Is there time to discuss one more hypothetical trade before the 2020 NBA Draft arrives Wednesday?
Of course.
On Tuesday morning, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report presented the following deal:
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-Warriors get: Clint Capela and the No. 6 overall pick in the draft
-Atlanta Hawks get: Kevon Looney and the No. 2 overall pick in the draft
First and foremost, it's important to remind everybody that Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk was an assistant GM with the Warriors for five seasons before heading to Atlanta in May 2017. So there is a strong relationship there between the two front offices.
For the Warriors, they would need to be very high on Capela in order for this deal to happen. The 26-year-old is scheduled to make $16 million this season, $17.1 million next season and $18.2 million in 2022-23. In today's day and age, that's a lot of money to allocate to the center position.
Golden State Warriors
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Using the $17.2 million traded player exception to acquire Capela would increase the franchise's tax bill by a significant amount. But the penalties wouldn't be quite as steep because Golden State would be shedding Looney's $4.8 million salary in the process.
Before he was traded by the Houston Rockets to Atlanta in early February, Capela averaged 13.9 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 0.8 steals over 39 games. He hasn't yet suited up for the Hawks because he was dealing with plantar fasciitis and a bone bruise in his heel when the season was shut down March 11.
Capela is a fantastic defender, as he can protect the rim and defend in space on the perimeter. On the other end of the floor, he is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, and is a lob threat at all times.
Plain and simple, the No. 25 overall pick from the 2014 draft would be a great fit with Golden State.
But from the Hawks' perspective, they aren't going to part ways with Capela unless they absolutely covet one of this year's top draft prospects.
It takes two to tango.
The expectation for months has been that the Warriors will try hard to trade down in the lottery. But in the end, they might decide to stand pat and make a selection at No. 2.
RELATED: Kirk Lacob provides update on where Warriors' draft board stands
"Typically -- unless things are super obvious -- you're always looking for that last bit of information to break a tie or something like that," executive vice president of basketball operations Kirk Lacob told KNBR's Mark Willard on Monday night. "I think we have a pretty good idea of what our board is looking like, but there are certainly things that could change.
"We don't have all the information yet in terms of what teams would offer us, so that will factor into our decision making. And that probably will lead all the way up to draft day.
"But we feel like we're in a pretty comfortable spot."