HOU: Luis Scola+Chase Budinger CHA: Boris Diaw+2nd rounder The Rockets throw away Scola's big contract, the Bobcats get scorer(s). Looks good deal for both. Thoughts anyone?
When combing through trade machine you said to yourself, "man, I'd really like to see Boris on this team". . . ?
Aaand your proposal is still dumb. Way, way too much to give up for an aging Garnett. And Martin/Scola are not salaries to be dumped. They're better than any unrestricted FA who will be on the market outside of Howard/D-Will.
Oddly enough, Id hate to see Scola/Budinger walk for such little value in return, but this is the reality of moving Scola. You have two options- -Use up whatever Scola has in the tank the next two seasons, take up a good chunk of cap space, and have to Amnesty Scola on the last two years of his deal. Or -Trade him while he still has some value for peanuts and also have to loose good talent to entice a team like Charlotte to take on his salary. Its a tough situation for Morey to be in when looking at trading a fan favorite and class act like Scola know good and well that he has a couple good years in the tank but will be a cap buster in the last half of his contract and unmovable in trades. The nice thing about this trade would be that Boris Diaw can actually play a bit, and would be able to give some minutes for the rest of the reason. I believe the team wont trade Scola though until they feel confident that Patterson is truely ready to be the full time starter. Lets see how this thing plays out.
I woke up sad this morning after dreaming we had traded Lowry and Bud for Demarcus Cousins... on a side bar, apparently too much Negra Modelo results in basketball dreams
I like Scola, he's put great effort into the team since he arrived at Houston. But things has changed. His production from the low post is still a big advantage, but his defensive liability is a serious problem, even though considering his scoring ability. We should move Scola before things become out of hand. It is really tough decision, though. Diaw would actually help the team development. His versatility and game making ability are what we lack. I do not think Patterson can fill the hole Scola lacked on the offensive end, but I do think Diaw can do that for some level. Of cause I do not mean that Diaw can score from low post like Scola does, I mean he can contribute to the offense for different way. I think this is even a "upgrade the team" type of trade, if you think Bud's recent performance is a temporary thing.
Boris Diaw is not an upgrade. Mind you that. This move would be about cap flexibility and a short term upgrade. Remember that Diaws contract will be coming off the books soon and players in their contract year always seem to perform high. If Patterson is really the man going into the future then its really addition by subtraction with cap flexibility being the major win here. -The hurdle here is how does Morey sell this to the fans as an upgrade. Fans love Scola here in Houston, and he's become one of the most well known Rockets in past years. Still if your the GM of Houston, you need to seriously try and move Scola now given that his production is declining this fast. Amnestying Scola would be worst case scenario, but its still an option throughout the life of Scola's contract.
Selling addition by subtraction could create more negative press, and hurt ticket sells. The few that they actually sell now. I find that fans are typically pretty dumb when it comes to basketball and only really see the scoops and the Argentinian Tango, and dont realize how incredibly terrible he is on the defensive end. If they are able to trade him to a team like the Celtics then all will be forgiven, but trading him to the Bobcats, and not getting anything back is a PR nightmare to deal with.
How about Scola and Patterson to Charlotte for Diaw and Biyombo? I'd take that trade and move on with the youth movement. And the fans would want to see how ridiculous Biyombo is.
Jimmy is a personal friend to me too and how are you gonna say he is not worth much. The dude can play he just needs game time to show his skill.
Jimmy Butler is a player and will be a good player in this league. Would love him in a Rockets uniform.
I am thinking somehting like this might work: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6qyrhs3 Dragic, Marcus Morris, Thabeet, Flynn for Nash and Frye For Houston, they get a Hall of Famer to play either next to or in relief of Lowry in this compressed season. Both guys should be able to have minutes in the 25-32 minutes range. For Phoenix, they get a jump-start on rebuilding by geting back their former PG of the future and reuniting the Morris twins. They also dump Frye's salary (who is not as bad as his FG% this year, but I don't think they want to keep him for 4 more seasons without Nash around). Trade can also be adjusted to include additional players or Josh Childress instead of Frye.
