[Examiner.com] Could Gortat end up with the Rockets?

Yeah he is stuck with the Magic...Gortat is gone

 

We may make a trade for him. He has a lot of potential. If we're in rebuilding mode, then Battier straight up for Gortat would definitely work.

 

That's too much, IMO. I think expiring contracts and a bench player is more what to expect. Possibly a second rounder thrown in but doubtful.

If I were the Magic, I'd be asking for Chuck Hayes. I could see him playing an important defensive role for that team.

 

Do I think Gortat is worth the MLE, very much so, but I wouldn't want him if it required giving up a first round pick.

 

Great point. A Hayes / Howard combo could defend Garnett / Wallace as well as any other East front line.

 

despite the fact that I'm pretty sure you can't trade a RFA when you match, why in the hell would Orlando pay luxury tax dollars just to get a lottery-protected first and a second? Ridiculous...

 

or take back the same salary in a trade just for hayes when they could just keep gortat.

 

He won't end up the Rockets as a straight up trade. We were the first team to meet him and we presented him an offer less than the MLE. We let him go to Dallas when they came in with the MLE offer, obviously we did not think he was worth the money. Now that Orlando has matched, getting Gortat means paying the money and giving up a pick. The only way I see him ending up on this team is as part of a big trade.

 

I guarantee you Morey has a different way for calculating the value of a signed player that he trades for. You see, if you are giving up dead salary instead of paying extra for a guy to play for you while you have dead salary sitting on the books, you have to consider all that salary. If we were willing to sign in at $4 million per but we've got $5.5 million of dead weight on the books that we could get rid of, well, he may be worth $5.5 mill/year if we can trade away that salary to get him and continue to make adjustments going forward.

Another factor is what if he plays well, do you think his value to Morey will increase accordingly? Obviously so right? So, it should be easy to see that we could very well trade for Gortat in December providing he is playing well and we don't have to give up much for him.

 

Morey assigned a value for Gortat. It was not the full MLE. I can't see him suddenly saying "Gosh, I totally low-balled this guy the first time" and ponying up the cash for 5 years to him. I just don't see it.

We'll see what Morey can pull out of his hat, but it ain't gonna be Gortat.

 

Hayes would be an added bonus, given his relatively small contract. They'd want Cook's expiring more than anything else, I'd expect. Then flip Cook for the guy they really want.

But you're right, they could just decide to keep Gortat for at least one more playoff/championship run, and trade him after the season or beyond.

 

Yes Morey Do it! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER GET US A DECENT cENTER!
please! EVEN IF IT NEEDS A THIRD TEAM INVOLvEMENT

 

^^^
Well, never mind. Just read the Hollinger article posted by worzel gummidge in the NBA forum. Given the Magic already have a big trade exception from before, they don't seem to need Cook's expiring on top of that.

I'm pasting the article below. Good read BTW.

 

Well said. He will be a Magic and all speculations on him being traded to the Rockets are...........

 

It could be that Morey's offer was never really a serious one. He realized the Magic would match even a full MLE deal for Gortat, and if he offered it like the Mavs did, Gortat would be off limits to him for a full year. This way, Morey gets a chance to trade for Gortat on December 15, which is what he was aiming for all along.

At least, that's what I thought might be going on, until I read the Hollinger article above. Now, it seems less probable.

 

BimaThug is really good at the rules and stuff. All I know is the 25% rule on the salaries if teams are over the cap. I do know they can't trade Gortat for 1 yr without his permission and they can't trade him to Dallas for 1 yr. The byc means they can only take back half his salary. Any rockets trading for gortat will involve probably a combo of players and a 3rd team. Dallas just pulled off a 4team trade which most times seem impossible.So if you think in context of half his salary and within 25%, then other players have to be involved. Maybe gortat and Pietrus for battier and hayes. Also maybe cook and lowry for dooling and boone works well also.

 

I don't know about that. You don't usually take the time fly to someone's doorstep at midnight if you're not serious about signing them. Unless he really just wanted to rack up some frequent flyer miles.

 

Yea I think the Mavs priced gortat out of our range.......but im wondering if maybe Morey knew the magic were gonna match any offer to gortat and this was all an elaborate feint to stick it to dallas......

 

If Gortat plays very well and Orlando is willing to take our trash, then of course we should trade for him. But why would Orlando trade a guy that's playing well for 5.5 million of dead weight? If they really need to get rid of a guy playing that well they can just salary dump him onto one of the teams that have room. I don't see the scenario you described coming true unless Morey has naked pictures of Otis Smith somewhere.

I'll tell you how we could get him though, if he just sucks in Orlando, has a big fight with the coach, then we might be able to get him. Even then we're not getting him for dead salary alone, we'll have to include a young player or a pick, maybe both. You know picks are going for 3 million a pop, and most of our young guys were bought, for around 2 to 3 mil, so that is alot to give up.