JWoo's Top 10 Players Who Need New Homes
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jwoo
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JWoo's Top 10 Players Who Need New Homes
It's Day 60 and a lot of trades have already happened. Fun. Let's not stop there. I stopped short of doing fake trades but cooked up a fun list of guys who I think should very obviously get traded at some point in the not-too-far future.
10. LeBron James, Philadelphia 76ers
LeBron's agent Paul Rich has done a consistently horrendous job over the course of this man's 20-year SLN career in getting him away from DMo. Not sure what type of collateral Mr. Morrel has on the LeBron camp but this guy should have been on the move like 12 different times. The nerve on this man to post a LeBron trade block with my guy making $24m or whatever for two more years and clearly on the decline. HAVING SAID THIS: if there were any mildly competitive team out there with the ability to stomach the contract and yeet it with Bron for a year, he should be inexpensive.
Potential destinations: Detroit, Utah, San Antonio
9. Brandon Ingram, Vancouver Grizzlies
Much like real Brandon Ingram, Sim Brandon Ingram gets paid a lot to be just kind of OK. I think he's better than he's shown this year and would be best as a third banana somewhere, and there have to be enough wing-needy teams out there who could find some way to incentivize tanking Josh to move him for a pick and a mid-tier prospect or something like that. He's become an above-average rebounder and playable defender, which helps the bouts of inefficiency that are probably tied to his strength. He probably should be playing the 2. Someone go get this man.
Potential destinations: Cleveland, Minnesota, LA Clippers
8. Fred Van Vleet, Utah Jazz
The Jazz are only two drafts away from having their picks back, and FVV is the main thing of value Ralph has (Jordan Bell and Derrick Jones are also decent candidates for this list. Fred makes a ton of money but he's pretty good, and his turnovers may be spiked by being on a team that doesn't have much firepower to take volume/possessions out of his hands. The A defense and steals are attractive and someone out there could always use a point guard. The Jazz would want assets back and could probably break him into a few players and be more flexible/have cap space way sooner. Just has to be a team that can meet the price and also afford the contract.
Potential destinations: New Jersey, Minnesota, Sacramento
7. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
I know Cade was the No. 1 pick not that long ago but hear me out: the Pistons seem committed to Haliburton at point guard, as a result, we haven't seen what Cade can do at PG, but he's pretty turnover-prone even when not playing PG, so this puts his value in a tangible but sort of abstract zone to me. Factor in that Detroit will only be able to RFA tag one of Cade and Tyrese, and you wonder if maybe there's a case for the Pistons to try and bring back either a better-fitting prospect or strong haul of assets and then ride with Haliburton and Bazley moving forward. I'm sure there are plenty of teams that would take a swing on Cade, but you also have to account for the fact he might do like 3-3.5 TOs per game at point guard, where he probably still needs to be playing.
Potential destinations: New Jersey, Toronto, Orlando
6. Steph Curry, Cleveland Cavaliers
Steph is old but still quite good and quite expensive. The Cavs are two drafts away from having their first round picks back, but could also really benefit from some added flexibility that might stem from a Curry trade. Again, it's hard to find teams that can pay him, meet the price, and justify adding an old-ass stud PG, but I'd bet there are some suitors out there if Mantypas got creative.
Potential destinations: LA Lakers, Portland, Utah
5. Zion Williamson, New Jersey Nets
Still probably on the wrong side of good, but a player who is due for a change of scenery nonetheless, I feel like some GM out there should have the balls to take a shot on Zion and see if he can get any better. It would take a very specific type of team to insulate him, and it's questionable what ceiling that team would have — he probably got boned by how he was designed more than any elite prospect of this era, frankly, and needed better TCs — but I feel like someone out there has to have the balls to do it. Shit, what if GX had traded for Zion to give 100 potential instead of Michael Porter, that would have been fun as hell lol. Some mid-tier team should pay a little bit and try it out.
Potential destinations: Utah, Philadelphia, Detroit
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Milwaukee Bucks
The latest player to fall prey to the Lou Williams honorary "I'm designed as a point guard but keep getting played at shooting guard and keep winding up playing with other star point guards who get to play point guard instead of me" fallacy. Shai is fun and good, but he's not getting maximized next to Kyrie. His career stats are a little hard to parse because his role has been changing over the years, but I want to see some team just commit to putting him at point guard full time. He won't be cheap but he's still not very old and it would be interesting. Is there a trade out there that gets the Bucks over the top as a contender with Kyrie?
Potential destinations: Orlando, Sacramento, Toronto (only if I had more cap flexibility, sadface)
3. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
I always fell on the side of the "KAT isn't that great" argument, but hey, look, he's having maybe the best season of his career right now at age 28 with three years left on his deal. For some reason Pankin refuses to let anyone out of his clutches, but this is probably a really good time to think about it. If it were me I would have tanked like three seasons ago in Ben's position — but also, they're three games over .500 now and better than they were last year, albeit without a high ceiling. I've said this before but Minnesota should either push a pick or two in to go get actual help for their two stars, or they should move one (or both) just for the sake of knowing what that looks like. Alas.
Potential destinations: Golden State, Milwaukee, LA Clippers
2. Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
I swear to god am over my angst from dealing this man away but I will say that for some reason he's become one of those players who posts consistently insane stats and then gets treated like a second-class citizen by the market. Someone should go get him and win a championship, lol. He has no weaknesses!
Potential destinations: Indiana, Phoenix, Portland
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Minnesota Timberwolves
Much like KAT, Giannis is having his best season in a really long time except that he does 3.6 turnovers per game. 10 years into his career, my man has probably hit his peak, but fuck, all I want is to see him on a team that's committed to playing an inside offense and built around him. There's not a tonnnn of time left for that to happen, but there's enough time if Pankin looses his grip and lets the Freak move on. If he doesn't do that, then go get him some more help! Please Ben!!!
Potential destinations: Honestly, no idea, but someone should free him
10. LeBron James, Philadelphia 76ers
LeBron's agent Paul Rich has done a consistently horrendous job over the course of this man's 20-year SLN career in getting him away from DMo. Not sure what type of collateral Mr. Morrel has on the LeBron camp but this guy should have been on the move like 12 different times. The nerve on this man to post a LeBron trade block with my guy making $24m or whatever for two more years and clearly on the decline. HAVING SAID THIS: if there were any mildly competitive team out there with the ability to stomach the contract and yeet it with Bron for a year, he should be inexpensive.
Potential destinations: Detroit, Utah, San Antonio
9. Brandon Ingram, Vancouver Grizzlies
Much like real Brandon Ingram, Sim Brandon Ingram gets paid a lot to be just kind of OK. I think he's better than he's shown this year and would be best as a third banana somewhere, and there have to be enough wing-needy teams out there who could find some way to incentivize tanking Josh to move him for a pick and a mid-tier prospect or something like that. He's become an above-average rebounder and playable defender, which helps the bouts of inefficiency that are probably tied to his strength. He probably should be playing the 2. Someone go get this man.
Potential destinations: Cleveland, Minnesota, LA Clippers
8. Fred Van Vleet, Utah Jazz
The Jazz are only two drafts away from having their picks back, and FVV is the main thing of value Ralph has (Jordan Bell and Derrick Jones are also decent candidates for this list. Fred makes a ton of money but he's pretty good, and his turnovers may be spiked by being on a team that doesn't have much firepower to take volume/possessions out of his hands. The A defense and steals are attractive and someone out there could always use a point guard. The Jazz would want assets back and could probably break him into a few players and be more flexible/have cap space way sooner. Just has to be a team that can meet the price and also afford the contract.
Potential destinations: New Jersey, Minnesota, Sacramento
7. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
I know Cade was the No. 1 pick not that long ago but hear me out: the Pistons seem committed to Haliburton at point guard, as a result, we haven't seen what Cade can do at PG, but he's pretty turnover-prone even when not playing PG, so this puts his value in a tangible but sort of abstract zone to me. Factor in that Detroit will only be able to RFA tag one of Cade and Tyrese, and you wonder if maybe there's a case for the Pistons to try and bring back either a better-fitting prospect or strong haul of assets and then ride with Haliburton and Bazley moving forward. I'm sure there are plenty of teams that would take a swing on Cade, but you also have to account for the fact he might do like 3-3.5 TOs per game at point guard, where he probably still needs to be playing.
Potential destinations: New Jersey, Toronto, Orlando
6. Steph Curry, Cleveland Cavaliers
Steph is old but still quite good and quite expensive. The Cavs are two drafts away from having their first round picks back, but could also really benefit from some added flexibility that might stem from a Curry trade. Again, it's hard to find teams that can pay him, meet the price, and justify adding an old-ass stud PG, but I'd bet there are some suitors out there if Mantypas got creative.
Potential destinations: LA Lakers, Portland, Utah
5. Zion Williamson, New Jersey Nets
Still probably on the wrong side of good, but a player who is due for a change of scenery nonetheless, I feel like some GM out there should have the balls to take a shot on Zion and see if he can get any better. It would take a very specific type of team to insulate him, and it's questionable what ceiling that team would have — he probably got boned by how he was designed more than any elite prospect of this era, frankly, and needed better TCs — but I feel like someone out there has to have the balls to do it. Shit, what if GX had traded for Zion to give 100 potential instead of Michael Porter, that would have been fun as hell lol. Some mid-tier team should pay a little bit and try it out.
Potential destinations: Utah, Philadelphia, Detroit
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Milwaukee Bucks
The latest player to fall prey to the Lou Williams honorary "I'm designed as a point guard but keep getting played at shooting guard and keep winding up playing with other star point guards who get to play point guard instead of me" fallacy. Shai is fun and good, but he's not getting maximized next to Kyrie. His career stats are a little hard to parse because his role has been changing over the years, but I want to see some team just commit to putting him at point guard full time. He won't be cheap but he's still not very old and it would be interesting. Is there a trade out there that gets the Bucks over the top as a contender with Kyrie?
Potential destinations: Orlando, Sacramento, Toronto (only if I had more cap flexibility, sadface)
3. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
I always fell on the side of the "KAT isn't that great" argument, but hey, look, he's having maybe the best season of his career right now at age 28 with three years left on his deal. For some reason Pankin refuses to let anyone out of his clutches, but this is probably a really good time to think about it. If it were me I would have tanked like three seasons ago in Ben's position — but also, they're three games over .500 now and better than they were last year, albeit without a high ceiling. I've said this before but Minnesota should either push a pick or two in to go get actual help for their two stars, or they should move one (or both) just for the sake of knowing what that looks like. Alas.
Potential destinations: Golden State, Milwaukee, LA Clippers
2. Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
I swear to god am over my angst from dealing this man away but I will say that for some reason he's become one of those players who posts consistently insane stats and then gets treated like a second-class citizen by the market. Someone should go get him and win a championship, lol. He has no weaknesses!
Potential destinations: Indiana, Phoenix, Portland
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Minnesota Timberwolves
Much like KAT, Giannis is having his best season in a really long time except that he does 3.6 turnovers per game. 10 years into his career, my man has probably hit his peak, but fuck, all I want is to see him on a team that's committed to playing an inside offense and built around him. There's not a tonnnn of time left for that to happen, but there's enough time if Pankin looses his grip and lets the Freak move on. If he doesn't do that, then go get him some more help! Please Ben!!!
Potential destinations: Honestly, no idea, but someone should free him
Last edited by jwoo on March 18th, 2025, 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
free healthcare has never been more important
Aaron Gordon’s per 36 over the last 2 sims:
26.8 pts 11.4 reb 3.3 ast 3.5 blk 1.1 stl 0.8 tov 8.4 fta
26.8 pts 11.4 reb 3.3 ast 3.5 blk 1.1 stl 0.8 tov 8.4 fta
Have tried for KAT, Giannis, FVV and Shai and no one wants to talk to me 
#freed #ThankYou4YourServiceMerv wrote: Today, 7:35 am Aaron Gordon’s per 36 over the last 2 sims:
26.8 pts 11.4 reb 3.3 ast 3.5 blk 1.1 stl 0.8 tov 8.4 fta
KAT seems cool but Minnesota doing big thangz
Last edited by Clinton on March 18th, 2025, 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Santa Cruz Warriors NDL Champs: 2008, 2012, 2014
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mantypas/CavsCzar
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Cade for Steph who says no? (the cap sheet and the pistons lol)
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