As we all know by now, the Knicks and Clippers are trying to find a third team in their Melo trade, and the Celtics seem to be the front runners to be that third team. This leaves a couple of options for us, either as salary dumpees (think the Zeller trade that allowed them to get Lebron, where we gave up nothing) or as an active participant in the trade. Gonna skim over the second option, but it basically involves us getting JJ Reddick for a pick which would go to the Knicks along with Rivers, with the Clips obviously getting Melo. I don't understand that trade for Boston, as Reddick is at best an equal player to Avery Bradley and it doesn't really get us anywhere in terms of playoff success IMO.
The first option is more intriguing to me, as it seems we could get a key piece that could possibly solve one of the major problems of this team without giving up, well, anything (unless you really like Tyler Zeller and James Young). The reason (I think), that trade talks have stalled is because the Knicks don't want to take on Jamal Crawfords contract, which would cost them ~14 mil per year over the next three years. This is where the Celtics come in. We take Pierce (BRING HIM HOME) and Basses contract (wish we could keep him but he's probably not worth a roster spot) from the Clippers, the Knicks take Rivers, Brice Johnson, and Wesley Johnson (get to him later) from the Clippers, and LAC gets Melo. Now, while Pierce coming home would be great to all of us fans, there is no reason for the Celtics to do that trade. But there is a player on the Knicks who is known specifically for his rebounding skills and he's on a very cheap contract. Enter Kyle O'Quinn. O'Quinn is 26 and on a 3 yr 12 mil team friendly contract so adding him doesn't hurt our cap in any way. But more importantly, he's a rebounding monster. He grabs boards at a 19.9 rebounding %, which would be good for 9th in the league. For reference, our best rebounder who actually plays rotation minutes (no Zeller, Mickey, etc.) is Amir Johnson at 12.8%. His 13.4 REB/36 is almost 5 rebounds higher than our highest player, Tyler Zeller (8.7). He could come off the bench and take some of Amir/Klynyk's minutes, or we could let him start alongside Horford in the Amir role. Is KOQ a long term solution to the problem? No. But he could help this team right now without the Celtics having to give up any assets. So basically, we get O'Quinn, who helps our main problem as a team, AND The Truth AND (the possibility of) a Bass return all for the low cost of Tyler Zeller (we probably have to cut Young in this situation too btw). The Knicks get Austin Rivers and Brice Johnson (intriguing pieces I guess), Zeller (expiring) and the ghost of Wes Johnson. Clips continue to just get Melo.
The one problem I could find with this trade is for some reason Wes Johnson is getting paid 6 million dollars for the next three years. This is a huge improvement from the 14 they were looking at giving Jamal, but let's say the Knicks get cold feet about allocating six million dollars to a corpse of a player who wasn't good in the first place for three Prime Porzingod years. Here comes our great friends the Brooklyn Nets! In exchange for a measly second round pick, the Nets could take both Bass and Wes Johnson in a four-teamer. Bass is still probably heading towards a buyout, and the Johnson contract doesn't look as bad in the wasteland that is the Nets. If you're Brooklyn why not start reacquiring assets for your future team? It's only a second rounder but they can use all the help they can get. BONUS NETS: Also if you're the Nets why not just take Crawford's contract straight up? He's good for the fans, young players and gets you above the salary floor, and you could probably get a second rounder by doing that too. BONUS WRITING QUESTION: Do I use to many parentheses?
This may seem pretty boring to the average fan, and no KOQ is not putting us above the Cavs. But he solves a major issue for us, and we get PP back in the process. And trust me it's a lot less boring then these college apps I'm supposed to be writing instead.
TLDR: Bring PP home while also getting Kyle O'Quinn to help with rebounding for basically nothing. http://ift.tt/2jHAaSD
Submitted January 29, 2017 at 08:13PM by ellisondes