Welcome back to the Royal Mailbag: Trade Machine edition! I read through every trade, and as long as the rules were followed (the most commonly broken rule was a lack of link), I gave my thoughts on every trade proposed. We had a myriad of ideas, from the common Otto Porter deal, to a blockbuster Anthony Davis acquisition, and even a fascinating Gordon Hayward acquisition!

From Rob Hessing via the comments:

SAC: Otto Porter, Ian Mahinmi

WAS: Enes Kanter, Iman Shumpert, 2019 MIL 2^nd rounder

NYK: Zach Randolph, Kosta Koufos, $3M cash, 2019 MIN 2^nd rounder

Tim: The first issue with this trade is roster spots. New York is only giving up one player and accepting two, but they don’t have an extra roster spot. The easy solution is for the Knicks to send a low paid player to Washington as they do have a couple of extra slots.

Beyond that, I like the idea of the trade. Washington is probably pretty happy, as they receive a ton of salary relief and two quality players to make a playoff push in the pathetic Eastern Conference. New York is probably the toughest sell. They’re absorbing more money than they sent out, neither player received is particularly interesting to them, nor they didn’t shed any long-term contracts. From the Kings perspective, Vlade Divac has been reluctant to take on multi-year bad contracts, but securing the services of a player he tried to max just a year and an half ago may be worth the weight of Ian Mahinmi’s albatross of a deal.

From Arcthunder via the comments:

SAC: Jonathan Isaac, Terrence Ross

ORL: Kent Bazemore, Yogi Ferrell

ATL: Willie Cauley-Stein, Kosta Koufos, DJ Augustin, 2019 MIN 2^nd rounder

Tim: I don’t the Magic would ever give up on Isaac for an okay, overpaid shooting guard (Kent Bazemore) and a backup point guard (Yogi Ferrell). This deal would fall apart before it ever truly started.

From adamsite via the comments:

SAC: Nicolas Batum, Miles Bridges

CHA: Iman Shumpert, Kosta Koufos

Tim: Similar to the deal above, I just don’t see a sub-.500 team giving up on their recent lottery pick to shed bad salary, especially a team that’s in danger of losing their one star, Kemba Walker. Batum’s salary is a burden on the Hornets Front Office, but they’re much likelier (but still unlikely) to give up a future, lotto-protected first rounder than they are their prized rookie.

From TrojanCBB via the comments:

SAC: Trevor Ariza, Jeff Green, Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson

CLE: Ben McLemore, Skal Labissiere, Kosta Koufos

WAS: Zach Randolph

Tim: The Wizards gave up Kelly Oubre, a solid small forward who they had control over, to gain the locker room presence and on-court play of Trevor Ariza. He’s a prized member of their team, and I can’t foresee them moving him this season.

From CT29 via the comments:

SAC: Otto Porter, Ian Mahinmi

WAS: Nemanja Bjelica, Kosta Koufos, Zach Randolph, Ben McLemore, 2019 MIN 2^nd rounder

Tim: This one’s pretty fascinating. The Kings desperately need a quality small forward, and Otto Porter fills several major holes on the roster, but would they give up their starting power forward to do so? It all depends on how much value one believes Porter would bring to Sacramento, how ready Giles is for 25+ minutes per game, and how often Dave Joerger could get away with playing small-ball. Personally, I lean no on this deal because I’m giving up a significant asset in my current and future cap space, a decent asset in Bjelica, and a minor asset in the second rounder. Then again, this is probably a pretty realistic representation of a Porter acquisition: trades always cost more than the fan base wants to pay.

From Rsnbldsc via the comments:

SAC: Ian Mahinmi, top-5 protected 2019 first round pick

WAS: Willie Cauley-Stein, Frank Mason

Tim: This is the kind of play that we expected to execute throughout the summer and early in the year: taking on bad salary for draft assets. Vlade Divac has seemed less than enthused about that prospect as the season has progressed, and this kind of deal would probably be rejected. While the valuation/structure of the trade is fine, I don’t think the Kings would sacrifice an important (albeit replaceable) part of the starting five and not receive a rotational player in return. This kind of move might bump Sacramento out of the playoff race, exactly the opposite of what we’re looking for.

From betweentheyeyes via the comments:

SAC: Ryan Anderson, Josh Jackson

PHX: Zach Randolph, Ben McLemore, Frank Ntilikina

MEM: Enes Kanter, Dragan Bender

NYK: Chandler Parsons

Tim: The Knicks are looking to shed long-term salary to open up space for max contracts, so I’m not certain as to why they would take on the worst contract in the NBA while giving up a young guard and an expiring contract. I do like the idea of the Kings grabbing one of the Suns’ four million wings, but this deal isn’t the way that gets done.

From joeburg3 via the comments:

SAC: Otto Porter, Ian Mahinmi, Mike Muscala, 2019 PHI first rounder

PHI: Nemanja Bjelica: 2019 MIN second rounder

WAS: Willie Cauley-Stein, Frank Mason, Ben McLemore, Zach Randolph

Tim: The biggest issue with this trade is Nemanja Bjelica heading to Philadelphia. The only reason he’s on the Kings is because he backed out of his deal with the Sixers, so I don’t believe the organization would have any interest in his services. Aside from that bump in the road, I wouldn’t be willing to give up two starters, my cap space, a second rounder, and cheap emergency point guard option for Otto Porter – that’s too high of a price.

From gregsactly via the comments:

SAC: TJ Warren

PHX: Willie Cauley-Stein, Yogi Ferrell

Tim: Phoenix needs a long-term solution at point guard, but Yogi probably doesn’t represent that option. He’s really more of a shooting guard in a point guard’s body, and Willie Cauley-Stein would be a difficult fit next to or behind Deandre Ayton. Like gregsactly mentioned in his additional comments, there probably needs to be a third team taking on the Kings’ assets if Warren is going to head to Sacramento.

From taipei via the comments:

SAC: Anthony Davis, Otto Porter, Darius Miller, Jahlil Okafor

WAS: Jrue Holiday, Julius Randle, Zach Randolph

NOP: John Wall, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley, Iman Shumpert, Kosta Koufos, 2021 SAC first rounder

Tim: Well, that is certainly a blockbuster of all blockbusters. And as crazy as this sounds, I wouldn’t even consider this deal – mainly due to Anthony Davis’ soon-to-expire contract. He’s gone after next season, likely headed to the Lakers, and mortgaging the future for less than a year and a half of a top-10 player isn’t worth the sacrifice. 10/10 for originality!

From airmaxpg via the comments:

SAC: Otto Porter, Ian Mahimni, Thomas Bryant

WAS: Willie Cauley-Stein, Justin Jackson, Zach Randolph, Ben McLemore, Kosta Koufos

Tim: There’s probably a snag for both teams in this deal and they’re both young players who have started to take off. Washington’s Thomas Bryant has been balling out as of late, and he offers a cheap rotational player on a team full of giant contracts. On the flip side, Justin Jackson has been stellar over the past couple of months, so the front office may be hesitant to move him when he’s playing so well. If we remove both of those players, that’s a trade that may actually take place.

From efoss via the comments:

SAC: Ryan Anderson, Josh Jackson

PHX: Zach Randolph, Kosta Koufos, Frank Mason

Tim: The Phoenix Suns took on Ryan Anderson’s ridiculous deal to acquire young guard De’Anthony Melton, so it feels a little bit odd for them to turn around and give up a young asset to shed that salary. The Suns are also scheduled to have over $26 million in cap space this summer, so getting off that contract probably isn’t an immediate concern for them.

From Watt and Elcamino via the comments:

SAC: Ryan Anderson, Mikal Bridges

PHX: Zach Randolph, Ben McLemore, Yogi Ferrell

Tim: Yogi Ferrell isn’t the long-term solution at point guard that the Suns are looking for, so his value to their organization is minimal, especially in a tanking year. Beyond that, Mikal Bridges has significantly more value than expiring contracts. If Phoenix were to make the decision to move the young wing, they would get significantly better offers from several teams.

From EastBay1977 via the comments:

SAC: Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier

BOS: Kosta Koufos, Skal Labissiere

Tim: I would lick the bottom of Brad’s feet if Vlade was able to pull of this heist.

From spacetruckin55 via the comments:

SAC: Otto Porter

WAS: Willie Cauley-Stein, Justin Jackson, Zach Randolph

Tim: This is another interesting twist on an Otto Porter trade and quite realistic to boot. The Wizards would acquire an inexpensive option at small forward for the next few years (Trevor Ariza’s contract is expiring), a starting caliber center with RFA rights, and salary relief. I think both teams would consider this deal. Well done!

From TalentEvalNdsImprvMnt (say that 5 times fast) via the comments:

SAC: Gordon Hayward

BOS: Nikola Vucevic, Zach Randolph

ORL: Kosta Koufos, Terry Rozier, Skal Labissiere

Tim: This is probably the first trade that made me stop in my tracks and think for a minutes. I’m intrigued by the concept, although I don’t believe it would actually happen. Boston would improve their big man rotation dramatically, shed what could be a burdensome contract in Hayward, and opens up minutes for Tatum and Brown. Orlando gets a long-term solution at point guard, although Rozier is about to get paid, and the Kings take a huge gamble on Gordon Hayward’s health. I think the Magic would need to get additional assets in exchange for Vucevic, while the Celtics won’t give up on Hayward, but color me intrigued.