Well, technically it is possible. See for example this trade: T-Mac (EC), Brooks, Landry, Cook (EC) ($30.5 million combined) for Paul, Peja, Posey, Songaila ($37.5 million combined) ...works on the ESPN trade machine. This would also mean that we would have a payroll of roughly $80M next season - without the salaries of our draft choices and without resigning Lowry and Scola (which probably won't be possible, even though I have to admit that I'm no salary cap expert at all. But since we will be hopelessly over the cap we will only have the MLE to resign Lowry and Scola, right? Ergo, no chance at signing both. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Ugh....you guys are missing the point by 100 degrees. Taking on Paul makes us better at the point, but it does not improve the team as much as getting a better WING scorer would. DD
NO PROBLEM with upgrading but for what? How will it help the team upgrading at the point guard? why not upgrade at the center? how will cp3 help us with defending the paint and rebounding? what im saying is were SOLID at the point not great just solid and upgrading were we have holes would help us more than just making everyone happy by gettin a big name star
Getting a point guard that has led the league in assists won't make our wing scorers better? I thought that was the whole idea of having a good point guard--to make other players better. Like I said before, Chris Paul took a Hornets team to the playoffs with: The Ghost of Morris Peterson Jannero Pargo Rasual Butler Playing significant minutes at the shooting guard position. You cannot honestly say that those three are any better than what we have at the wing position right now. Hell, even Trevor Ariza reminds me of a younger version of James Posey. Once you get Budinger back, there's Paul's Peja-in-Nawlins clone right there. If he can help David West become an All-Star, there's no denying that he can't help Carl Landry reach greater heights as well. Top it all off, the dude still puts points on the scoreboard
larsv8, while I mostly in agreement with aelliott on this one, I will stick up for you (a little) on this point. aelliott, I think you are overlooking the value of the assets that the Mavericks have. In no particular order (except for #1): (1) Erick Dampier's (non-guaranteed) contract: This contract may be the single-most attractive "cap-clearing" asset in the NBA today. His 2010-11 salary of $13,078,000 is non-guaranteed, meaning that the Mavericks can either trade him at the February trade deadline OR wait and use him this summer as an "instantly expiring" contract. If Cuban included Damp in a mid-season deal, the Hornets (if they so choose) could still flip that contract next summer for additional assets. (2) Josh Howard: The Mavs have a team option on Howard for 2010-11, meaning that he is no worse than a $10.9M expiring contract. At best, he is a near All-Star caliber wing player. That is, when he's fully healthy. Which he hasn't been for quite some time. But still, he's still a valuable trade asset for a team looking to clear salary. (3) Jason Terry: He's one of the top bench scorers in the league and one of the leading fourth-quarter scorers in the league. He's set to make $9.89M next year, but only $5M of his 2011-12 salary ($10.66M) is guaranteed, meaning that the Hornets can either waive him then and instantly save almost $6M, or they can trade that partially-guaranteed contract for other assets. (4) Jason Kidd: Sure, he's old and is getting paid $8.5M in each of the next two seasons (2010-11 and 2011-12). But if the Hornets are THAT desperate to retain fans in New Orleans, Kidd could serve as a "bridge" to keep the fan base interested. Even at his age, he's sure as hell fun to watch. If enough bad Hornets contracts are piled into a deal, the Hornets could afford to pay $8.5M for a box office draw. (5) Jose Barrea: Cheap talent and a fan favorite. He can definitely score, and the Mavs have a team option on him for 2010-11 at only $1.8M. (6) Rodrigue Beaubois: For those who don't know about this kid, he's legit. The Mavs are really high on him and think he could develop into another Rajon Rondo. His game is very similar to Rondo's. Frankly, I wanted the Rockets to try and draft him last year. New Orleans would be very interested in him as a young, cheap asset. (7) Other Expiring Contracts: Drew Gooden ($4.5M), Shawne Williams ($2.4M), James Singleton ($1.0M, but a 1-Year Bird player) and Tim Thomas ($825k). (8) Draft Picks: While the Nets currently have the Mavs' first round pick this year, they could still trade their 2011 pick if they do a deal at the NBA Draft (remember, Damp's contract is still tradeable at that time). Otherwise, 2012 and 2014 are available. Second rounders, too, including OKC's this year. (9) Cash: I seriously think that Marc Cuban is under the impression that the NBA requires him to throw $3M in cash into every deal. Sorry to sound like a commercial for Dallas Mavericks basketball, but the Mavs might be able to offer an enticing package for Chris Paul. That said, the Rockets can offer the best combination of cap relief and young talent. So, there.
Ok, ok, ok. Quick question for you DD. So, if you had a choice between trading for Chris Paul and Caron Butler you would take.... Caron? I mean he is a wing scorer and solid defender, he would make our team better than CP3, right.
I can't agree with that. Going from solid to one of the games top 10 players improves the team a lot. If you don't think Paul could be even better under Adelman then I can't convince you. I can't think of too many wings better than Paul. Considering he puts the ball in the basket better than most of them, csn close games and can get the ball to out huge center, I have to disagree. C and PG are the hardest spots to fill typically, and a great PG is like a QB....he controls the rock more. Just because we haven't had a great PG in forever doesn't limit their importance. You can't acquire any wing that has a bigger impact than Paul (not like we can acquire him either, but still).
So beacause we have CP3 ariza will by some miracle start hittin all those open 3's? Shane also has his on and off nights so u cant expect for Cp3 to fix that as well if you do you are dreaming
What upgrade at center do you think we can get? Dalembert and Elton Brand? Brad Miller? Lets say Paul IS somehow on the trading block, are you saying you would rather have Dalembert/Brand or Brad Miller/fillers instead of Chris Paul? I understand that the Rockets have a need at center but, lest we forget, the Rockets have a 7'6" all-star center that will be coming back next season. Don't be so shortsighted that you would rather fill in short-term holes rather than take on a potential hall of fame player.
No Ice, I think Paul would be fine...but my point is that we would still have severe weaknesses at the wing position and overall...the TEAM would not be that much better. Let me put it another way. If you got Kmart for example......for Tmac. I think a team with Kmart and Brooks is better than a team with CP3 and Battriza on the wings. Regarding CP3 vs Brooks...... Brooks has to be the LEAD scorer when he is on the floor, because 3/5ths of the team is bad on offense...... Please take note that the ONE game in which Budinger started, Brooks got 10 assists, why? Because he was playing with finishers instead of having to do it all himself. DD
I'm with DD and Ivan on this one. I think we would all LOVE to get Chris Paul but as for as this team is concerned, the marginal benefit of getting CP3 is not as great as improving in other areas such as an actual ball handling SG or a legit back-up center. Sure, if Brooks sucked ass, CP3 would be a huge priority. The improvement in skill level would be gigantic leap. But because Brooks is already that good, there isn't that big of a jump in talent so to say. economics major so i can relate. heh
Did I say he'll hit all those threes? No, I didn't. You think Aaron Brooks is doing a better job at penetrating and getting players open shots than Chris Paul would? Are you THAT satisfied with Aaron Brooks that you would say "Yeaaa....I like Paul and all but I'm gonna have to pass. I'm waiting on a center no named Andrew Bynum or Dwight Howard" and marvel time and time again how Brooks can't finish around the basket without getting blocked?
Trust me i havent forgot about yao but yao isnt coming back this year and if we get some kind of OK center he will just be a good backup for yao and might be an upgrade over chuck i dont have anything against chuck im just saying we might get a better backup and therefore maybe play yao less minutes next year not for the scoring but for just the toll the season takes on him and i dont know how or if it would affect it at all but if we trade away brooks and mac how would it affect us resigning some of our free agents next year like scola?
Mcgrady -- 23,239,561 (expiring) Brooks -- 1,118,520 (2,016,691 next year) Scola -- 3,375,600 (expiring) Cook -- 3,500,000 (expiring) = 31,233,681 NOLA Paul -- 13,520,500 (14,940,152 next year up to 17M in 2013) Peja -- 14,202,000 (15,336,000 next year) Posey -- 6,031,800 (6,478,600 next year \ 6,925,400 year after) Songalia -- 4,526,000 (4,818,000 next year) = 38,280,300 well within the +/- required for a trade and with the well-documented financial problem NOLA is facing not outside the realm of possibility if NOLA wanted to rid themselves of the MASSIVE Peja contract and the slightly less offensive Posey/Songalia contracts. If you still arent so sure NOLA is that close to having to make a major move, read back thru this thread at the posts detailing their current woes.
FIRST OF ALL bynum is trash dont ever put him and howard in the same sentence SECOND no brooks does screw up when he tries to penetrate and dish but oh well we have to live with it im just saying paul wouldnt help this team as much as center and scoring wing would
I'm a bit confused so you gotta help me out here. You want us to trade McGrady in hopes to get an OK center so he can fill in for Yao this year...with the assumption that you're believing the Rockets will go far in the playoffs this year, right? Then we'll use the OK center as a back up for Yao when Yao comes back next year. This will also require the center to have a contract lasting past this season. If I got all that correctly, then by your trade idea, we would be trading McGrady's expiring contract for an OK backup center (along with other fluff).
Nice post Bimathug. It's fun to see great posters like you and aelliott exchanging great points and information in here. VERY VERY NICE.
No, the Rockets have Bird rights on both Scola and Lowry, meaning that they can go over the salary cap as far as they want in order to re-sign them. However, as you correctly point out, the Rockets' team salary would be so high after any Paul trade that Les Alexander would be very reluctant to pay up for both Scola and Lowry on top of that. That would be part of the reason why the Rockets' trade proposal would be more likely to include Scola instead of Landry (under contract next year for only $3M).
