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inthepaint wrote:
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There's one thing real here to remember, which was actually said by Davis: He wants to go to a contender. Period.
Now, I know he doesn't get to choose right away where he'll land, the Pels do, and they'll do what's best for their team, but this something to keep in mind: Whichever team acquire Davis we'll have to put forth significant assets, and if they don't remain a contender after doing so, Davis will remain unhappy and will want out of there as well.
In other words, after you gut your team to get Davis, you better still be contending afterwards, otherwise you're no better than New Orleans right now, and he'll bail.
Teams that don't have the assets to stay a contender AFTER gutting themselves to get Davis have less incentive to go after him because of that. Davis doesn't want go to a place that maaaybe will have Zion or maybe this or that. He wants to contend now, he's in his prime.
Both the Knicks & Clippers would be the New NOLA if they get Davis. Knicks would have to include (Porzingis + Pick or Knox), Clips would have to gut themselves to the core just to get NOLA to pick up the phone. The main reason they're on this conversation is because they're in NY & LA and the hype machine doesn't sleep.
Personally I think there's just about 8 or 9 teams that could give up significant assets and still contend with Davis (meaning hold on to a top 10ish player in the league + some solid role players AND add Davis:
Raptors (best fit of them all)
Golden State
Nuggets (Maybe, depending on how you see Jokic)
OKC
Portland
Bucks
Philly
Lakers
Celtics (can't do it till the summer)
(Now if someone could give reasons to eliminate everyone on this list but the Raps that would be awesome
)
Any other team that tries would be the new Pelicans. Davis plus no one. They would have to convince Davis that they'll either sign another star or draft a stud to play with him some day, which NOLA itself has been trying to tell him for years, and it didn't work.
Now, I know he doesn't get to choose right away where he'll land, the Pels do, and they'll do what's best for their team, but this something to keep in mind: Whichever team acquire Davis we'll have to put forth significant assets, and if they don't remain a contender after doing so, Davis will remain unhappy and will want out of there as well.
In other words, after you gut your team to get Davis, you better still be contending afterwards, otherwise you're no better than New Orleans right now, and he'll bail.
Teams that don't have the assets to stay a contender AFTER gutting themselves to get Davis have less incentive to go after him because of that. Davis doesn't want go to a place that maaaybe will have Zion or maybe this or that. He wants to contend now, he's in his prime.
Both the Knicks & Clippers would be the New NOLA if they get Davis. Knicks would have to include (Porzingis + Pick or Knox), Clips would have to gut themselves to the core just to get NOLA to pick up the phone. The main reason they're on this conversation is because they're in NY & LA and the hype machine doesn't sleep.
Personally I think there's just about 8 or 9 teams that could give up significant assets and still contend with Davis (meaning hold on to a top 10ish player in the league + some solid role players AND add Davis:
Raptors (best fit of them all)
Golden State
Nuggets (Maybe, depending on how you see Jokic)
OKC
Portland
Bucks
Philly
Lakers
Celtics (can't do it till the summer)
(Now if someone could give reasons to eliminate everyone on this list but the Raps that would be awesome
)Any other team that tries would be the new Pelicans. Davis plus no one. They would have to convince Davis that they'll either sign another star or draft a stud to play with him some day, which NOLA itself has been trying to tell him for years, and it didn't work.
The first factor here is how willing NOP will be willing to deal him within the conference. If they are, do they charge a higher price?
Remember, Davis is making it known he basically wants to play for a contender. So any team trading for him can't look like the same kind of team he just left after they give up pieces in a trade.
And if the price is too high for the in conference teams, can any team in the East really outbid Toronto? It would be a much bigger disruption for either Boston or Philly than it would for us.
Philly would have to trade one of Simmons or Embiid. If they traded Simmons they'd be left with two bigs and no ballhandler/playmaker. If they trade Embiid, are they really any better off? Those guys are probably the top 2 bigs in the game. They would still have all the same holes they have now, basically. They need shooters and role players.
Boston would have to trade Irving to be able to do it, and NOP would not value that since he'll walk, so it would take adding much more to the deal. Would they give up Tatum? If not, does Brown interest them more than Siakam? And can they afford to take that kind of hit to their perimeter offence? If they didn't have the Irving problem, I'd put them as frontrunners, but with that in mind it becomes tricky.
Don't think the Bucks have anything of interest. Brogdon's a good young piece, but he's not nearly enough. They still don't have that much perimeter depth, so can they afford to also part ways with Middleton? Does NOP care since Middleton seems to have a player option and could walk?
I don't know how "great" Toronto's offer can be, but it could realistically be better than what any other team is willing or able to offer. One of the things about our young pieces is that they are all on rookie deals or relatively small contracts by today's standards, and we can afford to give up 2 or 3 of them and still have enough depth/talent around our core.
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