ESPN: Rockets talking trade-up with Kings, Raptors -- targeting Dwight or Drummond?

Clutch just posted that McHale says 'need' is going to play a bigger role than picking the best talent available and smiled when he said he likes shot blocking and good rebounding bigs. *Hint

 

for a rental of howard...I doubt they find a team that can give up at 5 and 8 draft pick plus a good young player or two and eat salary.

We are kinda in the driver seat Id imagine...plus they can amnesty turk...we cant. Itd be better for them if they have to choose to amnesty him and take all the assets they can get.

 

Only if they saddle us with the player we actually like. Also the more they saddle us, the less we offer in picks. There's a tradeoff needs to be balanced out.

 

Or we could surround Dwight with some of the many available FA's this summer and build a contender right away and then hope to resign Dwight after the season and remain contenders for the foreseeable future.

Besides, whoever we pick at 5 and 8 could easily NOT pan out. When you have a chance at a top 5 player in the league you have to go in balls deep.

 

If Deron williams doesn't come here even with Dwight on the roster, do we instantly trade Howard for Bynum straight up?

 

Balls deep!

Let's get a chant going.

Balls deep! Balls deep!

 

that is very interesting...where did get that quote? Is there something going on today?

 

The answer to this question is that I don't think dumping another contract is very important to Orlando if they get nothing but draft picks back for Dwight.

Specifically, if Dwight Howard was traded for the 5th and 8th pick in return and Orlando waives JJ Redick's and Von Wafer's non-guaranteed contracts (plus Earl Clark opting out as has been reported), they will have 10 players under contract making $47.6 mil total, more than $10 million under the expected cap. The year after next, they will have $32 million committed to 7 players (plus buyouts for Hedo and Duhon).

Basically, Orlando will have cap room (or a giant trade exception stemming from Dwight Howard) right away for them to make maneuvers-- most likely of the "eating salary for a pick" type that they did to get the Ibaka draft rights and will continue to have such flexibility going forward. It's not really not that important for them to dump Hedo, Richardson, or Big Baby.

Here's how the math works:


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<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>Dwight Howard</td><td>Traded to HOU</td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Hidayet Turkoglu</td><td>Waived in 2013</td><td> $11,015,850 </td><td> $11,815,850 </td><td> $6,000,000 </td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Jameer Nelson</td><td>Player Option</td><td> $8,600,000 </td><td> $8,600,000 </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>J.J. Redick</td><td>Waived:Non-Guaranteed</td><td> $6,750,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Glen Davis</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $6,300,000 </td><td> $6,400,000 </td><td> $6,400,000 </td><td> $6,600,000 </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Jason Richardson</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $5,395,000 </td><td> $5,799,625 </td><td> $6,204,250 </td><td> $6,601,125 </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Duhon</td><td>Waived in 2013</td><td> $3,250,000 </td><td> $3,250,000 </td><td> $1,500,000 </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Quentin Richardson</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $2,446,200 </td><td> $2,627,400 </td><td> $2,808,600 </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Ryan Anderson</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $2,244,601 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Earl Clark</td><td>Opting Out</td><td> $1,160,000 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Daniel Orton</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $1,105,560 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Von Wafer</td><td>Waived:Non-Guaranteed</td><td> $1,069,509 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Ish Smith</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $522,472 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Larry Hughes**</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $479,806 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>Justin Harper</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $473,604 </td><td> $762,195 </td><td> $1,059,293 </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>DeAndre Liggins</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $473,604 </td><td> $962,195 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>5th</td><td>120% scale</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $3,374,640 </td><td> $3,526,440 </td><td> $3,678,360 </td><td> $4,660,482 </td></tr> <tr><td>8th Pick</td><td>120% scale</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $2,563,320 </td><td> $2,678,640 </td><td> $2,793,960 </td><td> $3,553,91 </td></tr> <tr><td>19th pick</td><td>120% scale</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $1,418,160 </td><td> $1,482,000 </td><td> $1,545,840 </td><td> $2,380,594 </td></tr> <tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>SUM</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$51,286,206 </td><td>$47,573,385 </td><td>$31,659,223 </td><td>$21,219,285 </td><td>$7,041,076 </td></tr> <tr><td># of Players</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>15</td><td>10</td><td>7</td><td>5</td><td>2</td></tr> <tr><td>$ below $58.04 mil Cap</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> $6,753,794 </td><td> $10,466,615 </td><td> $26,380,777 </td><td> $36,820,715 </td><td> $50,998,924 </td></tr></table>

 

I see why. The owner is more interested in selling tickets for a season, of course. He doesn't give a sh*!t about the fans and winning a championship.
It is all so clear now.

 

http://twitter.com/#!/clutchfans

Looks like some kind of charity function. Rockets give back or something.

While it'd be great if the sly smile meant that the Rockets'Kings trade was already in the books, just not yet announced, is there any reason to not announce something like that? I mean, all the indications are the Kings are moving back.

It's probably just McHale just noting that he loves big men.

 

Typical Cat response. Nope, I am not listening to homers, fans or journalist talking heads. I'd seriously discount what I'm being told if that were the case. As I said before, while Cuban wouldn't mind getting both Williams & Howard (who wouldn't?), I don't think that's his long range goal.

Not while he's restricted FA. From what I'm hearing the so-called Cuban "master plan" is to be ready to capitalize on the situation if LAC is stupid enough not to lock him up this summer and he becomes a FA. And you have to admit that with Donald Sterling, that is a very real possibility. As I see it, the Clips have to get both Griffin & CP3 to sign long term deals which is somewhat uncharted territory for them. Supposedly, Cuban has him pegged as Dirk's eventual successor. Me? My response to this was "meh" - I thought it was somewhat interesting when I heard it although you would never guess who said this.

Dirk's contract really isn't that bad - he signed a 4 year deal in 2010 for $80M. The max amount he was eligible to receive was $96M so he gave Cuban a $16M hometown discount. He made $18,785,000 this season and is due $20,910,000 & $22,720,000 in the next two seasons. Looking ahead to the 2012-2013 season, the Mavs have the following commitments:

Dirk Nowitzki $20,910,000
Shawn Marion $8,460,000
Brendan Haywood $8,350,000
Lamar Odom $8,200,000 (if team picks up option)
Vince Carter $3,120,000 (if team picks up option)
Rodrigue Beaubois $2,227,333
Dominique Jones $1,276,560
Kelenna Azubuike $992,680 (if team picks up option) [counts $854,389]
Brandon Wright $915,852 (if team picks up option) [counts $854,389]
Jason Terry ($17,156,250)
Jason Kidd ($14,520,000)
Ian Mahinmi ($1,812,200)

Odom will be gone as will Haywood. Terry, Kidd & Mahinmi are all free agents who will take drastic pay cuts if they come back so they have the caproom to get Williams. Now here's what 2013-2014 looks like:

Dirk Nowitzki $22,720,000
Shawn Marion $9,320,000
Brendan Haywood $9,070,000
Vince Carter $3,180,000 (if team picks up option)
Dominique Jones $2,325,680 (if team picks up option)
Rodrigue Beaubois ($3,256,361 qualifying offer)

From what I see here, even with the signing of Deron & paying Dirk, the Mavs appear (on paper) to have the ability to fit in a D Howard so the idea isn't as far-fetched as it may appear. Not saying that this is a realistic possibility but with Cuban, you just never know.

My apologies to Clutch for all of this Mavericks stuff.

 

I just don't see why Howard would suddenly change his mind about Houston now. He signed his agreement with Orlando as soon as he found out he was gonna get traded here, why would now be any different...?

Howard wants to play for Brooklyn, and that's not going to change. We look pathetic when we keep chasing these pipe dream trades.

The last thing I want is to trade away 2 top 10 picks in the deepest draft I've ever seen for a Dwight Howard rental!

 

I like shot-blocking and rebounding too, but need? We need freaking everything! need really has nothing to do with it. If the rockets are drafting for need, the front office is more f'd up than i thought. We are rebuilding. We need talent. I don't want to hear any more about NEED! trying not to fly off the handle. Hopefully this is meaningless chatter.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>McHale said he likes 18-20 prospects in this draft. Smiled in saying he has a preference of taking guys who can block shots and rebound.</p>&mdash; ClutchFans.net (@clutchfans) <a href="https://twitter.com/clutchfans/status/217342755058356224" data-datetime="2012-06-25T19:45:25+00:00">June 25, 2012</a></blockquote>
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That could be anyone-Howard, Drummond, Leonard, Henson, Zeller, any big guy.

 

The only comment I'd make against this is that if the new GM wants to go the full OKC route, would he want to have those guys on his roster taking up minutes? Sure, they're clearly overpaid, but even without Dwight, despite going down 4-1 to the Pacers, that's still potentially a top 9 or 10 team in the east, especially if they add two high lotto picks this year and one of them is half decent.

I would think they would want to go the full tank mode, meaning purge decent veterans, while saving some money, filling the roster with high upside but high downside players and try and find a gem or two (maybe a Jeremy Lin esque goal), while being in the running for a top 3 pick next year.

 

That's rumor/conjecture. There's also rumor he opted in because he was going to be traded to LA or SAC or DET or some other rental team.

That could change. He wants to go to Brooklyn because that's where Deron currently is. If this drags out into FA and Deron leaves for where ever, you really think that "Howard wants to play for Brooklyn, and that's not going to change."? If Deron isn't there, you really think he's interested in going to Brooklyn?

 

Have you considered changing your name to postbadlee? Would be a warning to unsuspecting readers so they would not waste their time.

 

This scenario is played out 15 times a week here on ESPN Radio and they talk about it as matter of fact like it is a done deal. Their only fear here was NJ winning the lottery so they would have the Davis prize to dangle for Howard but a lottery loss sent the pick to Portland so they think the DWILL/Dirk/Dwight train is ready to leave the station here!!

 

The Mavs cannot sign Deron, pay Dirk and still sign Dwight Howard to a max contract in 2013 when he becomes a free agent. Specifically, adding a max contract (or anything close to it) for Deron Williams to their existing deals, even assuming they waive Vince Carter and Dominique Jones and let everyone else (including Brendan Wright and Roddy B) go, they will have close to $61 milion + committed to just 5 players. And this does not count any other FA that they may sign this year or any of their upcoming draft picks. Even amnestying Haywood would bring the number down to $52 million. It really is not feasible for them to sign anyone close to the max straight up.


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<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>Dirk Nowitzky</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$19,092,873 </td><td>$20,907,128 </td><td>$22,721,381 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Jason Terry</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$11,158,000 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Jason Kidd</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$10,121,000 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Lamar Odom</td><td>Waived</td><td>$8,900,000 </td><td>$2,400,000 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Shawn Marion</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$8,022,449 </td><td>$8,396,364 </td><td>$9,066,796 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Brendan Haywood</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$7,624,500 </td><td>$8,349,000 </td><td>$9,073,500 </td><td>$9,798,000 </td><td>$10,522,500 </td></tr> <tr><td>Vince Carter</td><td>Waived</td><td>$3,000,000 </td><td>$2,000,000 </td><td>$2,000,000 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Rodrigue Beaubois</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$1,236,720 </td><td>$2,227,333 </td><td> </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Dominique Jones</td><td>Waived</td><td>$1,193,280 </td><td>$1,276,560 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Ian Mahinmi</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$915,852 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Brandan Wright</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$915,852 </td><td>$992,680 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Sean Williams**</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$885,120 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Brian Cardinal</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$854,389 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Delonte West</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$854,389 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Yi Jianlian</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$771,706 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Kelenna Azubuike</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$280,192 </td><td>$1,069,509 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Andy Rautins**</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$50,000 </td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td></tr> <tr><td>Deron Williams</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td> </td><td>$17,177,795.25 </td><td>$17,950,796.04 </td><td>$18,723,796.82 </td><td>$19,496,797.61 </td></tr> <tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td>SUM</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$75,876,322 </td><td>$64,796,369 </td><td>$60,812,473 </td><td>$28,521,797 </td><td>$30,019,298 </td></tr> <tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>17</td><td>10</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>2</td></tr></table>