Warriors-Rockets

[Golden State Warriors (Caleb)]

Warriors Trade:
Stephen Curry $22.97M (2027) (Warriors pay 3.5M in 2024) 

Rockets Trade:
Jalen Green $7.19M (2025) RFA 
AJ Griffin $2.59M (2026) RFA  
MIA 2024 1st
CHI 2024 2nd
NYK 2025 1st

Bittersweet moment for me.  It's tough to admit, but I failed Steph and it's time to start looking more towards the future to try and build a roster that can again compete for a title in a couple years.  JG is a ways a way, but I cannot deny the talent and am willing to remain patient. Still an AJ believer too.  Excited to see Free look towards competing next year, good dealing bro.   

[Free (Rockets)]

Rockets accept.

Hate to see Jalen go, I really do, he’s one of my favorite players and the first guy I drafted as the rockets. I still believe in him and think he’s going to be a future star, but I want to maximize Paolos ability to produce at a high level while he’s still on his rookie contract. Love AJ, he’s buried in Quinn’s rotation right now but when he gets a shot he’s gonna be so good. Able to get a guy like Curry without giving up Paolo/Herro/Amen/Own picks is huge. Excited to start moving onto the next phase of the rebuild and try to win some games next season. Super easy dealing with Caleb

[New York Knicks (jsood)]

Approve. Cool deal that makes sense for both teams given the direction they are heading. I like that Free is making a contending move but he’s got a ton of work to do building up depth and he did lose a lot of his extra picks in this deal. Hopefully this move sparks a new era in Houston of sharp FA moves and small trades around the edges, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I think I like the value for Cay and will lean slightly towards him winning this deal just because of the sheer amount of assets he got for a 36 year old Steph.

[Dallas Mavs (Kyle)]

Cool deal - think both of the big Houston trades this year have been a bit of a gun jump. Why deal cheap depth in DJJ then turn around and make a win now? Why trade your chips for a rookie Amen when they could’ve turned into better current production. With that said there’s a very real chance Free didn’t deal a single piece that becomes a difference maker in here so this isn’t the riskiest deal ever. Think Caleb probably could’ve targeted a deal where he got at least one surer thing, but guessing he likes these things all more than I do. Overall a pass and a fun deal made by a pair of GMs I really respect.

[Chicago Bulls (Charlie)]

Approve.

If I was trading Steph, I would be looking for a young guy that I'm confident can be 30+, a nice prospect or 2, and I'd want picks that could be good. Picks here aren't good, JG can maybe hover around 30 at peak? Just so tough for his archetype in here. AJ Griffin is a cool upside piece.

It's not a slam dunk for Caleb but this isn't the worst return in the world given the market for aging stars in here.

[Blazers GM (Tyler)]

Approve.

Rockets making their long-awaited push towards contention!

I really agree with a lot of what Kyle said here. The moves dating back to signing Richaun Holmes are a bit confusing. That contract is an albatross even considering our leagues soft cut rules. I don't think the Derrick Jones Jr. trade is a killer in the grand scheme of things because you aren't winning this year and probably not next, but those are the types of players and contracts that win you a title in this league. (e.g. Josh Jackson, Caleb Martin, etc.). Holding onto Paolo, Herro, Amen, and adding Steph into that mix with a few more firsts and some cap space is exciting heading into '24-'25, but this is where the GM job gets tough. Let's see what Free can do to improve on the fringes.

This is a sad, sad day in the Bay. With that said, I think that this is a pretty solid return in terms of "sexy" assets. I'm not the biggest JG fan but he's still young and could turn into something--just really hampered by our scoring as others have said. Those picks aren't A1, but who knows what they eventually turn into. Also that Bulls 2nd is practically a late first that Caleb gets to stick in his GL immediately.

Overall the timing of this deal is super odd for both parties imo but fun nonetheless.

[Orlando Magic GM (Sarge)]

Knowing how difficult it truly is to get full value back from aging stars in here, I see why Caleb is making this move. JG has all the talent in the world and I think his ceiling is higher than what chuck is projecting. I like AJ griffin a lot and honestly don’t think free makes this trade last year with how good he was looking. Snyder has been treating him like muff cabbage and I’m not sure why. Yeah, the firsts aren’t amazing and we all know Heats first will be 25ish range but there is still upside in that Knicks 25 first. A lot can change in a short amount of time in here. Overall, I think it’s a smart move by both owners. Caleb starts his inevitable rebuild, while free is now forced to compete. Fun deal all around

Approve

[San Antonio Spurs (Chris)]

Pass. Like it for wars, despite being even more down on Green than Chuck is; normally I'd agree regarding getting at least one piece that's more of a sure thing, but in Caleb's situation this makes sense to me, and green has enough upside and value in here to meet that criteria as a trade chip even if one dislikes his game as much as I do. More than that though, I kinda doubt there's much of a curry market in here despite how good he still is, and wars was in a tough spot regarding the quantity of future assets he holds in relation to where his team's currently at. Personally think he does well here addressing that, has more flexibility for other trades and/or just has to hope to hit on a few of those upside swings. In short, Curry needed to go and my gut is that it would've been very difficult to do better than this.

On Rockets' side, this is a big win on current overall value and he doesn't give up anything massive so I can't really hate, but... I just don't like it. Don't think Curry singlehandedly does enough to make him a true title threat before he's done, so the only way I see this being a real win for him is if he somehow flips Curry for a better set of assets than he gave, which is not gonna be easy