Except Ryan Anderson is an elite three point shooter. Guys on the forum severely underrate his impact.
Rockets2K (and others), thanks for the clarification on the new CBA. My point is not so much about Dwight getting the 5 year max but more about the unlikelihood that he signs straight up with any team as a free agent. Yes, I understand that he has nothing to gain financially by a sign and trade but it would allow his new team to shed some salary and create cap space to sign his buddy Josh. Since Dwight will most certainly be the "first domino", I would think that the Rockets or any other team would want to immediately deal their starting center to free up cap space and flexibility for the next move to sign Josh or other unrestricted free agent outright without having to make a deal with Atlanta or other team. Plus, if the Lakers do get something in return for Dwight, and would ease some of the negative PR he'll certainly face by leaving them. So although he wouldn't gain anything financially, a sign and trade would be a win/win for everyone involved. And there is no way the Lakers end up empty handed. David Stern will make sure of that...
Rockets could sign Howard directly and then trade with ATL for Smith if they wanted to do that. Why give assets to a team that you are directly competing with(LA) instead of sending assets to a team in the East like ATL? Why should the Rockets care if the Lakers or their fans dont like it? Tough tooties, shoulda made him happy. aaaahh, you are one of *those* guys....nevermind, carry on.
You hit the nail on the head! I've been blind all along but now I see what you and the others see. Dwight will be the first one that drops but we need a tacit agreement from Smith that he is definitely signing if we clear the cap space. So it comes down to what pieces LA and Houston can agree on to make it work. I am weak on the rules with sign and trade but don't the salaries have to be within a certain % of each other? Can someone confirm this?
It's going to take some form of sacrifice. I think both players-- Smith and Howard-- want to feel loved and appreciated first and foremost. But if opportunity came for them to be on the same team and team possesses a few attributes; up & coming, top city, another star, great mgmt, great players, great history. There will be a SMALL sacrifice, not a huge one. Dwight won't drop $5M per year, he may take that 5th year as a sacrifice. If you read Josh Smith's comments after he proposed him being a "max-level player", or even better heard, he clarified some things. He didn't say he will only accept max level, he said that he can be flexible it's just different opportunities. I'm sure if it's staying in Atlanta, as currently constructed, he'd want maximum salary. But if Dwight's in Houston, with a bit of a sacrifice, I'm sure Josh would listen. Would he take a huge drip from his current salary, or his current demands? I do believe he'd do enough to get the maximum money he can, while Houston does the most to give them the very most they can(via S&T with Omer Asik and other salary fillers). For that to happen, all the stars have to align right. Do remember that LeBron, Chris, and Dwyane ALL took pay-cuts. Mike Miller took a supposed cut, Udonis Haslem always does as well. It'll be a set-in reality. But the type of cut isn't going to be a $15m to $9m cut, or a $13m to $9m cut. It'd be like a 4 year deal worth $50-52m as opposed to 60m.
There are matching rules, but it depends on the teams involved and their cap situations as to how closely they have to match. The formatting doesnt look right, click the link to the original to see it the way Coon intended and also to see the next section on non-simultaneous trades. Its kinda complicated and easier for you to just read it yourself. EDIT: Also, for more complete understanding of the CBA rules on trades, scroll up at the link to question 80.
If Smith says no, I'd sure to be happy with moving Asik in a 3-way that lands us Millsap assuming we get Dwight. Dwight + any one we can attain from moving Asik >>>>>>>>> Asik + anything available
to be honest, unless we can get smith i'd rather keep asik as dwights backup. a PF next to dwight doesn't have to be an all star, get one guy who can hit a 3 and another who can rebound and defend, let them split minutes at the 4. plus i wouldn't trade asik for a worse player just because that player can play the 4.
Did Doc Rocket ever explicitly say he was an insider or is this just a myth that we have perpetuated into reality?
If we can get Dwight, Morey needs to be smart and build 3 pt shooters around him. Yes a PF with the range and rebounding ability will be amazing for this team. I don't think getting Josh Smith is the correct move if we already got Dwight. We need to build a team like the Orlando team that made the finals with 3 pt shooters + Dwight. Except, we'll have way more talent and more depth than just shooting 3s so wher they failed, we will succeed!
Rockets2K, I understand what you're saying but the Lakers would actually be doing us a favor by taking on the contracts of Asik and possibly Lin. It frees us up to offer Smith a near max or max deal without the uncertainty or risk of having to make additional trades. If we can form a big three of Harden, Smith, and Howard, do you really think we care if the Lakers get Asik and Lin? With the big expiring contracts of Nash, Gasol, and Bryant coming soon, the Lakers could easily take on Asik and Lin's salaries. And both would fit nicely in D'Antoni's system assuming that's the route the Lakers choose. It won't happen if they bring back Phil Jackson but if D'Antoni stays it makes a lot of sense. It also frees up our risk of both Asik and Lin becoming almost untradeable if either gets hurt, struggles or back tracks from this year performances. Although we can sign Dwight outright without a sign and trade, we will be competing with the Lakers and Atlanta to earn his commitment. The first team that's able to clear enough cap space to also sign Josh, probably will have the edge. If the Lakers are convinced they cannot create the cap room to sign Josh or if they elect to rebuild with D'Antoni, their next step will be to try to arrange a sign and trade with the team(s) of Dwight (and Josh's) choosing. Most likely Houston or Atlanta. Atlanta would give up Horford in a second and I think the Rockets would give up Asik and probably Lin (even though they don't have to) just to show Dwight and Josh the clear cut path of playing together on a desirable team. Get ready, it's going to be a real tug of war between the teams unless/until Dwight (and Josh) make it known and demand where they want to go.
Kane, we can sign Dwight outright and trade Asik elsewhere to get cap room and picks, or even to Atlanta on a sign and trade for smith. No reason to give the lakers anything if we can sign Dwight outright. Worry about making room for Smith/CP3 after you get Dwight for nothing. You're crazy if you think it would difficult to trade Asik.
I beleave Atlanta is a legit threat to sign D12 out right. If they renounce everyone except Josh Smith and cut all of their non-gaurunteed contracts and decline all of their team options they will be have right around 17 million in cap space (factoring cap holds for all of the empty roster spots and 2 first round picks). Lou Williams Josh Smith Al Horford Dwight Howard John Jenkins Jeremy Tyler Two 1st round picks Two 2nd round picks That would be their team until they added some other low level contracts in free agency.
^^ this No reason to limit the value of Asik and Lin by trading only to the lakers 1) you get more value by opening trade options to the entire market. It's not that hard to move Asik. Lin might take some but I don't think that harder either 2) if you're going to trade, you don't trade to help the lakers....let them burn in tax hell.
