It's not about just about who we can get in free agency, it's who we can take from another team to let them play in free agency. There's that cost, too. As for that being equal to Ibaka, probably unlikely but have you guys actually watched him the last two years? In 2013, 2014, I would 100% do a deal for a him, but not now. He's noticably a step slow, still has a low IQ, and is just significantly older. He hit his peak in 2012-2014. He's older than stated and on the downside of his career. Age, plus knee injuries, have really set him back. He'd still be a very good fit here and I'd like him, just not at $20M a year and the risk of trading assets for him with the risk of losing him.
If you can provide me any type of proof, any single statistic, that shows hezonja is above average at any aspect of basketball I would be shocked. He has been absolutely horrible, just putrid since entering the NBA. This year he is flat out awful. By comparisons he makes rubio look like a top 5 player in the world. Hezonja is trash, none the less, I would take a twill type flyer on him, but would not be willing to offer a 1st for him. Kj/2nd iss what I would do just so he could become the new lesser Kj on our bench.
Quoted for truth. Our young guys are not anything special, let's be real. Montrezl, Sam and Clint are all going to be solid pros, but Daryl can replace them in a heartbeat. I would rather not waste another year of Harden's prime. Go into the playoffs and battle with 1. Harden 2. Beverley 3. Ariza 4. Anderson 5. Ibaka 6. Gordon 7. Nene as our top 7, and allow Daryl to fill out the rest, which is his specialty. I am onboard If Serge can be had for a reasonable price. "Due diligence"...
I think the bigger obstacle to getting ibaka will be that we don't have the pieces, not that we don't want to give them up.
Because one way is gambling he signs with you; the other isn't gambling. You make a great case for describing all the Wins if the gamble pays off. But you can't deny the conservative approach is to wait until it's a done deal (he agrees), giving you 5 days (or so) of the moratorium to purge the salary/assets. Your approach also gives Rockets time to convince him to stay via bonds of playing together. But the other approach might actually cost you less assets, because we'll have to make it worthwhile for ORL to give up his Bird rights. Whereas, purging salary during the moratorium might not costs us as much in assets.
The joke is you just told someone to "give it a rest" when you have made an Internet career out of beating off dead horses
In the end it all comes down at what we should give up for his rental and his possible new contract. If you can get him for the pick and Trez + filler/s (Brewer included) it may be worth it...in this scenario (like someone else said few pages ago) you can also be in the situation to talk to a top free agent this summer and if he agrees to come here you can still renounce Ibaka or trade Anderson to have enough cap space. The problem is that i can see some teams make a better offer than that, even though who knows...it seems like the Hawks didn't get what they expected for Millsap...
Oh, I get the flip side. That is why I wouldn't give up the farm for Ibaka. But I'd be willing to consider giving up Trez and their first rounder. It'd certainly be a risk hoping to re-sign Ibaka for a remotely reasonable salary, but having his Bird rights plus the MLE makes trading for him now (for the right price) an interesting proposition.
Well honestly if Hezonja's stock is really this low (ie his own GM calls him pooper mario) its time to buy low: Trez+Brewer+KJ for ibaka+Hezonja. Hell Im even willing to give up capela if they add a first. I'm with Holic, Hezonja has star potential. It hasnt worked out for him so far but a change of scenery and given his work ethic its only a matter of time. Dude has all the tools and skills to be a star or at least upper level role player in the NBA.
I agree with this but this is way too short a rotation, the team would not be able to lose one of the 7 to injury/fatigue/illness/other, never mind 2 or more. And the Rockets have proven that they are capable of something magical when fresh even with current roster (December) but can also fall to earth when things aren't perfect (January).
Now I've heard of "beating a dead horse" or "kicking a dead horse", but I've NEVER HEARD OF "BEATING OFF A DEAD HORSE!" LMFAO!
Saw this post on the Orlando Magic subreddit and they seem to see Chad Evans as a reliable source. Don't know how reliable this guy is so take it for what its worth. Link to reddit thread: