My thoughts exactly. Would most likely be Pelican's pick, a young player like Jones & using the TPE to absorb salary. The Pelicans pick is nice, but you have to not just look at your package(get your minds out of the gutter) in a vacuum. You have to compare it to all the other packages on the market to really asses how competitive it is, and also consider the buyer's needs. A. What are the comparable packages with other buyers? -Detroit could do a S&T with Monroe, all of their picks -Charlotte - Zeller, Vonleh, more young players, all of their picks -Orlando - Payton, Harris, all of their picks + 2017 Lakers pick -Knicks - assortment of - Bargnani, Hardaway, Shumpert, Calderon -Bucks - Ilyasova, Knight, Henson, ALL of their picks (would be highest value in a trade reg pick value) -Indiana - Hibbert and many others Look... what do all these trade packages have in common???.... Actual players which brings me to B. B. What are the needs of Phoenix- Last year Phoenix was on the verge of making the playoffs even without a healthy Bledsoe for most of the year. They aren't going to get much worse to go back in the lottery, and they will have potentially 3 lottery picks next Summer. Simply put, the Suns are going to be sellers of lottery picks this year in order to make a big splash.... not buyers. The lineup of Dragic/Bledsoe wasn't the issue. The issue was having an inside presence to match their high potent perimeter offense. The Rockets best asset they have to give is the Pelican's pick which is comparable to the Lakers pick they already own from the Nash trade. I just don't see how that really moves the needle when other teams like a Milwaukee can offer a pick that might even be better than the Rockets pick, but also has quality talent to send back in return as well like an Ilyasova, Henson, or maybe a Larry Sanders. The biggest disadvantage the Rockets have in dealing for Dragic is they just really don't have impact players they can send back. Jones is a solid young prospect, and D-Mo has his moments, but we are talking about comparing those players to some pretty good proven names Phoenix will get offered in trade proposals. All that being said... I think the rumors here are just that. If Dragic was truly on the open market teams would be bidding like crazy for him, and we'd hear about it from reporters all across the NBA world.
Dragic is a star, only CP3, Curry, Westbrook were better in the west, they aren't trading him for freaking Dmo and a late 1st. He is the face of the Suns & if they were to trade someone it would probably be Bledsoe, with his injury concerns not Dragic. and no we couldn't get EB either.
Don't sleep on Toliver. He shot 41% on 3's last year, averagong 1.6 made three's per in 64 games. That was on the Bobcats, this guy will shine with the Suns.
Dragic is a star, but he isn't someone you can build around. It is debatable whether dragic can be the 3rd best player on a title contender. The suns have a great gm, and he understands that even if dragic stays, the team will not be ready to contend while dragic is in his prime.
Why would the Suns Trade the Dragon to us? They like use him at shooting guard along side of Bledsoe so........the too many PG's on the same team theory is out the window. Just face it guys......we are screwed
What assets? I assure you that by the trade deadline there are going to be at least a couple of GMs who will want to go all in, assemble the best possible team and go for the ring, and by then, if Phoenix wants to trade him, Dragic will be a highly desirable asset. A pick that will end up somewhere between 11-14 doesn't represent that value. And if Dragic isn't a star, why would the Rockets want to lock their long term flexibility up on him, when it's been said multiple times, that they're looking for the that third star?
If they bring back Bledsoe then yes they do. I'm skeptical of the "insiders" as well, but what they're saying makes a lot of sense for the suns. If you were an owner or GM, would you really want to pay three PGs around 35mil per year, when your team isn't even contending and you have other needs? That's a bad basketball decision and a bad business decision. He may not be availible, that's why in my post I said we could offer the best trade IF he is in fact availible. You guys are so worried about shutting down these rumors from the alleged "insiders" that y'all don't even stop to think that what they are suggesting actually makes a lot of sense for both teams.
Bima, You have always amazed me with your knowledge on the salary cap... You have been doing this for years and it still amazes me... Keep up the good work... T_Man
Whose team wants to sign two players that play his position and drafting another. Phoenix resigning Bledsoe signing Thomas and drafting Ennis would be like the Rockets trying to extend Asik, drafting a center in 1st round, and then sign Gortat in FA while having Dwight as the starter. That's not how teams treat their stars. Also, in case you want to use the argument that Bledsoe and Dragic can play together, look at Dragic's numbers with Bledsoe. They are not even close to being star level. It's Dragic's numbers as the clear No.1 option that he's putting up star stats.
Which team? There are only 5 or 6 teams who have reason to go all in, SAS, OKC, LAC, CLE, HOU, IND, mayyyybe MEM and GSW
That doesn't make any sense. When Morey had the chance to get Howard, he didn't say "Uh, I already have a starting center on my team so I should pass." He went a got him despite the promises he made to Asik, and him being disgruntled in the aftermath. When you have the chance to get elite level talent you go and get it in any shape and form, and figure out the fit later. That's exactly what McDonough did with Bledsoe, but as opposed to the Asik situation, It turned out great for him, because both guard were able to coexist and form a highly effective due, one of the best backcourts in the NBA. The proposed trades don't make much sense for the suns, if nothing else, they're light on the return, if Phoenix actually wants to trade Dragic.
It's July, ask me in January. We'll see how the NBA landscape looks by then. You can't predict other potential trades happening, injuries, older teams finding their groove, looking for that extra punch to push them over ...
So basically when he loses all leverage and the list of teams that need that final push are pretty much already known? (You understand contenders aren't willing to blow up their chemistry except on a heavily lopsided deal (enough to add to your talent base to make up for the loss, and then some, enough some to tip you over the edge) for an expiring that late right?)
- Dragic + Bledsoe for Harden. - The question, to me, is what realistic Dragic trades from any of the other 28 teams would make sense for the Suns? Lets say the Rockets offer Jones, the New Orleans pick, Llull, Gentile, Papanikolaou and 2017 Rockets pick. What teams would want Dragic and make an offer to beat this package? - There's a lot of talk about how much Dragic would get paid. But that's just a secondary issue in free agency. The most important fact about free agency is that unrestricted free agents are FREE, and UNRESTRICTED. Free as in free to go where they want for whatever reason they want without restriction (i.e. matching rights by whoever employs Dragic as of next June). Phoenix, or whoever trades for Dragic, can be fully willing to pay the fair market price for him and have a good winning team and Dragic can still leave Look at Trevor Ariza: He had a good situation in Washington, and Washington was willing to pay him as much as Houston does. But he still left over a small amount of extra $ he would make due to no state income tax (who knows what else motivated Ariza... maybe he likes Treasures). There will likely be multiple suitors for Dragic in free agency-- more such suitors than those who would be willing to trade substantial assets for him right now because signing Dragic as FA does not require you to give up those "substantial assets" and you do get to lock him up for multiple years rather than risk losing them at the end of the one season.
It's not the same, because you can pair those guards and play them together, something you could almost never get away with those centers. 20PPG 6APG 3,5RPG that Dragic averaged for the year isn't considerably different than 18PPG 5APG 3,5Rpg that he averaged with Bledsoe in the lineup. The difference most certainly doesn't justifies the "not even close to being star level" label that you put on it.
No, I would argue they gain leverage over time. If a contender loses their point to injury, they'd be ready to mortgage their future for a player like goran, to get a shot in the short term.
