I understand that, but they will still need to fill out the rest of their roster. Those two could 20Mil a season combined. Im just not sure thats a sound investment moving forward for an NBA team to make when they are in rebuilding mode and those are two role players(while good ones). Regardless, there is no reason not to make them at least overpay for both players. They are a western conference rival. There is no shame in driving up the price for Batum.
So if it is not a good idea for Port,and, why would it be a good idea for the Rockets to do the same?
Morey has been reluctant to go over the value of he places on players for his entire term here. He did it with Gortat and he did it with Dalembert. I highly doubt he starts getting into bidding wars now. If Morey wants Batum he won't out bid Portland for him. He will do the same with Dragic.
Kind of taking a look at Portlands finances going into this summer- Just from a glance it looks like Portand has around 32 Mil locked up next season in 7 players. Lets say their two rookies get 1.8 Mil each next season. Thats roughly 36 Mil in 9 players. You add in Goran + Batum making 10 Mil each next season and thats 55 Mil for 11 players. Only 3 Mil left under the 58 Mil salary cap to sign at least 4 other players, and most likely matching an offer for JJ Hickson whose Qualifying offer is 3.3 Mil. So, yes they still have some flexibility to sign both guys and still not hit the lux tax deadline this next season. There are ways to stay financially flexible. However, another thing to note, the Blazers do not have one single Center signed for next season. They are going to need to pony up if they want to sign a big man or two this summer as well. I think they could sign both in theory, but it makes the decision much tougher IMO if they are having to significantly overpay to keep Batum since they will have so many more needs to address this Summer as well.
http://www.blazersedge.com/2012/5/15/3022865/would-houston-do-this-trade Let’s just do that trade with the Blazers and call it a day. We get good compensation for Lowry and don’t have to worry about Dragic’s biggest suitor anymore. Portland will get a great PG on a value contract, so they can easily sign Batum and another FA -- possibly a big man like Hawes or something.
This is assuming they are high enough on Lowry to be their starter going forward, and think that signing Batum fills some of their needs more than a slight upgrade at the PG position. I guess it just depends on what your goals are as a team. If they think they can make a good little playoff run with the "Pacers" model next season then sure, I would say Batum would be a solid pickup and significantly improve this team defensively going forward. I guess you just outweight - Slight upgrade at PG vs. Long athletic wing player/good spot up shooter That being said, we have no idea what the front office really thinks of Batum, and maybe they dont think its worth running the risk of getting stuck with him longterm if Portland ends up letting him walk to Houston. To me, its just a negotiation tactic to drive up his price, and if you can get him for a decent salary, hell yeah Batum would be an awesome pickup, especially if you run the risk of loosing Dragic anyways since ultimately its his decision.
There are multiple problem with this "Lets offer Batum $10 million/year so Portland doesn't come after Dragic idea": 1. There are 28 other teams in the league, and several of them have both interest in Dragic and the cap room to make him large offer. Just because we heard about Portland's interest most frequently, it doesn't mean other teams wont' be coming after him. In fact, there are reports regarding Toronto's interest. So, are you going to make $10 million a year offer to the other teams' FAs to prevent them from going after Dragic, too? 2. What $10 millions? The Rockets can't have $10 million in cap room unless they renounce their on restricted FA Courtney Lee or get rid of some salary first. Are you going to let go of a chance to sign Lee back at a reasonable contract in order to make an unreasonable offer to Portland? See math below. <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th> Name </th><th> Notes </th><th> 2011-12 </th><th> 2012-13 </th><th> 2013-14 </th><th>2014-15</th><th>2015-16</th></tr> <tr><td> Kevin Martin </td><td> </td><td> $11,519,840 </td><td> $12,439,675 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Luis Scola </td><td> </td><td> $8,591,793 </td><td> $9,408,207 </td><td> $10,224,622 </td><td>$11,041,037 </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Samuel Dalembert </td><td> Waived </td><td> $7,000,000 </td><td> $1,500,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Kyle Lowry </td><td> </td><td> $5,750,000 </td><td> $5,750,000 </td><td> $6,210,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Courtney Lee </td><td> Cap Hold </td><td> $2,225,093 </td><td> $5,560,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Goran Dragic </td><td> Cap Hold </td><td> $2,108,000 </td><td> $4,010,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Patrick Patterson </td><td> </td><td> $1,959,960 </td><td> $2,096,760 </td><td> $3,105,302 </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Marcus Morris </td><td> </td><td> $1,823,280 </td><td> $1,905,360 </td><td> $1,987,320 </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Chase Budinger </td><td> </td><td> $854,389 </td><td> $885,120 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Chandler Parsons </td><td> </td><td> $850,000 </td><td> $888,250 </td><td> $926,500 </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Greg Smith </td><td> </td><td> $473,604 </td><td> $762,195 </td><td> $854,389 </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> Derek Fisher </td><td> Waived </td><td> $3,400,000 </td><td> $644,005 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Courtney Fortson</td><td>Waived</td><td> $473,604 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Diamon Simpson</td><td>Waived</td><td> $473,604 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Marcus Camby</td><td>Renounced</td><td> $11,071,500 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Earl Boykins</td><td>Renounced</td><td> $762,195 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>14th Pick</td><td>Cap Hold</td><td> </td><td> $1,519,400 </td><td> $1,905,360 </td><td> $1,987,320 </td><td> $2,943,221 </td></tr> <tr><td>16th Pick </td><td>Cap Hold</td><td> </td><td> $1,371,200 </td><td> $1,719,480 </td><td> $1,793,520 </td><td> $2,751,260 </td></tr> <tr><td>Donatas Motiejunas </td><td>Cap Hold</td><td> </td><td> $1,134,500 </td><td> $1,422,720 </td><td> $1,483,920 </td><td> $2,288,205 </td></tr> <tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>SUM</td><td>Add Lee/Dragic</td><td> $59,336,862 </td><td> $49,874,672 </td><td> $28,355,693 </td><td> $16,305,797 </td><td> $7,982,686 </td></tr> <tr><td># of Players</td><td> </td><td>15</td><td>14</td><td>10</td><td>5</td><td>4</td></tr> <tr><td>$ below $58.04 mil Cap</td><td> </td><td> $(1,296,862)</td><td> $8,165,328 </td><td> $29,684,307 </td><td> $41,734,203 </td><td> $50,057,314 </td></tr></table> 3. Somebody mentioned that Portland wouldn't want to have Batum and Dragic at $10 million each because they then would not have any room to sign other players, including a center. The Rockets are in a similar situation-- also no center, will also be constrained by $20 million on the same two guys, only they'd have less cap flexibility. 4. Is Batum worth $10 million/year or whatever you want to offer him or will he quickly be viewed as a bad contract that you have a hard time trading? And the list goes on.
I would do this in a heartbeat. We would resign Dragic and Lee, draft Beal and Zeller. PG Dragic/Smith SG Beal/Lee SF Parsons/Morris PF Motiejunas/Scola/Ppat C Zeller/Camby/Dalembert Then we could see if we could package Scola, Dalembert, Ppat for Chris Bosh?
That trade, with some tweaks here and there, seems about right. Maybe substitute Morris for Bud, if Portland foresees Morris as a 3/4, but even then, the trade as proposed is all right. They prob'ly don't need to send Victor Klava(?)'s rights.
It underrates Lowry's value I reckon. A few GMs have said publicly there are no PGs in this draft. It's also meant to be starter/role player deep, not star player deep.
Lottery teams that are/will be under the cap might trade us their pick but they do know they'd be helping us out by absorbing Kyle's salary. So, Kyle's worth + other team helping our salary cap = ?
that would be a move of last resort... surely there has to be a taker for Kmart out there? (pretty please?) and for all Scola's faults, you know what you are getting from him night in and night out
If there is no need, why do it? Martin should be fairly easy to trade to at least provide some sort of cap room. More than likely you will have to take back some sort of salary in a trade, but seeing as though he's in the last year of his contract, I dont see it being a huge issue moving him on draft day or on July 11. Scola should have value in trades as well, but I agree he is the main candidate for the amnesty clause if they ever needed it going forward. Is he worth amnestying for Goran Dragic? Not if Goran is going to be flirting with all-star calliber salary figures. Whether you care to acknowledge this or conveniently disregard it, its not about what Goran's contract is costing Les, its about what his contract will be worth on the market if they ever need to move it in a trade in the future. Im sure alot of people in Orlando thought the same way as you when Rashard Lewis was going into free agency, but Orlando did not consider market value of the contract in the last few years of his deal. If you are going to use the Amnesty on Scola it better damn well be worth it. If there isn't an All-star out there waiting to be signed then Scola is worth holding onto. That being said they should still be able to sign Goran alone in free agency this summer up to around 8 to 10 million if they make a move here or there to free up some space. If he commands more than that then he I personally think the Rockets would be dumb to take on a contract like that for a player like Goran. Thats coming from someone who loves Goran. There should be no need to amnesty Scola just to sign Goran Dragic unless he commands beyond the 8 to 10 mil that he might not even be worth on the market, which in that case you let him walk.
Well if you NEED to do it, then you do it.... If all you can get for them is a bag of bones, and you have a good Free agent that you want to sign, like Batum, then you simply make the call. It is all about upgrading the team, you have to make tough decisions some time. DD
ok, I thought you were insinuating that they might need to amnesty Scola just to sign Dragic. Im not totally sold on the idea of amnestying Scola for get Batum, but I see what you mean now. I like Batum, but not really sure Id go that far to sign him. He's a nice player, and Id like to have him, but there must be better alternatives to come up with in trade first, or waiving Dalembert first to sign Batum.
I don't want to amnesty anyone, but if it leads to a situation where you dramatically improve the team, then by all means...amnesty away. DD
It's good trade, but it won't make the Trailblazers a contender. One posters on there even said that with #6 pick, they'd have slight chance at a possible star or superstar, yet if they get Lowry and Budinger (or Morris) ... they have no shot at a superstar. If they have chance at Beal, Drummond, Barnes, or Gilchrist, it's questionable. Also, you really have to look what the other 29 teams are offering. I'm pretty sure some team will match or even better a deal over Lowry, Budinger (Morris), and picks.
