We'd actually be gettin 3 picks: Washington's future #1, Orlando's pick next year, and LA's pick. Lovely deal, actually, and we get Gooden who is sort of the PF we've been looking for: Taylor+Cato (a lot more Taylor than Cato, though). Gotta hand it to you, Hottoddie, if this went down, it'd be a godsend.
You have to wonder, given his situation in Colorado, why Bryant doesn't lock up an extension with the Lakers. Hell, if things don't work out for him in court, he could be looking at several years. That extension would look pretty solid given that scenario. He must want to leave the Lakers really, really bad. Listen, I don't want to derail the thread and, frankly, I passed on reading most of the threads dealing with his situation because the sensational aspects of it don't interest me. But in pondering what he might actually be willing to do, I had that thought pop into my head. Hottoddie, if a deal like that went down, I think I would party for several days!
I'm warming to the idea, although we would still need to make minor trades that I greatly favor: obtaining PG Steve Blake from Washington and getting RFA Chris Mihm from Boston (without giving him a Taylor-like contract). Blake would give us a very capable backup PG, and Mihm can play PF or backup C. If we did those two things, I would be a great trade.
On reflection, I might not "party for several days", although getting rid of Cato's and Taylor's contracts would be great, along with the capspace from Hill's contract after next year. I reread the conditions for the Washington pick. And I'm not sure how enamored JVG would be with the #1's, although they are trade chips. Gooden would be intriguing. And we still have good trade options in Cat and Steve if we want to shake things up further.
I forgot to mention that to make JVG happy, we would have to combine those #1s into a single lower #1. Would E.G. be available again?
I'd rather trade Taylor and Cato seperately. I don't want Hill. I don't want Gooden. I want my new team now, not future picks. Some other deals for Taylor and Cato. Taylor for Brent Barry s&t. Cato for Donyell Marshall. Cato or Taylor for Matt Harpring and Carlos Arroyo. Cato and Cat for Al Harrington + Scott Pollard. Cato and Taylor for Steve Nash and Antwan Jamison . Cato for Dampier. Cato for Kurt Thomas. Taylor for Camby. Whatever. So long as they get traded. But no Hill and Gooden. ugh.
Do not try to get a player from a historic losing team if you can. I have not seen any player from clippers being that great. If their number looks great, so what? their team was losing badly every year. Like chicago, they may have intelligence, but lazy,lazy can be contagious, Som these teams have no team work concerpt.
Lamar Odom and Andre Miller were both core players on teams that made the playoffs, with Odom still battling the Pacers. The Clippers weren't that awful this season. Brand got hit with an injury, so did Q, and they never had a really good PG. If Kaman continues to work on his game and foul trouble, he's a great starter, one that would fit well with Brand. As long as they re-sign Q Richardson, sign a PG, and draft some size at the swingman position, they could be looking at contending for 8th next year.
First, put me on record as not wanting to get rid of Kelvin Cato. IMO, he was instrumental in the fact that Malone and Shaq combined for 1.5 fewer ppg in the playoffs vs the Rocket than they did the Spurs. Taylor's on the other hand is OK to trade for an incoming player who plays better D and is a shooter and not a scorer. OK, since this is a non-Francis trade thread, that's all I can say except that ... Any deal including Grant Hill doesn't need a buyout clause since his contract has a Player Option for 2005-06. Thus, if he does not take the option, his rights are renounced and IMO there is no cap hits for the final 2 years of Hill's deal. This (and a TMac extension) are things you negotiate in advance of any deal involving them.
I agree Gater, we need to keep Cato!! There are very few rebounding/blocking big men in the league, and many would love to have Cato as their starter. For nothing more then defense/blocking/rebounds. I live in Dallas now, and the ESPN commentors were talking about how Cato could be the missing piece in Dallas. I think the 1-2 punch of Yao and Cato, is one of the strongest in the league. We just need to find an upgrade to Cato at the PF spot. Not the backup Center spot.
Exactly. Cato would be a good fit for the Mavs. Staying on that train of thought....imagine bringing Jamison instead of Taylor off of our bench... (Not suggesting a trade, just piggy-backing on the ESPN announcers' comments).
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here, but the intent of the buyout clause was to get him to agree to exercise his Player Option. He doesn't have to exercise it, & if he chooses not to exercise it, the team holding his contract is liable for the remaining years on his contract. A team can only renounce a player prior to his contract expiring, if they have a Team Option. A player can be cut loose prior to the end of his contract in the NFL, but not in the NBA. Unless, of course, there is a Team Option in his contract.
Hottoddie - If the Rockets buy Hill out the buy out amount hits the cap. The only way you make a trade for Grant Hill is to have a prior agreement that he will not excercise his POpt. IOW, you agree to pay him his $14.5m to sit on the IL for the entire 2004-05 season in exchange for an agreement that he will forgo the option years. Hill is a reasonable and already a wealthy man. Everything I have read indicates that Hill feels badly about taking the money and being unable to play. If he is unable to play next season, he is on record that he will retire. Since the Magic have already paid him a boatload of money while re-habing the ankle, I am sure he would accomodate them with a pre-trade, no option agreement.
Personally, I think Hill will play next season, and he will be decent. He was ready to play with a couple of weeks left in the regular season. But he didn't come back, and will continue strengthening it for another 3 or 4 months, and I'm pretty sure he'll play some pickup games this summer just to get himself going. If a team limits his minutes strictly the way the Cavs did with Illgauskas before last season, I think he can make it. Basically, never ever under any circumstances play him more than 25 minutes in the first half of the season, then as the season progresses, very very steadily increase the minutes. Take it very easy on back-to-backs and tough parts of the schedule. After one season like that, he gets one more summer off to continue working on his ankle, gets back into optimum shape, and finally starts playing comfortably. The thing is, what if he plays 70+ games for us, and puts up decent numbers... Then can we really get him to opt out?
Grant Hill is 32 and hasn't played sustained minutes (aside from a few games before limping back to the IR) in 3 1/2 years. Don't expect much. He was once a great talent, but so were Jay Williams, DerrMar Johnson, Bobby Hurley, etc. etc.
Gater, I think I've finally figured out where our difference of opinion, & my confusion, is at. Hill signed a 7 year contract with Detroit in a S&T with Orlando that runs through the 06/07 season. His option year is in the 6th year (05/06) of that contract & must be exercised the prior year. If he doesn't exercise the option (opt'g out of his contract) by July 1 of next season (04/05), then his contract automatically extends 2 more seasons, his option year (05/06) & one more after that (06/07). I'm assuming that he has an ETO (Player Early Termination Option) & not a Player's Option only. Otherwise, his option year would be 06/07 & would have to be exercised by July 1 of the 05/06 season. Here's the Coon's FAQ link & text that I'm using as my guide. Coon's FAQ #48 An option clause allows a contract to be extended for one additional season after the date it is scheduled to end. For example, a six-year contract with an option for the seventh year means that if the option is exercised, the contract extends through the seventh season, but if the option is not exercised, the contract ends after the sixth season and the player becomes a free agent. Options must be exercised by the July 1 that precedes the option year. Once exercised, an option cannot be revoked (for example, a player cannot invoke an option on June 20th and change his mind on June 25th). There are various types of options: Team Options give the team the right to invoke the option year. There can be only one option year, and the option year can't be for a lower salary than the previous season. Player Options give the player the right to invoke the option year. There can be only one option year, and the option year can't be for a lower salary than the previous season. Player Early Termination Options (ETO's) give the player the right to terminate the contract early. An ETO can't occur prior to the end of the fifth season of the contract (so the contract must be for six or seven seasons), and may be made contingent on player or team performance benchmarks. Player options were previously used as a way to give the player more money. A long-term deal was agreed upon with a player option after the player obtained Larry Bird rights. The player invoked the option, became a free agent, and then the team & player signed a new contract for more money using the Bird exception. However, since the current CBA prevents ETO's before the end of the fifth year or more than one option year, the usefulness of this tool is now very limited. Rookie "scale" contracts for first round draft picks contain a team option for the fourth season. Here's a summary of the differences between an option and an ETO: Options can occur only when one season remains on the contract, while ETO's can occur when two seasons remain if the contract is for seven seasons. Options can be included in any multiyear contract, but ETO's are allowed only with six or seven year contracts. ETO's can be based on performance benchmarks, but options can't. Only a player can be given an ETO, but an option can be given to the player or to the team. Option years may not have a lower salary than the previous season. ETO's have no such restriction.
Rumors are he wants to stay in LA so he will sign with the Clippers. Now you can't get a worst sports Franchise around. They guy wants to be on a team where he is the main option and can lead the team to a title on his own....in other words he wants to continue his complete imitation of MJ.
Yes, damn that fool for imitating the greatest basketball player of all time. I'd like to see Yao imitating Wilt. I'd like to see Francis imitating Oscar Robertson.
I honestly want steve to stay so I kinda like this trade proposal... The man I really want to get rid of is Motaylor but not at the cost of Cato.
