Place your bets now... who will Asik be traded for?

Al Horford...

 

i'm going to believe reports that say the pellicans, cavs, bobcats, and bucks have backed out of the talks, and that phily has a deal in place that the rockets will do if they can't find a better one. i also believe that portland and okc are trying to land him but morey won't send him to a playoff foe.

why do i believe that morey has a deal in place with hinkie? because rumors were that morey's asking price was too high. if one gm says "no way i'd pay what he's asking" the other gm thinks "maybe he's right, i won't pay it either." and asiks trade value drops. so morey calls hinkie and says lets leak a story of us having a dael in place. well now the other gm's interested have to pony up or risk losing asik to phily. could be a big bluff, or they could've come to an agreement to back up their posturing. either way it drives up the asking price. when the report said hinkie feels that asik is better than any center they could draft in the lotto? that's morey pulling strings to get other teams to give up a pick. that's what he's after, unless its an all star or borderline all star.


what they haven't mentioned is the hawks, celtics, knicks being ruled out after early rumors had them inquiring. the knicks literally have not 1 good contract. no way DM takes anything back from that roster that comes close to asik's salary unless its for melo in which case we have to give asik, lin, with a young player and picks. i just don't see that happening.

the celtics are interesting because we can split asik into front court help like bass and faverani. but that doesn't fit morey's MO, especially from what we are hearing he wants to get in this trade. we could send him straight up for humphries (works on espn's trade machine) and a pick or two. maybe one from the nets that will be a lotto pick? celtics win the division and gain a legit starting center that is better than anyone they could get in the lotto (as hinkie put it).

so that's how i came to this conclusion:

#1 option is millsap - morey wanted him in free agency, is rumored to be after him now, and the hawks haven't backed out of talks yet.

#2 option is nets lotto pick from boston - the celtics could win the division this year, and possibly even get out of the first round with a healthy rondo and asik. morey wants a lotto pick, but no lotto teams would give one up. the celtics are in a perfect position where they are a playoff team that asik can really help, and they have the nets picks to trade.

#3 option is go through with the sixers trade - hinkie needs to move turner and hawes before they leave for nothing this summer. hawes for asik straight up makes sense for both since hinkie will have a starting center and not lose hawe's value for nothing, and the rockets get a backup 5/4 who can spread the floor, but more importantly can still be traded at the deadline incase melo or rondo become available.


so as the rumors say, #3 is on the table and will happen if they can't convince the hawks or celtics to pony up. i doubt the hawks give up milsap for asik straight up, trade value for both players may be equal, but millsap is a more skilled player and there is no reason for the hawks to get a less skilled player because he's taller. asik is better at rebounding. they are both great at defending their position. millsap is better at everything else.

in the end i think morey finds a way to get ainge to give up the pick and go for a playoff run. even if he's got to add one of our own picks, or another young player, but all of the talk has been lotto pick and this is the only one we can get where asik makes sense for it.

 

Nah Asik has much bigger impact on Defense than Millsap,other than that I agree.
Still Asik for Millsap straight is fair to me and Horford still would like to Play PF.

 

Asik will be traded for one first round pick, and one second round pick. The first round pick will have lottery protection. So we will get a late first round and a second rounder for Asik.

If we get a player in return I think it most likely would be Millsap. Atlanta seems like the best fit for Asik.

 

Asik+Lin for Randolph+Calathes

 

I am sticking with my Asik-to-Boston prediction (see above) but I think we may see Houston include either Ronnie Brewer or Donatas Motiejunas in the deal, so as to create an open roster spot. In this scenario, Houston signs Troy Daniels to a team-friendly contract and runs with a 12- (rather than 13-) man active roster. For example:

Omer Asik and Ronnie Brewer to Boston;
Kris Humphries and a first round pick to Houston.

Note that Humphries' expiring contract will have some value at the February trade deadline, and can be traded with a first round pick (maybe the same one acquired from Boston in this Asik deal) for somebody pretty expensive but good whose team is looking ahead to 2014-15. Luol Deng is the target. Kevin Love is the ultimate target but more of a long ****, at least this season. Deng is a realistic target.

In other words, look for the "Who can we get for Asik?" chatter to be quickly replaced by "Who can we get for Humphries and a first round pick?" chatter.

Also, if Motiejunas is not packaged with Asik, he may get shipped off separately, probably for a draft pick, and not necessarily a first round draft pick. Although this may not happen until closer to the Feb 20 trade deadline. If Sam Hinkie was and still is a believer in Motiejunas, Philly makes sense. Philly actually has a rather large amount of unused cap space, which means Philly can simply absorb his salary, there would not have to be a player/salary headed back to Houston, only the draft pick. This would be another way to create the roster spot for Troy Daniels.

 

1) ??
2) Thaddeus Young / Hawes
3) Millsap

Morey has surprised us more times than not: getting Scola, Lowry for pick, T-mac & Landry for Martin, Lamb & Martin for Harden, Rafer for Lowry, Bonzi for Bobby J, Patrick for T-Rob etc. This was all pretty out of the blue and not in many, if any, trade rumours. This time is a bit different but I still think we'll be dealing with a team that has not been mentioned often or is perceived as out of the talks.

 

Channing Frye and a first.

 

We can defeinitely trust Morey to surprise us. There is a reason he is the GM and not anyone else on this forum. He has a lot of advanced tracking of players that he wants to recruit and he isn't going to drive up their value by leaking info before he's ready to pull the trigger.

 

Pau gasol?

 

Julius Randle I like this man

 

I wish, he was my target early in the season but suns seem like their in win now mode & he's been a big part of their success

 

3 team deal Philly, T-Wolves, Hou
Philly-Asik
T-Wolves-Turner
Hou-Hawes,Corey Brewer

Picks will be involved and maybe other players

Brewer defensive, corner 3 shooting, wing Morey wanted in Summer.
Hawes can play back up 5 or stretch 4 with Howard

T-Wolves were said to have interest in Turner and recently traded for defensive wing Mbuh Moute

 

Reading this Smoothie, I had a vision as Morey being one of the characters in Game of Thrones playing the politics game. Only instead of kingdoms and land, its all politics and head games involving GMs and multi-million dollar sports teams!

 

A variation of my projected trade would include Philly, who is reported as a team wanting to get in on this Asik deal:

Omer Asik to Boston;
Spencer Hawes (can play together with Dwight Howard and can also back him up, and he comes off the books at the end of the season) and a protected first round pick (from Boston) to Houston;
Kris Humphries (expiring contract), Donatas Motiejunas, and a second round pick (or two) (from Houston) to Philly.

Houston gets back a nice rotation player (Hawes) AND a first round pick, and an open roster spot is created, which allows Daryl Morey to sign the sharpshooting Troy Daniels to a team-friendly contract.

There are several variations of Asik-to-Boston that work. I expect to see one by Thursday, Dec 19.

Those who follow Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge should be able to recognize how perfect Asik would be in a Celtics uniform. Boston wins their division pretty easily with Asik and a healthy Ramon Rondo.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=l7ur33p

I think it's definitely a 3 team trade. Probably involving Pelicans and Sixers. I like this deal for all 3 teams.

 

Should trade Howard before the league notice how overrated he is.

 

Are you Maya?

 

Someone please before our chemistry goes to complete ****

 

Time to change your crystal ball.