If they know Dwight's walking and the Clippers offer Griffin/Bledsoe or Griffin/Crawford they still don't?
It doesn't even really make THAT much sense from a numbers standpoint. They'd have to either take paycuts or ATL Would have to move Lou Williams, leaving them capped out w/ 4 players on the roster (CP3/Dwight/Horford/Jenkins). Or SnT Horford, but that leaves the team w/o a significant 3rd player and nearing the cap (again w/ only 4 players on the roster). mehhh.
It is collusion, but it wouldn't matter, teams are not S&T either of those players. They are either keeping them or letting them walk and getting meaningless draft considerations for doing so.
<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&adSetCode=91cDU6NuXTGKz3OdjOxFdAgJVtQcKJnI&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:9386604&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script> http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/9386386/chris-paul-dwight-howard-hoping-play-together-sources
Those teams really compete w/ each other. I just don't see Buss doing it. Keeping complete flexibility in 2014 is probably just as attractive. Griffin is really overrated imo though, so I may be biased. I think he already peaked lmfao. Every yr he's been getting worse -- read the Grantland article on him; would make any Clippers fan sad.
Amnesty Metta...trade Pau for expiring and draft picks. T-rob low risk/sal with high upside (which they need) Lin high potential that will sell tickets for this year (trade next if they dont like) Asik (theyd want him and keep him at 8 mil) They would also be playing in the same city with Clippers and Cp3 and Howard. That idea will never happen any nba fan for more then 5 years know that. Lakers will never allow the clippers to become the no 1 team in that city...and trading howard to them would do that. Lakers would be the second fiddle team.
We would have to do this, w/ Howard and CP3 both prodding their old teams to do it. LAL could easily mess this up though. If they say, "Thanks but no thanks -- we'll keep our cap flexibility in 2014" then we're out of luck. LAC won't see this as a credible threat, and we're back to Square 1. Not sure why LAL would play ball. They can call our bluff and then it sort of unravels this whole plan. They can call it because their alternative, should we just end up signing Dwight away for free, really isn't that terrible.
The Clippers would choose Griffin over CP3, you don't really understand the clippers if you think they'd choose CP3.
I am not sure of the technicalities but I am pretty sure it's not true. I have been looking at the Hawks board and they say they can afford Paul, Williams, Horford and Howard and still keep the first round picks. There have even been rumors you can include Josh Smith but no way that's possible.
While I agree that I don't see LAL helping out LAC that much by doing a SnT, I also don't think trading Pau for expirings/picks is that easy to do. Who will, early on in FA, use up $19M in cap space/expirings on a player who is declining and just had surgery (remember Bynum last offseason? And that guy was on the UPSWING).
They're in the same city. There's no way they help each other, not even if it helps themselves. They're not going to create a super team to steal fans and marketshare in their own city. That's as likely as the Knicks trading Melo to Brooklyn instead of letting him walk for nothing.
Link One good superteam deserves another. In the hours after the Miami Heat moved a step closer toward potentially winning their second championship with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, our Chris Broussard reported that free agents-to-be Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have been texting about teaming up. Can they do it? If so, where? Let's take a look at what the NBA's collective bargaining agreement says about their options, rating each potential spot on a scale of zero to four snowballs -- as in their snowball's chances in, well, you know. Los Angeles Lakers: Zero snowballs To even join the conversation, the Lakers would have to use their amnesty provision to waive Kobe Bryant. That would put them close enough to the luxury-tax threshold that they could potentially complete a sign-and-trade for Paul, assuming the Clippers were willing to do them the favor of taking Pau Gasol and other spare parts in return. Before even getting into the political complications of the L.A. rivals trading with each other, basketball reasons alone mean there's no workable trade that would land Paul on the Lakers. Dallas Mavericks: One snowball Dallas is a year too early. If Howard and Paul were for some reason to sign one-year contracts with their current teams, the Mavericks could be a player for both next year, when Dirk Nowitzki has vowed to take a pay cut in order to create more room under the salary cap. For now, however, Nowitzki's $22.7 million salary for 2013-14 makes it difficult for Dallas to find space for one of Howard and Paul (as Insider's Larry Coon broke down here), let alone both. Even if the Mavericks traded everyone else, the most they could offer the two free agents is about $15 million apiece -- far less than their maximum salaries ($20.5 million for Howard, $18.7 million for Paul). Houston Rockets: Two snowballs Here's how this could work. First, Rockets GM Daryl Morey must find a taker in his current quest to trade forward Thomas Robinson to clear cap space. Then, by turning down Francisco Garcia's team option and waiving a handful of players with non-guaranteed contracts (James Anderson, Aaron Brooks, Carlos Delfino and Tim Ohlbrecht), the Rockets would have enough space to sign Paul outright. Next comes the challenging step. To get Howard, too, Houston would have to convince the Lakers to agree to a sign-and-trade built around a package of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, along with their young forwards (Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas). Asik and Lin could both be useful to the post-Howard Lakers, but they would cut into the team's cap space in the summer of 2014, making such a deal unlikely. Alternatively, the Rockets could sign both Howard and Paul outright while keeping James Harden, but that would require finding takers for both Asik and Lin and all other guaranteed contracts (including Royce White) without taking on salary in return, and waiving everyone non-guaranteed (including the useful Patrick Beverley and Greg Smith) except Chandler Parsons. Detroit Pistons: Two snowballs The Pistons are the distant wild card in these proceedings. If Detroit waives Rodney Stuckey, whose contract is guaranteed for $4 million next season, and uses the amnesty provision on Charlie Villanueva, the Pistons would not have anyone making more than $5 million on the roster next season. They'd need to cut about $6 million in salary, which they could accomplish by packaging Brandon Knight with forward Jonas Jerebko (two years left on his deal at $4.5 million apiece) to a team under the cap or with a trade exception. Alternatively, Detroit could trade the No. 8 pick and convince Paul and Howard to take a couple hundred thousand less than the max apiece. By doing so, Paul and Howard would join a Pistons team that still has quality young talent. Greg Monroe could work next to Howard If he develops a midrange game, and Detroit would have promising second-year center Andre Drummond as either part of the world's most talented center rotation or trade bait to improve the wings. Nonetheless, it's hard to see Detroit, hardly a destination for NBA players, forming the next superteam. Their sights are set much lower in free agency. Los Angeles Clippers: Three snowballs Broussard's sources indicate that teaming up for the Clippers is the preferred option for Howard and Paul. In this case, the mechanics aren't as important as the question of whether the Clippers' organization wants to team Howard and Paul if it means giving up Blake Griffin. A Howard-Paul combination stands the chance of being much more effective defensively, especially if the Clippers choose a defense-minded coach to replace Vinny Del Negro. However, trading the younger Griffin for the older Howard would mean shortening the Clippers' window to some extent, and the lingering effect of Howard's back surgery also makes such a trade risky. Atlanta Hawks: Four snowballs The Hawks have always been the team best positioned to offer Howard and Paul the chance to play together. The Hawks have only three players under guaranteed contracts for next season -- Al Horford, John Jenkins and Lou Williams. Still, to clear enough room to sign both Howard and Paul to the max, Atlanta would have to trade Williams and either Jenkins or one of this year's two first-round picks without taking back any salary. The team could use the pick as a carrot to get a team under the cap or with a trade exception to take on Williams, whose contract is reasonable despite the ACL injury that ended his 2012-13 campaign. Oh, and forget about reuniting Howard with former AAU teammate Josh Smith. The Hawks would have to renounce the rights to Smith and point guard Jeff Teague in order to make this all work. So Atlanta's cupboard would be nearly completely bare -- Horford, Howard, Paul and Jenkins along with one of the first-round picks and whatever free agents the team could sign using the "room exception" ($2.65 million, which could be split up) and the minimum salary. But Howard and Paul would be together -- and Atlanta is far and away the most realistic situation for making that happen.
I get this sick feeling in my stomach that says all we are going to end up with at the end of this summer is Pau Gasol. eww
If a team comes up with the cap space and Howard and Paul are amenable, the Clips and Lakers don't have a say in the matter. The Lakers can try to S&T Howard to Houston, but if Howard signs in Atlanta, they're out of luck. Even so, I think Paul and Howard would prefer teaming up with Harden and Parsons over Horford. And I agree with you that one of the LA teams would blink and agree to the S&T because of the threat of Atlanta.
No they can...its been explained over and over. Trade Trob (morey already has trades ready) trade lin to utah or somewhere that has capspace and needs a point guard for a future 2nd rd pick (being dramatic) trade asik to cleveland for future pick stretch royces contract for a 500 k cap hit You have enough cap space to sign both or close enough. The LA teams know this...one will give.
Yea... You obviously missed the ...sarcasm... It would be stupid for the lakers to take any salary whatsoever for Dwight. 2014 with nothing on the books is their best bet. 80 million in taxes for a losing season would make them a laughingstock. Griffon sells tix, but he is not a great player, not even good, he's a 1 trick pony. Lin/Asik wouldn't sell anything, and would be not attractive. CP and Dwight have 2 feasible options together, and neither of them start or end in LA
