Well, some of the teams above us could draft according to need, not best player available. For instance, Patrick O'Bryant could easily be taken by the Hawks, TWolves or Boston, since center is so hard to come by, and these teams don't know when they'll be this high again. Randy Foye, Ronnie Brewer, Sheldon Williams, Rodney Carney, and even Sergio Rodriguez or Sheldon Williams could pop up into the top 7, depending on workouts. Then, one of the top 6 could fall to us. Now, depending on who it is, we probably want to keep him. If its Williams, they already have Paul, but if Bryant is still there, they probably want him, and we'd be better off trading to NO, and then hopefully pick up a SG and PF. That's if someone like Boston doesn't do it first. The more I look at it, the less I realize its going to happen ... crap ... but, one of the top 6 is not so bad either.
Well i did have a good idea for a trade, that doesn't work because One of the players has that BYC thing...anyways here goes and all in good fun, no flaming. ATL Trades J.Smith to Denver #5 pick to GS S&T Harrington to GS DEN Trades K.MArtin to ATL HOU Trades J.Howard to DEN #8 pick to ATL GS Trades T.Murphy to HOU #9 Pick to HOU Atlanta has the space to take on K-Mart and he can fill the void of Al Harrington. His abilities are best shown on a running team with a gifted PG. Which Atlanta could draft at #8 in Marcus Williams. This also allows Marvin Williams to move into the 3 to improve his development. PG Williams SG Johnson SF Williams PF Martin C Zaza Denver takes on Juwan's contract but for a shorter time period than K-Marts. They also acquire a second scorer who can create his own shot and make defenses leave Carmelo for man-to-man D instead of Double Teams. This also allows Nene to start at PF and for Juwan to back him up and provide veteran maturity and leadership for 10-15 mins a night. PG Miller SG Smith SF 'Melo PF Nene C Camby Golden State uses the #5 to pick the BPA and grabs Al Harrington to run alongside Davis and Richardson. PG Davis SG JRich SF Dunleavy PF Harrington C Draft pick, possibly LaMarcus Aldridge Houston gets a PF with 3pt range who can also rebound the ball (10 rpg). They can use the #9 to acquire Ronnie Brewer to start at SG. PG Rafer SG Brewer SF Tmac PF Murphy C Yao We instantly add height, defense on the perimeter and Yao gets room to operate down low. We get rid of Juwan while adding a shooting 4 which JVG so covets. We also get much younger in one hit. Sadly, i'm sure this is next to impossible, just puttin' it out there. Why do teams sign players to BYC contracts? Doesn't it make it much harder to trade the player in the future?
I think the biggest problem for this kind of idea(trading picks in a SnT) is that SnT happens WAY after the draft, and it will be almost impossible to make the trade before you can even talk to the intended SnT player(what if the player receives a better offer somewhere else and decides not to cooperate? someone is going to get canned for that). -- not to mention you are talking about a three way trade. also, IIRC, BYC status kicks in not because you say it's is a BYC contract or not, but because the player receives a considerably higher salary than last year (can't remember the exact percentage now ). any player receives a huge raise (ie. francis had his new max contract kicks in when we traded him, or yao becoming a BYC next year) will automatically get the BYC status. CAP experts please correct me if I made any mistakes
Let's not forget about how some draft projections has Tyrus Thomas slipping, possibly to the #8 spot, and how bad New Orleans would want him. LSU athletes are like gods/heros around those parts so giving the Hornets a local product like Thomas would be an extremely popular move. If he slipped to #8, you could probably get the Hornets to overpay for him..... #8 (Thomas) + #32 (if necessary) for #12, #15 + J.R. Smith?
I'd make that trade, but I'd do it only on draft day when we see who is around at #8 (being risk-averse as I am). I'd expect to be still be able to get 2 of Redick, Foye, Ager, Armstrong, Rondo, Simmons, Splitter, or Shawne Williams. I'd expect by trading down we'd miss out on something like Carney, Brewer, Marcus Williams, and Shelden Williams.
The Houston Rockets have a talent quality problem. They need the best player available to them that will fit their needs and style of game. If they have a plan to develop this team two weaker players will not have the same impact in the long run. Juan it's good to hear from you again!
Please... no trading next year's pick unless it's a sweetheart deal or the pick has full lotto protection. Right now there is no reason to trust McGrady's back and if he's out significant time, we could be right here once again next season, only in a draft much more talented. We have no idea where we will end up next year and I'd hate to pull an Isiah.
How about trading our #8 pick for a likely top 15 pick next year, no strings? We could sign James and call him our third scoring option.
I think I would. The talent gap between what we will find at 12 and 15 is probably very similar to what will be available at 8. Brewer could very well still be there at 12 as could Redick or Williams at 15. We could even concievably get the best shooting guard out of the U.S. in Redick plus the best shooting power forward from Europe in Oleksiy Pecherov. I would just have to convince myself that while there are likely no stars in those spots that they will be good enough role players to warrent garanteed contracts.
I mean a straight up trade to a lotto bound team for next year, unprotected? I think we would get better value in that pick, as well as a chance at getting a lotto spot higher than 8th.
The thing is if there is not a talent gap btw #8, #12 & #15, New Orleans would not trade with us. They will only trade if there is a catch at #8. But if there is a catch at #8, the Rockets might as well take him.
I voted no, because Orlando at #11 will probably grab JJ Redick. If we dropped to 12 and 15, it will be too late for us. JJ is the only prospect this year -- other than the top 7 -- who is worth a guaranteed contract, IMHO.
