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Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings
Willie Cauley-Stein is playing well enough to get sort-of paid this summer. That’s great for the Kings’ immediate playoff push, but his next contract complicates their outlook.
Marvin Bagley III needs to play more center if they’re serious about contending in the near future, and paying $10 million or so per year for another big when they have Nemanja Bjelica and Harry Giles (I still believe!) isn’t especially ideal.
Hoping restricted free agency squeezes Cauley-Stein into a below-market deal is acceptable. The Kings can let him walk without much blowback if his offer sheets approach ridiculous. But matching rights on a youngish center with an expanding offensive arsenal will appeal to some teams—particularly if Sacramento is moving him while using its cap space to take on a longer-term pact.
Best Fit: Washington Wizards
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets
Though the currently playoff-bound Nets don’t profile as sellers, they should gauge the market for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. They already paid Spencer Dinwiddie, and D’Angelo Russell (restricted) is playing himself into a fat contract. They’re not footing the bill for everyone.
Hollis-Jefferson won’t yield more than a low-end pick or prospect. The Nets should take it. His broken jumper isn’t worth his defensive malleability—even his mid-range game is blah this year—and the emergence of Rodions Kurucs has given them a more tantalizing combo wing to develop over the long haul.
Best Fit: Charlotte Hornets
Tyus Jones, Minnesota Timberwolves
Some of the Timberwolves’ best assets won’t get shopped unless they’re holding a fire sale. Tyus Jones should be on the chopping block no matter what.
Re-signing him while staying below the luxury tax is no longer an issue. The Jimmy Butler trade took care of it. But the Timberwolves will be shelling out max money for Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins next season, with Dario Saric’s next deal on the horizon (2020). They cannot justify making so many re-investments in their core when they’re no longer postseason locks.
Jones’ outside shooting and finishing around the rim have cratered this year, but his defense is legit. He guards like he’s taller than 6’2″ and ranks fourth among point guards in ESPN’s Defensive Real-Plus Minus. And at 22, he can fit into every team’s timeline.
Best fit: Phoenix Suns
Stanley Johnson, Detroit Pistons
Stanley Johnson’s availability shouldn’t be tied to whether the Pistons pivot into a second-half tank. They have no business being part of his next contract.
His defense warrants court time. He can hang one-on-one with most guards and bigger wings. Everything else about his game is unimpressive. His jumper could be a lost cause, and Detroit hasn’t consistently plumbed the depths of his half-court playmaking.
Capped-out teams desperate for defensive flexibility—and who have confidence in their shooting coaches—should see if the Pistons are willing to sell low rather than lose him for nothing or risk entering the tax to finance his next contract.
Best fit: San Antonio Spurs
Frank Kaminsky, Charlotte Hornets
League sources told Sporting News’ Sean Deveney that Charlotte is open to dealing Frank Kaminsky. Which, duh.
Paying Kemba Walker will, at best, bring the Hornets dangerously close to the 2019-20 tax line ($132 million). They won’t have the equity to burn on Kaminsky no matter how cheap he comes. Plus, they don’t seem particularly interested in keeping him. He remains out of the rotation despite Cody Zeller’s right hand injury.
The Hornets are hoping they can use Kaminsky to pawn off the balance of Nicolas Batum’s deal (two years, $52.7 million), according to Deveney. They’ll have to keep dreaming. It isn’t happening. If Kaminsky’s mid-range game, so-so three-point touch and improving standstill rim protection can get them a nice second-round pick or dice-roll prospect, they should move him.
Best Fit: Milwaukee Bucks
Emmanuel Mudiay, New York Knicks
Emmanuel Mudiay has slowed down over the past month-and-a-half and isn’t someone who will fetch a premium for matching rights. His defense is a disaster, and he’s neither a good finisher around the rim nor a dependable table-setter.
Still, he’s hitting a great percentage of his long twos and doing a better job of probing set defenses. Put him on a team that can cover up for him at the other end, and he’d have utility as a score-first point man.
Granted, it won’t take much for the Knicks to resist trading him. Frank Ntilikina is playing more, but they haven’t shown much faith in him overall.
Without any other worthwhile point guard prospects, flipping Mudiay isn’t going to top their to-do list. But signing him to a multiyear deal this summer shouldn’t be a priority, either.
Best Fit: Orlando Magic
Kelly Oubre Jr., Phoenix Suns
Phoenix isn’t about to complain about its wealth of wings. Deep perimeter rotations are a commodity. But the Suns have to figure out whether they can afford to retain the centerpiece of the Trevor Ariza trade.
Devin Booker’s max extension kicks in next season. They already paid T.J. Warren. Josh Jackson’s third-year salary is nothing to sneeze at ($7.1 million). Mikal Bridges is cheap, but his minutes aren’t going anywhere.
This isn’t to say the Suns have to move Oubre. They’re limited in where they could send him. He cannot be traded in combination with another player after coming over from Washington, so including him in a larger deal is out of the question. But wings are among the likeliest players to get overpaid in this summer’s cap-rich market. The Suns should at least see what his Bird rights can get them.
Best Fit: Philadelphia 76ers
Terry Rozier, Boston Celtics
Terry Rozier, in all likelihood, isn’t going anywhere. Boston lacks the motivation to find him a new home.
“We’re always looking to upgrade our team if those opportunities present themselves. But I think that’s going to be tough,” team president Danny Ainge said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show (via NBC Sports’ Darren Hartwell). “As far as trading players, I don’t really see much out there. We have a lot of good ones. It’s hard to get better players than we have.”
Holding onto Rozier makes sense if the Celtics aren’t buying Kyrie Irving‘s preseason pledge of allegiance. And even if they know he’s coming back, they’re a luxury-tax team. Rozier’s $3.1 million salary isn’t netting them anything or anyone substantial without including filler. His lackluster efficiency isn’t helping matters. He may be more valuable to them as postseason insurance than as a trade asset.
At the same time, if they can turn Rozier into a pick or a player on a longer, cost-controlled contract, they’ll have beefed up their asset chest in advance of this summer’s potential Anthony Davis sweepstakes.
Best Fit: Orlando Magic
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2Tg3H50
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