A couple of things. 1. T-Mac actually cost less than O'Neal because insurance pays for part of his salary when he's out. The amount can be quite substantial given his contract size. And we can use the money to do things like buying more picks next year. 2. Jermaine O'Neal is NOT going to influence our attendence next year. Shaqille O'Neal maybe. But not Jermaine.
If we did have a chance to knab a big-time player(which I get the impression from the proposed trade rumors, is highly unlikely) what makes O'neal any less trade able.... O'neal also has a big expiring contract and is not recovering from micro fracture surgery...
Man two weeks ago I was on the same boat thinking we are getting Amare or Bosh for T-Mac but that is next to impossible and would involve us giving up additional pieces to make the deal work with either team. Look at my post above, T-Mac's trade value has been overstated by too many people on this board. The best he can get you now is Kirilenko or Curry or various forms of other bad contracts. No GM right now wants T-Mac, especially not one that is going to give up young pieces. Either way Rockets are keeping him till the trade deadline. I am going only as far as to suggest that we make a swap for O'Neal and still have the option to trade near the deadline if possible. This is not even a gamble or anything. We are taking one player and replacing him with same contract, same salary, same injury prone, same trade value, the only difference is the position they play. Right now we need a fix up front at the center and this seems like the most logical move to put a good lineup on the floor and still have the same options of trade or free agency next summer as you would have with McGrady. I see absolutely no downside to this trade. Now if your are hanging to the false hope of McGrady somehow magically getting you a better trade offer than what is the on table right now around the league then that is your judgemental mistake not the reality of the situation. Please tell me a plausible trade right now that you think is get us something better?
I can't think of one at the moment, but I'm sure there are options out there. And more opportunities would probably open up during the season and near the trade deadline. Honestly, I don't consider winning this season as a big priority. I just don't see the benefit of it. Do you think JO will be more attractive to other teams midseason?
Winning a few more games is of no use. Desperation will lead to more trouble,even with another big expiring contract. What are we trying to achieve here?
When Tracy comes back he will be motivated to earn another contract which could also result in more wins not to mention that his return will limit the minutes and development of our pg and sg positions... Oneal would not effect anyones development or minutes cause we still don't have a center to develop.. Since we're most likely gonna trade for a center anyways, I much rather trade for a center without giving up one of our key players and at the same time still having a big expiring contract for 2010...
This IMHO will be the best case scenario. If McGrady comes back and posts all star numbers, imagine what we can get for him in a trade then! 20 teams who could still make the playoffs will clamour for him as the piece to put them over the top. Imagine what we can et for him then.
I think we could get something better for Tmacs expiring contract .... but if were not gonna deal him... i say what the hell. I am never good with 'playing to lose.' The whole sentiment of tanking for a draft pick disgusts me! Worst thing you can do is give people that lazy nothing matters mentality - cause despite what some might think, its not like throwing a light switch. Either you push and promote giving 100% - or you shouldnt even be in the program.
75% probability? You know something we don't? Because the reality of speculation without reason isn't 75%.
I am against intentionally losing more games. OTOH, I think that winning less would be a good idea. McGrady for O'Neal could work, but I really think we could do better. T-Mac's value is for a player who has a contract, maybe bad, maybe just not so good, that expires in more than one year. If we aren't trying to win this year, though, he's probably worth more to us if we let his contract expire, and if we can keep him from playing this year. If he comes back this year, let's send him to the NBDL.
But you could just use Jermaine O'Neals contract (plus others) to nab a big time player who will be part of the core for the future. As our team currently stands we'll be lucky to score 68 points in a game. Bad teams that don't score don't get on TV and don't bring fans through the turnstiles --> ie, they bleed money. Considering we've committed to something like $70million in salary already, bleeding money isn't a good idea. I'd rather have a team that wins 32 games than a team that wins 8 games. Tanking teaches our role players to lose - breeds a losing mentality, gets the coach frustrated or fired and is rarely a good idea.
If the main point is to encourage people to come to games, I think the potential hope and expectation surrounding McGrady's midseason comeback is a better attraction than O'Neal. Fans, I believe, will tune into see McGrady if just to satisfy their curiosity. Also, as things stand, we're headed to the lottery this year, and the collateral damage of adding O'Neal could be winning 4 or 5 more games and losing out on the next Brandon Roy again.
So who becomes Miami's starting center? Haslem? LOL. That's a little bit better than the Rockets situation and starting Hayes. LOL
Disagree - if he plays he'll probably bring about 15-8 to the table with block or so. In combination with Scola/ Landry and Hayes that's a decent frontcourt. We'd still be a scrappy, fighting team unless we moved Battier for someone who can make their own shot. [I'm not FOR O'Neal as the "best move" - but if it's the only thing we could possibly do before the season started, then perhaps it's worth it?]
It's a HUGE risk move. as huge as the font. if we lose Yao, then its over, JO is not gona help us. why not just tank it for a draft pick? if Yao somehow get back to healthy, having JO on the team is even worse than Tmac because virtually no one will take him. Tmac at least has his insurance, thats why Tmac is a hot sell at this economy climate. JO is not. at all. It's crazy to act by instinct at this point, the best thing for rockets right now is wait.
I'm against tanking too,but starting all over again doesn't equate to that. We won't have much cap room unless Yao's contract gets off the books. He still has a player option that he can exercise.McGrady needs to be traded,a hard job to get value for him as we all know,otherwise we won't be left with any cap room when his contract expires. Getting J'Oneal for him is something that I'm not in favor of.
all I was saying was that if it didn't hurt out chances next offseason, trying it wouldn't hurt. How would it be counter productive to trade a player we don't want for a center we need? You have to take gambles every once in awhile. Glad ur not our gm, we need a gm with some balls.
