I'm sure NYK would be extremely eager to jump on that. Another one that works... http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=hnrd937
I wouldn't do that deal, not with this draft class anyway. I don't think either Russell or Simmons have the potential to reach where Harden's at now, and it's not like we're in a situation where we need to trade Harden (e.g. he's not bolting next summer or something). Lakers would do that in a heartbeat. They have a ton of cap space, great location, and they've always been about star power. Getting Harden makes them open to picking up other big name players.
Not really a trade post (mainly), but more of a FA target thought process as well. If we're going to have an offensive minded coach, at least get some shooters. mimic the Phoenix Suns of the mid 2000s. Q Rich, Joe Johnson, Raja Bell, Tim Thomas, James Jones, etc. Get shooters. Go after: Jerryd Bayless Anthony Morrow Evan Fournier Jared Dudley Marcus Thornton (again) Seth Curry Ryan Anderson Ersan Ilyasova You get the idea. Embrace the suck on defense, and let loose on offense.
Darren Collison and Omri Casspi are a couple of expiring contracts that would fit the MDA circus quite well.
I know we need shooting, but does that mean defense goes out the window? What are the 3&D players available? I'll list what I see... Tier 1 Conley Horford Batum Tier 2 Barnes Bazemore Dudley Crabbe Deng Tucker Lee Williams Delly Tier 3 Rush Douglas Price Temple Galloway
You listed Brandon Rush from GSW, but not Marreese Speights [12 playoff games thus far, 11 3fgm, 25 3fga, .440 3pt%] ?
I like these shooters.... But I think for MDA, Harrison Barnes fits the prototype and could spread the floor. I don't know if Ariza necessarily stays or if he wants to stretch the floor with Ariza at the 4. Maybe we deal Ariza? Durant, Conley, Horford, J.R Smith, Gasol, Clarkson, Marvin Williams. I feel we get a combination of two or three of these guys.
I'm no salary cap guru, but I'm in favor of a deal that sends Harden out and lands us somewhere in the #3 to #5 range in the Draft. Kris Dunn would look good in a Rockets uniform.
If we miss out on Durant and Horford, the goal should be to sign as many quality players as possible to fair, long term contracts. That would set us up for a better run at a free agent in 2017. Sign Sergio Llull to a 3 year $18 million contract. Sign Greivis Vasquez to a 1 year deal for $3 million. Trade Brewer and a 2nd for nothing. Sign Allen Crabbe to a big contract ($12 million per). Consider SnT with Portland if necessary. Resign DMo to 3 years $30 million.
I totally agree with your idea, not soo much on the players though...Llull at 6x is ok but Crabbe at 12x is probably/maybe too much...not sure, maybe you're right though. But definitely not a fan of Greivis... I would also like to keep an eye (mainly cause some of them i think they'll be cheaper) on guys like: Seth Curry, Galloway, Biyombo, Bazemore (he's not goin to be cheaper than Crabbe though), Zaza (old but still effective and dirty -> which is something we lack...i also think he'll be pretty cheap and can be good to help Capela grow), Jerebko, Turner, Delly, Scola, Mozgov, Foye...maybe even Lance... Again, this if you miss on every good player out there...i think in that case, if you can sign some of this guys, at least a couple of team can turn into really good fits/assets going forward.
ncoming Players Lou Williams 29 year old, 6-1, 175 lb G from South Gwinnett High School (Georgia) 15.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg in 28.5 minutes in 2015-2016 D'Angelo Russell 20 year old, 6-5, 195 lb SG from Ohio State 13.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.3 apg in 28.2 minutes in 2015-2016 Julius Randle 21 year old, 6-9, 250 lb PF from Kentucky 11.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.8 apg in 28.2 minutes in 2015-2016 Brandon Bass 31 year old, 6-8, 250 lb PF from LSU 7.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.1 apg in 20.3 minutes in 2015-2016 Larry Nance, Jr. 23 year old, 6-9, 230 lb SF from Wyoming 5.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.7 apg in 20.1 minutes in 2015-2016 Outgoing Players James Harden 26 year old, 6-5, 220 lb SG from Arizona State 29.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 7.5 apg in 38.1 minutes in 2015-2016 Corey Brewer 30 year old, 6-9, 186 lb GF from Florida 7.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.3 apg
What? Lou Williams and Bass? Lol...if we're going to trade Harden (which is a big if) the Lakers is the perfect franchise to rape, you can probably ask successfully a package like Russell + Randle + the 2nd pick...at least, since there're other teams with plenty of good assets (Boston, Philly, Phoenix...)... That said, i hate this idea, and i don't want to do it but...this would be a great great moment to trade Harden, those 4 teams have really a lot of good assets, the desire and necessity to trade for a superstar (which is a rare chance)...a couple of them have a dumb front office which is probably easy to rape...not sure when there was a situation as good as this for a potential seller in recent years...
Is he any better than Goudelock? Don't think so. And if we want a D League scoring champ then bring in Russ Smith. Kid is skinny but the heart and tenacity of a player 3 times his size. D menace and transition monster too.
