It actually costs less to trade for Dragic now than it would to sign him outright this summer. To open up the cap space to sign Dragic we'd have to remove a lot of our supporting cast just like we did last year in pursuit of Chris Bosh. We might even have to say goodbye to Ariza to open up the necessary room. Dragic is likely to get offers of at least $13M/year. If we trade for him now at his current salary of $7.5M we'd only have to send out $5M in salaries to match and we'd still retain his bird rights to give him the raise he deserves. It's important for us to stay over the cap so we can have the MLE to add depth as needed. I like Dragic. A LOT. I think we should do what it takes to get him. Its a lot easier to keep your own free agent than it is to sign one away from another team. We honestly got lucky with Dwight. It was the prefect storm of bad management by the Lakers and smart cap management by the Rockets that got us our prize. And still Fegan almost screwed us over.
Lol. You guys are about to drive away the only legit insider on this board. SMH So what if he's a Lakers fan? Doesn't make his insider info any less valuable.
UFAs still have Bird rights if they have been under contract for at least 3 years (as Dragic has). We would be able to offer Dragic a contract worth more than any other suitor. We wouldn't have the right to match and force him to stay if he decided to sign with another team. In conclusion. Bird Rights: Yes Right to match: No You're welcome.
There is no such thing as a fan being a legit insider. Sorry. NBA front offices can leak like sieves. But only what they want to leak. They will track down any unintended leak and make sure they never work in the NBA again. It is in their best interests to do so. The only agents that will know a trade is coming for their clients are the players with no trade clauses in their contracts. Do you actually believe that those people are idiots?
Personally I wouldn't want to do that, it would make the Rockets older and I'm not convinced that it would be THAT much of an upgrade over DMo, especially given that he just turned 24 and his game still has room to improve. Give it 2 years and I'm not sure we're looking at Horford as the better player.
Given that Horford has played 11, 74 and 29 games over the past three seasons, Horford is injured much more than he plays. D-Mo on the other hand has never been injured, according to my faulty memory. Even back in EuroLeague. So, given past performance, who would you expect to out perform in the future?
What is there to think about? This happens literally all the time. Teams trade for players so they can resign once they hit the market. Lakers traded for Dwight and were way over the cap. They had his Bird rights so they could offer him the most money. He chose not to stay. It doesn't change the fact that they were able to offer him the most money and the most years. The fact that Dwight left illuminates just how bad things were behind the scenes in LA
Paul Coro: Goran Dragic (lower back strain) will miss a second consecutive game tonight. #SunsVsBucks Twitter @paulcoro -
I think it's a matter of win now versus win later though. I like what Dmo has done lately; it has been impressive. But in my mind, Horford is still a more established player who could possibly help more in the present. Dmo still has room to develop, and he may be someone good, but like posters have said before, he has yet to show this kind of consistency through an entire season. This is why I'm not the GM though; I wouldn't know whether to make the gamble or not. If it were up to me, I'd try to get Mozgov or Dragic. I think secondary playmaking from the perimeter is still our greatest need.
Agreed Bobbythegreat I was just throwing out a player that Morey could be interesting in if the opportunity presented itself. Personally I'm tired of Morey flipping the roster ever year. We need to stick with what we have.
From an NBA offensive perspective D-Mo is the second (or third if you count Canaan) play maker on the Rockets. If you need points give it to Harden, or D-Mo in the post up. I have not run the numbers, but I would imagine that they are about equally effective. No team can reliably contain Harden. And no team so far has shown any ability to contain D-Mo in the post. Ride what is working. And Howard seems OK playing the weak side with D-Mo in the post. And that is where Howard is most effective.
No offense jtr, as you seem like a pretty educated fan, but how on earth did you not realize we'd have Dragic's Bird Rights? That would be downright idiotic to suggest trading for him if that were the case.
Sorry. My bad. I guess it was a brain fart. I went back and reread the CBA and it was obvious I was wrong. Apologies to all.
