Would you trade a top 3 pick for Sabonis or Devin Booker?

Booker, yes, but only if he was 100% sure about being here.

I thought Booker was from Michigan for some reason. I’m higher on Sabonis than most. His game is just like his dad’s who was one of the first centers that could hit a 3 pt shot. He’s a lot more athletic than Arvydas was and he would solve our center problem allowing Missi to be a rotation player while he grows his game. Devin Booker though would be fantastic. He and Trey with Zion would be as good of a top 3 as there is in the NBA.

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I wouldn’t touch Sabonis. He hasn’t won anywhere. He’s just an another statpadder and we have plenty of those types already.

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Sabonis is pretty damn good. I'm not saying trade a top 3 pick for him but he is underrated.

Even then he says his family travels to New Orleans to watch him

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I take either of them honestly. At least we know what we got in Sabonis/Booker.

Good luck defending a Booker/Zion pick and roll or a Zion/Booker inverted pick and roll/fade with Trey Murphy waiting to snipe 3’s and/or hit a back door cut.

Sabonis really only has one good year of shooting and it’s deceiving bc he still causes zero court gravity from his shooting. If a Kings possession ends in Sabonis shooting a 3, you take your chances.

Booker is consistently doubled at halfcourt or the logo bc he is so dangerous with the ball. He’s also a great facilitator. He had 14 assists just the other day. He can also pop off at any time and put up 40,50,60,70 points. And the best part about him is, is that he’s a true 3 level scorer. Also, when the Suns made a couple playoff runs, it was evident that he was not a bad defender and/or rebounder for a guard when he needs to be.

I think Sabonis is a good dude, great rebounder. Decent paint scorer. But I don’t think he fits w Z tbh. I think defenses would sag off of him all day to collapse on Zion and he’d have to prove his 1 good year of 3 point shooting is real. I also don’t think Sabonis is a good paint defender. He might increase our floor, but I don’t think he increases our ceiling much.

I’m team Booker all day if he’d sign off on being here. We could compete for a top 6 seed as soon as next season with a Murray, Booker, Trey, Herb, Zion, Jose, Missi, Olynk core if somewhat healthy.

Hell, we could even pair this move with a trade Z to Houston for Jabari Smith Jr, Reed Shepp, and Whitmore type move and be even more deep and loaded if we are ready to move off of Z.

Assuming the trade is sending Murray (31.6mil), McCollum (30.67mil), and Hawkins (4.7mil) out with the top 4 pick - we'll pick for them, 2026 Indy 1st, 2026 Pelicans 1st (top 4 protected),

For Booker 3 years/171mil left (53mil) and Grayson Allen (16.875mil) to make money close to matching.

Your lineup would be looking at:
PG: Booker/Alvarado
SG: Jones/Boston/Reeves
SF: Murphy/Allen/Brooks
PF: Williamson/Matkovich
C: Missi/Olynyk

That core is locked in for another 2 years, re-signing alvarado and jones would lock you in for at least 3.

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Your lineup would be looking at:
PG: Booker/Alvarado
SG: Jones/Boston/Reeves
SF: Murphy/Allen/Brooks
PF: Williamson/Matkovich
C: Missi/Olynyk

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To what end? You have an expensive group that is a fringe playoff team and is super injury prone. It's basically the same setup as the Suns this year, but not as good. You want two years of that?

I wouldn't trade for any high priced vets, especially ones that are maxed out. These next two drafts, 25 and 26, are super loaded. We should be focused on acquiring multiple lottery picks, top 10 preferably, in both. I'd focus on acquiring additional selections. I would put Zion, Murphy and everyone on the team on the market to get them.

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If we could get Booker for any non Flagg pick, CJ, and Murray, even with another pick, I do it without hesitation

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This is just not realistic. Booker would go for multiple 1sts, including the top 3ish pick. Both McCollum and Murray have neutral to negative value. They aren't moving the needle. If you want Booker, they are going to want Zion (or Murphy), Missi, the top 3 pick and 3 future 1sts. That's where the discussions begin.

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foursome of Zion, Booker, Trey, Herb would be tough to deal with.

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No it wouldn't be. First they are all hurt a lot and all have missed significant time previously. They are also all wings. You could play them together but it's not a great mix and we would have significant deficiencies.

Booker is playing with Durant and Beal right now, and that is not a good team. If you can't win with Durant, how is he going to going to compete with Zion? Beal's contract is horrendous, but he's still an accomplished professional. Is Murphy a huge upgrade from him (not factoring in the contract)? If they are both making the same money, I think it's basically a push. I just don't see a massive upgrade from Booker' current situation. So why would there be a big difference?

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We either need to make a move for a top 15 player or just blow it up. Tired of these moves to acquire good but not great players that don’t move the needle for us.

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Amen. We have never fully blown it up and built through youth. We have always added these bridge players that fudge it up and push us out of a true rebuild. It only takes a year to do a true reset. We have the pieces to get real value as well.

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Unless Bailey or Edgecombe light it up during the draft process I probably would if we land 3 or 4.

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I want Bailey. He has high, high upside and is being devalued due to being such a project. He is the kind of guy we can develop over 3 years and wouldn't push us to make a run too early. I'd take him 3 or 4, if he fell.

This is going to sound crazy, if we got 1st or 2nd, I would trade back to 3rd, so that I could still get Bailey, but bring in a haul. I think Flagg is going to be good, but not great. I'd rather Bailey and a ton of additional picks.

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I’m in blow it up territory. But that might require giving up guys like Trey and Herb as well.

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I want two more top 10 picks this year and a couple more for next season. To get that done, we have to move just about everybody else. I think you can package Zion/Jones and Murphy/Missi, and get some good value. Next season would be similar to this year, except we would have great youth to watch develop. But it would set us up for a huge summer '26, with a few 1sts and massive cap space. Just a have to bite the bullet for one season.

Can’t trade 26, 27, and 28 without bringing in another pick.

We can trade 25, one of our two picks for 26 (ours and Indiana), and one of 27 and 28 as of now.