Ewing Nears Exit Knicks seeking to deal Patrick for Sonics' Baker (http://www.nydailynews.com/today/Metro_Sports/Basketball/a-77106.asp) That of course makes more room at the PF position. BTW Falk is both Ewing's and Mo's agent(Play X-Files conspiracy type music here). I really wish Mo would go ahead and sign with the Rocks. bWhile there are legitimate concerns with his D, his addition would greatly extend our opponnent's defense as it would give us a scoring threat at every position. We are much better with him than with the current roster. ------------------
Man that sucks. You can bet that MO will take all of Baker's minutes... sure they still have horacio grant and lewis and maybe even Jelani Mcoy, but it was Baker's minutes that posed the most problem. ------------------ president of the dan langhi fan club.
Honestly I'm not sure if I believe all this talk. It does seem that Mo has been holding off for something, but think about this from the Sonics' perspective. To me, it seems pointless for a non-contending team to pick up Ewing. He only has about 2 years left, and he is not going to turn the Sonics into a contender. Any team that gets Ewing should be the type that is looking for a short-term fix to help contend. Seattle won't contend next year, so IMO you have to look long-term to see their championship hopes. If you do this move, sure it allows Mo to sign there and play the PF minutes. But is Mo really better than a slim Baker playing like his first year in Seattle? (Seattle media outlets have reported he's dropped a TON of weight) And Ruben Patterson? Hardly. If you're the Sonics, you are building for a championship run in 2 to 3 years, and personally I'd rather have Baker and Patterson than Maurice Taylor to make that run. By far. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas. Vote in the 64 player 1 on 1 NBA Tournament! (Championship) http://bbs.clutchplays.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000991.html
At this point, sadly i would have to say that unless Mo REALLY wants to play here, we are out of the picture. Falk´s ties with Jordan, or his desire to favor an unhappy Ewing means that Mo is more likely to head to Seattle or Washington. Unless we can pull a rabbit out of our hats that enables to do a sign-and-trade with the ******* Clips, we are out of the Mo sweepstakes. Unfortunately, that´s the way i see it. ------------------ "Behold the coming of the Almighty"
This could be potentially bad news for the Rockets on the Taylor front. This not only opens up a spot for Taylor to feature his game, but it also opens up a boatload of cap space for the Sonics next summer. In addition to Baker, the Sonics would have to throw in some other guaranteed contracts like Maxwell, Foster, etc to make this thing work on the cap. Ewing's entire chunk, 17 mil, expires next summer which would give the Sonics immense maneuverability. They would then have the cap room that Mo Taylor is looking for as well. I think this could be the reason for the holdup on the Mo Taylor front. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
Thanos, We aren't out. Not by a longshot. I don't care about Falk's ties with MJ- I dont think Taylor is an idiot. The Wizards are tied up with cap problems for pretty much the next century. They could never give Taylor a big contract like he wants, so scratch them. As for the Sonics, read my post above. I don't see the Sonics making this move for Ewing. It really hurts them long-term. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas.
i think the sonics getting ewing makes more sense than half the deals posited in here. btw, when did maurice taylro become all that? wouldn't it be better to trade for chris webber instead? i'd trade any 3 guys on the rockets' roser not named 'francis' o 'mobley' for webber. ------------------
At this point, i would say that Mo will not sign for the 2.25 mil exception with ANY team. He will simply go fot the highest bidder. If tht is NOT possible, then and only then he would consider the 2.25 mil offer. That being said, it looks like no one will be able to do a sign and trade with the clips. Which leaves only the 2.25 mil exception offer on the table, from Seattle, the Wizards and us. Common sense dictates that he should have signed with us by now, for reasons that have been stated on this board a hundred times over. Why hasn´t he done so by now? He´s still hopeful that somehow he can make more than those those "measly" 2.25 mil, which can only be done by a team that manages to UNLOAD players to another team and freeing up capspace. Only we can do that, since we have the exception, which enables us to free cap. What i was saying, Cat, is that if the 2.25 mil is really the ONLY way for Mo to sign, i don´t see him signing with us. I see him going to the Wizards (the Falk-MJ connection) or to Seattle if they do that trade for Ewing. It makes sense for Seattle. They get rid of a troubled player like Baker and grab a young fellow like Mo. A lineup of Payton, Williams, Ewing, Mo, and Rashard would be a contender, IMO. As for him being stupid, doesn´t he look stupid now for not picking up the Raptors´ offer? Sure he does. I suppose this is taking so long because he still is hopeful that Houston can manage to pay him more than those 2.25 mil with a miracle trade. That´s why i said he would only play here if he REALLY wanted to. But from what i´ve seen of him, i just don´t see him signing with us for the 2.25 slot. The guy is a puppet on Falk´s hands. I hope he proves me wrong and you are right Cat, but it seems unlikely as of now... ------------------ "Behold the coming of the Almighty"
I can't see either one of those scenarios right now. Taylor is not being rented for a year by whomever gets him. Sure, he can and will test the market next summer, BUT he will not sign with a team this summer that has no opportunity whatsoever to resign him next summer. Forget that thought. The Wizards certainly won't be able to, and the Sonics won't be able to unless they get Ewing, and as I outlined it just doesn't make sense to me. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas.
Cat, the kid is looking more and more like a ******* mercenary. If he can´t get the big bucks NOW, his only purpose will be driving his value UP in hopes of getting the MAX next year. That being said, it doesn´t look like it would make any difference if the team he signs now can offer him the MAX next year since he will test the market one way or another and there will be teams with cap afetr him, specially since the market will be more limited. And we are not exacly media darlings right now are we? If he signed with the Sonics, he would gain a lot more exposure than he would with us. I just don´t have a lot of faith in Mo´s character right now. Remember that line about him signing with a team anyway if Falk didn´t get anything done by friday? At this point i´m not even sure if we should sign this guy. His behavior surely does not please me. ------------------ "Behold the coming of the Almighty"
This is from BSKBALL: "08/19-AN 8 TEAM LIST- New York Knicks GM Scott Layden asked David Falk and Patrick Ewing for a list of acceptable teams and permission to begin exploratory trade talks, this according to Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News. League sources confirm they have heard talks about Ewing in the last week, but Sonics sources say the report that alleges they are considering a Vin Baker package for Ewing is far from accurate. Sonics sources say they are listening to offers, and the source says they have heard there was a meeting to talk and gauge Ewing's interest both long term and short term. If the Sonics can trigger a deal for Ewing, this clearly makes Maurice Taylor a lock to sign in Seattle, as both Taylor and Ewing are David Falk clients. As the Daily News chronicles, Ewing apparently is tired of being the scapegoat in NY and feels he is receiving an undue amount of blame for a team NY fans say is built around Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell. Among the team said to be on the list "Seattle, Miami, Washington, Orlando, Indiana, Miami (like they could trade for him), Portland" An informed league source says that a trade from New York to Indiana for a Dale Davis package could be realistic, as Davis is serious about his demand to be traded. Yesterday, I reported Pacers sources saying they were not going to trade him, this stance may soften for Ewing. The Knicks know they need to improve and with Ewing clearly ready to walk next summer for his "2 more years", the Knicks may have no choice but to move their franchise player to get any type of decent return on him." ------------------ "Behold the coming of the Almighty"
Now you're just assuming that the Kings are idiots. Who in the hell would they want for Webber outside of those two, and possibly Shandon? ------------------ "I'll drop kick those f*ckin' dogs if they come anywhere near me." visit www.swirve.com
If the Rockets really want Mo, the Ewing deal is bad news. Here's why it works for the Knicks and Sonics. 1) Ewing's contract is big, but expires after this season giving the Sonics the ability to resign him for 1 more year if he stays healthy or use his 17mil to retool. 2) The Sonics get rid of Bakers huge contract which does not expire until 2006. 3)The Knicks are way the cap already so they obviously don't care. 4) The Knicks have only 11 players signed (I may have missed someone, but this is close). 5) The Knicks probably are aware of Bakers recent off season efforts to get in shape and would welcome this as a healthy alternative to LJ and Camby. If the Knicks are willing to take the contracts of Maxwell, Patterson and Stepania (all of which expire 2002) the numbers are VERY close. Scary for Mo to the Rocks proponents. ------------------ GATER
Yes they do free up some cap space. But a lot of that is promised to Taylor if they sign him, and the next two free agent classes are WEAK. If Baker is slim and back to old form, it makes no sense at all for him to be traded for Ewing. It is a very damaging long-term move for the Sonics IMO, and it won't bring them a title to show for it either. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas.
You also forgot to consider those teams like New York, who wants Webber, and will give up Allan Houston for him in a heartbeat. Or other contending teams in similar situations. Also, I think teams like Houston will be championship contenders before Seattle. Free agents next summer will have to look at a team with no center (Ewing will retire before Seattle makes big noise), the fact that Rashard is a free agent in 2002, Payton is getting older, and that's not even mentioning the fact that they don't have a SG. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas. [This message has been edited by The Cat (edited August 19, 2000).]
and may we all take a gander at the fact this topic has already arose before, and the fact that Baker is 2nd year BYC (Seattle can get 75% of his value), and the fact that Ewing makes an average of $17,000,000 in his contract (and according to an NBAtalk thing awhile ago, contracts signed in the CBA are traded at the contract's average salary), compared to Baker's 10.14 mill (and they can only get 75% of that.) Does Seattle own about 9 mill worth of scrubs? Would NY want 9 mill worth of scrubs? Didn't think so. ------------------ The Serious Police are watching. Follow the rules or be assimilated. Shandon is underrated.
I side with new jack on this one. I may be wrong, but Seattle could conceivably have the cap to pull a Magic and sign BOTH of them. Don´t forget that the cap will INCREASE next year. imagine a lineup of Webber, Mo, Mutumbo, Payton and Rashard. Scariest than Miami is looking right now. ------------------ "Behold the coming of the Almighty"
They have Desmond Mason at shooting guard. From what I've heard about him he's gonna be a star in this league. ------------------ You ain't gotta like me, you just mad cause I tell it how it is, and you tell it how it might be.
Thanos, for them to sign Mo, Webber, and Mutumbo, they would have to be about 32 million under the cap. (Mutumbo's max would be 14, Webber's 11, and Taylor would get around 7) Don't think so. And that's counting if the cap as expected moves to 42M or so. Sorry, but I don't think you can tell Desmond Mason, the 17th pick in the draft, will be a star just because he had a good summer league. Seattle won't sign any of the big 3, and I'd bet a lot of money on that fact. ------------------ Looking for next year's Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net Sign Mo Taylor. Bench Kenny Thomas. [This message has been edited by The Cat (edited August 19, 2000).]
I'm with Nike on this one. I don't understand how this deal works financially. Baker is worth about 7.5 million or so... that's great, you still need another 8 million or so in salary to get within 15% of Ewing. Any ideas? Besides, the cat is right... this deal would *suck* for Seattle. Their chances at getting a star free agent next summer would be minor, at best. I seriously doubt Webber would want to enter that situation. GP isn't getting any younger... he's about to start declining in all likliehood, and for PG's, that can be quite rapid. Besides, if Baker's on top of his game, I'd say he's as valuable as Mutumbo, in any event (although not Webber). ------------------ The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001. [This message has been edited by haven (edited August 19, 2000).]
