re: Jahlil Okafor Trade Memorial Trade Speculation Thread

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it wouldnt be a terrible move- he's young, cheap, and talented. but i struggle to see the fit with Davis

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Lowe and Beck were discussing the Ibaka trade on the latest Lowe Post and they were talking about all of these offensive centers that nobody wants but there is a theory of how pairing them with a rim protecting stretch 4 makes them viable. Lowe didn't agree, he said it was because the athletic defender has to be the one guarding the PF so can be taken away from the basket, but I don't even think it's that. Good teams have no trouble getting the exact players they want to attack involved on defense. That's why Monroe/Kanter/et al are becoming bench players. If they trade for Okafor I really hope their plans are for him to be a bench player and not anything more.

Unfortunately the best way to solve the Pelicans problems is patience. Look at Toronto, they've had a hole at PF for a few years, they waited and got a great deal on a good fitting solution instead of over paying for a fair to bad fitting solution.

If the Pelicans feel they are on the clock with Holiday and money won't be enough to keep him then they need to trade him rather than making fair to bad moves to keep him.

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in that same vein, if the Pels are desperate for a big Valanciunas might be available. i was listening to Open Floor pod discuss the Ibaka trade. w/ Ibaka on board, they might be looking to dump what looks like an irrelevant piece on a long term contract (~ 3/$50 left). they just drafted a 5 in the lottery Evans (expiring) + pick for Valanciunas works.......not sure if Toronto wants to dump a good player while they are gunning for a Finals appearance though.

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There is no way they would just dump Valanciunas. He is a big part of that team and dumping him would create another hole in a team that is looking to make a run.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this deal doesn't happen, and in fact, Pels make no deals of any substance before the deadline.

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the number one goal-- retaining Holiday

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ok great
retaining holiday at all costs is the goal
do they know if holiday will take the money?
do they know how much money its going to take?
are the pels and holiday's agent talking?

unfortunately the role holiday currently plays in not leading either to efficient offense or wins. so what will they do to address this?

in my view, holiday should be paired with a pass-first PG, and play off ball. looking around, there are gettable players who can do that without costing a 1st round pick. add in another big man who can pass & rebound, and now you've helped the offense without completely dismantling the defensive improvement. if the big man costs the pick then i'm ok with that

some semblance of a plan must include building around what they already have, yes?

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They have a plan and it is the one I have been telling you guys for over a week now. Make the roster look as appealing as possible on July 1st-- even if that means trading a 2018 pick now and a 2017 on draft night That aren't supremely confident that he will re-sign if they show him this roster plus a 19 year old on July 1, but this roster minus some dead weight plus 2-3 real players and they are pretty confident

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But given that, they were apparently pursuing Okafor. He does not seem to fit that plan.

He is a name and has talent. He is more appealing than unnamed 2018 pick when they talk to Jrue in July, no?

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do they know how much money its going to take?

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That completely depends on if Philly is bidding or not. Other teams can push the Pels to $25ish, Philly is the only one that can push them to $30.

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the role holiday currently plays in not leading either to efficient offense or wins. so what will they do to address this?

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I don't know if this is from twitter, podcast or a post here (maybe even you ) but someone mentioned something about the Holiday/Hill/Cunningham/AD 4 man lineup being pretty good, and it is. It's not contention level, it's only ranked 31st with a NetRtg of 12.8, but considering how many good 4 man lineups the top teams have (GSW has 9 of the top 16), 31st isn't as bad as it sounds. If you look at the company this Pels lineup is running with, that looks like it could be a 2nd tier playoff team core.
LINK

You have to hit load more to see the Pels, the default is 25 rows and like I said, they're 31.

If you think any player even thinks for one second about what player they might or might not draft in 12 months, I don't know what to tell you. Go watch the ESPN interview with CP3 from a couple of weeks ago and it will explain to you how players think. They think NOTHING like fans

Imagine you are playing pickup ball and you are going against a pretty good team. I say to you that your 4th and 5th guy could be these below average players over here or you can take two above average/good players.

Now, if you take the scrubs and lose you will get to run three games from now and there is a solid chance that Mike and Trevor will be here by then and they are studs who you can run with. They might not come or they might get picked up by other teams before them but if you do Land with them, you are gonna eventually win a lot of games

I think most people take the good players and try to win now and keep going over the chance to maybe get Mike and Trevor. Players see it the same way. It's the GMs job to be patient but this GM is not in a position to be

One thing that I hope that we can all agree on and requires no more further debate---Eminem clinched greatest rapper of all time with his new verse on No Favors

It's like Brady winning his fifth. Probably was already the GOAT, but this clinched it