You're not making very good trades for the rockets. This one isn't as bad as the one where you gave GS harden and Kevin love and got us Iggy and lee, but it's still pretty bad
Knicks don't care about saving money at all. Their economics are similar to the Yankees. We have a ton of profit when you take into account the MSG network and Phil Jackson runs the show now (thank god). He stated that Bargs has a role in the triangle I don't see it but he was clear about it. The easier trade would be something like JR Smith, Shump for 2 seconds and some filler. Shump is our only defensive wing but we don't want JR and both of them will be replaced by THJr. Phil can just Buy out Bargs and Amare but it would be better to keep their expirings for the trade dead line where they have some value possibly.
We need veterans, but not washed up completely and has a little thread left on them. Marion would be a great addition as many have said. Ariza+Marion at 13 mil >>> Parsons at 15. Matrix can be a 4/3 hybrid. We also need a second creator off the bench. Too bad Llull is no go. A little worried about the backup bigs but DMo will be the first big off the bench and he fits well with baby dwight dorsey.
DMo, Canaan, & McGee (filler) NYK 2nd rounder & NOH pick ...for... Wilson Chandler & Randy Foye fills all our needs Den - DMo fits well with spacing and has shown signs of low post game, which they need, McGee is seviceable, NOH pick,
I know the Knicks make a lot, but c'mon... Dolan isn't Mr. Big Spender and they payed 36M$ just taxes last season for being a non-playoff team in a pretty weak Eastern Conference. They would have to pay even more with the current roster this season. Why not reduce the costs by giving away two players you don't want to keep anyway and gain something back? At least Phil thinks a little rational. J.R. has a player option for 2015-16, no way Morey does that. That's why you throw in Gee (3M$), Powell (1.3M$) and Hopson (1.4M$) as well - is that not allowed?
If we want to trade for rondo, or dragic, or someone like that, the team we are trading with will want picks, young players and of course an expiring contract needed for salary matching. we have everything but the ability to match a large salary. we have 17 players under contract, but can only keep 15. likely the guys to get cut will be the NG contracts (either gee, hopson, powel, covington). why not trade 2 or 3 of those guys for one larger expiring contract which will help us match salaries in a large trade? which teams would want NG contracts? teams over or near the LT looking to save money, and teams with a larger contract of a player who's out of the rotation. possible targets are: kings - terry blazers - freeland wolves - shved nuggets - arthur knicks - ellington pacers - copeland pistons - jerebko / bynum celtics - anthony grizzlies - prince trading a combination of gee, hopson, powell, and/or covington for any of these players accomplishes 2 things: 1) we trim our roster to 15 which we have to do anyway. 2) we bring in a larger expiring contract which we can use to match salaries in a future trade closer to the deadline. personally i think the prince trade helps both teams the most. the grizzlies are only 700k away from the LT and we know how they fear going over. secondly, they have lee, carter, allen, and pondexter who are all more productive at the 2/3 (and cheaper) than prince. I think the grizz would be open to saving money (like they always are) and giving up a guy who's less productive to open up minutes for someone who is more productive. a trade with the grizzlies might look like this: powell, hopson, covington for grizzlie's TPE's. prince for lin's TPE. for the grizzlies, they get a large TPE and covington. powell and hopson would be waived, although powel might have a shot at making the team. for the rockets, they get a large ending contract, which for them is better than the TPE bc it can be combined with a player (gee) to take on a much larger salary (rondo?). also, prince could help with perimeter defense and leadership. midway through the season when boston realizes that rondo will be leaving (they already drafted his backup) they will be looking to trade him. the rockets will be able to offer expiring contracts of gee and prince, beverley, capela, the NOP pick, and their own future pick. without the large expiring contract we would not be able to facilitate this trade or any other's like it. that's why i think it's worth using our NG contracts to land a larger expiring contract. or we can just waive them and use the TE to acquire a large expiring contract which can be combined in a trade with other contracts (unlike a TPE).
I wouldn't be opposed to such a move .... But I want something more than just Prince <or one of the others listed> for that salary dump , I'd expect a pick in return , much like Morey gave for Lin's salary dump. This way , not only do I have the expiring contract to move but I have a pick to add to future deals. As it is , the Rockets don't have much in the way of tradable assets other than the NO pick without trading a rotation player / starter. Canaan , Johnson , Covington , Gee , Hopson , Dorsey , Ish Smith and Adrien are all pretty much worthless as trade assets other than some of them being nonguaranteed. Capela might have some value but he fell to #25 in the last draft , if he was so highly coveted he'd have gone higher. Motiejunas has potential but his value as a trade asset is minimal and it appears he will be called upon to provide a significant contribution this season off the bench. Howard & Harden are pretty much untouchable. That leaves you with Beverley & Jones who would have to be replaced if they were to be added to any deal ... complicating matters significantly. Neither are all-stars but would be difficult to replace at any rate and moving one or the other to improve their position would still leave a gaping hole on the bench at that position.
Trade Jones, Beverley, Capela, unguaranteed contracts, Pelicans first for Dragic. TPE, Rockets 2017 first (top 20 protected) for Ilyasova. Sign Marion with remaining MLE, O'Neal with BAE. PG: Dragic, Smith, Canaan SG: Harden, Daniels SF: Ariza, Marion PF: Ilyasova, Motiejunas, Adrian C: Howard, O'Neal Inactive players: Johnson, Covington, Dorsey. Packed solid 15 man roster, almost as good as the Bosh & Parsons roster.
Maybe, maybe not, depends how desperate the Suns are, but value wise, that package aint ****, and it wouldn't net us Dragic under normal circumstances. Dragic is a 28 year old all star level point guard. You have to give to get, Beverley a fringe nba starter, Jones a fringe nba starter (with potential), Capela a prospect, and a future lotto pick, isn't nearly "way too much" for a young all star caliber player. Given the current circumstances of the Suns, their PG position, their owner, and Dragic's contract, we just might be lucky enough to steal him though.
I honestly don't believe the Suns have any intention of trading Dragic ..... Sure there comes a point where they would move him if the compensation was too good to turn down , but in general , I don't think they want to move him.
I have no idea what the Suns intend to do, if I were them I most likely wouldn't take our potential packages either. I do believe and trust Plowman though, and they do have some weird circumstances right now as well with... Drafting Ennis Signing Thomas Being very cheap and stingy with Bledsoe Dragic being 28 and the rest of their core being 25 and under Dragic's contract expiring next summer, he will demand big time money Dragic can walk if traded to team he doesn't desire Owner is known for being cheap Bledsoe, Dragic, Thomas, Ennis for 35+ million is a bit ridiculous So just maybe, under these unusual circumstances, we just might be able to steal Dragic away.
It seems you believe the Suns are in a desperate situation to trade Dragic... Why should they be in a rush when they can just play Dragic at the 2 spot until they figure things out. Let them (Dragic and Bledsoe) play the 1st half of the season and increase their value. It's not like they are contenders so they can afford to be patient. And how does that trade benefit the Suns...??? Beverley is a soon to be free agent and they brought in Thomas and drafted a point guard in the 1st round. They already have a young "fringe starter" power forward... And the Lakers might not be a top 5 lottery team next year so the Suns will get their 1st round pick which makes the New Orleans pick less attractive. I would love to have Dragic back with the Rockets but if I was a Suns fan _ I would demand the GM be fired if he pulled the trigger on that deal.
Love this idea but instead of Prince, the moneyball target should be Shved. Shved is exactly the kind of under the radar trade that Morey specializes in, especially considering Morey's history unearthing under undervalued gems at the PG spot. And Shved is the perfect guard to play opposite any and all of the Rockets young backcourt whether it is the offense only Canaan, 3 point specialist Daniels or the uber athletic Johnson. Shved is a bigger, younger, cheaper Dragic. Trade for Shved and sign Marion as stretch 4/back up 3 and let's get ready to go to war. Or at least it will be a fun and balanced team to watch as they go through walls for one another ... Until Morey gets that itch to trade for a 3rd star again.
After reading a really depressing post from a Celtics fun who hates how they pay all that money for a s$#@ of a team I really believe we can get Rondo and Bass for Almost nothing. Houston gets: Rondo, Bass Celtic gets: un-guaranteed contracts, pelican's pick, D-mo, Jhonson, Capela Rockets will absorb Bass unwanted contract in Lin's TPE and Celtics will get rid of about 25 million dollar and under finally go the cap to start re-building with some young talented prospects. Maybe i'm going crazy but it doesn't sound like a crazy scenario to me After that we can get Marion on MLE and we really have a contender
