I have only now realized the true extent of my idiocracy. This is my 3rd iteration of this Porzingis-Podziemski swap because the first iteration looks like the trade came to fruition in the mind of a child, and the 2nd one which I called a "better version" was actually just a braindead idea. There were so much holes and faults in my last Celtics-Warriors mock trade, for instance why would the Warriors even need to add Kispert if he was less familiar with their system and more expensive of a contract than Moody? I could have actually just cut Washington out of that deal entirely. And the Warriors giving up Buddy, one of their only other sources of spacing next to Curry, for a salary dump when they don't even get the reassurance of having anyone in the return deal being able provide the same production he gave them. At first I called it a win-win-win trade that doesn't present much of a risk factor for all teams involved, yeah right, maybe for the Wizards that is but the Warriors get absolutely fucked in that deal. It took me staring at that trade again for a good 2 hours (split between 6 days of course) just to realize how much of a braindead deal that was (don't even get me started on how high I must've been to put Looney in a s&t in that deal lol). But I've come back fairer and less stupid (I hope) and believe I've conjured up the perfect low-risk high reward trade package for both the Celtics and Warriors and it's not Washington anymore, instead Memphis and Milwaukee become the beneficiaries of this trade.
Let's start with the Warriors
For them it's pretty much still the same idea just a lot smarter on how they go about it. They still get Kristaps who I really do believe is the best possible center that fits their system, but now they don't have to offload multiple contracts, valuable ones especially, to make it work. They send out Gui Santos, Podziemski and Moody and in their place, specifically Moody and Gui, they get cheaper contracts who can provide a near identical output in production. AJ Green specifically on a minimum deal can be a way better level of shooter than Moody and Santos, he's shot over 40% from 3 the last 3 seasons and has developed next to Giannis as a crucial piece in Milwaukee, an elite play finisher and one of the better choices on the wing to pair next to Giannis, which isn't easy. If his job on offense is gonna be done with the same limitations and extent that Kerr put on Moody, then I think AJ will thrive all the same. He's also hella scrappy defensively and isn't afraid to put his body on the line to prevent a bucket, I'm not saying he's Podziemski in terms of drawing charges, he doesn't even draw much charges I believe, but in terms of 3&D wings he's as pure as any you can find in the league, a direct no nonsense defender who has that "go to work" mentality on both sides of the ball. Another guy with that mentality is VWJ, he really reminds me of Aaron Nesmith or at least that type of player in terms of energy and style of play which isn't easy to find. He had a down year this year and really only has last season going for him in terms of potential value, but the Warriors will take him for his contract and what he could potentially provide for this team, specifically on the offensive side because we already know about his defense. And they move up to pick 32 in a highly touted draft class where any 2nd round pick in the 30s range is set to be a hotshot which is a lot more value than just Corey fricking Kispert. An elite haul to make up for the loss of entrusted role players.
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For Memphis while I did say VWJ reminded me of Nesmith, you have to remember that Nesmith couldn't reach his potential on the team that drafted him. If you're willing to wait on him then there's not really a problem, but he's not a needle mover most nights and he's the same age as your stars, if you have to wait till he's 27 to become the player you saw for only 55 games, what'll the roster even look like by then? How much of these potentially elite future role players will Memphis have accumulated by then because their scouting is no joke over there. I mean he was obviously great last year, but when he played this season he didn't really look like a good 3pt shooter as opposed to what we saw last season, I mean he's still a really good defender that's for sure but the offense looked sluggish and out of rhythm. They said to give him some time to develop, but he's the same age as Ja and JJJ, what if he won't develop? I mean if his ceiling was that of the player we saw last year then don't get me wrong that's not a bad place to stop at, but can he reach it again in this squad? Memphis are really deep and loaded with a bunch of guys who we can look at and say "he's an elite future role player" and those guys are much younger than VWJ and already showed capability of providing more or less the same production or even better. You might not think this is a problem and like I said if you're willing to wait and see then really it's not much of one, but after the playoffs are Memphis really just gonna sit around and do nothing? Something may need to be done and if it gets that far, then how about a change? I know it might sound contradictory after what I just said due to him being younger than VWJ, but Moody falls into the category of those players who have proven they can already provide the type of production you want from VWJ at a younger age and his inconsistent minutes leading up to this season where he was finally called up by Kerr to be their 7th man off the bench has made him more mature and ready to be whatever the team needs. Throughout the season in 4 minutes more playing time than VWJ, he averaged averaged 10 points on 43/37/80 shooting splits which is way better and more impactful than the 6.6 VWJ averaged on 40/27/80 shooting splits. I know he played a lot more games than VWJ, but there's that as well, VWJ has never played more than 55 games, Moody's done so in 3 seasons already, what if this injury thing with VWJ is just gonna stick? I mean obviously you hope not, but in this offer Memphis is essentially getting the more available player, the more ready player, the overall better player who looks like he can still take another leap due to being 2 years younger than VWJ who is 24 turning 25 this year, a better ball handler, a known shooter, a more active off ball player and is no slouch on defense either even if not on the same level as VWJ. It seems obvious, but maybe I'm just nitpicking on problems that don't exist, but all I know is what VWJ was able to do last year due to injuries Moody was able to do even better this year on lesser minutes, in a coaching system where he hadn't yet gained the confidence of a coach who is known for being disciplined and stubborn, and who decided to trust Moody with playing rotational minutes only halfway through the season. I think the Grizzlies are getting the overall much better player short term and long term but maybe I'm just grasping at straws.
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For the Celtics honestly this is gonna be just an exact copy paste from my excerpt on them from the last iteration of this trade that I did because I just believe this is the only angle they'll be looking at if the trade were to happen so if you saw my last post then feel free to just skip or re-read, I hope I spelled that correctly. My view on their situation is still the same, get younger and let that youth develop during this off year without Tatum. The championship hope for next year at least is lost and by the Time Tatum comes back this will be a heavily declining starting five with Holiday turning 36 and Horford probably being retired by then. White at 32 will probably still be serviceable by then though perhaps not at the same level as he currently is so maybe they consider moving off him as well, but Porzingis tingis, who knows what the hell will have happened to his body by the time JT comes back, it's just not worth the risk. But of course no other team wants to take the risk either unless the price is worth it, especially when you consider his 30m expiring contract as well, it's just not realistic to think him tradeable by himself. It's probably gonna cost Boston a lot more than they would like but I mean they are still looking to be a contender when JT comes back, by that time it would be better to have a young high level role player whose already been in the league a while and who could possibly develop in the same way DWhite did with the team rather than a sophomore guy.
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For the Bucks, honestly you just get the better role player, honest. It doesn't seem like much but being able to flip Connaughton and Green's contracts into Hauser is such a glow up. Firstly, neither of those two are the defender Hauser is, Hauser can regularly be seen being taken into post-ups or hunted on the perimeter by opposing stars because they think it's an easy matchup, the Celtics are more than welcoming of that because they know it's not. Hauser will be targeted on the switch regularly only for teams to find out the Celtics are very comfortable with it and will live and die with that scenario. He's not the greatest defender and obviously Boston runs schemes to get a better defender to challenge, but if it does end up being Hauser at the end of the line they're a-okay with that matchup. Now Milwaukee don't go mistaking that for him being your newest POA because he's not, alright? Keep that in mind and you'll be good. On offense he's as consistent as ever, he'll come in play his 25 minutes and hit 40% of his threes, make timely cuts and just in general be another threat on the floor that the defenses will annoyingly have to respect. Now will he have off nights? Yes of course but he'll never be unplayable, he'll always give you that subtle energy that shows he's always thinking of how to help the team and what to do next. Now just don't go thinking he's the next Steph Curry out there doing all these off ball movements and jacking up 10 threes a game and hitting 6 of them, if you're good with that then what you'll have is an extra reliable and super nice piece to add next to the Greek freak and Dame time, it won't fix the mess you've put yourself in but it'll be a huge help.
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And well, that was my newest great idea and I think this is it, I think I've finally come up with the trade I've been aching to make happen, unless of course I realize yet another lapse in my judgement and come back with another trade calling myself out for idiocracy, but until then I'll live with this trade being my last on this matter for at least a longer while. I think it's a pretty good win-win-win-win trade for all 4 sides and this time there's really not much risk factor involved for either side pulling the trigger on the deal, what do you guys think? I think this'll be my last trade idea for a while, so long for now friends!
