They don't want to give him up, but they will. Lebron wants Love and what Lebron wants, Lebron gets. It is logical for him. He + Love + Irving is a win now team. Wiggins will take 2 years to develop - too long a time to waste if you're Lebron. Lee is deadweight but he can is still decent, and if you add Thompsen (and Barnes or other assets) you've got a better offer than the Rockets. Take out Thompsen and I agree GWS is out. It sounds like GSW is on the fence right now, which means they could easily capitulate.
They are so far under the cap with Bledsoe and Dragic both likely to receive contracts a few million under the mini-max their salaries won't matter.
Being drafted in 2014 can not be compared to 2011 when your first round pick was considered a top 10 talent in a heavy draft this year. Just like Harden, they are scared that they will lose him for nothing. I also find it weird that they just signed IT, and drafted a PG? They are worried. When it comes to picks, you have a lottery pick that might gain significance after the new system is brought to light, on top of a first round pick at a later date that may hold value to PHX(Harden and Howard can both leave Houston if they wish in a couple of years). PG is filled with talent, and teams aren't going to gut there prospect pool in order to tread water. Last but not least, Dragic will become a FA after this year. He necessarily won't sign with any body .
I wonder if Morey would relent on his 3rd star mandate if we could pull something like this off: Lin TPE + NOP 1st + NYK 2nd + Rights to Sergio Llull for Dragic TJones + Bev or Canaan (to 3rd team in return for asset to Atlanta) + Rights to Capela + Gee + MIN/DEN 2015 2nd for Millsap Dragic / Canaan / Ish Harden / Daniels / Johnson Ariza / ? Millsap / DMo / Adrien Howard / Dorsey Your cap looks fine: 21.4 - Howard 14.7 - Harden 9.5 - Millsap 8.6 - Ariza 7.5 - Dragic 1.4 - DMo 1.0 - Dorsey 1.0 - Adrien 1.0 - Ish 0.8 - Canaan 0.8 - Johnson 0.8 - Daniels Total: 68.5 million. No risk of hitting the apron even if you use your MLE and BAE. You still have Gentile and Papanikolaou overseas, as well as your MLE and BAE. Since Millsap and Dragic both expire next year, it leaves you very flexible, either to resign them or pursue another player. Essentially, if it works out (conference finals or better), you bring everyone back next year. You've got full bird on Goran (can sign him up to a max of $20 million per), and early bird on Millsap (up to $12 million per).
What they are saying makes a lot of sense. At the same time, Bledsoe might be causing annoyance with his max demand, if management and he are 32 M dollars off. Will the Suns keep Dragic instead of Bledsoe? I think they would like to keep both of them, but not at a prohibitive cost. I like Bledsoe, but I am concerned about his injury history. I hope the Suns will " overpay" for him, and agree to an S/T with us for Dragic. I know it is a long shot, which is made more difficult by being in the Western Conference. It is intriguing though.
You guys are DRASTICALLY overrating Dallas. Yeah, they'll be better. But Tyson Chandler is a shell of what he was when he left, they downgraded majorly at PG, and Chandler Parsons is not gonna be the guy that makes them contenders. We need to stop underrated Portland again also. They haven't lost anybody, they'll be improved. West will have 3 tiers of competitive teams. 1- SA, OKC, LAC 2- Hou, Port, Mem 3- Dal, GSW, Phx
Yeah I agree with you on their cap situation, Suns still have cap. I think acquiring Thomas was such an underrated move for the Suns that could pay serious dividends for them in the future. Collect assets first and ask where they all fit later. Some team out there is going to need a guard evidently and will have to pay a premium so this move by Phoenix made plenty of sense. Phoenix is a good small ball team too so I would agree with their fans that the Suns are not all that hard pressed to give Dragic away right now. But I guess we will see.
If you look at what the Clips got for Bledsoe, I think we can probably work a trade with Phox... Official Trade Details (Last July) In a three-team deal, The Phoenix Suns acquired PG/SG Eric Bledsoe and SF Caron Butler from the Los Angeles Clippers, while sending SG/SF Jared Dudley to the Clippers and a 2014 second-round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks. The second-round pick traded by the Suns is the 2014 pick received by Phoenix from Toronto in the Sebastian Telfair trade in 2013. The Suns traded away Jared Dudley’s $4.25 million salary, and take on Caron Butler’s $8 million contract (expiring after the season) and Eric Bledsoe’s $2.6 million salary.
I think Dallas will be about the same as last year depending on their PG play. Losing Marion and Carter will sting and losing Calderon's shooting ability and playmaking will hurt but Parsons will be a good replacement for the shooting and playmaking. PG play should be abysmal unless Devin Harris comes back strong. Tyson Chandler has to stay healthy as they have no depth on the frontcourt. If Tyson gets hurt then it is essentially over for the Mavs. He does seem to pump Dirk up for whatever reason and they play really well together but that was several years ago. I am not penciling them into top 5 just yet either like so many others.
Well, based on last year's performance, he played at an all star level. So, it makes sense that they'd want an all star or potential all star in return. The two problems are a)this could be a fluke year or a system boost in his stats and b)because of their logjam at the point, Dragic would be the full time SG. If Dragic is ok with being a full time SG, then they should keep him and continue to make moves for a star player. Our trade assets won't make them any better as a team.
Well ask them this: Are they ok with spending $35 million on their guard rotation in 2015 with no stars at either forward or center slot and only competing for the 7th or 8th seedin the west? Because that's exactly where they would be. They aren't keeping those 4 guards any more than we were keeping Parsons after signing Ariza. PHX needs picks or forwards/centers with potential. Luckily, we have both.
It's sad to see sooooo many of us reaching and hoping nothings going to happen today or tomorrow. Melo and Bosh went for the money and it wasn't because Houston sucks as a city or no one wants to play with Dwight... it's the money bottom line. Ironically rockets will end up being a better team then last year watch.
Yeah, I don't think they would pay Thomas and keep all those guards without trading one for some frontcourt help or picks. I wouldn't be offering a max deal for Bledsoe though, too many health concerns imo. But I'd definitely be open to us working out a deal or signing Bledsoe or Dragic.
I asked them for you! :grin: http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1335990&p=40711362#p40711362
That's my thought, and the lineup seems to "fit". Everyone fills a role, and your bench compliments your starters well (even if they aren't terribly talented). Both of your PFs (Millsap and DMo) fit well with your centers (Howard and Dorsey). Dragic and Harden are both facilitators, and you could always have one on the court with floorspacers like Canaan and Daniels. Or if you trade Canaan instead of Bev, you've got a good mix of playmaking, defense, and shooters between Harden/Dragic/Beverley/Daniels. Ariza just needs to do what he does. He doesn't need to handle the ball or create. Just shoot open shots, run the floor, and guard the other team's best wing. If this were to happen, I wouldn't be surprised if we went back to Gentile and Papanikolaou and told them we came up with some additional money to make their transitions to the NBA work (using the MLE). Then you use the BAE on another center like Jermaine O'Neal or Emeka Okafor. Dragic / Beverley / Johnson Harden / Daniels / Gentile Ariza / Papanikolaou Millsap / DMo / Adrien Howard / O'Neal / Dorsey Like the Spurs, I could see us keeping all of our starters minutes low.....like no higher than 32 per game (other than maybe Harden).
