If the rumor of the Rockets offering Barry the full MLE (& if he accepts it) is true, then that'll leave us with just the $1.7 million exception & the $6.9 million trade exception. We'd still need a backup center & some depth at SG/SF. Rodney White could be a nice pickup at SF & shouldn't cost us much more than the $1.7 million exception. Stephen Jackson is out there also, but he's going to want more than $1.7 million. I'd use the trade exception for a backup center. There's bound to be a team that would take the TE & our conditional #1 pick next year for a backup center. Some deals that come to mind are: TE/Nachbar to Boston for Mihm/Stewart. TE/conditional #1 pick to Charlotte for Jahidi White. TE/conditional #1 pick to Toronto for Marshall (not likely). TE/Piatkowski to Cleveland for Battie/Ollie. TE/conditional #1 pick to Detroit for Elden Campbell. TE/conditional #1 pick to Dallas for Fortson or Laettner TE to Minnesota for Ervin Johnson. TE/conditional #1 pick to Seattle for Murray/their choice of Booth, Potapenko, or James. There are several more possibilities, but I've got to run for now. What possibilities can you see?
dont think seattle will trade flip murray because he really played well for them last season and rumor is that allen is actually on the trading block. of those shown below i think maybe jahidi white and ervin johnson but dont really think the others are that good
Like the idea of bringing in Battie and Ollie. Hate the idea of bringing in Fortson and Princess Laettner (though I would consider dealing Spoon for Laettner straight up)
If the Rockets sign Barry to that contract and use TE, their payroll will be over 60 million. I don't see Les spending that kind of money. I think the Rockets will just let the TE expire and try to trade one of their overpaid power forwards for and overpaid center. Either that, or sign a CBA or NBDL player for the minimum.
If they let that TE expire without using it, there are going to be some majorly pissed-off campers here. I know I'll be angry about it. Although it's hard to get too bent out of shape after getting TMac... it's just the way we ended up with the TE. If we don't use it, then we've bent over for the Jazz and paid for the "pleasure" with a 1st round pick.
Weren't there rumors that Detroit <i>wanted</i> the Bobcats to take Elden and now you want to offer a conditional pick? Yes, the J White <i>deal</i> was rumored for several weeks because the Suns wanted to clear some salary. Never heard if Houston tried to get in on the action with the Suns. Laettner as a backup to Yao? In his first season, Yao Ming averaged 29.0 minutes per game. This past season, he averaged 32.8 minutes per game. If you project him to handle 36 - 37 minutes in 2004 - 2005, that leaves 11 - 12 minutes a game for some combination of J Howard, Mo, Laettner and Spoon at the 4 & 5 spots. I don't think that crew could be called the <i>Fearsome Foursome</i>. Overall, the Rockets have wasted enough draft picks in recent years and it would have to be the right deal to justify spending another draft pick on a reserve 5.
How about TE/Taylor to Portland for Davis/Patterson? They'd get rid of a player they've been trying to move for some time (Patterson) & we'd get a veteran player that can play the 4/5, & is still effective as a backup/spot starter.
I'm just throwing out some names. Whoever we get is only going to play a few minutes a game & doesn't have to be dominant. The #1 pick doesn't have to be included, but might be necessary to get a player away from a team that is not in need of the TE. As for Campbell & White, we had Cato at the time & were not in need of a backup center. I very seriously doubt that the McGrady trade was even on the front burner at the time. If you guys don't like the players I suggested, then tell me your ideas of how we can use the TE. Would you rather sign one of the available FA big men with the $1.7 million exception & use the TE on a better SG/SF? How about sending it to Atlanta for a resigned Sura/Jackson? What would you do with it?
WHY?!?! If this team comes together like I believe it will, the pick will be a very late 1st rounder, & possibly the last pick in the first round. The odds of a player making a substantial contribution to the NBA drop off considerably after the top 10 picks. So, while having a 1st round pick may sound sweet, having a late, guaranteed 1st round pick could actually hurt the team financially.
I agree with Hoydoddie. WHY! A mid-to-late first rounder has little value. I kee[ reading about how we gave up such a valuable commodity to Utah in order for them to take Rice's contract. What did they do with that pick? They immediaetly shiped the player off to Dallas for a future first rounder. How valuable was that pick if they didn't even give the guy they got a day?
Correct me if I'm wrong, and I can't seem to find the thread that was started on this, but didn't the Chronicle correct us all on the use of the TE? I thought it stated that it CAN'T be used packaged with another player or players. It is only used as a way to be able to sign a free agent. That would make sense due to the rumor of it being used to try to sign Brent Berry. (TE + future pick = Berry)
Use the TE to exit Mo T., and dump whatever else isn't really part of our team - that's Spoon, Pike, AG, Wilks, Lue, and possibly Gaines and Boki for those of you keeping score at home. We really really really need to get rid of Mo T in time for Yao's contract extension. That's two years away, but Mo T has 3 years on his deal. His plane needs to crash. Give the TE away. Get nothing back. Just Get Rid of the No-rebound Ballhog Tokin' Cancer. Option 1 - Seattle - We ship Mo T. + Pike + whatever other garbage we can package for Jerome James and Vitaly Potepenko. Straight trade. Now, sweeten the deal for them by offering the TE for something else they want to exit, and future draft picks. Option 2 - Chicago - same deal - Mo T + Pike + whatever for Antonio Davis, or Jerome Williams or E Rob. TE is sweetener. Option 3 - Utah - they want Boozer AND Kmart? Hmmm. We can help. Here's the TE - give us Harpring. We'll take that Arroyo guy, too. Whichever. You can have Pike, Gaines, whatever, too. Option 4 - throw it at Boozer. Yeah, you're over the lux tax. So ? It's frickin' Boozer! 6.9 mil, no state tax - All yours, Booze. Long as you want. Come play with Tmac! Screw LBJ. Get a ring!
Hottodie in the NBA section had this idea. Trade the exception to Clevland for Battite, and let them up their offer to Boozer. DD
I also think that we would simply let it expire rather than pay 60 mil+ in salary. It sure would be nice if we could get rid of Mo and somehow use the exception for someone that could contribute. Where is a list of our players, their salaries, and luxury tax #'s? I just wonder how close we are to that line. We gave up a 1st rounder to keep from crossing it last year with Rice. I just don't think Les would pay.
Yeah, before someone says it - to use the TE to chase Booze we have to get a cap room team to be the beard. Cleveland isn't going to co-operate in a sign-and-trade, even if Booze says he wants out. We have to outbid them, and they can only offer the MCE. To outbid, we have to get a team with cap room to bid for us. Utah and Atlanta come to mind. If Booze won't sign there anyway, (he has no incentive to go there) they can still wear the beard for a spicy date with the Houston Rockets. Sure, he'd like to play with Tmac and Yao for more money! You betcha! What can we give them? Well, maybe they can use that TE. Let's assume it's hard to get Free agents to come to those places. Perhaps it's easier to trade for talent than use cap space, now that they have our TE. They didn't have any trade assets before. We can always give up future picks, apparently. And then there's cash. Here, Larry Miller. Here, Hotlanta. Have a big trailer truck load of cash. Enjoy. Thanks for helping us out.
