Well, kind of my point. We have the assets. There may be a better deal out there from Charlotte's perspective, but we have the ability to offer them a good one - 2 solid near-all players, 2 draft picks, salary relief.
and then flip the #2 for dwight amnesty scola sign dwill resign dragic resign lee dwight/camby patterson/? parsons/budinger lee/dragic williams/dragic hmm???
If Maggette is an expiring contract (isn't he? I thought he was), then they'd have less interest in swapping him out with Martin's expiring (except Maggette, as a player, sucks in all light and objects near him and spits them out on the other side of the galaxy). The Bobcats owner is notoriously tight-fisted. I don't know if he'd amnesty Maggette (although he should). I still say Jordan'd look to deal Tyrus Thomas with the #2, in which case, maybe we'd yield Ppat as part of the deal (wrong-side-of-30 Scola wouldn't interest them much). The Bobcats'll probably look to save money while sucking less. That'll be their marketing slogan on billboards (both of them) around Charlotte. Dear Daryl Morey: How much is it really worth to get the #2 pick?
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/19352135/charlotte-looking-to-deal-no-2-pick Wow..Bobcats looking at James Harden for the #2 pick...no way we will get it if OKC offers him up.
Westbrook or Harden will have to go. I just don't see how Clay Bennett will be able to afford 4 huge contracts, plus everyone else in a small market. Since there is no clear cut #2, I wonder if the Bobcats would have to offer a 2nd round pick or something else as well.
That's a good point. I was using ESPN trade machine and forgot they are slow on updating the years left. I guess they wait till the official switchover date. It said 2 years left for him, which really means 1 at this point. But the point was the assets are there. The Rockets could do the unthinkable, add Patterson to the deal and take back Tyrus Thomas. I say unthinkable cause he has $8, $8.7 and $9.4 million left on his contract. That would certainly accomplish the save money goal you indicated the owner was interested in. But Thomas is so so bad and overpaid. But if Morey is desperate, and he might and maybe should be? Martin, Lowry, Patterson, #14, #16 for #2, Thomas would certainly be a way way more than fair proposal. And while the Rockets do take on more long-term salary, they save money this year, to help resign Dragic and Lee. I guess it comes down to how much value Martin has. An alternative could be Lowry, Dalembert, Morris, #14, #16 for #2, Thomas and maybe Maggette if required. Unfortunately now you're not really saving any money, and you've picked up Maggette AND Thomas. But Maggette is an expiring at least that may get you something at the deadline. And you've kept Martin, who you can package in one of the myriad Timberwolves deals being throw around, if available. I think both and all packages are probably overpaying, and you'd of course rather do so in a draft with a KD-like at #2, but again if desperate, the assets are there.
See what I posted in the random trade thread. If you ignore the Howard part, I think that deal could go down if Morey's really high on getting someone special at number two.
That's all speculation. Harden and Ibaka won't even be RFAs for another year. And OKC'd be stoo-pid to give up Harden, especially now.
Absolutely true. But it brings up an interesting maneuver. Next summer the Bobcats have cap space to offer both Ibaka and Harden max deals at the same time. Wouldn't that be interesting?
True dat. The Bobcats will have to shake off the fetid stench dogging the franchise between now and then to convince those players to sign there; but OKC would still be in the driver's seat with them, as they'd be RFAs. (Re-sign and keep? Re-sign and trade?)
Durant is a different kind of cat. He might be able to persuade everyone to take less money and restructure his own contract (is that allowed in the NBA?).
