<B>The Deal</B> Three way trade between Washington, Houston, and Cleveland. <B>The Players</B> Steve Francis and Mo Taylor to Washington Kwame Brown, Rip Hamilton to Cleveland Andre Miller, DeSagana Diop to Houston with the deals balanced out with draft picks and filler. This will be settled after the lottery, and will be the point of hottest contention. <B>The Impetus</B> <B>Washington</B> No surprise here. Jordan wants new jewelry, and he's impatient . Francis and Taylor fit the bill as complementary threats, but most importantly, they'll give up the ball at crunch time. Wash has become less enamored of Kwame, and are willing to part with him and Rip for the multi-dimensional yet unselfish Steve Francis and the mismatch that Taylor will provide. May have to part with Courtney Alexander, but Wash needs a balanced offensive attack. <B>Cleveland</B> Cleveland is going nowhere, and everybody knows it. They need to stockpile young talent, and Rip Hamilton / Kwame Brown / Courtney Alexander and/or pick(s) will (they hope) pull them out of the cellar. Apparently they are betting on pulling a star point or combo guard out of the draft. After Z's foot injuries, the Cavs are reluctant to gamble on another center they can't count on, so Diop must go. <B>Houston</B> Obviously the gem in this deal is Andre Miller, but CD also will extract DeSagana Diop from Cleveland. They aren't phased by Diop's injuries, even after the Rice deal. Trading away Taylor frees up playing time and $$$ for Griffin, who is progressing faster than expected. KT has earned a starting position in the eyes of the coaches. Steve has the highest trade value, and Cat is locked into a bargain-basement contract. RT and CD believe in chemistry above all else, and will dump Steve Francis before he becomes a cancer. As I said, the aforementioned players in the deal are merely the principals, but half the work remains - settling the draft picks and additional players to balance out the deals. <B>Odom</B> I asked specifically about the Odom to Houston deal, and while noone would answer specifically, it appears to hinge on acquiring another lottery pick, as RT/CD do not want to part with their lottery pick. More as I get it.
WOW..great stuff OP...i think id trade steve for Andre especially if we got rid of Mo T in the process. This isnt one of those April Fool's Sidd Finch stories is it because this sounds like a great deal if , in fact, Steve wants to leave
This trade sux.... Miller is worse than Francis... Diop is worse than Taylor... Next year still in the Lotto....
I thought the actual opie was playing an April Fool's joke. THAT would have been funny. Only an imposter playing April Fools.
I hate April Fools' Day. Any *holiday* in which you still have to go to work/school and the mail is still delivered is a sucky holiday, IMO.
I don't have to go to school. Anyways, I wish someone would actually pull off something interesting. All these April Fool threads I can recognize by the titles.
If it's not the real OP (posting under a different name for some reason) then whoever it is did a damn good impression of him. The writing style and post structure are very similar. At any rate, it was a funny post, and I like the Andre Miller angle after the recent debates over he and Francis.
Every day is April Fools day here at clutchcity.net. This board sucks more than Tmo (the poster or player, take your pick)
I think with Steve's quotes this board will have a lot of Francis for Miller stuff on here. I can say that if Steve wants to go to an East Coast team (Washington is probably the only possibility) then Miller would be the guy I want to replace him. I still want him here, but new direction could be the way to go.