Adrian Payen

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Wolfson about Neal: "I can tell you this: his camp will fight for a buyout. We'll see if Flip budges. Flip likes him. Made a run at him in FA."

[AbeVigodaLive]

Does Neal have much leverage? He's been truly awful this season.

Obviously, with the "personal leave" he's pushing the issue immediately. F him. He's a third rate rotation player. He doesn't deserve much of anything.

[60WinTim]

I agree, Abe. Neal has been really bad this year. Oddly enough, he had spike in production when he was traded to Charlotte last year. Maybe he'll see something similar with us?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

My opinion: Neal never suits up for the Wolves.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Did the Wolves just trade for another version of this guy? Never forget... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXGR2CnVBsU

[mrhockey89]

On the trade for Payne. I believe there are potential positives and potential negatives.

Positives: Cheap, young (at least to the NBA) player without much experience and a decent ceiling. Gives us more competition on 2nd contracts when it comes to determining if we want to keep him or Bennett, or both. Worst case he's a bust and is cheap anyway. It cost us a pick that likely wouldn't have been any better anyway. Gives Flip a cheap look at a player he wanted.

Negatives: Less important than not having the future lotto protected first is that we don't have it if we were to need it for future trade talks. Also, Payne may be a net liability and never become a good player, in which it's a waste.

Bottom line: The MAIN reason I like this trade as well as the Moe Williams trade actually has less to do with the players but what it signals...and that Flip's looking to go into total development mode for the rest of the year. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if we'd actually be any better off in this current draft drafting #1 vs #5. but either way, by going younger like we did it's likely going to make sure we don't accidentally slide out of a top 5 pick. And for that, I'm excited about the possibilities. The one guy that I haven't seen play yet but I'm most intrigued about is Stanley Johnson. From a fit standpoint, I think he would be nearly ideal. We'd have our 1-3 and 5 slots all locked up for many years to come with Rubio at PG, Wiggins at SG, Johnson at SF, FA/Thad/Bennett/Payne at PF, and Dieng/Pek at C. That team would genuinely excite me as a team to build into a contender in the West if the pieces end up working out. As exciting as it would to have another offensive stud at C or SG, I think the team will ultimately need to be able to shut teams out on the defensive end if we're going to be more than just a 4 seed exciting team.

So I sorta turned this trade issue into a draft reply, but I think there's a link there as Payne getting playing time would likely keep the ceiling for this team more limited this year.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Damn. If Flip was a tad bit more patient, we could have pursued Enes Kanter, who I like a lot more than Payne.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I don't know Cam. His stats are middling and his on/off numbers over the years suggest the Jazz have always performed better when he's on the bench (except for his second season).

On the other hand, he's a big body with some skills. Just not sure he moves the needle much.

[Volans19]

Plus he is a RFA this year which might mean he could be a half year rental

[kekgeek]

Plus his agent thinks he is a max player