Teams very well could outbid the Rockets but the teams that could.. won't. You don't cash in your assets on a rebuilding team for the rights to pay 29 yr old Goran 15+ mil. I think if he gets traded its to the Rockets. With that said, its PHX, that stands far more in the way than any other team in their pursuit of Gogi berries. To Malakas' point though.. It will take more than the Pels pick. Pels+Capella+Tbird are almost for certain and I think we'd get stuck with our old friend Marcus or JP Tucker's contract. Darkhorse- Also think they could want to snag Bev to keep their playoffs alive while taking the other players for rebuilding.
...yea I'm THE bucks fan. :grin: No idea of the Lowry Dragic situation until you told me now. He is terribly undersized very weak ,with horrible horrible defence mediocre playmaking and passing skills and a chucker who has one of the worst shooting years in the history of the league. So yeah..at best carreer third guard. Rondo quite possibly wanted to stay but Ainge was NOT going to pay him the max and had already decided to commit fully in the rebuild and also has drafted his replacement. That's one other difference. The suns can and want pay Dragic the max. They have PO aspirations whereas Boston does not at this point. Depends. Not all FO have a clear direction. Some think that they are close and take shortcuts. Has happened again and again and usually doesn't end well. Does Dragic even fit in the triangle? I would consider NY a more possible destination than LA as far as big markets go.
Rondo wanted out, Jackie (the Celtics reporter closest to Rondo) said it in the offseason, Ainge himself pretty much admitted to it after the trade (uncertainty they could re-sign him). Keep in mind, that's it's against the CBA to openly admit to making a trade request.
Seems Alex Len, Phoenix's only decent defender, was injured. Putting their already tenuous hold on the playoff spot even worse. Dragic looked like crap out there(on purpose?) Everything seemingly coming together. Basically, when Lowry came back from injury at the end of the year, the Rockets tried him and Dragic together a bit, bringing Lowry off the bench. Dragic supposedly wasn't happy. Lowry fought with McHale. Rockets lost I think 6 games in a row to take themselves out of the playoffs. Lowry was quickly traded in the offseason. Hazy on the details because it was so long ago. But pretty much a cluster**** all around.
I think Goran wants to win. If we can offer him close to max money and the opportunity to win then he will take it. He isn't a player that is going to blow up in a big market. He isnt a superstar capable and he's not getting any younger. That being said, the whole FA thing will prevent teams with faint playoff success hopes from making offers that are must have. I definitely think we should find a way to cash in on the pelicans pick too. I don't want to see another player go into development while we are a title contender (which we are even with our current squad and should look to improve our odds first
Purposely lose? no, but Lowry pretty much nuked the locker room from orbit repeatedly Lowry sabotaged that team, and it put Dragic off his game
Goran Dragic is not worth anywhere close to a max contract especially at his age. Kyle Lowry is making 12 million a season I would guess Dragic is worth something in that range. If the Rockets pay him max or near max I think it'll be a mistake. Anyone else thing Dragic will be playing at elite level when he's 34ish? Yes the Rockets need an upgrade at PG but i couldn't see Rockets losing cap flexibility for him. Especially for the Durant sweepstakes. You gotta believe Morey wants to be able to Atleast be able to be in that discussion.
What is Len's injury and how long he's gonna be out? I guess they wont trade Plumplee now but without Len they take a BIG hit. Ugh Lowry...No wonder Toronto lockeroom is such a mess right now. Character and Chemistry matter so much but is hard to predict. :/
Sprained ankle for Len, TBD how bad it is: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Alex Len just went on crutches to get a 2nd X-ray. If it's a bad ankle sprain, he'll stay out through All-Star break. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SunsAtBlazers?src=hash">#SunsAtBlazers</a></p>— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) <a href="https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/563581748391321600">February 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Alex Len has a right ankle sprain. Len: "It's not a fracture or nothing so I'll be back soon." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SunsAtBlazers?src=hash">#SunsAtBlazers</a> <a href="http://t.co/SPm62mu7B8">pic.twitter.com/SPm62mu7B8</a></p>— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) <a href="https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/563590098801815553">February 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Phleassee ... IIRC a major reason we lost is that McHale kept trotting that insane Scola-PPat smallball combination in the end of games. Seriously outrebounded Goran couldn't carry the team in the last two games.
Lowry > Dragic, every time. Dragic is not a max guy, had one stretch in jan-feb last year at a max level and that is it.
Everybody on here knows it's going to take more than just NOP pick. That's been discussed around here way before old buddy joined. Likely scenario :the Suns will want Dmo (since his stock has risen and the Suns needing an actual low post threat, NOP pick and maybe Canaan with some fillers to make the money match.
TJones, Pelicans pick, Shved, Pap for Dragic? Where do I sign? Heck, I am warming up my car to drive them to the airport...
Rockets would do that every day. A lineup of Dragic/Beverley Harden/Terry Ariza/Brewer D-Mo/Smith Howard/D-Mo/Dorsey Is a serious contender! Infact, that's the lineup I prefer over any other realistic option.
The problem with that is it seems unlikely we'll get Dwight back before the playoffs, so the actual lineup would probably be something like: Dragic/Beverley Harden/Terry Ariza/Brewer Smith D-Mo/Dorsey I'm not saying I'm opposed to trading TJones, but given Dwight's situation I would be less than thrilled about trading him.
