The moves that don't get made get scattered around in other discussions, but they always get mentioned for months if not years later. Can we post summaries of them. I'm specifically interested in why Boston and Phil Jackson did nothing. Reasons for other trades not happening and their best offers (if any) much appreciated.
Boston's decision to do nothing is interesting to me. Paul George was the other available star to be traded, but Amick said that he was hellbent on going to the Lakers and the whole league knows it. Boston probably thought it wasn't worth the risk. I also heard (read somewhere) that they were trying to acquire a star WITHOUT using their pick which is insane if true. I think in the end they just liked their assets more than what was out there. Bulls are the most reluctant team to trade and when they do make trades they are not good ones. So Butler was probably never going anywhere. Paul George's clear intent on playing for the Lakers probably scared some teams away. Right now Boston is sitting on the #1 pick...what is interesting is that last time they were in this situation and made trades to put together a big three. I wonder if in the end they just realized that a team of Paul George/Butler + Horford + Thomas isn't going to be enough to beat the Cavs much less the warriors. Not sure of their cap situation, but if it is possible that they can go after Hayward AND collect the inevitable top 5 pick from the Nets then it makes a lot more sense to just sit on their assets. Their championship window IMO is wide open, especially considering Lebron's age. Had they made a trade it would have gotten a little tighter.
Was Boston frozen out of the Cousins trade? Not to say they give up a Top 3 pick, but we heard Divac say that they purposefully did not call around because the owner didn't want rumors flying about The Franchise in a scenario where he does nothing. Divac made it sound like they researched who had what and what they'd consider, then called those specific teams only.
Most people think Divac didn't know what he was doing. That "didn't want rumors" thing was just an excuse for not doing his due diligence to find the best deal he could. That, or the owner is an idiot, which looks very much like it too.
Pacer's asking price was too much. Celtic's depth would have been obliterated. But then again, can you even overpay for a superstar?
I'm not really sure the Celtics had interest in Cousins...i thought they had but, Stevens said the day after Boogie got traded that he has no interest in coaching Cousins...i mean, it seems a really straightforward answer about a guy you'll have the chance to sign in a year... All the George thing still seems a bit strange to me...weeks ago he said he wants to win and nothing else matters. Yesterday, first rumors said he wants to win with the Pacers or go to the Lakers (so, suddenly he doesn't give a **** about winning)...rumors after said that he didn't like the Nuggets as a destination because while he respects the work they're doing, he sees no chance to win there due to the Warriors and Spurs (like they're some sort of unbeatable team) presence in the West...i mean, and he would go to the Lakers which is the worst team in the West? Seems like he just didn't want to get traded at all at this point, maybe cause he didn't want to risk and being on a bad/mediocre team...
The story going around is that they were worried that Vivek would change his mind lol. It also sounds like the owner just really loved Buddy Hield, if it is true that he thinks he's Steph Curry then it makes sense that if he's offered Buddy he'd jump on it.
The winners are usually those never made to acquire players. The losers are usually those that suppose to let go of the players when they are expiring contracts and your team is going no where.
[ArizonaSports.com - John Gambodoro - 2/20/2017] Suns made the best move of all by not trading for DeMarcus Cousins [...] the Suns were somewhat interested in Cousins, did inquire about him and had internal discussions about him in a trade surrounding T.J. Warren, Alex Len and a draft pick. [...] “We would have traded for him at the right price,” said McDonough. “We didn’t want to break up our young core to get him.” [...] One prominent NBA high ranking executive told me there are 25 teams in the league who wouldn’t take Cousins for free. And he was serious. ----- ----- ----- [MassLive.com - 2/22/2017] Boston Celtics trade rumors 2017: Is Jae Crowder 'the main sticking point' in Jimmy Butler talks During an NBATV interview Tuesday, Aldridge said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge "does not want to give up Jae Crowder." "That's I think the main sticking point there is that he just does not want to give up Jae Crowder in the deal," Aldridge said. "And that's the guy that Chicago's insisting on right now in any package for Jimmy Butler." Aldridge later added: "I think it really comes down to Crowder. In terms of real, tangible players, I think Danny would like to go into the playoffs with (Marcus) Smart, (Avery) Bradley (and) Crowder defensively along with Butler, (Al) Horford (and Isaiah) Thomas offensively. I think he feels like that's the only way they're going to compete, or be able to compete, with a team like Cleveland. And Chicago, I think rightly, is saying, 'Look, if you want our best player we're not going to just do it for picks. We're not going to just take guys that you're not going to keep on your roster. We want a guy that's going to be able to grow with us along with one of those high picks.'"
In this case I think the Pacers are losers. They should have done something to show PG that they are still in a win now mode. Next year he's going to be on the block for most of it I'm betting. They can still get the 4th seed, even a minor move for a rotational player would have been a bit of good-will towards their star player. If it is true that they are going to build the team around Myles Turner, I don't get it. Get Paul George some help, please. Can East teams actually try to build super teams too? Instead of just jettison their star players to Western teams?
How come Brandon Knight didn't go anywhere? There isn't a better player doing less right now in the league I don't think.
Maybe Knight will be moved in the off-season? Suns GM comments this morning... [ArizonaSports.com - Adam Green - 2/24/2017] Suns GM: Monster deal was offered, but big trade would be more likely in summer “It didn’t really get serious, but one team mentioned three very good players — probably their three best players — for three of our top players, and it would have been a blockbuster deal,” he said. “We thought about it briefly, and at the end of the day decided not to pull the trigger. This would have been kind of a franchise-altering thing for us, in terms of a direction shift, so any time those discussions come up we obviously wanted more time to analyze it. Maybe there’s some other version of it we can reconstruct in the summer.” Pressed for a bit more detail on the trade that never happened, McDonough said it was an Eastern Conference team, and with that feel free to wonder and speculate what it might have been. [...] The Suns also never found a taker for guard Brandon Knight, who was also rumored to be on the trading block. McDonough did not want to get into whether a deal was close or not, and had little interest in going too far into what was going on with regards to every individual player on the roster.
Bird probably view PG is closing to the Danny Granger that Indy let go rather than the PG that was in his Prime. Hard to blame him that, the Pacers was falling apart even before he broke his leg and his game is getting close to the like of Melo, a jump shooter. If the price is right, I am sure Indy will send him to the Lakers for some young talents. But obviously, both teams know that PG isn't that kind of superstar like Currey or Durant or Harden, and no one will trade their farm for him.
I am sure a lot of "no-go" deals that got discussed will be revisited this summer. Generally that's how it goes. The trade deadline forces GMs to get talking, talk terms and parameters, and then if they pull back, at least the teams have an idea of what it might take. They can then take the time to re-evaluate things and pull the trigger on the deal in the summer. If I am Paul George or Jimmy Butler and look at the actions/or inactions of their clubs, I would be thinking WTF right now. And how about Detroit? Orlando? What the hell is the direction?
yeah, that's not really even a story. Divac said as much in his long presser. He said the owner was flip-flopping on what to do with The Franchise, and last thing they wanted was to create a media circus around broadcasting a "bring your best offer" campaign, then regretting it all and wanting to just keep him. what wasn't clear for me (but answered in this thread) was whether Boston was on the list of teams that had interesting pieces to call about.
an Eastern team offered their three best players? With value around the package of Bledsoe, Booker + ? The only I can think of that is willing to just trade all of their 3 best players like that is the Magic.
