Nocioni is a good defender and he competes on that end. He was a good defender on those bulls top 5 defensive teams. He's good enough defensively and a much better player offensively to overcome anything battier brings. The only reason why the rox wouldn't want to do it is because he has 4yrs left, but his contract gets smaller. He moves well without the ball too. If u have a 3 man wing split of jackson,nocioni, and maggette would be really good.
Denver will do anything in its power to get Birdman back... they can also offer him more money, money is the killer thing for our team since we are so limited because of the FA we still have to resign.
Can they? Here's Hollinger's take: [rquoter] Here's where it hurts the Nuggets -- despite all last year's cutting, they're likely going to be several million dollars over the luxury-tax threshold unless they trim even more. Because their player contracts have built-in raises but the salary cap is expected to go down next season, they're caught in the whipsaw. Denver will be nearly at the tax line with the contracts of just six players -- Billups, Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, Steven Hunter, and Nene (who broke his arm in the fourth quarter of Game 6, by the way). Add in the $3 million on the books as part of Antonio McDyess' buyout and the smaller contracts of Sonny Weems and Renaldo Balkman, and they're already at $69 million -- with the luxury-tax threshold expected to fall between $69 and $71 million next year. And things get even worse a year later, when the tax level may drop again while the salaries of the Nuggets' core players once again rise. All of that is before they attempt to re-sign Chris Andersen, Linas Kleiza, Dahntay Jones, or Anthony Carter, or add any additional players, or draft anybody. "We want everybody back, we want our same team," Anthony said. But it's going to be extremely difficult for the Nuggets to have that. Denver's biggest priority is bringing back Andersen, the high-flying shot-blocker who returned to the Nuggets as a fan favorite and energized the second unit. The Nuggets are hoping to sell their lone draft pick, at No. 34, and use the money to keep Andersen. Denver also will probably trade the future first-round pick it owns (via Charlotte) to any team willing to take Hunter off its hands, opening up some more wiggle room. [/rquoter]
Tmac just got surgery on his shoulder. http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_a...0/t_mac_has_arthroscopic_surgery_on_shoulder/
I guess it'll have to depend on how much they really want Anderson over the other guys... I know we want Ron and Von though really bad... maybe over the backup C...
Brian Cook - expiring 3.5 mill for Hamed Haddadi - 3 yrs, 1.5 mil 2.5 pts, 2.5 rbds, .6 blocks, 6 min Hes 7-2 and only 24, worst comes to worst we wasted 1.5 mil.
that's why the backup center we'll pick up is either via trade or someone who's inexpensive. Or maybe they'll look at DL or pick one up in the 2nd round, if they have a pick.
Per Amare's ESPN player page: "Status Alert: Stoudemire (detached retina) told a Washington D.C. radio station there is a "50 percent chance" he would return to this Suns this fall, the Arizona Republic reports. (May 29)" I would give up anything outside of Yao to get him. I don't care about the whole "He couldn't play next to Shaq clogging the paint, what makes you think he can play next to Yao?" element. He wants to play for a contender too so in that sense i'm even less worried about him opting out next year -- and even if he does, we're likely talking a deal based off McGrady's expiring deal + whatever for Amare + maybe a bad contract or two. That's not exactly the world's most risky proposition.
Not that I would necessarily do this deal, but assuming that Amare wants out of Phoenix and the Suns would risk losing him, the following trade would make some sense for the Suns: Tracy McGrady, Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry and picks for Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson, and Goran Drajic If Robert Sarver is really in as much financial trouble as we've been led to believe, then he'll save a TON of money with this deal while still getting back some valuable young (and cheap) assets. This trade will save the Suns about $4.6M in 2009-10 and up to $29.1M in 2010-11 ($32.1M if the Suns don't exercise the team option on Landry). Secondary to the tremendous financial gains, the Suns get the heir apparent to Nash (Brooks) and a much cheaper athletic, running PF to side with Shaq (Landry). Anything McGrady gives them would be gravy; and if he comes back from his injury, they have themselves a solid star player. The picks will likely not translate into great players, but they could become quality role players. Meanwhile, the Rockets get one of the top PFs in the game in Stoudemire, along with a very solid SG in Richardson. Dragic, a Steve Kerr favorite, is not the player that Brooks is, but he could be a decent backup to Lowry at a position that would get weaker for the Rockets. (By the way, Dragic doesn't necessarily have to be included in this deal, but it saves the Suns more money. Plus, Brooks would take Dragic's spot in the rotation anyway.) The Rockets rotation would look something like this: Lowry/Dragic Richardson/Wafer Battier/Richardson Stoudemire/Scola Yao/Stoudemire Other than at the PG spot, that's a tremendous rotation. Also, given the additional incoming salary, it would be unlikely that the Rockets could afford to keep Artest (but probably could afford to at least keep Von Wafer). Bottom line: I'm not so sure I do this trade if I'm the Rockets. It will cost Les Alexander a TON of money over the next 2+ years, and it would probably also cost the team Artest. In my opinion, it wouldn't be worth it in order to upgrade the PF spot, a position that is already a strength on the Rockets.
Does the Rockets have any trade exceptions left? I don't see the Rockets or the Nuggets trading rotation players to each other, but we could see some small type of deals between us. I'm very interested at what players would be available at # 34.
Steven Hunter will make $3.7M next season, and the Rockets' biggest trade exception is the $2.6M one from the (last) Steve Francis trade. So, I don't see the Rockets agreeing to take on that much salary for the sake of a late first rounder. Taking a stab at the #34 pick, however, might be a good idea. It will be interesting to see what kind of market there is for draft picks this June. Let's just hope Paul Allen and the Blazers don't over-inflate the value by spending $3M here and $3M there to buy up first rounders.
Nice post BimaThug. As you've pointed out any package for Amare we could put together would be very costly from a financial standpoint. Ultimately, it's all about how willing LA is prepared to go over the luxury tax threshold. We've all heard the "...willing to do it for the right player..." and "....if he makes us a contender..." soundbytes. Amare makes us a contender barring, of course, injuries -- always a variable on any Houston Rockets team. But yeah, adding Amare and J-Rich into the mix likely costs us Artest. That's a tough pill to swallow. A wing rotation of J-Rich/Battier/Wafer/_____ is still a solid rotation but Artest's toughness cannot be underestimated. Plus, we would be a Battier injury away from not knowing how to defend anybody on the perimeter which has kind of been our M.O. since acquiring Battier. Basically, my two dream scenarios for this offseason would be adding either: Kevin Martin or Amare. Amare jumps to mind because we've lost in the playoffs the past two years because we don't have anybody that can consistently score in the post from the 4/5 without Yao. We've reached the point where we absolutely NEED to safeguard ourselves to prevent, or minimize the damage, if/when he gets hurt again. We all love Yao to death but given the past three seasons and his increasing age it's reasonable to presume that this is going to be an issue going forward. Amare fits in that regard, he's just not going to come cheap. Kevin Martin, on the other hand, is a bit of a head-scratcher from a value standpoint. Financial implications aside, a player like Martin would NEVER be mentioned in trade discussions of this nature. Of course, that element goes out the window whenever owners like the Maloofs are losing money and supposedly looking to cut salary. From a lateral standpoint (keeping the team largely intact with a wing upgrade) it's a solid addition in the "stand pat" mindset. Given the history between Adelman, Martin and Artest plus our subsequent instant improvement, I am sure Artest would feel compelled to resign. The problem of not having that 4/5 scorer still remains and our best trading chip (McGrady) goes out the window, but I suppose this is the better move to make. An offer of: McGrady/Brooks for Martin/Udrih/Thomas is a decent starting point.
As much as I like Kevin Martin, there is NO WAY I'm taking back Beno Udrih's ghastly contract. The dude is going to make $7.4M in 2012-13!!! And I'm pretty sure that Sacramento isn't going to trade Kevin Martin to any team that isn't willing to take back The Udrih Mistake along with him. I'd much rather the Rockets just re-sign Artest and pursue other trade options. An alternative to Martin (who is not nearly as good but who could fill a similar perimeter shooting role) who I personally really like is Kirk Hinrich. Yes, he's currently overpaid, but his contract actually goes DOWN in value every year, minimizing the headache if he doesn't work out for whatever reason. Taking advantage of what I believe to be Aaron Brooks's all-time high value, Hinrich could possibly be obtained for the following package: Aaron Brooks, Brent Barry, Brian Cook and Joey Dorsey for Kirk Hinrich Why Chicago does this deal: After his clutch play this postseason, re-signing Ben Gordon has now become the Bulls' top off-season priority. Unfortunately, that ain't gonna be cheap. Gordon wants to get PAID. With a backcourt/perimeter that already includes high-priced players such as Luol Deng ($10.4M), Kirk Hinrich ($9.5M), John Salmons ($6.4M) and Derek Rose ($5.2M), the Bulls will have a hard time justifying the devotion of so much salary to its perimeter players. Since Rose is obviously the future of the team (and, in my opinion, a future top 10 player in the NBA), Hinrich is the obvious choice to be the odd man out. Aaron Brooks comes dirt cheap, can shoot the rock, and provides a level of speed that no one currently on the Bulls (short of possibly Rose, on a good day) can match. Barry, Cook and Dorsey are all simply to make salaries work (this trade only works AFTER July 1, and even then it just BARELY meets the 125% + $100k rule); and of those three players, only a portion of Dorsey's 2010-11 salary is guaranteed beyond next season. The Bulls could waive all three of those guys and would still come out about $2M ahead in savings next season, let alone the $17M owed to Hinrich beyond next season. The $19M in total salary savings could be used to re-sign Gordon. Why the Rockets do this deal: This is a classic case of "sell high, buy low" for Morey. Brooks is coming off an impressive (albeit inconsistent) playoff run. Meanwhile, fighting through the first real injury of his career, and finding himself playing alongside a rookie stud brought in the play his position, Hinrich was not able to fully show off his skills last season. Kirk is a good shooter (41% 3pt% last season, 38% career), an above average to good defender, athletic, and a fairly decent facilitator. Basically, he's the perfect kind of of PG for this Houston Rockets team. And he could possibly be had (again, depending on the Bulls' willingness to readily part with him in order to keep Gordon) for nothing more than Aaron Brooks and scraps. We're talking Joey Dorsey and Brian freakin' Cook, here. A pairing of Hinrich and Lowry would make the Rockets even better defensively and would give the team the veteran presence they lacked this postseason. And again, his salary goes down every year. $9.5M next season, $9M in 2010-11, and Hinrich is a relative bargain in 2011-12 at only $8M. Just a thought. Again, it'll cost Les Alexander. But far less than taking on any other quality starter. Plus, the Rockets would still be able to manage re-signing Artest this summer. I'd definitely be happy with the guy, slightly inflated contract or not.
I get what you're saying (keep McGrady's $23M and either let him expire, change its for parts or leave your options open for a February panic deal) but I strongly disagree Hinrich is the way to go here. We're talking about a player that's currently in the midst of a career nosedive since 2006. Not only that but the opportunity cost in this case (Brooks) is arguably a better player right now. Not exactly "buy low, sell high" in my book although I am clearly a fan of that line of thinking in regards to Brooks given my willingness to part with him in order to obtain Martin or Amare. Udrih's contract is bad (not quite "Kirk Hinrich Bad" but bad enough), all the same he's still a quality player that could immediately fill the void left by Brooks in our PG rotation. Taking Udrih's contract off their hands is obviously Sacramento's key incentive to agree to the deal I suggested. Sacramento would need their heads examined if they agreed to some McGrady-for-Martin/Thomas type deal that clearly benefits us more and offers them little aside from cap relief. All i'm saying is I think Udrih's $6-8M per year is worth swallowing in order to obtain Martin. Martin, a player that not only fits perfectly, but statistically can rival and/or cancel out two of the biggest thorns in our side at his position (Roy, Kobe). 26-years-old? Aghhhhhhhhh....I need to stop teasing myself here!
I would love this trade. Not sure if Charlotte would be interested in saving some long term money or not but this would be a great deal for both teams I think. Houston Trades: - Tracy McGrady - $23,239,561 (09-10) Charlotte Trades: - Emeka Okafor - $10,538,937 (09-10) - Gerald Wallace - $9,075,000 (09-10) Houston Does This Because: They get a solid player on both ends of the court in Wallace (though known for being injured like McGrady but less than half the price) and they get an over qualified backup Center to Yao in Emeka Okafor without losing a single contributing player from last year!! Addition without subtraction that's good business!!!! I believe that by limiting both Yao's and Okafor's minutes they should both be able to play long term with minimal injury (since Okafor has been injury prone as well). The question for Houston is if they want to take on the reasonable but long term contract of Okafor (5 years remaining) and Wallace (3 years with a 4th year player option). Also, would Okafor and Wallace mind coming off the bench for a contending team?? Another great thing about this deal is that would clear an additional $3.6 million dollars off the books that they could use to pay Von Wafer while resigning Ron Artest with an approximately $10 million deal without spending more than they spent last year. Beautiful !!! Charlotte Does This Because: They are in a failing market with a failing team. Clearing $19.5 million off the books at the end of the year would be tremendous in saving the franchise from financial ruin. It is a relatively young franchise that has not been able to get its act together since its inception into the league. Though they would lose two of their "core" players, they could easily afford to replace Okafor with the sturdier Chris Bosh and add any number of wing players that will be on the market next year since they would only have about $30 million in contracts after this season. Are they happy to make this deal or do they prefer to hold on to the contracts and continue to TRY to build a contender with their current roster? What do ya'll think? Rockets Projected Roster: P.G. - Aaron Brooks. . . .Kyle Lowry S.G. - Ron Artest. . . . . .Von Wafer. . . . . . . Brent Barry S.F. - Shane Battier. . . .Gerald Wallace. . . . James White P.F. - Luis Scola. . . . . . Carl Landry. . . . . . .Chuck Hayes ..C. - Yao Ming. . . . . . . Emeka Okafor. . . . .Joey Dorsey
