I live in Lubbock but my brother just called me and said that this morning he heard on the radio that Nick Van Exel might be our next point. Has anybody else heard this?
that wouldn't be so bad... he's better than fisher, hudson, and, at least in my opinion, brent barry. still... he has to be willing to play for the MLE, and i'd still prefer barry. but nvx is strictly preferable to fisher and hudson.
somebody needs to play the point. we're not getting rid of steve as much as to trade him in for an upgrade. if we could have kept steve and gotten tmac then we should have done that.
I've seen this covered no less than fifty times and yet still there are people who don't realize he'd have to opt out of his contract to be a free agent and he's going to make roughly twice as much as the MLE if my memory serves me. He's looking at the end of his career and he can't afford to turn away that money. The only possible way he will come here this season is if we trade for him and take on his outrageous salary for this season. The article about him wanting to finish his career in Texas was silly because they meant after he finishes his current contract which expires after this season. It confused a lot of people. Nick Van Exel isn't a free agent this season and he's not going to be one either. You know, come to think of it, this is at least the third time I've explained this and I usually sit it out and let somebody else explain it.
He's going to make 11,821,750 dollars this year. the team has an option for the 05/06 season in which if he's picked up he'd make 12,731,125..... he won't be picked up though. that's when he'll be a free agent.
Oh, and I forgot to mention he's still kicking himself for the 20 million he dropped to make a trade to the Mavericks work because he wanted to win.
As much as NVE hates where he is now, I dont see him opting out of a contract that is going to pay him as much as it is just for the MLE and a place closer to home. Maybe we can bring the subject up again when he is a FA next year and sign him as a backup PG spark plug off the bench.
I'd be willing to trade Taylor and Spoon for him straight up ... we'd get 1 mil TE out of it, and be able to let his 11 mil go next year. That would clean up our bad contracts. (although, I'd rather have Barry) Then trade Howard and TE to Magic for Brian Grant ... Bring back Padgett and (you know who) ... We'd still have our MLE to sign a FA or two to add depth at Center.
Yeah, yipengzhao, I agree. What I said was part Sophistry. Apologies. To be clearer, what I meant is that while we clearly need to bring in another PG, I think that Van Exel would demonstrate the same qualities that frustrated us about Steve. (A penchant for jacking the ball up, potential stubborness with the coaching, etc.) With T-Mac and Yao, we have scorers 1 and 1A. (Next year I'm sure we'll waste many hours debating which one's which). What's clear, though, is that whatever PG we get needs to have a proven pass-first mentality. I'm not sure we get that with Van Exel.
I'd like Van Exel off the bench, but for half a million dollars more than Francis makes this year? No thanks.
If we get T-Mac, I wouldn't mind shipping the TE, Pike and Gaines for him. If the Warriors would rather pay Pike and Gaines a combined 4M rather than NVE 11M, then that would work. Claxton did such a good job anyway. Gaines would be a decent backup, and they could still pick someone up very cheap. If they'd rather have Lue, that's fine too. A team with Yao/McGrady/NVE would be a terriffic blend of players that mesh well. NVE can dish it out, he's clutch, he makes defenders pay and is a leader. He has experience. Those are things that Yao and McGrady will need to witness first hand. Yao/Decerq Howard/MoT/Spoon JJ/Boki/AG T-Mac/Pike NVE/Gaines or Lue Very solid team. We're a bit small at the 1 and 3, but we're humongous at the 2 and 5. Decent at the 4. I think it would work.
NVE did say he would opt out to join us, but i dont think we need someone that good. it sounds crazy but we need solid role players to fill spots. there is a reason the lakers traded him for nothing when they already had shaq and kobe. they had all they needed in fisher. they also traded rice because that too was 'too much' talent to work. vet guys that will get the job done and know their role like fisher or barry, jj, howard, spoon, pike, lue all fit the bill. throw in boki for some extra athletisism and add a center and we are fine.
