Post#295 » by TylersLakers » Thu Feb 1, 2024 11:38 pm
Trading LeBron or AD is nuts.
We have a good team, we just need to play the right people and make minor tweaks.
As far as the tweaks:
Priority 1: Call Chicago
They're floundering. Hovering 3-4 games below .500 at all times. We saw how awful they looked against us last week. I would try like hell to get Caruso.
Gabe Vincent, Christie, JHS, 2029 1st unprotected, 1st round pick swap for Caruso, Drummond, Jevon Carter
- Carter is a negative asset. $6M a year for the next 3 years. Him and Gabe essentially cancel each other out.
- JHS, Christie, 1st round unprotected and a pick swap is great value for Drummond and Caruso if you're Chicago.
Then - call Utah:
Cam Reddish, cash, 2nd round pick to Utah for Kris Dunn.
Roster (if I was the coach): D-Lo/Caruso/Vando/LeBron/AD with Reaves (30-32 MPG)/Rui (26-30 MPG)/Drummond (20 MPG)/Prince (18 MPG) off the bench. Your deep bench is Wood, Carter, Dunn, Lewis, 2 open roster spots for buyout purposes.
If Chicago doesn't budge:
Priority 2: Call Brooklyn
Gabe Vincent, JHS, Lewis, 2029 1st (Top 3 Protected - If it doesn't convey, it becomes unprotected in 2030) for DFS, Lonnie Walker.
Prince, Wood, Christie, 2nd round pick to Chicago for Jevon Carter, Andre Drummond.
Roster (if I was the coach): D-Lo/Reaves/DFS/LeBron/AD with Rui, Vando, Walker, Drummond off the bench. Deep bench Carter, Hayes, Reddish, buyout spots. Maybe you get Lowry or Hayward as a buyout.
------------------------
Those are subtle little moves we can make that solidify roles. Caruso becomes your D-Lo replacement if he stumbles in the playoffs. Caruso/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD is a hell of a closing line-up. Caruso defends his ass off, hustles, shoots catch and shoot 3's. Rui abuses mismatches and hits spot-up jumpers. Reaves, LeBron are your creators. AD is the dominant paint presence with the floor spaced. If D-Lo is on, he can fit into that closing line-up instead of Rui and because you have Caruso on the floor, you don't lose a lot defensively. You become a little small but Caruso is a way better "small" option than Prince.
If it's the second deal - we keep a lot of continuity but we improve the wing spot inbetween LeBron and AD. DFS is a much better fit than Taurean Prince.
The big thing is coaching. We need to play our best guys. Start Vando or Rui. Prince should be a 15-20 minute player on this roster.