I can never in my right mind root for the Rockets to lose. No matter what the talent level on the floor, I want them to play there a** off. Shame on you and anyone that wants to see us tank. As much as it would be nice to have a high lottery pick, you are not a winner at all at whatever you do if you are rooting for your favorite sports team on the planet to lose. Period.
Not a bad trade, but this is contingent on NJ feeling strongly that Dwight will sign with them. Free agency signings begin after the draft. So there is a timing issue. NJ would only be able to trade us the player they had drafted, rather than the pick, unless they had some sort of wink-wink deal with Howard already in place.
Guys, you're missing a key distinction between the Garnett and Howard situations: Garnett still had another year left on his deal in Minnesota. Howard has an ETO in his contract that allows him to become a free agent just DAYS after the 2012 NBA Draft. The Magic won't have the sort of leverage that Minnesota had with KG back in 2007, to just keep him and shop him for another season. Unless Dwight definitively elects in writing NOT to opt out of his contract, the Magic CANNOT trade him at the 2012 NBA Draft. Even if he does that, he'd likely need to agree to a new extension as a condition to any team acquiring him. And even if he signs an extension, it could only be for one more year. He'd get a much better deal (albeit at a slightly lower starting salary) in free agency. Bottom line: It is unlikely that Dwight Howard gets traded at or immediately prior to the 2012 NBA Draft. He will either be dealt around the March trade deadline or he will just become a free agent. Hence, Orlando's dilemma.
Anyway, they drafted Jeff Green with that pick. Presti's (or Sonics/Thunder) secret to build a contender team is... to suck 3 straight seasons (suck hugely, I mean 20 wins seasons) and get Durant with a 2nd pick, Westbrook with a 4th and Harden with a 3rd pick. To suck in a big way and to be lucky at the draft. Then he has completed the team construction with some very good moves, but we talk about minor moves compared with those picks.
They can trade him at the 2012 draft though, if he agrees to not opt out and sign an extension with his new team, right? And in that case, does he lose money or make more money over becoming a free agent?
Let me clarify, since it's worse than I originally made it out to be: --Any extension could only make the entire contract a total of three seasons. If he does that prior to July 1, then THIS season counts as one. That means that he could only extend for one more season beyond next year. --His starting salary on an extension (of if he just plays out his ETO year) would be $19.5M, vs. about $19M that he could get in free agency. Not a big difference. But here's the real kicker: --Dwight Howard can ONLY extend his contract with Orlando. He cannot be extended-and-traded. Any team that trades for him cannot extend him for six months. That's why there was so much talk about Howard being traded at the start of the season (i.e., before December 31, which would allow his new team to extend him prior to his becoming a free agent, albeit the new team would have to wait until JUST prior to that point to do so). Bottom line: If Orlando doesn't trade him by the March trade deadline, they lose him for nothing. I'm fairly certain of that, actually.
Ok. I don't know how you swallow down all that new CBA stuff so well. It took me a year to get down the old one. I'm still in that mode. Still can't get it clear in my head how the new S&T stuff works. So, with that being the case, then Orlando is likely going to trade him at the deadline if they cannot get him to extend. Isn't that how you read it? And if so, then it's simply going to come down to them maximizing value for him and clearing salary or gambling down to the wire that he's not going to turn down the extra dough they can give him.
If we traded them Martin, and they got back Lopez anytime soon, that would be a late lottery pick. Then they could flip Brooks to another team for a SF. Or maybe they would take TWill back in exchange for $500 for the plane ticket. :grin:
Oh right - because the thread was about making the playoffs? It was simply about being 11-10 by the end of January. Those of us who would like to see the team win a few games (rather than suffer through the boredom of losing every time) are free to offer our speculations - you said 'laughing right now' - inferring that we're no chance of being 11-10 (well, we beat it) OR you could not be an idiot and admit you were wrong?
I was wrong Dr. Now............this team is not a playoff team as currently constructed. The reason for this thread was to cause us to feel some kind of hope about how good this team could possibly be. I'll admit they made it through January better than what I thought they would. By a couple games. But this is not a playoff team. And projecting hope with some wins in January against mostly subpar teams is a joke. This team, as currently constructed, is not a playoff team.
I think, as currently constructed, we're a 6-8 seed. We're defintely NOT (as currently constructed) a top 5 lotto pick (ie worst 5 in the league). I can't see any realistic change that could be made THIS season to "fix" us. We definitely need to head in a different direction (a la Gasol/Nene - better or worse it's different). Be interesting to see what can happen. I'm cheering for wins and some kind of trade to result (improving player value then cashing in).
