Hello everyone, and happy new year! Been awhile since I last posted but wanted to start back up again in the new year.

This trade sees the Spurs buy low on Zion to pair in the frontcourt with Wemby, creating one of the most exciting young duos in the league when healthy. Recently saw an article talking about how if Zion were to be moved, it would hopefully be to an organization with an excellent culture like Miami or San Antonio and it inspired me to make this trade. San Antonio gives up 3 firsts, with only one of them being their own and protected, gives back the pelicans seconds, and moves Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins. I know Zions value is highly debated currently given his health issues, but I think overall this is a rather fair trade and adds several more pieces to a solid group in New Orleans, not to mention the top pick they will be bringing in this year. Johnson has looked pretty solid this year for the Spurs and could fit nicely on the bench for the Pelicans, and Collins gives them a much more stable backup Center option to take some pressure off Missi. Overall, although I personally feel like Zion should warrant a much higher offer by another team, I look around the league and don’t see many teams who would be willing to take that risk, whereas the spurs would. If it takes more than this I think they would still be interested.

For the Washington trade, Jonas gets moved for 3 high quality seconds and an expiring contract in Jones which in my eyes is the perfect outcome. Yes, some may think JV could fetch a first, but realistically I don’t think any team would be willing to do that unless it is heavily protected and they get to dump a bad contract with it. This way, they get more flexibility to do a full rebuild in the coming years and have some quality seconds in the mix. Jonas would be an excellent mentor for Wemby just as I hope Chris Paul will be for Castle, and a great backup for the next couple of years. Although Jonas’ defense is a concern for other teams looking to acquire him, I think San Antonio has brought quality defenders around that they could rotate to cover.

Let me know what you think in the comments below! Who wins? Who says no? What would you change? And please remember to keep it kind and civil, I do this for fun and to have good conversations with other fans. Trying to keep up the positivity in 2025!