看——我讨厌的西部迁移的超级明星s much as anyone here but the team with the best chance to land Kyrie right now is Phoenix. Supposedly, they've made an offer but the Cavs want Josh Jackson as part of the deal and PHX won't (and shouldn't) budge on that. I feel like we could help them improve their offer without having to give up their 'young blue chipper' while also improving our roster.
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ybxbaxm9
PHX receives: Meyers Leonard, Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier, Blazers' '18 lottery-protected 1st round pick.
PDX receives: Tyson Chandler
的苏ns can then add Napier plus the Portland pick in their offer to the Cavs for Kyrie that's reportedly centered around sending Eric Bledsoe and picks. They could offer Chriss or Bender in the trade or add Davis if they agree to take back a contract like Frye or Shump. Lebron has said he likes Napier in the past (why Miami drafted him) and he proved last year he could be a great ball-handler off the bench. He's still on the last year of his rookie deal and, with Bledsoe and the newly-signed Calderon, could provide great depth at point guard for Cleveland. If Davis went to the Cavs he'd give them good depth in the front court and if he stayed in Phoenix he'd take Chriss or Bender's spot in the rotation and could be a starter if they don't sign another center before the season starts. Taking Leonard is the cost of obtaining the Blazers' services and would be a decent low-risk/high-reward gamble for head coach (and former teammate) Earl Watson. They move on from Chandler, who came to PHX in a creative but desperate attempt to lure LaMarcus Aldridge that was ultimately unsuccessful.
Why do the Blazers do it? Especially with all the big men we've got now? Couple reasons. Chandler reunites with Stotts, with whom he won a ring during their time in Dallas and could integrate pretty easily into our system. He would add veteran leadership and I believe that under his tutelage, Collins, Swanigan, Vonleh and even Nurk could really improve their game. While Tyson can no longer play long shifts, I don't think Collins is ready physically for heavy NBA minutes his rookie year so the 34-year-old Chandler would hold his place in the rotation as he ages and Collins improves. But overall, you're basically trading what ever minutes Leonard and Davis were going to get this season with a much sturdier, smarter and more dependable former All-Star. If we ever need to make serious defensive stands late in games you could even pair him and Nurkic for brief stints. We would be short a back-up guard but since this deal would get us under the tax by shaving off more than $5 million in salary, we could sign someone with our TPMLE like Henderson, Jennings, Burke, Allen, Ellis, Brooks, Ian Clark (!!!) or Jason Terry (another member of that 2011 Mavs team.) And unlike facilitating the Melo to Houston trade, this deal wouldn't make the Suns better than us in the short-term.
One other way you could try to make this work is by using our Crabbe trade exception to take on Frye's contract in a 3-way. Like this:
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yasl9p7r
While I'd love to bring Channing back (his 3-pt shooting would be quite welcome) this deal doesn't give us the tax relief but we'd have some serious front court depth. I still think it would help our young guys a lot and set us up to compete in the Playoffs.
What do you think? Is a package of Bledsoe, Napier, one of Chriss/Bender/Davis + up to three future firsts enough to land Kyrie on the Suns? Is bringing an aging, former DPOTY adequate compensation for helping a conference rival get an All Star?
