I'm from Chicago and besides the Rockets I also follow the Bulls a lot. Deng is available. The team tried moving him before the season started. The problem with Chicago is that they have Noah, Rose, Boozer, Deng, R. Hamilton, and Kirk Heinrich signed for a lot of money. They also extended Taj Gibson. They were screwed in the collective bargaining agreement because Rose got a boost for making the all star game. This is the only reason we were able to sign Asik as Chicago swung for the fences by signing Boozer. So if we could offer enough cap relief in exchange for Deng Chicago would take it.
I'm not trying to sound rude here, but I guess I won't be able to avoid it. I don't think very many NBA fans understand the concept of bang for your buck, AT ALL, as evidenced by this sort of trade suggestion. I also don't think that very many NBA fans understand anything CBA-, cap-, or tax-related, for that matter. Chandler Parsons is a MUCH more valuable asset than Luol Deng. Parsons makes SIGNIFICANTLY less money than Deng, he's much younger, and he's locked in to his ridiculously team-friendly contract for longer than Deng is locked into his not-so-team-friendly contract. There is a 0% chance that any team with a Parsons-caliber player getting paid as little as Parsons is getting paid would trade him for a Deng-caliber player getting paid as much as Deng is getting paid. 0%. I do think that Houston can exploit Chicago's godawful tax situation that it created for itself by its questionable moves (the big contract for Carlos Boozer, the much bigger than necessary contract for the declining/marginal Richard Hamilton, the contract extension for Taj Gibson), and that Houston will look to pry away either Deng or a first round pick. It is worth pointing out that the proposed Richard Hamilton-Bulls first round pick for nothing trade DOES allow Chicago to avoid the 2012-13 luxury tax but does nothing about their 2013-14 luxury tax situation. The Deng trade I proposed earlier allows Chicago to avoid the luxury tax both years. This is why Chicago has no choice but to think about making this trade, particularly since it's unlikely that Chicago re-signs Luol Deng (given its financial issues) to another contract when Deng is a free agent again in the relatively near future (July 2014). It is also worth pointing out that my proposed deal gives Chicago acceptable replacements for all outgoing players: Carlos Delfino replaces Luol Deng as the team's starting SF (and Chicago likely exercises the team option on Delfino for the 2013-14 season if Delfino continues to play well), Toney Douglas replaces Nate Robinson, Patrick Patterson replaces Vladimir Radmanovic, Cole Aldrich replaces Nazr Mohammed. Chicago would let Douglas and Aldrich walk this summer, most likely. In other words, it's not like Chicago just collapses if they were to make this deal. They're still a playoff team in 2012-13 and 2013-14. They're not a championship contender in 2012-13, whether they make this trade or not.
Since the first game I watched Lin in Rockets, I wondered why nobody set screen for him like Tyson Chandler and Amare did in New York. Rockets need to trade for a Power Forward who is an elite PnR player and can set screens for Lin and Harden.
I had previously suggested this two-team swap between Houston and Chicago: Luol Deng and filler (Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic; all three players' contracts expire at the end of this season, Houston won't retain any of them) to Houston; Patrick Patterson, Carlos Delfino, Toney Douglas, and Cole Aldrich to Chicago. Another option would be for Houston to exploit Mark Cuban's fear of a) missing the playoffs altogether in 2012-13 for the first time in forever and b) failing again in free agency. Houston would flip Deng here for Dallas' 2015 first round pick, which, in my opinion, will be a lottery pick, as Cuban is really struggling to put together a good team since winning his championship. So the three-way would look like this: Luol Deng, Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, and Vladimir Radmanovic to Dallas; the Mavericks' 2015 first round pick (unprotected) and expiring contracts (Chris Kaman, Dahntay Jones, Elton Brand, and Dominique Jones) to Houston; Patrick Patterson, Carlos Delfino, Toney Douglas, and Cole Aldrich to Chicago. Houston would then enter the 2013 offseason with a ton of cap space which it would presumably use to upgrade at PF, plus, they'd have that future Mavericks lottery pick, which is surely worth a lot more than the package of players that you gave up in order to get it. Obviously Houston lets the four veteran players acquired from Houston walk. I think Houston might be better off keeping Deng for itself, though. He's an awfully good player.
Deng is 27 and has been in the NBA for 9 seasons. He doesn't fit the young Rockets where the average age is 23 with less than 2 season of experience. By the time this approximately 23yr old core grows up and is ready to compete seriously for a title, Deng will be even older with more mileage on his body. He's no more a part of the long term future than Carlos Delfino or Toney Douglas.
Anthony Randolph has been on many teams now and done nothing. No interest here. No latteral or backwards moves wanted and no trades just for the sake of making a trade.
I also don't understand this mindset, which we see a lot from NBA fans. The idea that every single player on a team needs to be 22-23 years old, just so everybody can peak at exactly the same time, is a weird idea, and there are very few, if any, examples of championship teams where all key players are approximately the same age. Just because Houston may not extend Luol Deng beyond 2013-14 doesn't mean that this isn't a great trade. There are three questions here, really: #1: Is a season and a half of Luol Deng worth more, less, or the same as a season and a half of Patrick Patterson, a half-season (or a season and a half) of Carlos Delfino, and a half-season of Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich? #2: Does this trade make the Rockets a better team in 2012-13? #3: Is one more year (2013-14) of Luol Deng worth more than $14.3 mil in cap space in the summer of 2013? The answers to these three questions: #1: Yes, a season and a half of Deng is worth more, a lot more. #2: Yes, of course it makes them better, a lot better. #3: Maybe, maybe not (see below for explanation). As others have pointed out, Paul Millsap, while a very nice player (one of the league's most underrated players, really), is arguably an undesirable asset at four years, $40-$44 mil (which is about what I think he gets this summer). I think he's a heck of a player, and I think he may well earn his money, even)at that price, but it's a gamble. One year of Deng (at $14.3 mil) is not much of a gamble. With Deng, you're awfully good in 2012-13, even better in 2013-14, and, in the summer of 2014, you can either let Deng walk (and use that money to sign somebody you like better, or to trade for somebody you like better) or, if you really like him, you can re-sign him. Alternatively, you can package Deng's big expiring contract prior to next February's trade deadline with one or more of your cheap young players and/or draft picks for a big name, big money PF (e.g., Kevin Love, if he becomes available). A team looking to rebuild and dump salary would presumably be more interested in Deng's expiring contract than they'd be in paying Millsap for 3+ years. Another perk of acquiring Deng would be that Utah might want to sign-and-trade Millsap this summer for, that's right, Deng. So, if you're Houston, you get Deng now, and, this summer, if you decide that you'd rather have Millsap, there's a reasonable chance that you can turn Deng into Millsap.
i would do it. But would offer about 5 other players first starting with patrick patterson before i include parsons. we could play deng @ 4 and parson @ 3 or vice versa if we dont let parsons go
Like I said, it should be obvious that Houston is not interested in trading a Chandler Parsons-centered package for a Luol Deng-centered package, but it isn't, for whatever reason. My proposed deal, and I think Chicago has to think about saying yes to this deal, because of its luxury tax issues, would be: Luol Deng and filler (Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic) to Houston; Patrick Patterson, Carlos Delfino, Toney Douglas, and Cole Aldrich to Chicago. I believe Houston has enough cap space to make the salaries work here. And right, it doesn't really matter if you want to call Chandler Parsons your small forward and Luol Deng your power forward, or vice versa. These two guys can play together, that's all that really matters.
Harden/Lin/Asik/Parsons are off the table... If we can turn any combo of the following (PPat, MMo, DMo or TJones, GSmith or Aldrich, Douglas or Beverly, loser Royce) into an upper level pf - great! Lin/Douglas or Beverly Harden/Anderson parsons/Delfino X / DMo or TJones Asik / GSmith or Aldrich otherwise, Aldrich, MMo, Royce, are good to go for any pick....
I was thinking about it and I believe this is the first trade deadline where the Rockets don't make any moves. We have salary to sign a max contract, and our team is young. I am sure Morey will shop a few players like Morris and Patterson to see if he can get anything worthy, but I doubt there will be any major trades.
rogower: One problem with your scenario is that Chicago is already deep at PF. They have Boozer and they have Taj Gibson as the heir apparent. They don't really have a need for a stretch 4. They run a completely different offense. They don't want to run and gun, they want to slow things down and grind. They signed Boozer because of his post skills and that is the style of PF that fits the Bulls, especially since Noah has found a nice long range jumper. So in any two team trade Chicago would want Parsons or no deal. I would not want to trade Parsons either but I have my doubts about him if he stays at SF. Parsons plays nice team defense but he is not a strong perimeter defender like Deng. That is why we never see him guarding the other teams ball handler. Deng does this every game and can hit threes. Most teams either use a big SG or a SF to handle these responsibilities and since Harden is not a good defender we need our stopper to come from the SF position. I realize that Parsons contract makes him even more valuable than his play would indicate, but that value also means he can get us more in a trade. So I would give up Parsons in a Deng trade because Deng is a real difference maker and fits this team to a T. At 27 he is young enough to be around a long while and being an experienced, gritty player he would compliment our team a great deal. On the other hand, I think Parsons can play PF and his ability to hit threes and beat his man off the dribble are only enhanced at the 4. So if we can keep parsons and get Deng that is where we should go. This scenario would have to involve another team and would probably mean we give up Asik since he will draw interest and he doesn't fit our style of play anyway. Chicago would love to have Tony Douglas, Delfino, and Cole A. If we could get enough expiring contracts for Asik I think Chicago would pull the trigger.
What about Andre Iguodala...??? He's a free agent after the season. The Rockets could sign him and have Parsons come off the bench.
If the Bulls are really in contract dump mode, I wonder if we can steal Taj Gibson from them. They $8 M a year is a lot for someone you play only 20MPG. Taj works well with Omer.
