-I'm not sure how much these games will effect Melo's decision making. -As for your contention about this team having a better future, everything you stated is speculative/conjecture. Yes, Billups is getting old, but his stats havent been sagging as heavily as other players his age because his game has never been predicated on athleticism. He hits open jumpers, makes good decisions in the open court, and manages games. Assuming Melo stays in Denver, Billups best chance to win another title rests in Denver. Plus, Ty Lawson is a very capable backup point gaurd, is only 23 years old and in his second season so there's a definite future at that position. Kenyon Martin is making 16 million this season. I doubt he'll get that type of offer on the open market; More likely is him getting a deal along the lines of Scola, and at that rate, why wouldnt Denver keep him? Unless another team chooses to grossly overpay for his services, he'll probably remain a Nugget. JR might be a 'thug', but many people consider Melo to be a thug too. He's a solid spark off the bench, and there are a number of players in the league who can fulfill his role on that team. Al Harrington is already proving to be as good, if not better than JR Smith in his first season with the Nuggets. As a final point, I'll say that there is such a thing as overvaluing youth. Budinger is a good young player, but his potential is quickly being realized for what it is. Same goes for Hill. The player with the most potential for growth on the roster is PatPat, and there's no one else that I see on our team growing appreciably better than they are right now.
They could dump him for Yao Ming's salary and bank the insurance money to their bottom line. Ah, I see CH already broached the topic...I concur. DD
The Kings are actually a very interesting use case. Two consecutive seasons of being slightly below .500, and they decided to go into rebuilding mode, purging the roster of older guys and starting over. Their draft history has been pretty good. Tyreke Evans is a ball hog, but he's still developing and is a phenomenal scorer. Omri Casspi is a solid rotation player. Cousins is going to anchor the middle for a long time, and Whiteside was an excellent low risk-high reward pick in the second round. Jason Thompson's still only 24 and although he's hardly a raw product, he's got a future in this league. They'll probably have a top-5 pick again this draft, and assuming they draft well, we could see a very good Kings team in the next few seasons develop, especially with the amount of cap space they have and commitment the owners have made to spending this upcoming offseason.
Damn, are we basically gift wrapping a Eastern Conf. finals appearence for the Hawks here....??!!! But I like the look for ATL if that where to happen, although im not as high on J.Smoove as many others are.Especially in comparison/or trading away Scola (for many reasons)..........Throw in Williams with Smith and you may have my attention... IT IS WRITTEN
All true, but if Sacramento isn't going to give up Cousins just for a salary dump/money grab, there really isn't anything for which it is worth trading Yao's contract. Given all of Dalembert's flaws, a straight-up Yao-for-Dalembert trade is not likely to happen. Not if there is ANY hope of Yao coming back next year. I'm not saying you have to agree with it. Just accept it as fact.
Yes, I see what you are saying, but I am not sure I agree, the Rox could still take a low risk shot at Yao next year, even if Dalambert and Miller are still on the team. DD
I thought something was red flagged in his physical or his physical condition, which made us back off.
Dalembert's contract is expiring, isn't it? Why wouldn't we trade Yao for him? It helps us this season, and we could resign Yao next year if we like.
Because having Yao's Bird rights may end up being a significant difference-maker in being able to retain him. For instance, say Yao's rehab goes remarkably well, the lockout extends long enough for Yao to get back on the floor doing light drills, and the buzz around him musters up talk of $8-9M starting salaries that several teams are willing to spend on him? The Rockets might not be able to pay that much for him under the new salary cap. Trading away Yao's Bird rights for a star like Carmelo Anthony? Sure, definitely worth it. But for Samuel freakin' Dalembert? Not DeMarcus Cousins. How strongly do you feel about that bet?
I agree that at this point Budinger and Hill need to be used as trade bait, with Jeffries, Yao, and TPEs as fillers. AB WILL NOT be traded until he can show worth. Right now we would be giving him away below value. For such a good current contract, that doesnt make sense. It's time to start considering Scola and Martin's future with this team. Without a 2 way player at the 3 and a dominate center, we are not going to be competing within the next 2 years. I would consider trading one, but not both for a VERY promising center. Because of our depth at PF, I think it's more likely to be Scola. IMO, the near future for the Rockets looks something like this... Lowry/TWill Martin/Lee Draft a 3/Battier Patterson/Hayes Trade for Center/Sign Fesanko in 2011/Miller
After his latest injury, I came to the following conclusion. Proceed with the assumption that Yao will not be part of our future plans. No more "If Yao's rehab goes well" or "if Yao can be healthy" stuff. I'm done with that. Get what you can for him right now. If Yao's as loyal as advertised, he'll come back to us for whatever we can offer. Honestly, I think he owes us that. I posted it in a couple different places, but I think we should consider a trade like this: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=28xrb2t Adds a rim protector for the current season, and a guy who *may* develop into a strong defender in the future. We give up Yao's contract and Jordan Hill, with the confidence that Patterson is a superior player to Hill and should be in the rotation from here on out.
That would be okay. I still feel Dalembert will likely get bought out and released to join a playoff team down the road. They can buy him out and then acquire another player to make up salary. Perhaps Jeffries and Hill with some cash for Whiteside. And then they buy out Dally and release him.
Thoughts on the following gamble: Trade Brooks, Ming, Jeffries, throw in a pick to cancel out the curse of Jeffries Receive Steve Nash Steve Nash has at least 3 years left in the tank, have him groom Lowry on shooting. Lowry has already been improving on his 3s - having Steve Nash teach him a few more things wouldn't hurt. If Yao wants to sign and return with the Rockets next season, great for merchandise sales, and if he is healthy even better for the team. Target C prospects in draft and hopefully management picks wisely - which I'm sure he will. In the upcoming years (hopefully sooner rather than later) target Ricky Rubio. Which the Rockets have before. Maybe give up the rights to Sergio Lull and/or send over a well put-together package of the Rockets assets at the time. The more and more I see how Morey is building this team, the more it seems he really is pushing the idea of an 11-12 man rotation like in the Euro leagues.
Put the pipe down, pick up the remote and tune into some Rockets games so you don't embarrass yourself again.
