You are probably right that it is not enough. They would have to actually commit to tanking to make the picks worth it. I would even throw in some of our own picks, Nets picks, Jalen and Tate. We would still probably get out-bid. He has a very tradeable contract and he is a perfect fit for our team.
Back up center is the only move we need to make in reality. Picking up Brogdon and sending Jalen to the 2nd unit would be pretty appealing as well.
Bridges is a nice player. Decent shooter with some connectivity, but I'd just as much give those minutes to Tari who does almost everything Bridges does in a bigger package for a fraction of the price, roll out Brooks at 2 or give Cam some burn. BKN is playing .500 ball and in the play in hunt. We wouldnt be entertaining the idea of trading our best player now so not sure why we would expect BKN to do so and then want to tank in order to make their original picks more valuable. Kind of far fetched. We need to be looking for smoke in places where stars are disgruntled or guys who may be due a big pay day or are just not working out and need a change of scenery. Bridges/BKN just dont feel like a match for what we should be trying to do.
They wouldn’t be mid-round picks if we traded them for Bridges, which is the whole point. Without Bridges, the Nets are a bottom 10 team easily. The Nets are in a weird spot. They are a good team with no real path to competing since Bridges and Johnson are in their primes. Also, I think Bridges is better suited as a number 2 or 3 option rather than #1. So they either: (1) trade Bridges to us so they can effectively tank, or (2) trade for a star without giving up Bridges, which would be difficult since they don’t have as many assets as teams like the Thunder.
The timing is off for them to consider a tank. MAYBE Cooper Flagg in 2025 as a guy who you would tank for other than that the draft is spotty for the next few years. I think Brooklyn is a buyer not a seller.
This got me thinking. Would a seller really want to trade for Jalen? Because they will be sellers next year with him. So they will want picks as well. I'm ready to move Jalen for a legit back up big for Sengun and 2nd and 3rd stringers that are riding pine on deep teams at their position. AKA Kyle Lowry when we got him from Memphis a long time ago. I say give Tari Jalen's minutes and bring back Cam. Random trade thread is fun!
If a primetime player is not available then I agree start to weed the garden. Give Tari more minutes and see how he handles it. Give Cam a chance. If anything competition should bring out the best in the team as a whole and maybe even rejuvenates Jalen, but if I had a chance to trade for a star today with what we have I would do it and that means giving up on some players that we dont want to besides Jalen like either Jabari or Amen.
No Isaiah Stewart fans? He seems to be available. Can block shots and hit 3's, he's 6'9 with a 7'4 wingspan.Signed to a decent contract for 4 years can help at the 4 and 5 I think. From a quick scan of articles it seems like he plays good defense. Would trade Landale, Bullock and the Nets for him personally. He's locked into a good contract, good long term asset we can even flip again. I think his contract situation (poison pill) makes it such that we have to trade out $12m-ish (not sure). Contenders are after him, but contenders rarely have good picks to offer. I think we can outbid them.
I'm game for Stewart in theory, although his minutes and role would be cut significantly, and he's rather highly-paid for a backup center even though his contract isn't that much in today's salary cap environment.
My thinking is he can help you at backup PF too. He's played there plenty and has been effective against bigger 4's. There's 16 minutes behind Sengun and you can probably get him another 5-10 minutes at backup PF. Let him compete with Uncle Jeff for minutes but he's a good project to ultimately take over all backup 4/5 minutes forming a 3-man rotation with Sengun/Jabari. I think it's a bit more than we need, but again what I like about the idea is he's a good liquid asset and can be flipped easily too. Food for thought.
I'm looking into the Pistons subreddit quite often because of how bad they are and they all hate Stewart. That's probably a bad sign.
I''ve seen that too but it seems to mostly be because he's hot tempered. Might fit with Udoka and Brooks though. Definitely not a polished product as a player.
I definitely say no to Jabari! We haven't come close to seeing what he can bring, and the way he's progressed in a year is awesome. He's not only one of our most efficient shooters at 20 years of age, he's our best rebounder. In a couple years, with more muscle and weight, he's going to be able to fight off defenders at the rim even better.
I think the short term need for a backup center is over-rated. That said and provided Landale's contract and the pick aren't needed for matching salary for a bigger deal this deadline, I might be for the Landale, Bullock, and 2024 Nets pick (Top 4 protected) for Stewart. The Pistons hurt my eyes so I don't watch them much and he's not the guy I'm watching when I do watch them. His 3 point percentage and defensive RPM for three years after this look like decent value for that package, but that's just going by stats.
On Beef Stew, impression from (their reporters) is that their FO really likes him. So even if Stewart doesn't play well, he gets more rope. The fans ofcourse are more blunt. That extension is more pricey for a backup, but he got it because Detroit thinks he is a starter, at the worst a 6th man. Whereas we're looking him as a backup to Bari/Sengun, next to Jeff Green, they were holding out as him being part of their future. Stew can be had, but in their eyes they may be slightly irrationally high, like a parent believing their kid is the smartest despite test score. Their current L streak is not doing them any favors on his market value. So outside leverage is there. Pistons fan base impatient now (I wouldn't blame them). Dumping Landale and Bullock is not enough for upside, nor enough short term to end Piston's L streak. The only thing maybe to sell is that those Landale/Bullock contracts are cap friendly, except Pistons is not cap stressed, but maybe convince him on the flexibility of those contracts, for Pistons to use for a second move. To get Stew, Rockets might have to offer more, and I'm not sure our front office is ready.
notes: Stew's 3pt is not terrible (relative) to some of their other players. Opposing teams still let him take it (like they do with Alp). Sometimes it's just easier to collapse on Cade, even if Stewart or another make a few 3's here and there. They've experimented him as a stretch 4 . There's big debate over there, for and against it. As pairing Stew with a Duren/Wiseman/Bagley leads a double big line up, akin to the Thesis situation here. Some are asking if he can go back as a short 5. I used short instead of undersized, because Beef Stew is very strong, and has an edge to him. But if he comes here and underperforms l can see our board turning on him will mention his height or his contract every times he has a bad game. It's also possible he might thrive here, as he could be an Ime type of guy. He's better than Landale, but you'd have to give up more to get him. With less optionality, I don't know if Stone is willing to part ways with his team friendly Landale/Bullock/Tate/Dipo contracts. Think Stone was holding onto for a bigger fish.
