lipoli390 wrote:Camden wrote:Sacramento Kings:
- SG Buddy Hield (2-yrs, $8.7M -- $6.5M QO in 2020-21)
- C Kosta Koufos (1-yr, $8.7M)
- SG/SF Iman Shumpert (1-yr, $11.0M)
Minnesota Wolves:
- SF Andrew Wiggins (5-yrs, $146.5M)
- C Gorgui Dieng (3-yrs, $48.7M)
Interesting thought, Cam. I'd be more inclined to consider this one if Butler had signed the extension he was just offered. But it's not as attractive to me if Butler leaves as a FA next summer, which I'm convinced he will.
I'd do this trade regardless of the Jimmy Butler situation, honestly. I think it makes the team better now and in the long-term as I believe that Hield is already a better player and fit than Wiggins, and I think he's going to get closer to his ceiling than Wiggins will despite Wiggins having more potential. Potential means little if you believe a player won't come anywhere near reaching that peak.
PS: The Wolves currently sit at $121,734,381 in cap allocations for 2018-19 after signing Derrick Rose, Anthony Tolliver, Josh Okogie, and Keita Bates-Diop, according to Spotrac. That means we are $1,998,619 below the 2018 Luxury Tax threshold of $123,733,000 while having three roster spots available. After this hypothetical trade, Minnesota would sit at $104,898,090 with two available roster spots for the upcoming season. While we still wouldn't have cap space this summer, we would however have the money to use the rest of the MLE ($2,052,536) and the BAE ($3,382,000) to round out the roster and avoid the luxury tax.
Perhaps more importantly, Minnesota would have incredible cap flexibility next summer when there are plenty of impactful free agents available.