Eric Gordon Trades

I would. Gordon is likely our last chance for a while to easily match salaries for a veteran player with a large contract. The 2027 draft pick would probably get dealt in a trade before we actually use it, anyway. foregoing it for Wiggins just means that we are making that trade earlier rather than down the road.

 

There is logic to your POV and there is logic to mine. I am in favor of the Lakers trade but prefer this one if possible. Next offseason, the Rockets have a one time chance to take on two max salary slots and resign KPJ with Bird rights. If they don't, you don't sign any star outside of resigning your own players. Due to the CP3 trade, the Rockets are incentivized to win after this year. I think FA as we knew it is dead. Superstars, especially young ones, are reupping with their teams. I don't want to use the Nets assets in the future to trade for someone and deplete our depth and assets. Like GSW and Philly, I want to maximize our assets and resources to set this team up. Next offseason, tell me which two MAX FAs are signing with the current Houston roster... Exactly.

If we get Wiggins, I think there is a high likelihood we can get Harden back or depending on the draft Myles Turner. You are looking at the prospect in your scenario of resigning KPJ and some lesser players and never signing a max FA OR drafting Wemby or Scoot after trading for Wiggins, being able to sign Harden or Middleton, Bird rights for KPJ, and still fitting the NTMLE and BAE. Not only are there really on a couple of FAs worth signing, there is no way that TWO are coming to our team after a tank season. If you have Wiggins on the roster and draft Wemby that idea of Harden is much more tempting of who MIGHT come here. Does setting the team up for years in 2023 for FREE outweigh a 2027 pick? Hell, yes.

It is the same logic that the Clippers used when trading for PG13 and signing Kawhi. Clippers could keep 5 picks and not have anything or get them both. The Rockets had this decision to make after dumping Dwert. Maury chose well with EGo and horrifically with Ryno. If that had been PG13, the Rockets would have a drastically different history and we wouldn't be having a discussion about tanking next season.

 

If it was for someone really good that’s one thing, wiggins is just a guy though. You would also have to MASSIVELY overpay him, so you would be giving out a disastrous contract on top of getting a guy that’s just ok

 

Wiggins and pg13 have no similarities outside of playing the same position. Pg is light years better

 

Wiggins has officially gone from overrated to underrated.

The Warriors don’t win without him last season. He shoots .4 from 3 and plays great D. He’s not “just a guy.” Wiggins and Smith would have the potential to create a great defensive and spacing duo.

 

He’s also not someone who’s worth hurting out draft pick this coming season, so not only would he cost that lakers pick (in this scenario) but he probably adds a couple wins and hurts this pick as well. If we sacrifice our pick, it needs to be someone who has the chance to be a real allstar level guy, a legit top 30-40 player

 

Right - he’s a great role player who is getting paid like a star largely because GS has to overpay their guys to keep their roster competitive because they don’t have any available cap room to play in the FA market so trade and draft are the only two ways they can improve the team. If They didn’t get Wiggins bird rights when they acquired him, he likely would have been gone long ago…I like Wiggins as a player but he is wildly over paid.

…overpaying Wiggins as GS is nothing compared to how much that new stadium costs and the Warriors need fill every seat in that arena for a few more years so they overpay for a roster to keep their playoff cash machine open to pay for all their other basketball investments.

 

Wiggins surprised me and won me over last season. He has shown (finally) why he was picked #1. Is he the superstar he was projected to be when he was drafted? No. But If he's put in the right situation, like with the Warriors, he could be a second or third banana on a championship team.

Is he overpaid? Yes and no. He was overpaid when he signed his current contract. But he is not overpaid, at least not exceedingly, compared to the current FA market. If we get Wiggins, we may have him at the peak of his career. He has always been capable of being a 20-pt score if he is the first option. But he has shown that he is willing to take a lesser role if the team has a better scorer. He is an excellent defender. If we have him playing alongside Jabari, with Tate and Eason coming off the bench, our defense can grind any offense down.

The only hesitation I have is the timing. Getting Wiggins this season will make us a better team, better than with Gordon. That will hurt our draft position. But I have accepted the fact that we are not going to be one of the worst teams, with the additions of Smith and Eason and the improvement of the sophomores. Let them learn to play winning ball and let the picks fall wherever. We might even get ahead of the Nets (if the Durant saga continues to worsen) and make the swap worthwhile.

 

Wiggins himself shows why you can’t depeNd on high draft picks. With the picks we’ve had over the past two years, we have a good foundation. If we get the chance to improve the team with a two-way player like Wiggins who is just now reaching his prime, we should not pass because he could hurt our draft position. The player we take in this draft could completely bust, or be on his third team before he reaches his potential.

The other benefit is that without significant progress and an All-Star level player on the team, we aren’t going to be attracting free agents next summer. Top level free agents do not sign with teams that just had a bottom five finish.

 

Tate and Gordon for Kevin Love and protected 1st in 2029 after the deadline. Cleveland is dying for a competent 3 who can defend and we need to consolidate our players.

 

HELL NO to Wiggins. That dude would kill this team trying to be the guy. Don't need another weed head ball playa

 

He makes $33mil this year. I know the new TV Deal money makes that reasonable in the near future(and that’s largely what’s driving the inflated FA contracts this summer) but I think the expectation from Wiggins camp is that he would make more than $33mil on that next contract. I agree that he is probably a nice player to have at $33/mil but I would be very hesitant to bring him into the org on a long term deal over $40mil because I think we still need to better understand the capabilities of the draft investments we have made. Let’s say you commit to Wiggins as your SF of the next 5 years - what then of Tari Eason? How do you carve minutes for him if you are paying Wiggins $40+mil and Green is getting his reps as the SG of the future and I’m theory Smith is your 4 of the future who needs the reps as well.

…I see your point of looking for upgrades where it makes sense but I think with this team there is still a bit too much murkiness on who is going to be the core for us to lock in on supporting pieces just yet. This year however will be big in that understanding. I’m just on team “we drafted for talent, now we have to decide who of the heavy draft investments we have made we are going to build a team identity around”.

 

Hope we can parley this excess roster baggage into something as valuable as Wiggins AND a solid PG, if we intend to compete this year. If we're tanking, though, let's get more picks.

 

Good point about the prospect of our young players. That's what I have been thinking too. But we haven't seen this year's draftees play a game at NBA level yet. I am excited to see what Tari can do. But there is always the possibility, a very real possibility, that he may never turn out to be anything more than a bench player. The NBA is filled with these exciting prospects who never crack a starting lineup.

If A guy like Wiggins is worth a 40M per contract in today's market, then you take him. If a young guy like Eason looks to be capable of doing whatever Wiggins can do, then we can always trade the veteran, given that his contract is reasonable.

Even with Wiggins starting, Eason (if he's good enough to take Tate's minutes) will still get around 20 mpg backing up Wggins and Smith. That's plenty for a rookie getting to prove himself.

Porter / Nix or Washington
Green / Chrstopher
Wiggins / Eason / Christopher
Smith / Eason / Tate or Martin
Sengun / Smith / whoever

Trade one of Tate and Martin together with Gordon. So the 9-man rotation will be Porter, Green, Wiggins, Smith, Sengun, Eason, Tate/Martin, Chrstopher, Nix/Washington.

Without some veteran presence on the floor, it is very difficult to have a structured system on either side of the ball for young players to learn in. This is especially true that our starting PG isn't known to be a good floor general.

 

The Rockets have a ton of cap space they will have to fill. We have to get to the salary floor and we can’t do it signing scraps. Wiggins will not be taking minutes from Eason. If Eason is what we think he is, he will get his minutes and push guys like Tate and KJM down.

I really think Wiggins’ presence helps everyone else. He’s not Christian Wood. He’s a veteran player with accomplishments that knows how to play team ball. Aside from someone else becoming available via trade, I don’t see a better option for improvement.

With Gordon’s salary, this is really our best chance to try to make that leap. Waiting until free agency will probably be too late.

 

My post had nothing to do with comparing Wiggins and PG13. I don't understand how that is what you took from my position.

 

First pick the Flakers can trade is 27.

That deal makes them a contender again .... For me to make that deal, I'd have to get at least two #1's out of it and one of those would have to be unprotected and the other with no more than top 10 protection.

2027 unprotected.
2029 top 10.

 

You would reject the offer if the lakers gave up 2027 unprotected (personally i think there's a 0% chance the lakers would trade that pick for gordon and filler), but if they offered one pick i'd do it in a heartbeat, it would be an INCREDIBLE trade

 

I think it makes sense for both. Have read a few sources that stated they were interested in DS even after signing Bev.

 

I'd probably settle on the unprotected 27 pick if it were offered but .... You have to consider that not only would we be taking Westbrook and the $47m problems he presents for them off their hands but at the same time giving them a quality starter in EG, a stud young prospect in KMJ who I think should be worth a mid first himself, a knock down 3D wing in Mathews and Schroeder solidifying their point guard position.



I'm doing all I can to squeeze two #1 picks out of them for the chance to win another title before Lebron breaks.