I would imagine Portland would prefer hometown kid Jones over Dmo but I actually find myself agreeing with DD here -- a lot of guys are going to want to take short 1 year or 2 year deals and set themselves of a huge raise of a pay day in the new cap era. So LMA coming here can happen if he does that route. It can actually mean a lot of short term "super teams" could be formed actually. Though I cant see Ariza being the one traded. His durability and contributions to this team have been crucial to the success this year.
IMAGINE if we could end up with something like: Lull/Bev/Johnson Harden/KJ/pick or vet Ariza/Brewer/pick or vet Aldridge/Smith/Scola Dwight/DMo/Capella That would be a sick team ready to compete for Chips for another 3 to 4 years if they can stay together and stay healthy. The key would be getting enough of them to take paycuts for 2015/2016 to resign them to larger deals when the cap goes up the next year and have them on long term deal then. Thanks Cyberx, you are the man whether any of this happens or not!
In order to do this as a S&T (as that's the only way we could do it), there has to be a team with max space that LMA would LEGITIMATELY be serious in signing with to force POR to trade him. If Lakers are out according to Cyber that leaves: Mavs, Spurs & Knicks. There are other teams with cap space but I didn't include them because their either not contenders, a major brand (knicks), or are set at the PF spot. Mavs would have to move Dirk to the bench which is a real possibility if they can get LMA and the same with TD but I don't see that as likely TBH. I see Dallas as the front runner here. It's his home and they already know Rondo's out. They could just re-sign Tyson let Ellis go and put together a backcourt. If it's a serious enough option for LMA and we know Dallas would jump on that, POR could be willing to S&T with us if we are apple to apples in LMA's eyes as a desired destination. IF that's a possibility then it'd have to be Ariza + Kpap + Jones (probably). A third team might need to included to move Ariza for something else POR would want since they're set with Batum. Losing Ariza would be tough considering how much he means to our defense. Could it be possible Morey had envisioned KJ for that role all along? Ehhh, I love talking about the chess game that Morey plays but I'm locked in on the playoffs right now. I know the likelihood of this team going all the way is small though so it's good to know Morey has his focus on the future.
By the way, I feel dirty talking about this when we have a good chance this year if DHo and Jsmoov can maintain their form. DD
I hear and understand what everyone is saying about us having to include Ariza, but I just find it hard to accept. He sacrificed to come back here and has been tremendous for our team this year. I think Morey has more loyalty than people believe. I also think that Morey knows or will find a way to get this done (if LMA does decide he wants to be here) that many of us would never have thought of...without letting go of Ariza.
I tend to agree. I think we overrate him a bit because of how badly he torched us. He is a lesser version of Bosh and he isn't worth a 35% of the cap max deal. Depth is much more important than the big name imo.
Aren't max contracts based upon a percentage of the salary cap? So if the cap goes up (i.e. 2016 explosion), the max player's annual salary correspondingly goes up? For example, I thought Harden's max deal is tied to the cap figure.
I agree it feels wrong to trade him after how much he's meant to this team's success. To be fair though, Morey did structure his contract the way he did to set him up for a trade and I'm sure Ariza's agent informed him on that real possibility.
Aldridge is a great rebounder, and would have plenty of space to operate with Howard and Harden feeding him open looks. I do feel like we are cheating on our team right now by thinking like this. Why can't Josh Smith play like that every night?
A lot of people here are overreacting to one brilliant game from Josh Smith. He's nice to have, but he's usually not even close to a game-changer. Let's say this team fizzles out in the 2nd round... I really doubt Morey will be sitting on his hands all Summer thinking All is Well. Sounds to me like Morey is doing his usual due diligence.. and by due diligence I mean figuring out a feasible method to acquire any all-star level player that is available. Wait and see how this year's story ends before you become too attached to anyone not named James Harden.
So the team wins 56 games and Morey looks to blow it up? We don't need LMA and most def don't need Scola.
Awesome! Dwight, Capela LMA, Smith, Jones McDaniels, Brewer Harden, Terry Bev, Llull/Prig This team is STACKED! I think starting KJ is better for our bench. With LMA and Harden we need defenders and KJ is a really good one.
^ Not saying LMA and Harden are bad defenders because they are not but just saying we have enough O between the two of them and Dwight.
I'm not sure about this, but I believe the first year of a max contract is set as 25, 30, or 35% of the cap that year depending on experience, and the following years increase at 4.5% or 7.5% depending on whether a player changes teams.
Is there literally any way to sign LMA w/o giving up Dwight, Harden, or Ariza? It seems like Ariza would be a must? Also, I remember reading here a few yrs ago that some member posted on here that he saw LMA and asked him to go to Houston, to which he replied by saying he'd love to go. (This was before they signed Dwight). With all that said, this isn't gonna happen. Wishful thinking...
Winning 56 games isn't impressive... at all. Morey is trying to win a championship. It's championship or BUST. If it turns out the current squad isn't good enough to get it done then why trot the same lineup out there next year? Let the master do his job.
You are crazy! LMA is simply a better player than JSmoove and with us he would be a stretch 4 that would slide to the post when Dwight goes out. And Scola for the vet min? You would really rather have Dorsey than Scola? LMA/Scola >>>>> JSmoove/Dorsey (and I happen to like what they have both done for our team, but come on, not even close) Let's not forget we would still have DMo and TJones. Our frontcourt would be the best in the league. Now, our wings in the other hand...
I can't see how that would work. Basically every teams cap space for the off season would impossible to peg depending on how many max players they have. If you look on hoopshype for salaries for each team, every teams players salaries are set and the space is calculated accordingly. Those figures would change if it were setup this way.
