Looking back, what would you have given to trade up and get LeBron James in the Draft? Universally, almost everyone says anything and everything. He’s the Best Basketball has ever seen…or the second best. Even at Draft time most expected he’d be a constant All Star. Of course he’s out performed even that high expectation by a wide, wide margin.
And that’s why it’s a great bet to trade up this Draft year. Cooper Flag is almost universally expected to carry a team into playoff contention for the next decade. At 17 he tuned up the US Olympics team and during their last, ‘full paced’ preparation game State side, almost single-handedly beat them. Say what you want but enough clips of that performance have come out to show Flagg is generational. The only question remaining is can whoever draft him build a good enough team around him to win multiple championships.
Enter Nico Harrison…the guy that traded Luka…the guy that said he’s only there for another 4 years or so and doesn’t care much beyond that. While he’s publically ‘said’ he won’t trade the pick, he hasn’t heard the offer I’m preparing. Remember…I’m giving Nico anything and everything because I know Flagg is generational…and Nico wants to win right now. So let’s dig through the outrageous offer…
Scottie Barnes.
Yup Nico…he’s yours! Young powerful do it all Wing! He’s the missing piece with your Giant Center in Anthony Davis and your dynamic PG Kyrie Irving. It’s a Big 3 that instantly makes the Mavs top 3 in the West.
But that’s not all! I’m throwing in young dynamic shooter Gradey Dick! He’s a Klay Thompson clone and couple years of development with the Master should make him a lock to nearly replace him in the future. Of course to help keep Scottie happy I’m throwing in his best buddy Jonathan Mogbo, a useful connector bench piece in his own right, but a critical part of keeping Barnes in the next contract negotiation.
In return I’m taking anyone and everyone you don’t want or need for the Championship run this year. You put any players in you want to move on from. My suggestion is these guys, PJ, Caleb, Naji, Dwight and Brandon. You can vet min replace most of this guys except PJ. You fill in the blanks on this deal Nico!
Bonus time!!!
Now of course you know I’m not ONLY going to give you a great chance to win the championship next year. Oh no! I’m also going to boot strap your team’s recovery when AD retires! Yup! Here’s 2 more first round picks from 2029 and 2031…raw dogged with no protections! You’re going to have a great team for a decade Nico! You’re going to be the GM that brought a championship back to Dallas and left the team with a solid future as well.
Why do the Raptors do this?
They reset their team around a foundational talent in Cooper Flagg. He’ll lead this team for a decade and it will be glorious!
Option B
Ok the more possible scenario is making a deal with the Spurs for the #2 overall pick in this draft…Dylan Harper. The Spurs just traded for De’Aaron Fox and already have budding star Stephon Castle so don’t need a pure rookie PG at the moment. But they do need a Big Wing like Scottie Barnes!!! So let’s talk seriously now…
Spurs Reasons
The Spurs immediately have a Top 3 playoff team in the West with the Big 4 of Wemby, Scottie, De’Aaron and Devin. More than that however, they have another starting level Big in Jakob Poeltl to go Double Big when needed against teams with Centers like AD that Wemby has no chance in matching up against. They have the draft picks to round out their roster moving forward as well. Scottie fits the Wemby timeline perfectly so not only do the Spurs immediately become top Playoff contenders…they stay there for years to come with a young high skilled core. It’s really an incredible team.
Raptors Reasons
The Raptors are going to take the gamble that Dylan Harper will become a better player than Scottie Barnes. It’s not unreasonable to believe that’s possible, but there is a risk he doesn’t impact games as much, especially defensively. But they also get a young Keldon that is good quality and Sochan who might have significantly more room to grow given his age. Even Champagnie is a nice young bench player with hot hands and room to improve. Critically, the Raptors also don’t give up any picks so will add their #9 overall to this group. The hole at Center is large however and the team would have a lot of work to do to fill it.
Option C ???
What? Another serious opportunity to move UP in one of the best Drafts in a Decade? There sure is!!! The Philly 76’ers flopped last year badly and may have invested too much in injury prone players. They got lucky in the draft however and that’s where the Raptors step in to help them out. Let’s put together a serious offer Daryl Morey would have a hard time saying No if he heard…
76’ers Reasons
Philly resets their core around Maxey with Barnes joining him to form a dynamic combination moving forward for the next 4 years. They get insurance for Embiid with NBA starting level Jakob Poeltl and can load manage the MVP level Joel into the playoffs where he can do as much damage as his body will allow now. They also scoop up a great defensive SF in Agbaji to complement their scoring guard group. It’s the perfect trade to re-make this team moving forward and give them a great opportunity to win now if Embiid can band aid it together long enough.
Raptors Reasons
The Raptors are going to bet that Ace Bailey is the guy other teams should have picked at 1 or 2 and goes on to prove that. A highly dynamic wing in the modern era of basketball with a lot of space around him so expect a lot of posters hanging on his wall when his career is all said and done. The only question is how many championships will be on that wall as well. Beyond that the Raptors rehab Paul George’s value around the league and likely move him come trade deadline to a big spending team like the Suns that are desperate for a boost immediately. Paul will bring a lot in return in any future trade as long as he can still walk so there is a lot of value on the table here. Drummond does solid work inside as the Raptors find a young Center to groom to take over in the middle.
Conclusion
Raptors management has a really tough decision to make these next couple weeks. There are serious opportunities to move up this historically deep draft and that’s rare even in a weak draft. It’s almost unheard of that all 3 of the top picks could legitimately be ‘in play’ on draft night. Most of that decision is how they feel about Scottie Barnes. Has his development reached a peak? How much better can he get in the next 3 years when he’ll enter his ‘prime years’??? Will he be an All Star in the NBA again? Multiple times? If so how many? Do any of the Mavs, Spurs and 76’ers highly value Scottie Barnes??? They would to even think about trading a top pick away.
Cooper Flagg is obviously the ‘Man’. Masai absolutely MUST call up Nico and dangle Scottie. If you could go back in time to LeBron’s draft year you know you’d offer them everything they wanted. That’s basically the package I offered. Whatever the Raptors have that the Mavs want for Cooper Flagg. He’s that good. If you don’t think so I can’t help you. I doubt Nico does it, but the guy traded Luka so you make the call. In fact you fly down to Dallas and meet him for dinner to show him how serious you are.
The next couple offers to the Spurs and 76’ers are a LOT tougher to make. I expect Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper to perform at least as good as Scottie throughout their careers, so for me the trades are good moves. This often happens in a ‘generational star’ draft where the next couple guys would easily have gone #1 overall in a regular draft year. You gain more potential upside than Scottie brings now. You gain Cap flexibility for another 4 years. You get some good other assets back that can be used to improve the team you're building now in both deals.
To be honest I really like the deals for both the Spurs and 76’ers as well and not just for the Raptors! I feel the deals put both teams up into top contention immediately but also provide them with a nice young core moving forward to keep building with. Not those stupid ‘Old Vet for young superstar’ type trade offers that destroy a team’s future.
A thousand minds are better than one…so what do you all think about these trades? Do the Raptors have a real chance to move up this draft…and should they do it?
How does Rutgers have two of the top 3 players coming into the draft and didn't even have a winning record? Was it the coach? Was the team lacking depth, leadership, etc.?