Dragic and Bledsoe are wayyyyy better than Rubio. Just a weak pathetic Euroleague scrub that is only in the league because of name recognition and former hype. Guy can't shoot. Guy can't finish. Guy can't do anything right on the offensive side of the ball except pass. Ish Smith at vet min. is better than Rubio at any price level. I would only want him on this team if he played for vet. min.
If Bledsoe stays healthy this year he will make his first allstar team. Too bad we saved our cap space only to overlook a future star in Bledsoe. We should have signed him to a $14 mil offer sheet. Now I don't see how we have the space to get him.
I never liked PGs who rely on athleticism too much. That's why I would love a rondo or Rubio pass first PG.
At least Dragic and Bledsoe aren't black holes on offense. And they are more likely to end up here than Rubio. Rubio is not coming here.
So you are proposing that a team of : Dragic Martin Ariza Love Howard is better than Dragic Harden Ariza Jones Howard So, in other words, Harden/Jones < Martin/Love. Not sure I'd agree with that. I want to keep Harden.
His knee are degenerating before u eyes and u want to cash in ourfuture on him...look at the Knicks and stat and learn from them....
1. Jones is gone to PHX in my hypothetical. 2. Beverley and Dragic can start together and Beverley is better than Martin (if we get him, prefer to have Corey Brewer instead). So, it's Bev/Dragic/Ariza/Love/Howard vs. Dragic/Harden/Ariza/Motiejunas(?)/Howard. I like the former. Dragic gets more touches and freedom. Also more solid on D with the former lineup, with a plus defender in Bev taking the place of an average defender in Dragic and an average defender in Dragic replacing a sucky one.
IF and that's a big IF but IF Morey is interested in acquiring Bledsoe through sign-and-trade he could: In less than 60 days, Combine the salaries of Alonzo Gee Scotty Hopson Josh Powell Terrence Jones Pat Beverley and offer PHX and Bledsoe those assets for a sign-and-traded Bledsoe on a contract starting at $12,542,630.50.* This would be a 4-year total of $53,557,032. It could include a player opt-out after 3 years in which Bledsoe will be a 7-year veteran and eligible for a much higher max salary, that, if the market was there to pay him...would actually most likely yield him more money than 5/80. Here's my thoughts on the situation. It would make some sense for PHX to sign-and-trade Bledsoe to Detroit straight up for Greg Monroe if they don't want to pay Bledsoe more than 4/48. Surely they would be willing to pay a few $$$ more for Monroe since he's a legit big. They could use Monroe badly. But Detroit really wants to retain Monroe....and trade Josh Smith. And if Detroit can't trade Josh Smith and they sign-and-trade for Bledsoe on some $13-14 million almost max contract..then their cap space is destroyed from chasing a max free agent next summer. And they really want Rondo. Because Rondo is a SVG fit. A tough defending, penetrating point guard who is expert on the pick-and-roll and knows how to find shooters...the shooters Detroit doesn't have. But Rondo is so good that he can find Drummond and Smith for an NBA record of dunks for a season. On the other hand...shoveling TJones to Detroit, along with Bev (asset), keeps Detroit in line to go after Rondo in the off season. So, a deal like that makes sense to me. On the other hand...if we propose this kind of deal for Bledsoe and he actually says he'll do it...then all PHX has to do if they want to keep Bledsoe is offer Bledsoe a couple million more than what our offer is and they'll keep him. At that point .... they could turn to a possible sign-and-trade for Dragic with Dragic going out to Houston and Monroe going to PHX and our assets going to Detroit. All that being said...I question a young player demanding a full 5-year deal if he is not willing to consider the new CBA in 3 years and his opportunity to opt out and increase his income above 5/80. Is he fully healthy? Is he fully driven? The best player on the planet is willing to take the risk...why not a guy like Bledsoe. Now .... I don't know for sure if Bledsoe ISN'T willing to take the risk. But if it finally comes out that he isn't willing to compromise on 5/80..something is up with that. Either: 1. He's not feeling great about his future health. or 2. He's not really wnating to play up to a max level so he can get a big raise in 3 years. or 3. His agent (Rich Paul) is trying to twist the market and tie other teams cap up with another bloated deal to make it difficult for them to build out a contender that makes it difficult for Lebron to run off with 5 or 6 championships in a row. -------------------------------- * Just to be clear, you could add a signed-and-traded Jordan Hamilton at $2.1 million and have enough salary to give Bledsoe a max deal of 4/63 also. Either of those trades keeps us above the cap with the full MLE, BAE and trade exceptions instead of your proposed trade that takes us below the cap.
