Nets - Wizards

[Andrei Kirilenko]

^{Brooklyn Nets Send:}
96 Kawhi Leonard - $32,742,000 - $35,197,650 - $37,653,300 - $40,108,950

Total: $32,742,000


^{Washington Wizards Send:}
87 Bam Adebayo - $4,329,584 - $5,987,815
72 Michael K Gilchrist - $11,625,000 - $12,750,000
73 Dwight Powell - $9,901,395 - $10,643,999
Contract of Michael C Williams - $898,310
WAS 2022 1st round pick
WAS 2024 1st round pick

Total: $26,754,289 (*125% = $33,442,861)

[Jerry West]

Mike Krzyzewski I'm really sorry, I am.

This is by far the worst trade I've ever seen. Can't wait to have 2 Washington GMs in the hall of shame.

[Brian Scalabrine]

This is by far the worst trade in D5 history. No other trade even comes close

[Ian Noble]

On top of the obvious points, this deal might be acceptable if we knew Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be a good trader and could do something with Kawhi, but he arbitrarily decided to ditch the "trades bad" mentality a week ago and now he's shitting his future down a waterslide.

I reject.

[Chauncey Billups]

This trade is far from rejectable imo. It's essentially Kawhi for Adebayo and 2 1sts. It's not a good trade for Washington, but don't make it out to be something it's not.

[Alex English]

I think the initial reaction here is over the top, but this trade is still really problematic. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar you know that Kawhi is probably missing all of next season right? If he does return it would likely only be for late in the season or the playoffs where it will hardly help you win games. You're making your team (which was already in the lottery) significantly worse for next season while also trading away next season's 1st round pick. It's basically self-sabotage.

[Ian Noble]

Aug 5, 2021 17:26:36 GMT Alex English said:

I think the initial reaction here is over the top, but this trade is still really problematic. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar you know that Kawhi is probably missing all of next season right? If he does return it would likely only be for late in the season or the playoffs where it will hardly help you win games. You're making your team (which was already in the lottery) significantly worse for next season while also trading away next season's 1st round pick. It's basically self-sabotage.

+ trading away the 2024 pick right in time for Kawhi to opt out of his Player Option the summer before

When Kawhi returns from injury this will be his remaining contract:

96 Kawhi Leonard - $37,653,300 - $40,108,950

The only way this deal makes sense is if Kawhi can be further moved for better youth, but what's he going to get that's better than Bam and two high lotto picks?!

[James Kay]

Aug 5, 2021 17:20:51 GMT Chauncey Billups said:

This trade is far from rejectable imo. It's essentially Kawhi for Adebayo and 2 1sts. It's not a good trade for Washington, but don't make it out to be something it's not.

Bam and 2 1sts for Kawhi is fair.

But when Kawhi is expected to be out next season, and you just traded away your best player, you can't be giving up the 2022 pick that will almost certainly be top 5.

Then when Kawhi is healthy there only one more year on the contract, and if Kareem is unable to convince anyone to join the superstar tandem of $30M D'Lo Russell and post-ACL Kawhi, Kawhi will leave and Kareem won't have his 2024 pick either lol.

[Chauncey Billups]

Aug 5, 2021 17:31:55 GMT James Kay said:

Aug 5, 2021 17:20:51 GMT Chauncey Billups said:

This trade is far from rejectable imo. It's essentially Kawhi for Adebayo and 2 1sts. It's not a good trade for Washington, but don't make it out to be something it's not.

Bam and 2 1sts for Kawhi is fair.

But when Kawhi is expected to be out next season, and you just traded away your best player, you can't be giving up the 2022 pick that will almost certainly be top 5.

Then when Kawhi is healthy there only one more year on the contract, and if Kareem is unable to convince anyone to join the superstar tandem of $30M D'Lo Russell and post-ACL Kawhi, Kawhi will leave and Kareem won't have his 2024 pick either lol.

Wasn't aware he's gonna be out for the entire season. Either way, still not sure it's rejectable. But I understand the concern.

[George Gervin]

We all suddenly are complaining after eight seasons of this guy tanking to the extreme (don’t at me Hana, he has done that for seven years look at the facts) that he finally goes balls deep for a win now move? I get the picks point, but for all we know 1) there are teams worse than the Wiz next season and 2) draft picks are a crapshoot anyway. Something like 40% of 1st round picks bust. Yes, these both could be high— top 5 even— but we are basing rejecting this on the grounds that players currently 18-21 and 15 or 16 respectively will doom the Wiz

[James Kay]

Aug 5, 2021 17:35:59 GMT Chauncey Billups said:

Aug 5, 2021 17:31:55 GMT James Kay said:

Bam and 2 1sts for Kawhi is fair.

But when Kawhi is expected to be out next season, and you just traded away your best player, you can't be giving up the 2022 pick that will almost certainly be top 5.

Then when Kawhi is healthy there only one more year on the contract, and if Kareem is unable to convince anyone to join the superstar tandem of $30M D'Lo Russell and post-ACL Kawhi, Kawhi will leave and Kareem won't have his 2024 pick either lol.

Wasn't aware he's gonna be out for the entire season. Either way, still not sure it's rejectable. But I understand the concern.

Well typical timetable for ACL injuries is 8-12 months, which would put him at best at a bit after the All-Star break. Even if he came back with this optimistic timeline, the Wiz are not going to be able to make the playoffs with this roster, and at best Kawhi moves them up a few games.

[Andrei Kirilenko]

You guys crack me up. I've heard nothing in Discord for months except which one of you is going to steal Bam from Kareem once he becomes a FA because the Wizards are so bad and Kareem is so inactive. And now he trades Bam and 2 picks, which you have no clue how they will turn out btw, for a TOP 5 PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE who also happens to have TRADEABLE BIRD RIGHTS under our new rules, and everyone is up in arms?? Have you all forgotten who Kawhi Leonard is so quickly?

This is an overreaction to the extreme. It's funny because I was on the fence about even doing this trade, and am really only doing it because I am going to be hard capped next summer if I don't, yet apparently its a huge rip off?

You also have no idea if Kawhi is coming back by the end of next season, so lets stop with that speculation. We already played doctor once in deciding that all credible reporting about Kawhi's injury was a lie, so let's not do it again.

What do you think the value of a top 5 player is? If its not Bam Adebayo and 2 picks then apparently I've been logging into a different league than all of you for the past 10 years.

[Tom Izzo]

I vote acceptance but Washington needs to be careful. Kawhi is likely out next year. Those picks could be massive. He needs to set himself up to retain Kawhi and compete immediately. I'm not sure how he accomplishes that.

Also nobody has brought up the fact that Josh signed a massive free agent, on a huge pitch playing with multiple stars, just to trade him to the worst team in the league after he gets injured.

The Players Union will remember that 👀

[James Kay]

Just so everyone can have a clear picture on the future cap situation in WAS:

Next season, WAS will have 121M on the books. So WAS can't sign anyone this off-season except for the MLE. Let's assume WAS only signs a player to a 1-year deal in order to maximize next season's cap space. Let's also say that WAS doesn't re-sign Grayson Allen or Gary Trent Jr., two valuable players, in order to maximize cap space for next off-season.

So with Kawhi injured, WAS's best player is DLo, and he probably finishes, optimistically, in the bottom 7-8 teams. Now, in order to maximize cap space, let's optimistically assume that Nance opts out, and that he relinquishes BRs on Jonathan Isaac and Zach Collins.

He will enter the off-season with Kawhi, DLo, Robert Williams, Anfernee Simons, Luka Samanic, Devin Vassell, Moses Moody, and Joshua Primo - accounting for $90.4M dollars. Assuming a similar cap increase, the cap will be ~115M. This leaves him with 24.8M to sign a FA. The 25% Max will be 28.9M. So he will be over 4M short of being able to offer even a 25% max.

That being said, could WAS maybe make some moves to free up some more space? Possibly. But even getting that amount of space already involves moving on from significantly valuable assets like Trent Jr., and Isaac, and is hoping that Nance opts out. And the more assets WAS moves on from, the less desirable a landing spot is next to Kawhi.

So next off-season, after WAS, optimistically, finishes in the bottom 7-8 and conveys that pick to BKN, WAS will be trying to convince a star to come play with 31 year old post-ACL surgery Kawhi, D'Angelo Russell, and 4-5 19-22 year olds, with less than a 25% max to offer.

If he fails, then WAS has to hope that the roster as currently assembled can somehow be a championship contender in a league with superteams, otherwise its pretty obvious that Kawhi will leave and WAS will be a a tanking team with no life preserver - as they will convey their Kawhi-less pick to BKN.

[Shane Battier]

Kawhi chooses Brooklyn over Chicago only to be traded to the Wizards lol

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

Aug 6, 2021 1:40:09 GMT Shane Battier said:

Kawhi chooses Brooklyn over Chicago only to be traded to the Wizards lol

And LAC in real life is still not even considering the idea of trading him even with his injury.


Your professionalism Shane for not losing your mind with that FA decision is insane. Respect.

[James Kay]

Aug 6, 2021 1:43:36 GMT Hanamichi Sakuragi said:

Aug 6, 2021 1:40:09 GMT Shane Battier said:

Kawhi chooses Brooklyn over Chicago only to be traded to the Wizards lol

And LAC in real life is still not even considering the idea of trading him even with his injury.


Your professionalism Shane for not losing your mind with that FA decision is insane. Respect.

Well, not to diminish your point re: Shane's professionalism, but LAC can't consider trading him because he's a free agent lol

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

Aug 6, 2021 1:46:59 GMT James Kay said:

Aug 6, 2021 1:43:36 GMT Hanamichi Sakuragi said:

And LAC in real life is still not even considering the idea of trading him even with his injury.


Your professionalism Shane for not losing your mind with that FA decision is insane. Respect.

Well, not to diminish your point re: Shane's professionalism, but LAC can't consider trading him because he's a free agent lol

Who told you Kawhi was not being put into trade discussion during the season? 

[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]

I reject. Let me know who wants to pull me out from Hall of Shame. ^^

[Walt Frazier]

Aug 6, 2021 2:43:07 GMT Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said:

I reject. Let me know who wants to pull me out from Hall of Shame. ^^

This is why I don't like voting or really even putting in thoughts before both sides agree to a trade.

Maybe Kareem rejects either way, but I'd sure prefer to know both managers thoughts, or at least know they actually both want to do it, before half the league jumps down one Manager's throat.

Trade is dead immediately now, though, after this post.