I love Gordon on this team, but if this is in fact what Morey is thinking, he is absolutely right. This is the best way to secure a 2nd star while maintaining a slight hope of acquiring a 3rd. I'd imagine Gordon goes to a 3rd team willing to send a couple of young guys to the Pacers. He has that kind of value being one of the deadliest 3pt shooters in the NBA. Unless of course the Pacers owner is against tanking, in which case they get a nice player in Gordon. As far as our filler, it would most likely be Dekker. We're then left with Harrell and our 2 2nd rounders to try to dump Anderson. Trading Ariza for cap space will be a walk in the park, Troy Williams is an adequate backup. Might be we trade Ariza and our 2 2nd rounders for a late first rounder, and then use that late first rounder to dump Anderson and pursue Paul/Hayward/Millsap. Despite the hit to our depth we can still come out of this with 6th man of the year candidate Lou Williams off the bench along with Nene. Minimum players would flock here if we were able to pull off this kind of miracle. And yes, I'm aware it would take a miracle.
Then we can sign George Hill to complete Lebron James Harden Chris Paul George Hill. Bill Worrell will probably just retire mid-game one after trying to call that game.
I would see if they would bite on a deal offering Ariza and Bev. I think the math would work and I don't think they'll be offered better.
PG and Harden are both from LA. Maybe Harden can convince him to stay. Those two alone would change the complexion of the team and make us a lot stronger on both ends.
Giving up a lot of assets for a great, but rental player? This is what you call increasing your risk profile. If there's a legitimate offer with Indy, Morey has to pull the trigger. CP3 over Beverley is a big upgrade. PG13 over Ariza is a MASSIVE upgrade.
I wouldn't give up E.G. I would give up Lou b4 i have up Gordon. Gordon was too valuable for us last year but than again in order to win we must get true superstars and legit role players which we already have.
Interestingly, Woj and Marks didn't even mention Houston as an option in their latest podcast today. Basically limited it to Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Miami.
This is what would be interesting to know though, because i think we shouldn't be that far from being able to have enough salary to sign a guy like Patterson Spoiler: From the thread larsv posted few days ago: As some of you know, I've shared inside info here before. There was a thread at seasons end where we discussed how Patrick's parents were saying good bye to everyone. Since the finals are now over, now is a good time to discuss our own FAs. A couple of things on pdpatt: - Patterson blamed Casey for not being used properly, and felt lost as last season went on. He especially struggled with his place on the team after the trade deadline. - There is mutual interest between Houston and Patterson. Good chance they agree to a wink wink deal in principle in the coming days. Obviously some of this may not be a surprise, but just wanted to share what I've heard from direct contacts. FWIW, Kyle has respect issues with Casey too, but it's not antagonistic ...like: We have something like 12/13M in cap space as today so, a trade like Gordon + Harrell + Taylor + Brown (with the pick/s) for George would leave us at something around 8/10M. If we would be able to sign Patterson with that money, we should still be able to to open up enough cap space for Paul or at least to sign & trade for him with Anderson (20M), Ariza (7M) and Lou (7M) contracts...in fact, Anderson + Ariza or Lou and another filler like Wiltjer/Qi might be enough to keep one between Trevor and Lou... This might also get us the MLE right? Not sure this is right but i guess it would be a dream scenario at this point... @BimaThug would this work salary wise?
I have one major concern with George. What kind of character do you have to have to insist on joining a volatile young talentless team like the Lakers one year before you're a free agent? To me it screams of "f*** winning, I just want to live in LA". Either that, or EXTREME stupidity. My insistence on acquiring him is centered on a refusal to believe that a player in his late 20's whose team has always come short who has had a major injury will leave a contender for a possible contender.
If you get his bird rights (and play in a state with no income tax), you've certainly got a chance to keep him.
What Woj said on his podcast is that the feeling around the league is that basically all of the top players have realized they have to find a way to team up. The reason George wants LA, aside from being from there, is that he believes he'll never have a problem getting great players to join him there. He doesn't want to be chasing guys to team up, thinks he can be the first domino in LA and then others will follow. Apparently Melo, Lebron, etc. are all of the same mindset are "allegedly" discussing with each other (not them specifically but just the great players in general) what situations that can team up in.
gordon can be traded for assets because he is locked up on a great contract for over $10 million less than love, can shoot well, and plays defense. he is worth about the same as kevin love. the two picks make it easy to pick us over cleveland who im sure does not have any picks left.
ClutchFans will get their true wish then. George departs, Harden departs soon after, Rockets sit on the sideline while GS/CLE "dominate" & we rebuild! Right?
Well if we have deals in place to sign him outright, the Clippers might be more inclined to play ball. That way they get something, and we get the MLE