He was converting better from FT line, grabbing more rebounds with less turnovers in more minutes these past 3 years. Am I trolling? Nah
EVEN if it is for 12-14? Some people are delusional.... Dragic will be paid the max or very near the max this summer. This is around 20 mil per. He will not take such a big discount for the rockets.
Nah, except that he is still young inside and old outside. He didn't improve since then and those ghost injuries is not an excuse.
I really, really want the Rockets to get Dragic. Like a host of people here, however, for me the big question is who do we play at center while Dwight is out? What if he doesn't come back, or is a shell of his old self for the rest of this season? What if he's a shell of his old self for the remainder of his contract? What then? Donuts is a solid 5 who can step in as a starter, and has, successfully. He still has upside, possibly a lot of upside. If Dwight comes back healthy, Donuts plays very well next to him. We have him under a rookie contract, with the ability to match a deal as a restricted free agent and/or resign him down the road with his bird rights. Before this season, had this deal been suggested, I would have laughed and said, "Of course! Get Dragic and take a big load off of who might be best shooting guard in the NBA." And that's still an excellent idea, and today I'd remove the word "might" from Harden's description. The irony is that both Harden and Donuts have made a BIG step forward with their game, something that may not have been a big surprise with James, but sure surprised me with Motiejunas after years of disappointment. We would need a solid center in return, or from another deadline deal. If Morey can manage that, great, but I'd prefer keeping Donatas and getting Dragic, moving other pieces instead. And we have a lot of pieces to move, if teams are interested. Hell, I'll vote yes, but I wish Clutch had included "maybe, maybe no." I'm very conflicted.
Interesting numbers from a poster called Gaspar on the Suns realgm forum. How telling are these stats?
Thomas' contract decreases in value. If he accepts a 6th man role, he'll be a bargain in the new CBA. As for Dragic, he isn't worth the max...to them
In the years he's been here, I've never really seen Morey overpay in a trade before, and I can't imagine him starting now
If we get Dragic this trade deadline, then we'll see how far this team goes. Then we'll decide what we offer him. If we don't get him this trade deadline, I see Morey going for another PG with maybe a backup center signing as well. Because we are not sure what shape Dwight will be in. I doubt he'll just go with the status quo.
The crazy thing is ppl expect D. Howard to come back ready to roll but conventional wisdom knows what really will happen. Dwight will come back with some great games like Amare but will be a shell of his former self to washed out with recurring injuries. I think the Rox should look to trade Dwight this summer.
An injured or underperforming Dwight at age 30 WITH his contract has lower value than you expect. I don't think of any team that would trade for him..maybe BKN?
ultimately the lakers have nothing to trade aside from randle and a top 5 pick this summer, both are too much to give up for dragic. i doubt the suns would consider lin's expiring contract and a lotto protected 1st since that pick isn't likely to be conveyed for the next few years as the lakers rebuild. that would mean giving up dragic and getting nothing back... for a while. very unlikely given the suns desire to make the playoffs this season. the suns want to strengthen their wing positions. and they are asking for a 1st round pick for both dragic and plumlee. i think we can really help the suns get better (and get what they want) by making this a 3-way deal with denver. the nuggets want to unload afflalo, foye, and nelson for expiring contracts and picks. i think we can make a good offer for afflalo of papa/shved/2 high second rounders (or one of our own future first round picks. we can then flip afflalo/jones/and our own future first (or the high second rounders) for dragic and plumlee. we would even be able to add zoran without going over the LT. This might give goran incentive to resign with us on a fair deal. all in all i think it makes the suns nuggets and rockets very happy: rockets out: jones/papa/shved/2 high second rounders/rockets own future 1st round rockets in: goran/plumlee/zoran *rockets keep NOP pick and dmo* suns out: goran/plumlee/zoran suns in: afflalo/jones/future 1st from rockets *this makes the suns better now and in the future* nuggets out: afflalo nuggets in: papa/shved/2nd rounders from knicks and nuggets *nuggets meet their asking price*
2/13: Paul Coro, AZ Central Your read on where the organization is, what they might be looking at, where they might be going in the next 7 days? What you wrote today hit it on the head. This is a team still not there. They're still in transition to becoming the elite team they want to be. They won't do any move to tweak things and get into the 8th seed to snap this playoff drought. They won't do anything that sacrifices keeping themselves in position to make a big trade, which is hard for me to see them pulling off this deadline. I don't see that unhappy, available star. If anything, I see them doing other moves that set up that again. They have a clear vision, knowing they need that number one piece and gotta be ready to go get it when it arises, which they didn't have with James Harden. It's hard to find those guys. No guarantee that guy comes available and the Suns will have the package that is most likable. You have to keep yourself in that position. I'll throw out this possibility, depending on how this works out with George Karl, will Cousins be a guy that is still unhappy in Sacramento and are we talking about in a year from now how he's available and are the Suns in position? That's the type of guy they need. Not that it has to be him but that big man, that low post presence they can throw the ball into, bail them out, get to the FT line and a guy with star power. ... Why would Dragic be the name out of the three that is surfacing in trade rumors? There is no desire not to have Dragic going forward. It's the situation that dictates them to at least consider it. Bledsoe will be here one way or another. Now you're looking at Thomas or Dragic that goes if you aren't keeping the 3-point guard system. Thomas is hard to trade at this point. He's on a brand new contract, off the bench, just outed from one team. Dragic is more established on an expiring deal and will be a free agent. All those factors with the chance he just walks, ...he's shown enormous loyalty to Phoenix and the Suns. He got dumped for a 2nd round pick and still came back to a bad team. He wants to be here. He wants to be playing like he used to be able to play. As long as he's on a team with Bledsoe and Thomas, he'll never be point guard, he'll be the off-ball guy.
McDonough is from the Ainge tree. He gets it. I would be shocked if both Dragic and IT were there past the deadline.
