Bad news for M. Miller fans, good news about 2007 Draft.

Agreed. And it doesn't help that the United States popularity around the world is at an all-time low. But honestly, anybody who can't understand why a guy like Fran Vasquez wants to stay in Barcelona has never been to Barcelona.

 

Let me repeat...the crappy Bobby Jackson stacked on top another load of crap is not now and NEVER has been enough to secure Mike Miller.

First and foremost, the Grizz management took a huge PR hit for the Kwame Brown trade. That is in plain sight of anyone watching...be they fan or NBA GM.

Next, there were two parallel reasons behind the Gasol/Kwame salary dump. First, the ideal to gain cap space to rebuild around the younger players they already had. And secondly, to make the team more valuable if/when it were to be sold. The Kwame salary dump easily facilitated both of those goals.

Further, Mike Miller only has two more seasons @ $18.8m total. Or, $9.7m beyond an expiring 1 year contract such as BJax's. The goal of any expiring contract...Kwame or BJax...is to lower overall salary and be competitive for FA's. Paying Mike Miller 1 additional season of $9.7m in no way hurts those goals as the Grizz have ~$13m of cap space this summer and ~$33m next summer. (They'll have to re-sign their own FA's but that's a ton of cap space even with Miller still under contract).

Next is the fact that BJax is a PG and they already have 4 of them. All younger, better and cheaper. And there's a chance the Best Available in the Lottery could also be a PG.

Last but definitely not least is the fact that the Rockets do not have a corner on the expiring contract market. The following players are between ~$4m and ~$8m and all expire next summer...

James Posey - 3.5m
Stro Swift - 6.2m
Malik Rose - 7.6m
Rasho Nesterovic - 8.4m
Anthony Parker - 4.6m
Jorge Garbajosa - 4.4m
Eric Snow - 7.3m
Damon Jones - 4.5m
Jeff Foster - 6.2m
Desmond Mason - 5.3m
Zaza Pachulia - 4.0m
Jason Collins - 6.2m
Donyell Marshall - 6.0m

It's a matter of personal opinion...but once again mine is...the crappy Bobby Jackson stacked on top of another pile of crap is not and was not ever the best offer for Mike Miller.

 

I think the main thing about guys choosing to be in Europe rather than U.S. is still monetary.

On the high end, the NBA still offers the best salary by far-- a guy like Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol will make far more in the NBA than likely anywhere in Europe. However, when we are talking guys like Splitter, Spanoulis Scola, etc-- proven productive guys in Europe but project to be role players in NBA, European teams offer comparable, if not higher salary. This is partly because of the exchange rate.

 

You are quite vocal about the fact that expiring contracts won't do it. What teams in your opinion will step forward with some young talent to give the Griz for Miller?

I would think we are looking at mostly playoff type teams in need of shooting. Can't see a young team in building mode wanting him. So, that list would look something like perhaps: Philly, Clippers, Rockets, Mavs, Wizards, Hawks, perhaps even the Spurs, Cavs, and Blazers. Allegedly Portland just turned down Memphis' offer of Miller for the 13 and Outlaw plus junk. That should be at least an upper boundary on what teams are willing to pay, shouldn't it? I don't see too many non-contending teams in the league that Miller would make sense for, save for possibly the Knicks since they have brought in D'Antoni.

So, what do you think? What teams would be interested and what would they have to offer?

 

Europe's tax's are far more than in the U.S. Nevertheless your right he would make far more with a 2-3 million Euro contract than he would get from the Spurs paying U.S. dollars.

 

First, who says the Grizz HAVE to trade Miller? He'll be a big expiring NEXT summer.

Scenarios competitive to the Rockets...

* Cavs have Damon Jones expiring, Sasha Pavlovic who is an upgrade over Luther Head especially to an uptempo wannabe team like the Grizz and #19.

* Pacers have Jeff Foster expiring and the #11. The Grizz could send Miller and LA's #28.

* Raptors have SG Anthony Parker or PF Jorge Garbajosa both expiring and the #17.

* Josh Howard is on the s**t list with Cuban and Stacksouse doesn't have a 2008-09 contract.

* The Sixers have about $20m in cap space. They could take in Miller, send back crap and the #16 pick. The Grizz could structure the timing of this to go back above the cap and have a signifcant trade exception.

Etc., etc., etc.,....

Point being...I get so, so tired reading posts about sending out scraps for valuable players. It's just not realistic regardless of the Gasol trade.

 

It's complete chaos in spurs city. I've not seen anything like this since the corralito in Argentina. It wouldn't surprise if luis scola, whose son is named after tiago, served as an advisor.
To NBA teams : Do not play mind games, especially when your players are best of friends.

Toronto will suffer the same fate for trying to intimidate Garbajosa.

 

Ok.

Good points. I can see the possibility of those deals. Still, if Portland was not willing to trade Outlaw and #13, what does that say about these other teams?

Cavs? I can see that as a possibility. But then again, to remove Pavlovic plus the pick and get essentially another Wally Szezerbiak minus any defense? Possibly I suppose. May be more plausible if the Cavs decide to trade Wally. Pavlovic is thought of very highly by Lebron and the Cavs.

Don't see the Pacers deal. They're really looking to get younger and they've already got Dunleavy and Granger at the swing position. Possibly though.

Raptors? Sure that is possible. But that deal could be trumped by a team offering two first round picks.

Mavs? Don't see Memphis being willing to take back a dope smoker with a big contract when they are trying to cut salary and sell. Besides that, Howard is a way better player than Miller. Mavs could send out expirings and picks.....just like we could.

Sixers may be a possibility since their shooting is so terrible and they are in the Eastern Conference.


However, I don't see anything here that is substantially better than expirings and picks. I really think that if some team is willing to anty up multiple future picks and expirings it might be able to turn the deal.

 

The POR deal was because Kevin Pritchard doesn't value Mike Miller enough to give the #13 pick and pay Miller $9m/year to be Brandon Roy's backup. That's not a diss on Miller's talent/value as it is the specifics of how Miller would/could be used in POR.

Secondly, I tried to keep the scenarios some what realistic. Often, NBA trades are 3 and 4 teams with 5 to 8 players. I avoided those.

So, we are now aware of one GM's opinion. As far as what the other 29 think, that remains to be seen. For the third and final time in this thread...my opinion is that BJax and scraps aren't enough. I'm out...

 

other than the rockets, how many other teams were in the talk this past season for miller?

 

What if we threw in two first rounders?

 

Thank you. I have been trying to make this point in thread after thread. You have done your research and made a much better case to end this insane dreaming than I have. By the way, please put Calderon in that boat too. We have no reasonable way to get him either.

 

GATER is not Chris Wallace; nobody is quite sure what Memphis will settle for if/when they move Milller. GATER's just giving examples that demonstrate how much more other teams have to offer than we do, if they felt so inclined. He's obviously tired of seeing all the homerific deals tossed around here for Miller and Calderon. We have very little to offer, but people are expecting borderline all-stars in return.

Yes, we can throw in two late first round picks. But other teams can throw in that and more. We can play these "what if" games all day, but it all boils down to the fact that we cannot win in a bidding war.

 

I am making the point that if a team is willing to offer up multiple #1s along with expirings, this may be enough to trump a single pick in the teens and expirings.

 

As long as the deals make sense, I don't see how it harms anyone. Whether or not it will win a bidding war is VERY debatable.

Look what the T'Wolves got in return for KG. One can debate that they had better offers than the Celtics, yet Boston got their man. But it made sense because Al Jefferson is who they're banking on.

Same thing with Gasol. No one knows where Chris Wallace's head is at right now. That's why people are making lowball deals for Mike Miller...and they just might work. Basically, if we don't get the bargain, we don't make the transaction.

The general feeling on this board is Calderon for Battier trade package. The reason is that the Raptors are looking for stability, defense, and a 3 point shooter at the small forward position. Battier fits that description to a Rudy T.

 

Hahaha, under any normal circumstances, 28 is not "aging" for ANY player of ANY position. In fact, it's towards the front end of most players' primes.

 

exactly what i said in my first response to your post. in your opinion, jax and scraps isn't enough to get miller. in my opinion, no one is willing to trade anything more valuable than that for a player who is being shopped around by a team who would be happy to accept just endings if they weren't worried about another Pr backlash.

thus, the grizz will face sticking with him (not a bad idea) for at least the next year until he's an expiring contract. either that or give in to some teams offer.