We know our PF/SF positions are questionable at the moment & that we are right on the ragged edge of the Luxury Tax. We also need to sign at least 1 more player to give us a 12 man roster, & we'll probably sign 2 or 3 players. Even at the veteran's minimum, that should put us in Luxury Tax land. Dallas is shopping the newly acquired Mills, with his expiring contract, in hopes of acquiring a center or another PF. I think we can help them & ourselves at the same time with this trade. Houston sends Cato/Taylor/Chicago's Drew obligation to Dallas. Dallas sends LaFrentz/Mills to Houston. Dallas gets a legitimate center in Cato (6'11" 275lbs), who has battled the likes of Shaq & done a solid job of slowing him down (you can't stop Shaq, you can only hope to contain him). Cato's been playing some of his best basketball the last couple of years & should cause Dallas to think long & hard about this trade. Cato doesn't have the same scoring punch of LaFrentz, but he blocks shots, rebounds, is 40 pounds heavier & much stronger, & has improved his ability to catch the ball & slam it home. LaFrentz is more suited to be a PF than a center. Dallas also acquires a young PF in Taylor that has a solid mid-range shot & a sweet hook shot. Taylor adds size to Dallas's front line at 6'9" 260lbs. However, he doesn't rebound much, or play much defense, but that has never scared Dallas away from a player before. Taylor would make a great 6th man off the bench, when they need an offensive spark or just want to keep their offensive juggernaut coming at you. Dallas also acquires two 2nd round draft picks, which could become a #1 pick if Chicago meets certain conditions. Houston gets a solid PF in LaFrentz, that can play some center when needed. He has a solid shooting touch out to & beyond the 3pt line. He blocks shots & rebounds as well. He'd be able to stretch the floor by drawing his defender out, which should allow Ming to have more room to operate under the basket. Getting Mills is probably the sweetest part of this trade. Not for his playing ability, but for his expiring contract. If we choose to just let Rice & Mills's contracts expire, we'll have a team salary this off season of approximately $42 million, assuming they exercise E.Griffin's option. However, the scenario that I like the best, is trading one of the two expiring contracts at the trade deadline. That'd still leave us with cap relief at the end of the year. Rice's contract is ~$9.6 million & Mills's is ~$6.6 million. The $3 million variance gives us several options to pursue. We could trade either one for a starting SF or a couple of solid role players to add depth. We could also trade both players ($16.2 million) to a single team for a stud & an expiring contract. Or, we could do 2 trades that net us players we want & expiring contracts to help us stay under the Luxury Tax. We could then pick up a FA center to back up Ming, like Jelani McCoy, Stepania, Kemp, or everybodies favorite, Jason Collier. Our lineup could look like this: C: Ming/McCoy/LaFrentz PF: LaFrentz/Griffin/FA (Gary Trent?) SF: Rice/Nachbar/A.Griffin/Mills(IL) SG: Mobley/Piatkowski PG: Francis/Moochie hmmmm........any thoughts?
Trade Rejected... Lafrentz is a weakling.. He brings no power to the frontline... We are in the WC and we need to have power in our frontline.. Second he spends to much time on the three point line... I think he should spend more time inside the paint. Cato i would not trade him away simply becuz although he is overpaid he still is a great back up center... He can rebound, block shots, get an alley oop and bring energy into the game.. Chris Mills... I wouldnt care for him.. although he is salary cap relief i wouldnt take him... Dallas would be stupid to do this trade by the way simply becuz they would be having such big luxury taxes.. I dont think they want anymore long term contracts anyways... The rockets would only get a weaker frontline and an undeserving 69 million contract (i think i dont know how many years are left)... So it wouldnt work out... and basically this trade is stupid..
I don't want to do anything with the Mavericks...no negotiating.... UNLESS....Nowitzki for Moochie. OKAY. Never mind. I read it. It's great! I still don't like helping the Mavericks......but I forgot that we still have Yao Ming and Eddie Griffin! Mills is a troublemaker but we can just leave him on the disabled list. He is a decent 3 point shooter though. Mavericks get Cato...which is really what they need. Again..I don't want to help them! But we get Lafrentz...who is like Eddie Griffin but lighter. But I think JVG likes Lafrentz and says if he is more aggressive and plays inside more....he will be good. Who knows! Maybe JVG could turn him into a star. I think he would fit with us pretty well...but he is very soft....along with Yao....I would like him as our backup power forward and center. Because Adrian Griffin can't shoot at all.....Lafrentz could make up for it....I hope. McCoy?!? AHHHHH. He sucks horribly. I like your scenario with the expiring contracts..but hmm...who could we get? Give me some ideas. Like Desmond Mason?
Interesting trade, though I'm not sure if I'd make it. I think a lot of this would hinge on Yao, Badiane, and Griffin. A move like this would require either Yao or Griff to become tougher, more physical players, or have Badiane become a legit NBA player with his aggressiveness. Lafrentz's contract has more length to it than Mo and Cato's, but it'd sort of be rolling our cap problems into one rather than several; Lafrentz is certainly more talented than Cato/Mo in the overall game, however. I don't think JVG is in love with the concept of having big men (Lafrentz, Griffin) roam the perimeter, but that's something we won't really know until later. It also must be noted that Mills can't be package with any other player in a trade as he's been recently traded. Off the top of my head (which may or may not be 100% accurate), it's a 60 day prohibition from involving Mills in a trade where multiple players leave Dallas.
Yeah, I forgot to address that issue. Since he was traded in a multi-player trade, he can be traded away immediately, if he's the only player from Dallas involved in the trade. The trade that I proposed can be broken up into 2 different trades, such as; Cato for Mills & Taylor for LaFrentz. The question is, does the CBA have a clause that prevents 2 teams from circumventing it by making one trade today & the other tomorrow? Does anyone know the answer to this? By the way, Mills can be traded in a multi-player trade on October 18th.
<b>hottoddie</b>: Love your signature by the way. I kind of like the trade. Isn't LaFrentz a pretty significant shot-blocker himself? He can hit the mid-range jumper as well. I'm inclined to say I'd do it.
This is not a good trade at all. 1. LaFrenez makes a ton of $ 2. MoT is stronger in the paint than LeFrenz 3. MoT is better offensively in the post than LaFrenz 4. Yes LaFrenz gets a lot of block but most of them are help blocks and we already have someone to take care of that for us...Yao Ming! 5. Trading two big men for one is NEVER a good idea unelss your getting Shaq, Duncan, or Ming.
Folks, This trade is turning 2 over paid bench players (Cato/Taylor @ $15.144 million) into 1 starter (LaFrentz @ $8.2 million) at a position of need for us. Mills will never step foot on the floor for us. He's just being acquired for the cap flexibility to make another trade. When the trade deadline gets closer, we should be able to trade either Rice or Mills to a team that's going no where & is desperate to dump salary at the end of the year, while allowing us to remain a safe distance under the tax. For instance, there's been a lot of talk around here of Atlanta sending SAR to us in a trade for Rice's expiring contract. With the trade for Brandon & the new ownership, they seem poised to rebuild their team. They've got 9 players under contract this year for over $52 million (that doesn't include resigning Jason Terry) & 8 players at $56.3 million next year (again, not including Terry). They might give up SAR for Rice & a young prospect like Griffin. Hell, if CD is a real good salesman, he might be able to convince them to take Rice/Moochie/next year's #1 pick for SAR. The problem for us has been, that taking on SAR's contract would put us deep into the Luxury Tax. Thus, acquiring Mills's contract would allow us to remain below the tax threshhold & still add a player of SAR's stature. If we were somehow able to acquire both SAR & Lafrentz, while only giving up Cato/Taylor/Rice/Griffin & a future #1 pick, I'd have to nominate CD for executive of the year. I keep hearing the same old arguments about SAR & LaFrentz being soft or carrying a loser label, but you have to take a closer look at each player's career. SAR has averaged 20+ ppg, 8+ rpg, 1+ spg, & almost 1 bpg throughout his career, while never playing with a dominant center. In Vancouver, he played with "Big Bust" Reeves. In Atlanta, it's been T-Ratliff, a player that has been injured most of his career & whose only claim to fame is the number of blocked shots he gets. Also, SAR has played in all but 9 games in 7 years. LaFrentz has averaged 12+ ppg, 7+ rpg, & 2+ bpg throughout his career, while never playing with a dominant center. In Denver, he was the center & played alongside McDyess. In Dallas, he's playing center again & when he does play the PF position, it's alongside Shawn "Stick Boy" Bradley. Imo, LaFrentz is more suited to being a PF. Also, prior to last year, LaFrentz had played in all but 9 games in the 3 previous years. With a stronger & much improved Ming to play alongside of, both SAR & LaFrentz should be able to elevate their respective games to the next level. With some veteran's minimum FA's to round out the roster, our new lineup could be: C: Ming/FA(McCoy, Stepania, Drobnjak, Kemp, N'Diaye)/LaFrentz PF: LaFrentz/Badiane/FA(Trent?) SF: SAR/Nachbar/A.Griffin/Mills(IL) SG: Mobley/Piatkowski/A.Griffin PG: Francis/Moochie Stylez, Lafrentz is a better all around player than Taylor. As for Taylor being stronger, what good is it if he refuses to mix it up down low? In regards to your comment about help blocks, this is still a team sport, isn't it? Do you think Dream got all of his blocks without a lot of help blocks? I'll bet that Sampson & Thorpe helped Dream get a lot of his blocks by causing opposing players to inadvertly turn into him. As of now, a front line of Ming/LaFrentz/SAR has a career average of almost 5 bpg (4.93). NIKEstrad, If we keep Griffin, I can envision JVG turning him into a Marcus Camby kind of player. Let's just hope he doesn't suddenly become very brittle. SLA, You shouldn't pass on a chance to improve your team dramatically, just because it might help a division rival. savethepigs88, First off, Cato doesn't bring any energy to the game. Posey brought energy to the game. Cato brings an element of anger & attitude to the game, which translates into more intense rebounding & blocked shots, & he can only maintain that for short periods of time. As for why we would get Mills, try taking an economics class & you'll understand. Dallas is apparently not concerned with the Luxury Tax & in fact, have a team salary of $73-82 million in each of the next 5 years. Finally, your last comment about this trade being stupid, only serves to show that you're 15 years old.
I like this deal. Lafrentz is more useful to us than either Cato or Taylor. He's also a true 4, not a tweener like Taylor. And he would log more minutes than Cato. Cap relief would be nice as well. Dallas would do it because they need a true C.
lafrentz is one of those playerers that you don't know if he can ever bring up his game again he obviously hasn't fit well in dallas but a few years back, he was a prime pick for my fantasy basketball team i think it's a decent risk to see if he can work under JVG and changing cato/moT's contracts + skills into one player is a good idea in my opinion as a catalyst for getting SAR though? egh... why are people infatuated with sars... it's bad for u...
THANK YOU.. im glad you noticed my age... its good to know that you didnt flame... well at least i think i didnt... I guess thats what i was trying to say about cato and didnt know how to put it.. as for the luxury tax.. maybe ill have more wisdom when i take economics...
Originally posted by Hottoddie I keep hearing the same old arguments about SAR & LaFrentz being soft or carrying a loser label, but you have to take a closer look at each player's career. well SAR has been a loser, and has been soft on d. Lafrentz has been a puss at times. SAR has averaged 20+ ppg, 8+ rpg, 1+ spg, & almost 1 bpg throughout his career, while never playing with a dominant center. In Vancouver, he played with "Big Bust" Reeves. In Atlanta, it's been T-Ratliff, a player that has been injured most of his career & whose only claim to fame is the number of blocked shots he gets. Also, SAR has played in all but 9 games in 7 years. how does that shed his loser/soft label? He's never played with a dominant center? Well neither has 90% of the league. I can understand him being on a losing team in Vancouver, even though they still should have done better than what they did, but in Atlanta he had no excuses. The team had a lot of talent last year and still couldn't get close to getting it done, in the freaking east. LaFrentz has averaged 12+ ppg, 7+ rpg, & 2+ bpg throughout his career, while never playing with a dominant center. In Denver, he was the center & played alongside McDyess. In Dallas, he's playing center again & when he does play the PF position, it's alongside Shawn "Stick Boy" Bradley. Imo, LaFrentz is more suited to being a PF. Also, prior to last year, LaFrentz had played in all but 9 games in the 3 previous years. I do think Raef is bashed a little more than should be, but some of it is deserved. He doesn't rebound like he should, dissapears from the game, is foul prone and his man d sucks. Switching him to pf wouldn't alleviate those problems. In fact, in the case of man d it would only augment those problems. With a stronger & much improved Ming to play alongside of, both Sar & LaFrentz should be able to elevate their respective games to the next level. just like Raef should have elevated his game with Mcdyess alongside him in the lowblock? Or on a mavs roster where he should be able to grab more boards with the d not having to concentrate on him as much? Or Reef when he elevated his game after landing on a team with real talent? What? Same ol, same ol? Oh, I see. Lafrentz is a better all around player than Taylor. As for Taylor being stronger, what good is it if he refuses to mix it up down low? Mo is a MUCH better offensive player. They are a wash when it comes to man d. Raef is a slightly better rebounder and help defender. You shouldn't pass on a chance to improve your team dramatically, just because it might help a division rival. getting raef doesn't improve our team dramatically. It could dramatically improve the Mavs though. First off, Cato doesn't bring any energy to the game. Posey brought energy to the game. Cato brings an element of anger & attitude to the game, which translates into more intense rebounding & blocked shots, & he can only maintain that for short periods of time. Uhm, that is bringing energy to the game. Don't forget Cato was also our best low post defender last year. As for why we would get Mills, try taking an economics class & you'll understand. Dallas is apparently not concerned with the Luxury Tax & in fact, have a team salary of $73-82 million in each of the next 5 years. Finally, your last comment about this trade being stupid, only serves to show that you're 15 years old. sorry hottodd, that's just too funny. kudos. If I was going to deal Cato for a pf who can play center, I'd much rather target Kurt Thomas than Raef.
i'd do this in a heart beat. i've always like La Frentz game. I think he's tougher than people give him credit for but he's playing out of position and it's wearing down on him. Playing beside Yao would be a whole different story I think. At any rate, I'd be willing to gamble that it would work out well for us and pull the trigger on this deal were I in such a position.
Is anyone really terrified about the prospect of facing Cato as an opponent? Yikes, if we could put Yao, Francis, Mobely, SAR and LaFrenz on the floor, I'd be satisfied with just about anybody coming off the bench and we already have AGriffin and Pike.
Agreed!! IMO, this lineup would get us into the playoffs this year. However it'll take some time for Francis, Mobley & SAR to learn to not try to be the "go-to-guy" every night. LaFrenz has already been in that situation with Dallas & Yao is the consumate team player. My hunch would be playoffs this year, 5th seed next & NBA finals in 3.
I wouldn't want to trade with Dallas. They don't need any more help. I like the idea of getting SAR, even if there is no actual indication from Rockets management that they have any interest in the guy; he could be re-signed in a couple years for a better contract. He would give us flexibility and some firepower if not the "banger" we need at the 4. Indiana looks like the more interesting trading partner, now that the "let's-be-buddies" pretense (and Isiah Thomas, for that matter) has been dropped. Al Harrington for starting 3, Jeff Foster for backup center, etc.
We just definitely loose on that trade. Knowing Cato is better solid center, compare to Lafrentz whose got weak style of playing center role and Taylor will still give you a solid offense but weak rebounds. Would'nt take it anytime of the day! Straight up!!!
