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A trade that makes sense....

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Hottoddie, May 26, 2002.

  1. Hottoddie

    Hottoddie Contributing Member

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    .....to me, anyway. I know it's blasphemous to look for a way to improve the Jazz, but I'm so bored with all the speculation & waiting over what the Rockets are going to do with the #1 pick & I read the article at the bottom of this post. So, I decided to look for a trade that would make sense for both teams & came up with Utah & Miami. Both team's records have decreased each of the last 4 years & both are built around a nucleous of near retirement players. That means the window of opportunity is closing fast for both teams. However, by making this deal, I believe it would help both teams make at least one final run.

    Utah sends Malone to Miami.

    Miami sends Jones/Grant to Utah.


    Utah needs to retool & Malone's skills are most probably going to start deteriorating in the next couple of years. They've got a nice young core of players to build around in Kirilenko, Collins, Padgett, Stevenson, Marshall, & Crotty. Grant would be able to pull down the rebounds that Malone has been getting & score 10+ points a game. Jones gives them a legitimate SG to play alongside Stockton or, if Stockton retires, a free agent PG. Both players are 8 & 9 years younger, respectively, than Malone. Utah could also trade Russell for depth at another position or a draft pick. Utah's new look team would be:

    C: Collins/Ostertag/Amaechi
    PF: Grant/Padgett
    SF: Kirilenko/Marshall
    SG: Jones/Stevenson
    PG: Stockton/Crotty/Starks

    Miami has been reported as wanting to move Grant's contract & might be willing to include Jones to acquire Malone (Riley loves veterans & needs to win now). Miami is also reportedly interested in acquiring Odom from the Clippers (see article below) & might offer Ellis (team option after next year) & the #10 pick for him (That would give the Clippers the #8, #10, & #12 picks in the draft to trade for a possible top 3 pick in the form of JW). A front line of Malone/ZO/Odom in the East, would be a formidable opponent for anyone. Another benefit of doing this trade for Miami, is that both Malone & ZO's contracts expire after next season. That would allow them to renegotiate a more cap friendly contract with each player (~$12-13 mill each), & allow them to be major players in the free agent pool (Can you say Jason Kidd?). They could use their mid-level exception this year, to pursue a free agent PG, like McInnis, Blaylock, or Best. Their new look team would be:

    C: ZO/Gatling/Stepania
    PF: Malone/Marks/Allen
    SF: Odom/Jackson
    SG: Gill/House
    PG: (Mcinnis, Blaylock, or Best)/Strickland

    Kinda scary, ain't it? :eek:

    http://www2.sltrib.com/jazz/main/index.asp

    Malone Now Is Only Impeding Jazz Progress
    BY GORDON MONSON
    THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

    Jazz Must Move Ahead,
    Trade Malone Now that the Jazz have blown engine parts and spewed oil all over the pavement, it's time to make the tough decision. You know the one. It mists up your windshield just thinking about it, doesn't it?
    Same here.
    But it must be done.
    Barely idling at a crossroads, the Jazz have to leave Karl Malone in their rearview.
    With circumstances -- namely, losing -- closing in, they are forced to choose a drastic new course, hacking their way clear with banana knives if need be, and find a more meaningful direction than the path of least resistance. In the past, they plugged a gap here, spackled a hole there on the doors of the roadster driven by Malone and John Stockton.
    The Jazz now must move. Let's rephrase that. The Jazz must make a move toward a whole redesign. Make a decision far beyond acquiring some Danny Manning or Rusty LaRue or John Starks. They must accelerate their plan for the future, which, since the late '90s, has included waiting out the careers of Stockton and Malone, squeezing in young players, hoping to tuck them around the edges of the salary cap and develop them and rounding out the roster with bit players.
    Sometimes, that plan has betrayed itself, such as last year when the Jazz were interested in drafting point guard Tony Parker, but did not because their roster was already full of guaranteed contracts. So, they picked Raul Lopez, instead, deferring payment to a young guard conveniently stuck in the Spanish League. As a result, they missed out on solidifying that position for seasons to come.
    Jazz owner Larry Miller, whose payroll last season ranked ninth -- respectable for a small-market team -- and was $15 million over the cap, has pried open his wallet in the past, especially for Malone, who is scheduled to make nearly $20 million next season. That, alone, is more than half the cap money wrapped into a diminishing -- though still valuable -- player. Add Stockton's and Greg Ostertag's salaries, and the cap is blown.
    The moves at the crossroads now include shipping Malone to a team with an owner as rich as King Farouk, and just as impatient, who wants a title and needs a power forward who can post up -- Karl can still do that, right? -- and play defense. The Jazz should be calling Mark Cuban every day this summer.
    If the idea of trading a man who has lifted the franchise for so long troubles Miller, he's in the wrong business. After all, the great Owner in the Sky once conveyed: "To everything there is a season." Malone's had 17 of them here. For 20 mill, he's hurting the club more than helping it. Anyone with eyes to see saw that during the playoffs.
    If Malone stayed, the Jazz would win more regular-season games for a year or two.
    If they cleared that money to pay some combination of younger players -- say, an Andre Miller and/or others -- acquired through a multiple-team deal, they might jell with Andrei Kirilenko and a re-signed Donyell Marshall to form the nucleus for a reborn Jazz.
    Timing is important. The Jazz could ramp up for another potential title run, if the right moves are made, and if luck smiles on them, just as the current powers in the West -- the Lakers and Kings -- are winding down. If they wait another three seasons, then, they waste them.
    Sentimentality isn't worth hogging cap room.
    The devil is in the details, but here's a plan: Invite Stockton back for a year. Nail down what Lopez offers. Re-sign Marshall. Sign and trade Bryon Russell and anyone else with value, preferably for an outside threat. Encourage Malone to seek Kareem's scoring title elsewhere. Collect younger, hungrier players in the deal. And hope like hell Ostertag continues to play hard.
    Wrung-out Jazz fans would pay to watch a developing, scrappy team that busted its hump, lost more, but suggested promise for a bright future. They want a dream. As presently constituted, that dream is dead, that future half of what it could be.
    It's time to face that hard truth with an even harder decision.
    Trade Karl Malone.


    http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/sports/basketball/nba/miami_heat/3303888.htm

    • Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said Sunday he prefers to keep small forward Lamar Odom but wouldn't rule out a trade. The Heat, which previously tried to trade for Odom, could offer the 10th pick and LaPhonso Ellis. Such a scenario would give the Clippers the eighth, 10th and 12th picks and a chance to package them for a top three pick.

     
  2. DVauthrin

    DVauthrin Contributing Member

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    If I'm Miami I scoff at that offer.

    Yes they get out of EJ and Grant's large contracts but they aren't getting enough in return.
     
  3. SirCharlesFan

    SirCharlesFan Contributing Member

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    I'm sorry, but that Miami team is no better than they were before. Probably worse. And Utah will be hindered by two huge contracts that will help them win games, but never be a true contendor. THe only advantage for Miami is the fact that Malone's contract expires soon.
     
  4. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

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    Dickerson, Swift and cap filler for Eddie Jones makes more sense.
     
  5. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    If LAC is trying to use Odom and their two lottery picks to move up to a top 3 pick then Rudy and CD should have no problem getting Lamar and the Clipps two lottery picks while dumping some unwanted salery if they decide Yao is too big of a risk.
     
  6. Hottoddie

    Hottoddie Contributing Member

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    Assuming Dickerson is healthy & that Miami gets to keep their draft pick (#10), then I agree with you.

    However, according to the article below, Memphis is offering Swift & a broken down Nick Anderson. If the deal involves swapping picks, then I'd do it. Otherwise, no way.

    Other than having a lack of depth, I still believe that the proposed trade in my first post is an improvement over what Miami has now. The front line would be extremely tough & after next year, would give Miami all kinds of options. They could pick up a SG with their second round pick. It's a huge improvement over the deal that Denver made & would yield the same results (cap space for free agency).

    Here's the article that I'm referring to:

    http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/May/26/MAG1.htm

    NICK TO MIAMI?

    Nick Anderson could be headed to his third different team in four years after spending 10 consecutive seasons with the Magic. Jerry West, who was recently hired as the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, is reportedly trying to work a trade that would send Anderson and Stromile Swift to the Miami Heat for Eddie Jones, whom West knows from when they were with the Los Angeles Lakers.

    Anderson, who played two seasons in Sacramento before being traded to Memphis, earned more than $5.4 million despite getting in only 15 games for the Grizzlies. Of his 76 field-goal attempts, 48 of them were from 3-point range.

    He is entering the final season of the six-year, $32 million contract he signed while still with the Magic.

     
  7. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    I'd care if I didn't hate both teams... :)
     
  8. kidrock8

    kidrock8 Member

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    I've been under the impression that Mia wants to rebuild. Doing that trade would help them clear the cap, once Malone's contract is up... But, it doesn't make them a younger team.

    Perhaps Mia trades those 2 for Juwan Howard? Though it makes no sense for Den to do that trade.

    Miami will trade Jones and Grant for just about anything, except an old player with a large contract. Only attraction to getting Malone is that his contract isn't as long term as Jones' and Grant's.
     

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