Asset Inventory

[Carlos Danger]

Alright, I'm not part of the sky is falling group. I think this team will make the playoffs. I'm not convinced they will advance beyond the first round as constructed though. And I feel the same frustration as most on here with the crappy play to start the year. So let's look to the trade deadline as our next marker. What assets do we have to deal and what would be a realistic return?

I cannot see them trading KAT or Rudy. I feel the front office is way too invested in both those guys.

Anthony Edwards? I'm not saying I want to trade him. But we know you have to give to get, so I could see him as a chip - especially if he doesn't look like he's going to fit into the Twin Towers plan.

I can't see them trading McDaniels and I'm ok with that. Somebody has to play defense besides Rudy.

DLO....I'm fine trading him. But I feel his value is so low at this point...it might not even be worth it. I'm not a DLO fan, but if we traded Edwards, we might need his scoring.

Bench guys? Naz/Anderson/McLaughlin/Nowell/Prince? All useful, but not particularly valuable with regard to getting something back in trade. I could see possibly one or two as part of a package deal.

Rookies? Minot/Moore Jr. I could see one or both as add ins to sweeten potential deals. I don't think they have a ton of value on their own though.

So...realistically, based on what I'm outlining above - we have Edwards as our main chip with maybe a bench guy and a rookie to do a deal? Tell me I'm wrong.

[Q-is-here]

I think there are really only two levers the front office can pull during this season (the offseason is another matter). One is the head coach and the other is DLO, not necessarily in that order. There is no way Ant gets traded.

As for the totality of assets we have (players and future picks), I don't think the situation is nearly as dire as some folks make it out to be. If we need to do a major re-set this offseason, the sum of our current parts are definitely greater than the whole. We absolutely have players that other teams would put quite a high value on.

Think of it like a private equity firm or activist investor would look at a company with disparate product lines and operations, each of which by itself contains value, but as a whole doesn't fit well together. What happens is that the company gets broken up into multiple pieces via spinouts or asset sales with the end result being a much more focused core business.

If TC ends up going "whoops, my fault, we messed up!" this offseason, he has plenty of options to hit the re-set button and still put together a competitive team in 2023/24. I think the question he needs to answer is what are the core assets that he absolutely wants to keep and re-tool around. I would think most here would say Ant and Jaden. Everything else would be for sale.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think there are really only two levers the front office can pull during this season (the offseason is another matter). One is the head coach and the other is DLO, not necessarily in that order. There is no way Ant gets traded.

As for the totality of assets we have (players and future picks), I don't think the situation is nearly as dire as some folks make it out to be. If we need to do a major re-set this offseason, the sum of our current parts are definitely greater than the whole. We absolutely have players that other teams would put quite a high value on.

Think of it like a private equity firm or activist investor would look at a company with disparate product lines and operations, each of which by itself contains value, but as a whole doesn't fit well together. What happens is that the company gets broken up into multiple pieces via spinouts or asset sales with the end result being a much more focused core business.

If TC ends up going "whoops, my fault, we messed up!" this offseason, he has plenty of options to hit the re-set button and still put together a competitive team in 2023/24. I think the question he needs to answer is what are the core assets that he absolutely wants to keep and re-tool around. I would think most here would say Ant and Jaden. Everything else would be for sale.

If Towns is out for an extended stretch, or at least the next couple of weeks, could it be the most important stretch of the season... not only for playoff chances... but also to determine what happens this summer?

[Q-is-here]

I think there are really only two levers the front office can pull during this season (the offseason is another matter). One is the head coach and the other is DLO, not necessarily in that order. There is no way Ant gets traded.

As for the totality of assets we have (players and future picks), I don't think the situation is nearly as dire as some folks make it out to be. If we need to do a major re-set this offseason, the sum of our current parts are definitely greater than the whole. We absolutely have players that other teams would put quite a high value on.

Think of it like a private equity firm or activist investor would look at a company with disparate product lines and operations, each of which by itself contains value, but as a whole doesn't fit well together. What happens is that the company gets broken up into multiple pieces via spinouts or asset sales with the end result being a much more focused core business.

If TC ends up going "whoops, my fault, we messed up!" this offseason, he has plenty of options to hit the re-set button and still put together a competitive team in 2023/24. I think the question he needs to answer is what are the core assets that he absolutely wants to keep and re-tool around. I would think most here would say Ant and Jaden. Everything else would be for sale.

If Towns is out for an extended stretch, or at least the next couple of weeks, could it be the most important stretch of the season... not only for playoff chances... but also to determine what happens this summer?

I think it will be interesting to see how the team holds up without KAT and how that might change the front office calculus of whether he stays in our "core" or not. But I'm not about to predict how it might go. He's a perennial top 15 player (well, may be not his year so far) that generally does try to play hard and within the team concept. It's just hard for me to see much upside to THIS year's squad with him out of the lineup.

[thedoper]

I could totally see them trading Towns next season. I almost think this could have been Connelly's plan all along. If you were going to move the team to Ant, you need a reason to show Kat's deficiencies. The early results are in, and KAT can't really play the 4, and you wont get the same value for Rudy moving forward. Kat would bring a nice haul to build around Ant, Jaden, and Gobert.

[Phenom]

I think you have to look seriously at moving Nowell and Reid if they are playing well and it seems they will price themselves out of a new contract here. Might be worth moving them for a vet on a bad team that is looking for some upside guys.

[Carlos Danger]

I think there are really only two levers the front office can pull during this season (the offseason is another matter). One is the head coach and the other is DLO, not necessarily in that order. There is no way Ant gets traded.

As for the totality of assets we have (players and future picks), I don't think the situation is nearly as dire as some folks make it out to be. If we need to do a major re-set this offseason, the sum of our current parts are definitely greater than the whole. We absolutely have players that other teams would put quite a high value on.

Think of it like a private equity firm or activist investor would look at a company with disparate product lines and operations, each of which by itself contains value, but as a whole doesn't fit well together. What happens is that the company gets broken up into multiple pieces via spinouts or asset sales with the end result being a much more focused core business.

If TC ends up going "whoops, my fault, we messed up!" this offseason, he has plenty of options to hit the re-set button and still put together a competitive team in 2023/24. I think the question he needs to answer is what are the core assets that he absolutely wants to keep and re-tool around. I would think most here would say Ant and Jaden. Everything else would be for sale.

I'm actually reading it differently than you. I see the Rudy trade as TC going all in on this year. Rudy/KAT are not getting any younger. When you trade all those picks, there's really no other way to read that move than we want to win NOW!

I'm sure many of us have been around enough executives to know they are not the type of personalities to say "whoops, my fault, I messed up". In my experience, they are far more likely to double down to prove they were right all along. That's why I feel like there could be another big move at the trade deadline (I'm sure most on here expect something to be done). Edwards is really the only value piece we have to trade that would bring back another very good player. Again, not saying I want to trade him or just dump him for anything. But if we packaged Edwards, Naz or Nowell plus Minot or Moore Jr, that certainly would bring back a couple valuable pieces. And if those pieces are better suited to "win now", I wouldn't be shocked if TC pulled the trigger.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm curious if Jaden's foul issues would go away if he played in a big NE market. I believe that a majority of the fouls he commits are marginal at best. PJ Tucker doesn't get called for those fouls, and he makes twice the body contact Jaden does. Another reason it's hard to win in flyover country.

[Q-is-here]

I could totally see them trading Towns next season. I almost think this could have been Connelly's plan all along. If you were going to move the team to Ant, you need a reason to show Kat's deficiencies. The early results are in, and KAT can't really play the 4, and you wont get the same value for Rudy moving forward. Kat would bring a nice haul to build around Ant, Jaden, and Gobert.

I quibble with "KAT can't play the 4" because one could also say he can't play the 5. Ever see him try to battle JoVal or Embiid in the paint? Not pretty! Or how about his drop pick and roll coverage? Disaster! He fits with Gobert in a lot of ways in my opinion.

In my mind the reason for trading KAT isn't about his deficiencies, but about the value he would bring back to the franchise in a trade such that Connelly could reshape the roster around Ant and Jaden without completely tanking next season.

[Q-is-here]

I think there are really only two levers the front office can pull during this season (the offseason is another matter). One is the head coach and the other is DLO, not necessarily in that order. There is no way Ant gets traded.

As for the totality of assets we have (players and future picks), I don't think the situation is nearly as dire as some folks make it out to be. If we need to do a major re-set this offseason, the sum of our current parts are definitely greater than the whole. We absolutely have players that other teams would put quite a high value on.

Think of it like a private equity firm or activist investor would look at a company with disparate product lines and operations, each of which by itself contains value, but as a whole doesn't fit well together. What happens is that the company gets broken up into multiple pieces via spinouts or asset sales with the end result being a much more focused core business.

If TC ends up going "whoops, my fault, we messed up!" this offseason, he has plenty of options to hit the re-set button and still put together a competitive team in 2023/24. I think the question he needs to answer is what are the core assets that he absolutely wants to keep and re-tool around. I would think most here would say Ant and Jaden. Everything else would be for sale.

I'm actually reading it differently than you. I see the Rudy trade as TC going all in on this year. Rudy/KAT are not getting any younger. When you trade all those picks, there's really no other way to read that move than we want to win NOW!

I'm sure many of us have been around enough executives to know they are not the type of personalities to say "whoops, my fault, I messed up". In my experience, they are far more likely to double down to prove they were right all along. That's why I feel like there could be another big move at the trade deadline (I'm sure most on here expect something to be done). Edwards is really the only value piece we have to trade that would bring back another very good player. Again, not saying I want to trade him or just dump him for anything. But if we packaged Edwards, Naz or Nowell plus Minot or Moore Jr, that certainly would bring back a couple valuable pieces. And if those pieces are better suited to "win now", I wouldn't be shocked if TC pulled the trigger.

I understand they went in all this year and I do think they will play it out, thus I don't see any big moves other than firing Finch and/or moving DLO. But I find the likelihood of them trading Ant in-season to be miniscule. He might be the only player on our roster selling tickets right now, despite his stagnant development this season.

TC might still be early enough in his tenure that he can afford a do-over. He may get air cover from our owners on such a move AND if our record is poor enough, fans will want him to do something versus doubling down.

It's unfortunate we even need to have this debate, but here we are....