Seems only way to get Damon is through sign and trade: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3283786 ----------------------------------------------------- Signing Swift, moving on guard won't happen until labor deal is done By MOISEKAPENDA BOWER Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle In the winter of 1999, with a lockout behind them and a truncated regular season ahead, the Rockets spent nearly four weeks showing up at Compaq Center hoping to begin workouts, only to be sent home as the I's and T's of the newest collective bargaining agreement were dotted and crossed. While anxiety marred those delays, the news of the latest moratorium on signings being extended into next week was greeted with a collective shrug late Monday. After originally setting a July 22 date to open the frenzy of free-agent signings only to push that deadline back to Thursday, the NBA extended the moratorium into early August as lawyers on both sides continue the process of drafting the six-year deal. While agreements between teams and free agents have been struck around the league — including one between the Rockets and power forward Stromile Swift on July 18 — nothing becomes official until the moratorium is lifted. Until then, players and teams remain in limbo, waiting to consummate deals that have been reached in principle only. Without finalization of the CBA, the financial formulas re- main unavailable, which in turn limits the level of detailed conversations between teams and free agents. It has been speculated that the Rockets and Swift have agreed to a five-year deal worth $28 million to $32 million, but until those numbers are etched in stone, it is difficult to determine the Rockets' course of action in obtaining a guard to fill their backcourt needs. Damon Stoudamire tops the wish list. The two sides met last Monday, validating their mutual interest. The only obstacle between Stoudamire, who lives in Houston, and the Rockets is money. The Rockets can't offer much more than the salary-cap exception, expected to be worth around $1.8 million. Sign-and-trade needed Stoudamire, 31, earned $12.5 million while averaging 15.8 points and 5.7 assists per game with Portland last season. He was the 1996 Rookie of the Year with Toronto. "Damon is very interested in playing for Houston," said Stoudamire's agent, Aaron Goodwin. "A sign-and-trade would have to be worked out in order for that to happen. "Portland has shown interest in working deals with other teams. We have asked Houston to contact Portland and see if there is something that they can work out." Veterans available Whether the Trail Blazers have any interest in the Rockets' expiring contracts — those of Clarence Weatherspoon, Moochie Norris, Vin Baker and Charlie Ward — remains to be seen. Should a deal with Stoudamire fail to materialize, the Rockets might turn their attention to Gary Payton, Latrell Sprewell or Michael Finley. Finley is expected to be cut loose by the Mavericks as part of the one-time amnesty clause where a team can buy out the contract of a player while not having that salary count in its luxury tax. Once the Rockets get Swift and a guard, they could sharpen their focus on their free agents, notably Dikembe Mutombo and Jon Barry. Of course, before the first domino can fall, the league and union have to iron out the CBA. mk.bower@chron.com
Mouse, Payton, Spree, and Fin?? Yuck I thought the offseason goal was to get more speed and youth in the backcourt. Why not Dermarr, MoPete, Darius, and Buckner?
The Blazers are going to be a headache to deal with. It didn't seem like the Nets had very much fun with them.
The Blazers will want a first round pick. There is no reason for them to take on even expiring contracts, unless they get rid of one of their bad ones in the deal.
Finleys going to get 50+ million from the Mavs over the next 3ysr. Chances are he'll sign for the Vet's min with the right contender. Deke was the 2nd highest paid player with much thanks to the Nets last year.
I think we need a veteran backcourt. Damon and Finley would be awesome but i would be happy with only one of them. I don't know why Portland would S&T with us for expiring contracts. The best thing we can do is get players for cheap like Finley, Dermarr and hope to use expiring contracts to trade for a player that other team don't want.
I think its funny how everyone assumes Finley and other LT cauaulties are going to sign for minimums just to play for a contendar. I think all of them are going to go to the combination of highest bidder slash good team. Everyone assumed that DS would sign for the lle since he just finished off a big contract now look, his agent says S&T is the only way we can get him.
I think most of us actually assumed that it would most likely take a S/T to get Damon after we signed Swift.
Finley will be traded "The Mavs have at least one deal on the table for Finley, possibly with Orlando, that satisfies Mark Cuban's requirement of receiving expiring contracts in return. The Mavs will continue to pursue a trade and could easily wait until the eve of training camp before deciding Finley's fate. Even if the Mavs don't receive a better offer, the team is leaning strongly against making Finley a free agent through the amnesty clause. No one in the Mavs front office wants to see Finley sign with a Western Conference rival, such as Phoenix with Steve Nash, Denver, San Antonio or Houston." Fort Worth Star-Telegram https://registration.dfw.com/reg/lo...fw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/12234144.htm
I'm not buying the Orlando deal. Orlando already has two PGs (other than Francis), and seems committed to moving Francis to SG. Why would they need Finley? If there is no Orlando deal, perhaps Cuban could be talked into Spoon + J Howard + C Ward for Finley. He gets two expiring contracts (which equals tax savings the next two years), plus he can cut Howard. That way, he would only owe $27 million in future salary (to Howard), instead of $50 million in future salary (to Finley). Then we could sign Howard to the LLE.
What is weird is the article didn't list the two most plausible players, DW is an expiring contract AND very usefull player for them (they need vet guard leadership to help their rookies and young guys). Mike James will likely op out and be an expiring contract as well and would be a usefull player for them. Heck if Portland would do Mooch, Spoon or Baker plus our 06 1st for Stoud great, sign the dotted line (1st choice). But I think DW plus NY 2nd (my 2nd choice) or Mike James strait up (3rd choice) are actually good deals for both teams.
As far as i understood the one time amnesty aka "Alan Houston Rule" is that the salary of player being released will be paid by their original team and the only saving would be in the luxury tax dollars. So in Finley's case, he is owed $51 million over the next three years. If Dallas releases Finley they would still pay his salary. But if say Houston signs Finley to LLE, then Dallas only pays the difference of $51 million minus the LLE houston would sign finley for. So Why would he go for the highest bidder? I think he would go for the right situation where he could either win a ring or play close to home.
I just don't see how Cuban plans on unloading Finley's albatross of a contract to another team for expiring contracts, I seriously doubt that happens, especially when team's know they have a SHOT at him for the LLE!!! He'd have to throw picks at the other team to make it work... Would other teams give us expiring contracts for JHoward's contract?!? NO WAY! NY was insane to take on Mo's contract, look how that worked out for them! Only Isiah Thomas... I say Cuban saves his $50M+, cuts him, and he signs for the LLE to play for a contender, with the frontrunner being Phoenix right now. SNT with Portland (we've done it before), DS for Wesley and/or James (maybe include the 2nd rounder we got from NY), then Finley with the LLE and call it an offseason. And if we know we're not getting Finley, then we'll have to get either DA or RP from Portland in the above SNT... Plus, we'll still have expiring contracts to make a move at the deadline, but I'd rather let them expire to plan for re-signing Deke, Barry, and Yao to the max! Yao Swift T-Mac Finley (Anderson, Patterson) Stoudamire WOW! Finals anyone?
It's been awhile since I last posted... I don't want Finley, and it doesn't look like he is headed here anyway. Don't expect Cuban to trade Finley to a Western Conference rival. And he could play the 3 for Orlando, I don't see why not. If he IS released, someone is bound to offer him more than the LLE. I would welcome a trade with Portland that sent Darius Miles along with DS, but there's no way I want Patterson or Anderson along with him. The more I think about this, the more it seems clear that our first priority should be fortyfing the 2 instead of the 1. I would rather trade for Gerald Wallace or Desmond Mason (who suddenly will become a very expensive backup for the Bucks) as they are young and can grow with our core, and leave the 1 to James and Sura for the time being. We can adress the PG spot later. I'm not sure that at his age and height issues, Stoudamire is worth all this trouble. Certainly not in a sign and trade where he will receive much more than we originally thought, while certainly not being our long term solution. Call me nuts, but I would rather go with Jason Williams. Who knows? By the time the signing period actually begins, we might even be able to work a sign and trade with Memphis for him and Swift. What about including Posey? I still think it was a mistake to let him go. West, not being any closer to contending, might be still willing to trade to shed salary. If we did that, my plan would be offering the MLE to Gerald Wallace and daring the Bobcats to match, or think about another sign and trade that brought Desmond Mason to the Rockets. possible line-ups (in order of preference) Yao/Mutombo Swift/Howard/Baxter T-Mac/Wallace or Mason/Glover Wallace or Mason/Barry/Head J. Williams/Sura Yao/Mutombo Swift/Howard/Baxter T-Mac/Posey/Glover Posey/Barry/Head J. Williams/Sura Yao/Mutombo Swift/Howard/Baxter T-Mac/Wallace or Mason/Glover Miles/Barry/Head Stoudamire/Sura Yao/Mutombo Swift/Howard/Baxter T-Mac/Wallace or Mason/Glover Wallace or Mason/Barry/Head Sura/James with Baker, Norris, Ward, Spoon and Wesley as the usual fodder for trades. Depending on the trade, James can be included to, since he is not coming back after next year, anyway. I would rather go with the first option. Young core, and a proper utilized J. Williams could be a GREAT PG. Thoughts?
I want both Stoudamire and Ruben Patterson. Execution in close games is what will bring us to the next level. Having a PG that can run the offense and deliver the ball is crucial. Stoudamire can do that better than any of our current guards. He also hits a better percentage of 3 pointers (I think). I want Patterson for his insanity, defense and toughness. Van Gundy can control this guy. He is the gritty swing man we need next to TMac. He can take on the Stackhouses of the world. He would help us with rebounding as well. His contract is bad, but I think he is a FA in 06. He could be an excellent role player, like Bowen without the outside shot. I would love our roster to look something like this: Stoudamire/James/Head Wesley/Patterson/Glover Tmac/J Barry Swift/Howard/Baxter Yao/Mutumbo This team would have a tremendous mix of youth/experience, athleticism/IQ, interior toughness/outside shooting.
First of all, this article is crap. I doubt Cuban would eat $15 mil PLUS more than $51 mil in luxury tax penalties in one year just to prevent another team from getting Finley. So, he will definitely either waive or trade Finley. forchette49 is right - no team will eat that $15 mil if they know they might be able to get Finley for the minimum. Cuban got caught with his pants down on this one. He'll probably hang on to Finley through most of the offseason, hoping to find a sucker. When he finally starts reaching the waive deadline, he'll waive Finley (unless he's found a sucker - too bad for him that Weisbrod has left the NBA). So, he probably won't trade Finley. He'll probably waive. And, of course, at the end of the offseason, teams will have done most all of the wheelin' and dealin' that they are gonna do, and there will be a lot less signing opportunities out there. So, Finley will have fewer options and not much money to work with. That in mind, he'll probably choose to play for a contending team. It's not unfeasible that the Rockets could pick him up for chump change. I'd love it if Finley got a championship with the Rockets next season while he collected $50 mil from Cuban. That would be beautiful!
Because your assumption is mistaken. The common wisdom now (though it has not been completely confirmed) is that Finley would get his next contract in addition to his current one. So, my bet is that he goes to a good team that still has their MLE to give him.
1. I don't see why the Houston FO is going to 'stop shopping' until the CBA is finalized - not when the competition/other teams are continuously coming to agreements with players. Makes no sense. 2. The only way I see us getting Stoudamire is if he's willing to sign for a very moderate sum. If not, we may as well do it with a team that has a player already under contract that they want to get rid of instead, so we can then unload Howard, for instance, or at the very least, Weatherspoon and Baker. We lose leverage in a S&T for Stoudamire, unless, of course, he's willing to play for a lot less.
Finley is all but gone from the Mavericks. If he stays, he'll be coming off the bench as the 6th or 7th man and they (Mavs) say that he makes too much money for that (although they happily pay Keith Van Horn $15 million to do just that). If they do release him, I expect him to land at PHX with his old buddy Nash.
