Windhorst: Timberwolves offer Bledsoe max deal. What does it mean for Houston?

I don't think this belongs in the DISH because either Minnesota or Phoenix is going to wind up with 2 starting caliber point guards and Houston needs an upgrade at PG.

 

I Think it Means we DO Everything to get Rondo now..

 

I agree totally... but u know the fine folks on this board would rather post a one word snitty retort... right up there with "tl:dnr" stupidity....

It's not like Rubio possibilities aren't plastered all through the cyberx thread (one of 4 possibilities...blah blah blah...)

 

It means both the suns and wolves still have better PGs than Houston regardless if this trade happens

 

I don't see how the Twolves could get Bledsoe. I think I saw where they would have to unload something like 20 mil in salary to even be able to offer him the max outright. Without Phoenix taking back a lot of crappy contracts(which would have to come at a price of Wiggins), I don't see a viable sign and trade scenario with the Wolves that Phoenix would even consider.

Ifs nice fodder until the season starts, but this is really no story at all....

 

phx doesn't want a S&T. will they match the bledsoe offer after signing thomas? probably not.

do the wolves have to trade rubio to make room for bledsoe? nope. rubio, bledsoe, wiggins works just fine as a pg-sg-sf lineup.

do the rockets have a chance at dragic? definitely not after losing bledsoe for nothing.

RECAP:
no bledsoe, no rubio, no dragic for rockets. looks like rondo or dwill are the next targets. rondo i'd like, dwill i'd pass on.

 

PHX DOES NOT want to lose Bledsoe for nothing. And that's the catch. They'd rather figure out a multi-team S&T for Bledsoe to Minny than they would to let Bledsoe walk to the Sixers for nothing.

All PHX is saying here is they don't want the players MIN is willing to trade. They don't want Rubio and they don't want Barea, Martin, and Budinger. They may take Budinger in some sort of package but they need to get back more than that. They want an All-Star talent back. And this is the rub. They want an All-Star talent back for a guy that they want to pay $12 million to. They know that's not doable.

So something has to give eventually.

The problem is Bledsoe/Paul are threatening to sign the QO. If they actually sign that offer than PHX can't trade him with Birds rights. Any team that trades for Bledsoe basically has to carve out max cap space in 2015 to retain him because MINNY is going to be standing there offering him a max deal (unless he totally craters this next season). That means his trade value to PHX goes to zero basically. And then for them to possibly retain him in 2015 they've got to give up in excess of what a new 4-year max deal is from another team.

So, basically PHX wants him to sign for 4/48 but they really are willing to pay him almost all of the 4-year max that Minny is offering him. They'd match any offer up to the max.

Meanwhile MIN is trying to get Rubio on a decent money deal for them....which isn't going to happen. Read through the tea leaves here. MIN will pay the max to Bledsoe but not to Rubio. What does that tell you? It should be obvious. MIN doesn't view Rubio as a max player and they're either going to get him signed to a lower money deal or they're going to trade him and let somebody else deal with his contract situation.

And Bledsoe/Paul sit and wait. They'll wait until September 28th-30th. Then they'll sign the QO and notify the Suns they've got a few hours to get a S&T done or give Bledsoe a max deal or Bledsoe will play out his 5th season and walk on them.

 

A warm welcome to Ricky Rubio.

 

Yeah, but not to Houston.

 

This makes no sense at all considering the consideration. And it's not a trade. The Wolves signed Bledsoe to a max deal. So, all they can do now is match the deal or S&T. One of those two teams will end up with two starting caliber PGs. This means that either Rubio or Dragic are expendable.

What makes you think Bledsoe is a SG? His numbers at that position are not exactly impressive. I'll let you take a look and see if you agree: http://www.82games.com/1314/13PHO2.HTM

His PER 48 at PG are +5.3 and at SG it's -6.3. I doubt Minnesota or Phoenix looks at those same numbers and says, "he'll be a great SG for us."

So yeah, we have a chance at Rubio or Dragic still.

 

Beverley can defend and shoot better than BRicky Rubio. Horrible fit for our team and our system since we need a guard that can space the floor and make 3's at a good or at least decent percentage. Same reason why i don't think Rondo would be a good fit since Harden is essentially the point guard and playmaker for this team. Won't be as effective and be able to maximize Beard's talents if you take the ball away from his hands.

What our team needs is an upgrade at the starting PF position and a veteran backup point guard that can shoot and space the floor on offense. Oh and a really good defensive associate head coach.

 

The idea of saying he's playing PG or SG is a bit archaic, Hornacek didn't have them on the court like that, he had them on the court as 2 guards, no point, no shooting, just guards. He'd match up defensively based on size, but that's like saying Harden is the SF when he's on Tucker or George.

 

Okay, well then think of those numbers as when he was playing with another point guard. The data still matters. He's not as good playing with another PG, hence, reason to trade your other PG if you sign Bledsoe.

 

Hard enough keeping open driving lanes/not clogging the paint with two stars on any team.

Unlike most other PGs, Rubio doesn't need to score/get to the basket to set up his playmaking. He's not going to get into Howard or Harden's way.

 

You might want to relook at that, they have him playing "SG" 78 minutes (2%) for the entire season which is what I'm referring to, they made Dragic the SG basically arbitrarily by the defensive lineups. Then look at the actual lineups, like how whenever he's playing combo guard with another ball handler (Dragic), how significantly better than it is with a catch and shoot off guard (Green)

 

Okay, you are right about that. He played well as a point and almost all of his minutes at point. He was also way better with Dragic than Green, but was Dragic at his best when he was with Bledsoe? Plus, almost all nba players are going to play better next to an all-star. Dragic was significantly more effective at PG than SG. So, if the Wolves end up with Bledsoe and they keep Ricky, would you agree that Bledsoe would play SG if they were to play together?

I think the Suns and the Wolves would be better off trading one of the duplicate PGs. The Suns didn't make the playoffs, so a trade seems best to try to get to the next level. I would either get younger or gather assets to get back to the playoffs. Double that sentiment for the Wolves.

Depth at PG is awesome, but if you're not in the playoffs, why not make a move that gets you better chances in the future? Being 9th or 10th, which they both were, sucks.

 

Man, I wish we could have signed Patty Mills. Then I wouldn't be reading the name Rubio so much.

 

Yeah, that's totally false. Minny didn't and can't sign Bledsoe to anything. They have no cap room, therefore they'd need to trade all of their bad contracts to the suns in a sign and trade, but unsurprisingly the Phoenix said no. And even if somebody would offer bledsoe the max 4/64, I think the suns would match. The problem is that he and his agent aren't willing to sign with the suns for anything less than the 5/85 only the suns can offer. And for whatever reason (bidding against themselves, health concerns ...) the suns aren't willing to do that.

 

Gotcha, so the articles out there are saying the Wolves are willing, but it's not like the Chandler situation where matching is an option.

 

Dragic was for the most part better without Bledsoe, and basically becoming universal point guard, it's Bledsoe whose awesome in a duel guard lineup (I honestly don't think Bledsoe would ever be good as the main ball handling solo pg), the only concern with Bledsoe is health. And I tend to agree that their water treading sucks but like our GM, being an ass trying to hold out for a golden bounty is pretty much expected. There's been some faux shock on Phoenix's part in their posturing, but I really don't buy it at all, this was basically the reason the Clippers traded him and they would have known this was coming 12 months ago.