To trade the Pick or to Not trade the Pick That is the Question?
So I've been looking (like the rest of you at a ton of mock drafts) the only thing clear is that Towns, Okafor, and Russell will likely be gone in the top 3. After that it's wide open, and there is a wild card at the 4 spot. I think the Knicks unless trading will take Winslow and surprise most. If they do these would be the moves I would make to maximize our #5 pick:
#1 Take PG Mudiay ~ Kings would have taken him but with that off the board taking Porzingis. They like WCS but are leary of his shooting.
#2 Make a deal with the nuggets to take WCS and trade him to us for Mudiay and Marble, also they throw in Wilson Chandler (who is there best 3 point shooter) The only reason they are willing to do this is Ty Lawson wants out of town and will get a trade so will Faried.
#3 Trade Frye and Dedmon and a future 2nd round to the Pistons for #8 and take Stanley Johnson. I hate to lose dedmon but we have to do the deal before Charlotte because they WILL take Johnson if he's still there. Dedmon is the type of player that Stan loves and can develop and Frye is a shooter they need he was hurt most of his year here.
#4 Approach Jameer Nelson if he opts out with the league minimum to come home! If he says no then approach Jeremy Lin about rebuilding his brand with some young guys.
#5 Match offers for OQuin he's not done yet. Match offer for Harris. I don't think Harris will be here long but a long term contract makes him an asset while he builds value and we bring up young guys. If he exceeds expectations we can alway keep him. If he doesn't then in two years or so we can trade him because we won't be getting high picks anymore!!
Starting lineup would look like this:
Payton / Lin ~ Nelson / Fournier
Oladipo / Fournier / Johnson
Harris / Chandler / Gordon
WCS / Gordon / Oquin
Vucevic / WCS / Oquin
This would give us depth, veteran presence and eventually as players age out or become to expensive a back up plan. When Vuc comes up for renewal if it's too much trade him or let him walk and by then you can move WCS to Center and Gordon (who will finally have his man body) to Power Forward.
