In October, the Clips, with the addition of Dre, were everyone's, (mine, too!) boutique pick in the West. This is January of the new year and the Clips are stinking and sinking. All reports seem to indicate The Clips will not resign CandyMan, or max-out (or sign) Brand or Miller. Eddie is as potential as Brand is, and two further years from contract problems, so -- The Rocks want to win now and keep winning. The Clips want to 'manage' their salaries and contract problems, so -- The Time is Now to put Brand next to Yao. (And the contracts are almost close enough that only a little minor additions/tweaking are necessary to get Asociation approval.)
OH MY.......IF WE COULD GET HIM...that would be funny...but guess what......NOT POSSIBLE!!! I wish!!! Michael Olowakandi has many teams that want him...but I think he may go with Tim Duncan to the San Antonio Spurs. I really think that the Clippers' organization uses a dumb strategy. They will never be a top team if they sign people for one year. Please tell me the advantages of doing that... PLEASE GET ELTON BRAND!!! How much would he ask? Can the Rockets afford him?
Their best player just came back and are only 5 games back of playoffs from Minnesota. If only they were in the East, they'd be a lock for the playoffs baring injury.
There's really no reason the Rox can't afford him, or work out some sort of sign-and-trade arrangment with the dim-witted Elgin Baylor. I'm still in favor of doing whatever it takes to trade for Elton before this year is over. Outside of Francis, Cat, and Yao, there's really no one else on the Rox that I wouldn't give up for Brand. It might mean dipping into the Luxury Tax bracket for a year, but after next year, we get Rice and his inflated salary off the books, so I would think we'd have room then.
If anyone in the NBA could ever average a triple double for a season, it would be Lamar Odom. The guy is 6'10, shoots well, handles the ball well, plays good D, and rebounds well.
getting all of these great players seems fun but how can we afford to give a max contract to steve, yao, and either odom or brand? lets not even think of the problems it would cause on the court about who is the leader and who gets the ball more. we can score in the paint, in transition, and on the perimeter. we have 3 players that can score 30 on any given night. we have shot blockers, rebounders, and perimeter defenders. most of all we have a lot of depth. all we need is time to grow together. thats it.
A healthy Odom isn't anywhere near brand. Have you seen him play? I think he's the second-best PF behind Duncan. And there's no way the Rockets can get him.
Didn't we do this already?? More than once? Brand would be perfect for this team and I was willing (like I or any of us could--) to trade Cat, KT and Eddie (plus picks as needed) for Brand and Piatkowski. KT is gone now and I'm convinced we'll never land Brand. But we still need him or someone who plays a similar game... whoever it might be just wouldn't be as good as Elton, imo.
There are 3 games blanketing #3 - #9, and the Lakers have not YET made their move. The Clips appear dead for this season, Gentry will lose his job soon. So, Brand, without an LAC contract, has less value without the playoffs than an up-and-coming Griffin, for example. How to pay? Brand will take 70 mil, 20% less than max, I believe. And he has the attitude to play for winning. I love Eddie and it would take his talent to get a Brand talent, and the salaries can be massaged (for trade purposes) to make it essentially a 1-1 deal. How will the Rox pay? Playoff games hosted earn literally a few million per for the home team. You do the math. It makes sense. PS Odom is the (supposed) apple of Sterling's eye, so Odom is not coming this way. Or any way.
1) he makes his shots 2) he leads the league in blocks 3) he rebounds like a fiend 4) a fair amount of his points are on put backs - not taking any bodys shots away from them. All a moot point. I believe the Clipps will pay Brand what he is worth. What they will not do, I think, is take a chance on a long term high contract for mediocre talent that has never established itself, such as Olawakandi. That team sure has a poor record for so many players who think they are woth the max. Derek Anderson and our own bad contract poster boy, MoT, are examples of mediocre talent that was way over evaluating themselves. FYI, Rox took a chance on Cato. Showed talent, and they locked him up for a long time. Good or bad choice, you decide. That is what the Clipps won't due. Really can't blame them, but in the end some good ones will get away. Brand is not one of those, they know what he can do.
Not to sound rude...but where exactly are you getting this stuff from? There is no way that Brand would take 20% less than the max. He is a max player. Also, why would any team want EG right now? He is a huge project and is playing bad right now. I know he has great potential, but not every GM around the league wants him and views him like optimistic Rockets fans.
But he needs the low post to operate and our low post is reserved for Yao Ming. Griffin is potentially better. With Yao, Cato, Griffin, Francis etc, not that we desperately need rebs. Okay I will give him that. All in all, Brand won't improve us very much and getting such a max contract in our board is not wise especially not at the expense of young talents like Cat and Griffin.
Sounds like you are trying to describe a sledgehammer as a marshmallow. Please feel free to stick your head in the sand and deny the impact that Elton Brand would have on any team. Elton Brand would vastly improve our team. And to answer a question you posed earlier in this thread: Why would we want to take shots away from Yao Ming and Steve Francis? Answer: To win games.
Clippers have no choice but to let Brand go (for nothing), or to trade him by the trading deadline. Sterling could of maxed Brand out last summer, and I would bet my kitchen sink that every team (if possible) would max out Brand right now. So Sterling would have to match a maxium contract. Question is would he give Odom the contract, and then match Brands offer. That is alot of money that Sterling is not used to. Then no matter how much Sterling loves Odom, would Odom resign with a LOSER? Sterling might have to match offers for Odom as well. MY two cents is that Brand will not sign with the Clippers under any circumstance. They will only get him back by matching another offer. Think about it, WHY IN HELL would anybody sign a long term contact with the worse franchise in NBA history? Half of this team will be gone next year, and then they will be right back to the bottom of the western conference again.
