consider that if we managed to get Wright, we’d still have

Reggie Jackson
Delon Wright
Norman Powell
Amir Coffey
Brandon Boston
Jason Preston

I’d *like* to keep one of Mann or Luke, but if there was something we could do and it needed both—hey, have Coffey has a #4 guard getting 15-18 mpg is fine by me.

[TrueLAfan]

About 7 weeks to the draft. So, anyway, here’s my short, master plan for the Clippers this offseason.

--Sign Delon Wright for the TpMLE

--Trade with San Antonio:

Marcus Morris
Terrance Mann

for

Zach Collins
Keita Bates-Diop
#20 pick

Why for the Spurs: Collins has 2 years/$15 million and is a question on a team that is young and improving—and could use a veteran presence in the frontcourt like Mook. The Spurs get (a lot more) minutes and production overall for a good price. Josh Richardson is on the final year of his deal, and Mann gives them a younger, better, cheaper player to replace him. The Spurs have three first round picks this season and are already young; giving up the #20 is less of a big deal for them. And the Spurs add a little extra in salaries for one year—but they’re well under the cap in 2023, and Morris comes off the books before they need to start resigning their young, improving players.

Why for us: Collins is a question, but is a risk worth taking on a team that will save $9 million in salary. If Colling can play even 1000 minutes this year, he’ll be a big help for us—the stretch backup 4/5 we’ve always wanted. Bates-Diop is, IMO, one of the most underrated player sin the league. He didn’t get enough run when he was young, so he’s the rare 26 year with a little bit more ceiling now. Last year, once he got regular minutes after November, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds with a 53/36/75 line in 17 mpg. I think he’d be an 8 and 5 guy for us in 20 mpg, and a plus defender. The #20 pick gets us a good future resource. And we save $9 million in salaries—we can resign Covington and still be further under the tax than this year

And … that’s it. Seriously. I’d like a C as a 13th man and we could get a playable player for 600 to 700 minutes at #20 . We’d be devastating.

[ejftw]

About 7 weeks to the draft. So, anyway, here’s my short, master plan for the Clippers this offseason.

--Sign Delon Wright for the TpMLE

--Trade with San Antonio:

Marcus Morris
Terrance Mann

for

Zach Collins
Keita Bates-Diop
#20 pick

Why for the Spurs: Collins has 2 years/$15 million and is a question on a team that is young and improving—and could use a veteran presence in the frontcourt like Mook. The Spurs get (a lot more) minutes and production overall for a good price. Josh Richardson is on the final year of his deal, and Mann gives them a younger, better, cheaper player to replace him. The Spurs have three first round picks this season and are already young; giving up the #20 is less of a big deal for them. And the Spurs add a little extra in salaries for one year—but they’re well under the cap in 2023, and Morris comes off the books before they need to start resigning their young, improving players.

Why for us: Collins is a question, but is a risk worth taking on a team that will save $9 million in salary. If Colling can play even 1000 minutes this year, he’ll be a big help for us—the stretch backup 4/5 we’ve always wanted. Bates-Diop is, IMO, one of the most underrated player sin the league. He didn’t get enough run when he was young, so he’s the rare 26 year with a little bit more ceiling now. Last year, once he got regular minutes after November, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds with a 53/36/75 line in 17 mpg. I think he’d be an 8 and 5 guy for us in 20 mpg, and a plus defender. The #20 pick gets us a good future resource. And we save $9 million in salaries—we can resign Covington and still be further under the tax than this year

And … that’s it. Seriously. I’d like a C as a 13th man and we could get a playable player for 600 to 700 minutes at #20 . We’d be devastating.

I don't see San Antonio taking on Morris, though, I did float an idea to some friends about taking Collins into a TPE for a bevy of SRPs, as I'm still a believer that Zach could be a solid 15-20 minute backup.

Plus, I'd rather have Zach at his essential expiring salary than give Hartenstein the tMLE.

[MartinToVaught]

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Let's go! So pumped to have Covington back on board.

[esqtvd]

About 7 weeks to the draft. So, anyway, here’s my short, master plan for the Clippers this offseason.

--Sign Delon Wright for the TpMLE

--Trade with San Antonio:

Marcus Morris
Terrance Mann

for

Zach Collins
Keita Bates-Diop
#20 pick

Why for the Spurs: Collins has 2 years/$15 million and is a question on a team that is young and improving—and could use a veteran presence in the frontcourt like Mook. The Spurs get (a lot more) minutes and production overall for a good price. Josh Richardson is on the final year of his deal, and Mann gives them a younger, better, cheaper player to replace him. The Spurs have three first round picks this season and are already young; giving up the #20 is less of a big deal for them. And the Spurs add a little extra in salaries for one year—but they’re well under the cap in 2023, and Morris comes off the books before they need to start resigning their young, improving players.

Why for us: Collins is a question, but is a risk worth taking on a team that will save $9 million in salary. If Colling can play even 1000 minutes this year, he’ll be a big help for us—the stretch backup 4/5 we’ve always wanted. Bates-Diop is, IMO, one of the most underrated player sin the league. He didn’t get enough run when he was young, so he’s the rare 26 year with a little bit more ceiling now. Last year, once he got regular minutes after November, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds with a 53/36/75 line in 17 mpg. I think he’d be an 8 and 5 guy for us in 20 mpg, and a plus defender. The #20 pick gets us a good future resource. And we save $9 million in salaries—we can resign Covington and still be further under the tax than this year

And … that’s it. Seriously. I’d like a C as a 13th man and we could get a playable player for 600 to 700 minutes at #20 . We’d be devastating.

I don't see San Antonio taking on Morris, though...

Yah. I don't see anyone taking on Morris' remaining 2 yr/$33M without us sending at least a First Round Pick to get rid of his sorry often-injured non-rebounding non-assisting non-LEADING overpaid ass.

But that's just me.

Otherwise I'm in total agreement with TrueLA. Senior played some of his best ball as a Clipper in our two PATHETIC play-in games. Maybe some dope out there will bite but he's not even an expiring and is guaranteed through age 35.

Albatross.

[ejftw]

I don't see San Antonio specifically due to how Mook, reportedly, pulled a Judas Brand on them. I do think if the FO makes Mook available for crap expirings, they would get bites.

There were Boston fans on the TnT board that said they'd give a second to take Mook into their TPE. Dallas fans would give up Dinwiddie (though, I might be the lone Spence fan) and there's a few other sides that could use him (Utah, if they don't rebuild, Portland, if they go for it as the first two that pop to mind. Can also see Sac as Mook would be a solid fit with Domas on offense.

Hell, I'm sure our FO could extract #27 from Miami in a Duncan/Morris swap. Imagine Duncan/Kennard spreading the floor with Kawhi/PG/Powell at times. Nasty.

[og15]

I don't see San Antonio specifically due to how Mook, reportedly, pulled a Judas Brand on them. I do think if the FO makes Mook available for crap expirings, they would get bites.

There were Boston fans on the TnT board that said they'd give a second to take Mook into their TPE. Dallas fans would give up Dinwiddie (though, I might be the lone Spence fan) and there's a few other sides that could use him (Utah, if they don't rebuild, Portland, if they go for it as the first two that pop to mind. Can also see Sac as Mook would be a solid fit with Domas on offense.

Hell, I'm sure our FO could extract #27 from Miami in a Duncan/Morris swap. Imagine Duncan/Kennard spreading the floor with Kawhi/PG/Powell at times. Nasty.

Too redundant to have both of them on the team and they would be generally unplayable together defensively.

[esqtvd]

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[TrueLAfan]

If I were a bettin' man, I'd say we're going to lose $18.5 to $30 million of that salary (Morris and either Mann or Kennard), and try and replace it with a $5 to $8 Million player received in trade, and a Tax Pay Mid Level Exception Player (about $6.3 million) or another player in trade that makes around that amount. That would actually result in a lower payroll than last year.

So: two players, around 12-14 million total, maximum. A PG and a 4/5. That'll do.

[Clemenza]

About 7 weeks to the draft. So, anyway, here’s my short, master plan for the Clippers this offseason.

--Sign Delon Wright for the TpMLE

--Trade with San Antonio:

Marcus Morris
Terrance Mann

for

Zach Collins
Keita Bates-Diop
#20 pick

Why for the Spurs: Collins has 2 years/$15 million and is a question on a team that is young and improving—and could use a veteran presence in the frontcourt like Mook. The Spurs get (a lot more) minutes and production overall for a good price. Josh Richardson is on the final year of his deal, and Mann gives them a younger, better, cheaper player to replace him. The Spurs have three first round picks this season and are already young; giving up the #20 is less of a big deal for them. And the Spurs add a little extra in salaries for one year—but they’re well under the cap in 2023, and Morris comes off the books before they need to start resigning their young, improving players.

Why for us: Collins is a question, but is a risk worth taking on a team that will save $9 million in salary. If Colling can play even 1000 minutes this year, he’ll be a big help for us—the stretch backup 4/5 we’ve always wanted. Bates-Diop is, IMO, one of the most underrated player sin the league. He didn’t get enough run when he was young, so he’s the rare 26 year with a little bit more ceiling now. Last year, once he got regular minutes after November, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds with a 53/36/75 line in 17 mpg. I think he’d be an 8 and 5 guy for us in 20 mpg, and a plus defender. The #20 pick gets us a good future resource. And we save $9 million in salaries—we can resign Covington and still be further under the tax than this year

And … that’s it. Seriously. I’d like a C as a 13th man and we could get a playable player for 600 to 700 minutes at #20 . We’d be devastating.

I don't see San Antonio taking on Morris, though...

Yah. I don't see anyone taking on Morris' remaining 2 yr/$33M without us sending at least a First Round Pick to get rid of his sorry often-injured non-rebounding non-assisting non-LEADING overpaid ass.

But that's just me.

Otherwise I'm in total agreement with TrueLA. Senior played some of his best ball as a Clipper in our two PATHETIC play-in games. Maybe some dope out there will bite but he's not even an expiring and is guaranteed through age 35.

Albatross.

I'll have to check on other teams cap situation but numerous teams need a third and fourth scorer badly and could use Morris in a heatbeat. The Cavs, Wolves, Jazz, Nets, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets, Nuggets, etc. And only two years left on his deal so his contract shouldn't be hard to move at all imo. It's just what do we get back for him is the question

[esqtvd]

I'll have to check on other teams cap situation but numerous teams need a third and fourth scorer badly and could use Morris in a heatbeat. The Cavs, Wolves, Jazz, Nets, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets, Nuggets, etc. And only two years left on his deal so his contract shouldn't be hard to move at all imo. It's just what do we get back for him is the question

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[TrueLAfan]

I’m more and more convinced that we might be able to save a few $$ and get a young-ish player for our frontcourt. (It's largely about finding a team willing to use a good sized trade exception on Mook.) Now that we’ve resigned RoCo, I can see him playing much of his time—maybe 1500 minutes next year at PF or even C. Add in 1850 from Zu, about 1100 minutes from Batum at PF and spot minutes at C, and another 500-800 from PG or Kawhi at the 4. That’s 5000-5200 frontcourt minutes out of 7900. A 14th/15th man (*cough*BlakeGriffin!*cough*) will eat up 700-1000 more minutes. So, really, we’re looking for a 1900 minute or so player—maybe less. I think there are some low coast options that would be surprisingly good. I mentioned Keita Bates-Diop in another post; he’d be (very) cheap and adequate. There’s a better low cost, totally attainable options IMO—although I think a lot of people would hate it:

Clippers Trade:
Terance Mann

Kings Trade:
Trey Lyles
#37 Pick

Why for the Kings: He’s on a team with Richaun Holmes, Domantas Sabonis, Damian Jones and a couple of other pretty good backup guys in Chimezie Metu, and Alex Len. The Kings are stocked in the front court; overstocked, you could say. OTOH, at the 2/3 positions—and on D in general—the Kings are hurting. Mann gives them a long term answer, on a team where he’ll start and play consistent starter’s minutes, and be giving up a player that would be much lower in their rotation

I get that some people will think Mann is better than Lyles. And, maybe that’s right. But on our team, with so many 2/3s, he’s a luxury. He can get a player that help us at a position(s) we need help at. Lyles, as I’ll indicate, is a better player for our team. I’d love to keep Mann, but I’d trade him for a young-ish player that I think has some potential to be a needle mover for us at a position where we need help.

Why for us: Lyles took a little time for him to get his footing in the league—and still has room to improve. He’s a grade B Bobby Portis that could potentially develop into a very similar player—almost exactly the same size, a lot of the same pluses/minuses. Lyles is a year younger. He’s a little less of a rebounder and isn’t as consistent from deep. Still, what he did last year is pretty indicative of where he is in the league right now; 26 years old, 10.5 and 5 in around 20 minutes per game. He may be better than that; his numbers as a starter are actually better than his overall numbers (i.e. he plays well against starters). Since his rookie year, it looks like this:
93 starts, 23.7 mpg, .464 FG%, .338 3P%, .797 FT%, 8.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, .4 spg, .4 bpg, .8 TO

I’d be down with a guy that gave us 9 and 6 in 23 mpg as a backup 4-5 that could spread the court a little. And I think he’s a rare 26 year old (11 months older than Mann) that has some upside. I really think Trey Lyles could be a decent starting PF or 6th/7th man PF/C.