I was reading this on RealGM today. Can we do a sign and trade with a restriced FA? If we can. Which one do we want? They all sound so enticing. My vote would be to get Elton Brand. I think we can put together a trade combo that would work. For instance: Nachbar and Cato or maybe: Rice and Griffin.
If Clippers aren't willing to pay for Brand, what made you think that they would take on Cato's or Rice's contract? Cato's contract has 3 years and about 20m to run. Clippers aren't that stupid to take on it. Rice's is expiring but I think they are more willing to give 1 year contract to Brand than take on Rice for 1 year. Plus they don't need Boki or Griffin. They have plenty of young guns like Wilcox and Jaric.
Clippers owner Donald Sterling has openly admitted that he runs the team with minimizing spending as a #1 priority. I'm with Newgirl in that the Clippers aren't likely to take on big contracts of guys who are generally mediocre (Cato) or beyond their prime (Rice) when they can re-sign their own guys who still have loads of potential.
You're not too familiar with the Clippers, huh? You know, there is a reason they're the Clippers, after all....
The point is, the Clippers are about the $$ first. They'll go for the lowest-priced option every time, regardless of talent. This is the same team that traded guys like Harper, Jackson and Ken Norman (when he was a average to above average player) for virtually nothing. Why? $$$$ They'll take on mediocre players, sure, so long as they don't cost anything.
No disrespect, I think you are the one who is not familiar with the Clippers. Name me a current or former Clippers player with a huge long-term contract like Cato's/Rice's. They aren't even willing to give guys like Brand a max or close to max deal so you are telling me that they're willing to take on Cato's 7-8m a year contract or Rice's 9m contract? Clippers don't pay, but never overpay.
Newgirl, et al... the two players on the rockets the clips would be most interested in are cuttino mobley and eddie griffin, in that order. both players are low contracts and are signed for medium lengths. they also would fit into the spots that brand and maggette will vacate. the next question is whether or not there is anything the clips have that mobley/griffin can command... brand: clips could probably do better - talent wise - but can they do better contract wise than mobley/griffin? i'm not so sure. maggette: rockets will want more than corey, though i am a big fan of his. piatkowski: see maggette odom: see elton brand olowokandi: rockets won't want the big "0"...yes, that's a zero, not an "O" miller: going to utah...see malcolm X...by any means necessary all told, i believe the rockets have a good chance of getting one of the clips.
Maybe they would not do the trade based on the players involved but "Can we do a sign and trade for a Restricted FA?" I thought I read somewhere that you cannot do a sign and trade with restricted FA. I any case because of Mo Tay and his "wink wink" signing for a year or two until Bird rights is another strategy that may work. The Clippers piss me off by having all this talent that we could use.
Verse, yes we have a chance on one of those guys. But not including bad contacts like Cato, Rice or Taylor in the deal. Face it, if the Clippers are willing to pay one of these guys, what aren't they just signing their own players outright? Plus I think there are teams with better offers than us (Mobley and Griffin) for Brand. Clippers are that desperate for a replacement for Brand because they have Wilcox on their roster too and Wilcox is probably at the same level as Griffin as a player. And I read from many sites that Brand plans to stay at Clippers for 1 year and become an unrestricted FA anyway.
doesn't denver already have 2 first round draft pick forwards, as do the clippers? doesn't sound like any 2 way swap or signing would work here for anybody.
Brand or Odom are the only Clippers I would trade for, and I'm not so sure about Odom (injuries and character). The rest are crap. If the Clippers players are so good why do they suck so much?
WoodlandsBoy- Yes, you can sign and trade restricted free agents. verse- I generally agree with your assessment, except I think Mobley/Griffin for Odom would be more than enough talent wise- I'd say you could actually get more return than just Odom. Maybe throw in Nachbar and get them to add either Wilcox or Ely, leaving us with: Yao/Cato Taylor/(Wilcox or Ely) Odom/Rice/Morris (Free Agent)/Hawkins Francis/Norris/Maddox Let Posey walk in free agency, and sign Piatkowski or Jon Barry outright. Or in a better world, trade Rice's expiring contract for Wesley Person's expiring contract.
Actually, the others who acknowledged the WHY would Clips pay for others and not for their own know the Clips. The Clippers have made a poor mooring for their disenFranchised. Eminent domain, anyone? It would be more delightful if Srerling owned a team in capfree MLB or NHL. LOL!
Miller,Harpring,Kirilenko and Brand in Utah with Jerry sloan coaching will really suck for the Rockets.
I don't think the Clippers have better offers, Newgirl. You post one. They're going to lose Brand and Odom for nothing, if they don't do the Cat/Griff thing. Both will sign the 1yr tender and be unrestricted FA. Whoever trades for them can only offer matching salaries. Clips have to get another rookie contract or value contract. There's not a lot of those out there that teams are willing to move. Kwame Brown, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford - Curry/Chandler again?. Cat and E.Grif are better fits. Then the trading team has to be able to resign Odom or Brand a year later. That eliminates the Miamis of the league with a boatload of unmoveable contracts. We have Rice. Rox can move and clear.
Okay. Eric Piatkowski...we can definitely get. He's a free agent. Just sign him for the MLE. Elton Brand...not likely. But Cuttino Mobley and Eddie Griffin AND maybe Bostjan Nachbar for Lamar Odom and Chris Wilcox or Quentin Richardson or Marko Jaric would be nice. Something like that. Best Clips to get: ELTON BRAND, Andre Miller, LAMAR ODOM, Quentin Richardon, Corey Maggette, Marko Jaric, and Eric Piatkowski. Just take their whole team! Anyways...Miller and Brand in Utah? ......that would be good. No playoffs for Rockets then. Jazz, Sonics, Grizzlies, Warriors, Nuggets, Clippers maybe. Man.
We can send Rice along with $3 million. That, combined with the portion of the contract being paid by New York, would mean that Rice would be almost affordable for the Clips.
The time to do a trade with LAC was at midseason. Then we COULD have made a trade of Mobely/Griffin/draft choice for Brand. But, now, it will be VERY difficult. Here's why... 1) LAC will not take on expensive contracts. Why do you think that Brand could even be available? He's a fantastic player. They just don't want to pay him the max. So, why would they take a max player in return? I highly doubt they would ever take Rice's contract, even for a year. Same thing goes for Taylor or Cato. 2) Brand will be expecting a MAX contract. He will get plenty of offers for just that, and Denver could flat out sign him as a FA. Brand will have to want to go somewhere in a S&T, and LAC will have to get the most for for that. The only trade I think we could possibly offer is a S&T of Brand/Dooling (or ZhiZhi) for Griffin/Mobely/Norris, and maybe a first round pick. (Brand would have to want this, and reject LAC's offer.) Posey, Collier, Hawkins and TMo can't be pieces, since their contracts run out, and you can't have a 2 way S&T. I don't think they'd want Norris's contract. That would actually be a plus for us, IMHO. You have to ask, can they get a better package out there, where Brand would want to go? But, if they WOULD take it, I'd do that in a heart beat. Give them 3 draft picks, if we have to sweeten it. If we got Brand, they wouldn't be lottery picks, since we'd be in the playoffs for the next 10 years, unless Francis, Ming or Brand got injured ... the risks you take ... Dang, I wish Griffin had turned out better! He was viewed by many as the best player in that draft ... but, Brand is a known commodity, the real thing. ... I just don't think they'd take on Norris's contract.
If you don't think they would take on Norris's contract...then why would they accept that trade?!? Elton Brand AND KEYON DOOLING? Couldn't we get someone better like Piatkowski or Richardson or Jaric? But 3 draft picks would be more than enough. I would do it in a heartbeat. They would want Moochie because Miller will be gone. Maybe they like him. I think Brand would love to come here. We have a brand new arena. Great coach. Great new center. Great point guard. Great city.
The only maybe chances are: Cat to play with his buddy, the Sterling fave, Odom. To get Mobley Clips would have to do a Sign'and'Trade. And/or: Brand's FALK's relationship with Rox braintrust (then WHAT with MoT?).
