I recently suggested a three-way deal wherein Portland gives Nikola Pekovic the deal he wants (apparently more than $12 mil/year, which is way too much money for this guy), Omer Asik goes to Minnesota, and some of Portland's assets (C.J. McCullom, maybe a Blazers first round pick, Robin Lopez's expiring contract) head to Houston. Houston gets a good backup C in Lopez, which allows them to trade Greg Smith to somebody for a second round pick, a good rotation player and possible starting PG at some point in McCullom, and maybe the first round pick. Other players/contracts would need to be involved in order to make it work but these would be the pricipal pieces being exchanged. A very good haul for Houston although Rockets fans will initially be unhappy. I have been pointing at McCullom as a guy Daryl Morey is likely interested in since last spring. Very good and undervalued young player. Obviously this move also allows Houston to trade Jeremy Lin to Milwaukee, presumably for either Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson, or a Bucks first round pick. McCullom and Patrick Beverly split the minutes at PG, Lopez (or Henson) takes over at backup C, and, if you get Ilyasova, you get a huge upgrade at PF. Portland and Milwaukee have looked like very obvious trade partners with Houston for the past several weeks. Milwaukee desperately wants to upgrade at PG and Portland desperately wants to upgrade at C.
This makes 0 sense. Pek will be making a good deal more than Asik when all is said and done. Maybe it isn't for a resigned Pek but a Pek on a QO plus assets? Not sure why we would do that though.
Also, as I pointed out either yesterday or today in another thread, the Mo Williams acquisition makes McCullom expendable. Portland is very obviously going all out to make it to the playoffs next season, long term consequences be damned. A great team to exploit right now!
Does anyone else want to point out that he spelled Asik with an O? Anyone? I mean it's a really astute observation
Talented player, works the boards, runs the floor, doesn't really have a jumper either but better touch around the basket than Omer. Omer may be a slightly better fit defensively. I would not be mad if Morey pulled the trigger on this. I thought he wanted 15 million per season, if that is true it's not going to happen.
That is just churning players and we wind up with less valuable trade assets than Omer and Jeremy. Gotta wait for the right trade.
I like Pekovic a lot, but this trade would not make a lot of sense. Pek is basically a bigger, more skilled version of Greg Smith. If we want that style of power forward, we should just start Smith at Power Forward and keep Asik as a defensive 6th man. It would produce more overall value than just trading Asik for Pekovic.
One thing I love about CF is that people will always find ways to make a thread hilarious no matter what the subject is. :grin:
Very strongly disagree. You have to take into account the size and length of the contracts involved. Four years of C.J. McCullom, and at a relatively low price, is a valuable asset. Three years of John Henson, also at a relatively low price, is also a very valuable asset. Ersan Ilyasova makes about $24 mil over the next three years, which is not much more than what Asik and Lin make over the next two years (around $20 mil each). Don't forget that the values of Asik and Lin both plummet next summer, when they're both entering the final year on their contracts, and when they will both be paid a ton ($15 mil each in 2014-15 alone). The time to get value for these guys is sooner rather than later, particularly since they're both relatively expendable (Asik is now a backup and Patrick Beverly is seemingly about as good as Lin).
Makes zero sense. Morey isn't going to pay double the price for a similar caliber player and take himself out of the Aldridge/Love sweepstakes in 2015. More likely a three team deal. Unless of course, Pek can play PF, which I am not so sure.