FanPost

Derrick Williams interviews w/Suns, Celtics?

In the Strib piece about Derrick Williams' interview at the combine with the Wolves, it's also mentioned that he also interviewed with the Suns and the Celtics. There seems to be no other logical reason than interest in him as a player that these teams would interview him. With that in mind, what would they need to do to pry that pick away from the Wolves?


I think the Celtics actually have more to offer the Wolves than the Suns do, if only for one reason: Rajon Rondo. The only possible reason why the Celtics would want Williams is if they are willing to offer Rondo; they can't offer cap space/young players with potential/high draft picks, and they don't have a lot of guys under contract for next year with the exception of the Big Four and deadweight like Jermaine O'Neal (though they do have a restricted tag on Jeff Green). It might be the case that they'd want more than the #2 for Rondo, and in that case, it would probably depend on who else the Wolves needed to give up. My questions on this are the following:

  • Are there any other pieces besides Rondo that would be acceptable to get from the Celtics for the #2?
  • How much, if anything, should the Wolves need to package with the #2 to get Rondo?
  • Is it worth trading for Rondo? My assumption is that he's not a guy who can lead a team on his own and relies a lot on the Celtics' veterans to absorb the heat he might receive from his inconsistent play.

Now, the Suns: obviously, they have the #13 pick and could also offer future firsts, which might be valuable if they trade Steve Nash and start over, especially in a draft with more available talent where the Wolves might be able to get a better player than Williams. Beyond that, the only asset I can see them having is Marcin Gortat; in addition, they've been loath to take back salary unless absolutely necessary, so dumping Darko or someone like that isn't a great fit. They have some interesting role players like Jared Dudley and Channing Frye, but they have no young prospects. That leaves Nash. We've all heard the rumors from earlier in the season, but I don't know how realistic they were. One way or another, though, he's got to be considered a possibility. Here are my questions on Phoenix:

  • Should the Wolves accept multiple first rounders for the #2 from the Suns?
  • If so, would they be better off taking the #13 this year or rolling the dice on multiple future picks? I'm not totally sure on this, but I don't think they could take on the #13 and next year's #1 from Phoenix because of the Stepien Rule, but I'm not totally sure about that.
  • Would Gortat/#13/a future 1st for #2/Darko be enough? I really like what Gortat did last year.
  • Are the Suns interested in offering the #13 and Nash for the #2, or would it just be Nash? Would either be an acceptable trade?