We couldnt use a Tayshaun Prince, Zach Randolph, Andrei Kirielnko, Tony Parker? or even a Josh Howard or a Jamaal Magliore? Those players would all start or play significant minutes for us. They were all picked late. Just because you have 2 star pieces in place doesn't mean 1st round picks are worthless. Were the Rockets rebuilding when we picked Sam Cassell?
Assuming we use most of the MLE for a PG and unless the 1.7 exemption can land Foyle or Ostertag, the trade exemption should be used for a back-up center. Etan Thomas (S&T) FOR the TE + 1st rounder sounds good Battie FOR the TE + 2nd rounder sounds good. James FOR the TE + 2nd rounder sounds good. Booth + two 2nd rounders or a 1st rounder FOR the TE sounds good. Could also trade Howard (+ Pike) FOR PJ Brown and at least a 2nd rounder Could also trade Mo + 2nd rounder FOR PJ Brown PJ is awefully old (35 in October) and has an almost identical contract to Mo's in years and amount--these are more even trades than might meet the eye.
Than it has extra value, because other than trading with a team under the cap this is the one way he can eliminate a bloated contract. He doesn't have to use the TE to be of value to him.
Seattle like most teams are over the cap. They drafted a center (Swift) and have 3 other bloated contract centers on the team (though I would not consider Potapenko b/c the Rockets need one with more of a defense/rebouding presence). Their two other centers are James (1 more year at like 5+ mil) and Booth (very bloated, like 3 years left at like 6 mil per year). The only way Seattle can lower their salary is trading one of these guys to 1) a team under the cap, or 2) a team with a trade exemption. There are not many teams under the cap and most of them want to use their cap space, not just take on salary for overpriced players. Houston is one of the few team thus that would be willing to take on James or Booth's contract who can actually do it without making Seattle take on another player(s) to replace that salary slot. Most other teams in taking on Booth for instance would have to send them a similarly bloated contract like Spoons--and that does not help the Sonics reduce payroll.
Here's some other possibilties for the TE. A couple are rehashed from my original post, but come with a better explaination of why the teams might be eager to do it. For instance: TE to Cleveland for Battie. Cleveland has made an offer to Boozer, but is concerned that they may have to bump their offer up. By trading Battie (they've got 3 other centers) for the TE, they can renounce the TE & that would give them an extra $4.8 million to offer to Boozer. TE to Detroit for Elden Campbell/draft pick (as suggested by Sane) Detroit is trying to resign both Okur & Rasheed to big, long term contracts. Trading Campbell in his last year would give them an extra $4.4 million to help out. TE to New York for Mutombo or Nazr Mohammed New York is trying to trade for Crawford & Chicago is looking for expiring contracts & veteran players. The TE could be very enticing to Chicago, because they can renounce it to clear cap space, or keep it until next year's off season to use in a trade. Mutombo's contract expires at the end of the year & Mohammed's contract expires in 2 years.
Get Barry signed. Sign McDyess or Eddie Griffin to near-minimum contracts. This will only use one of the MLE/TE. If Les gets cheap and worries about the Luxury Tax (which hasn't actually ever happened yet, right?), then he can just let the other (MLE/TE) go unused. We'd have Howard, Taylor, Spoon, and McDyess/Griffin to cover the 4 and backup 5 spots. If substitutions are made properly for Yao around timeouts and beginning/end of quarters, that platoon could be effective. Etan Thomas is a pipe dream. Washington will match whatever offer up to the MLE. Any trade that involves Mo or Spoon (especially Spoon) is welcomed, but doubtful. These contracts don't end soon, so you'd have to give up something good to find a taker, and I just don't see us offering much or having something else to offer. I'd do the MO + Spoon for Brian Grant deal in a second, but I don't think there's anyway Miami does that.
Wait a second. When you have the TE, you can take a contract without giving one back (just like what we can do with SEA on Barry), but you can NOT give one contract without taking one back.
Right, but you don't have to use a TE. Seattle can trade Booth (5-6mil next year) and two 2nd rounders for the equivalent amount in TE from us. Seattle then can refrain from using the TE, saving 5-6 million off the books they would have paid Booth the next 3 years.
Yeah, but we were saying let SEA sign Barry for $6.9M and hand him to us for the TE. That won't give them any relief. Sure, they get the TE, but that cheap owner will not use it so what is the point? The whole thing is you have to give them some incentive to do it, and the way we were proposing didn't.
Simmer down now. Don't be so melodramtic. We're only talking about 1 future #1 pick, not all of them. The majority of players taken after the top 10 picks either, don't stay in the league very long, or only become strong role players. Rather than spending $2 million on a rookie, why not sign a veteran FA for that same $2 million? The veteran has proven that he can play against the big boys. Yes, there are a few players drafted late in the 1st round that become stars, but most of them don't. In fact, in the last 10 drafts, only 29 out of 185 players selected after the 10th pick of the first round have made impact contributions (IMHO), or have shown signs of doing so & 3 of them were high schoolers. If you discount the last 4 drafts, since they are still on their rookie contracts (or, are just coming off of them), only 57 out of 111 are still in the NBA. That's only 51%, & yet, they all got 3 year guaranteed contracts. 2003 Josh Howard (29) 2002 Tayshaun Prince (23) 2001 Richard Jefferson (13) Troy Murphy (14) Zach Randolph (19) Jamaal Tinsley (28) Tony Parker (29) 2000 Etan Thomas (12) (a reach?) Quentin Richardson (18) Jamaal Magloire (19) 1999 Corey Maggette (13) Ron Artest (16) James Posey (18) Kenny Thomas (22) Andrei Kirilenko (24) 1998 Bonzi Wells (11) Michael Dickerson (14) Ricky Davis (21) Al Harrington (25) (HS) 1997 Nobody 1996 Kobe Bryant (13) (HS) Predrag Stojakovic (14) Steve Nash (15) Jermaine O'Neal (17) (HS) Zydrunas Ilgauskas (20) 1995 Brent Barry (15) Theo Ratliff (18) Michael Finley (21) 1994 Jalen Rose (13) Wesley Person (23)
1. Depending on where you pick, the guaranteed contracts can be very small. For example, Josh Howard is making $820k this year. What kind of veteran player can you get for $820k? Adrian Griffin? 2. Let's assume you can get a cheap veteran. Even then it's a crapshoot. Last year we signed 3 veteran players: Griffin, Piatkowski, JJ. Combined they made about $6 million. Only 1 of 3 paid off. Even then, what's the upside? at most JJ will play 2 or 3 more good years and that's it. 3. Most teams now pick European players with their 1st pick and hope they pay off later. That eliminates the guaranteed contract dillema. You can pick and evaluate. 4. Based on your list, what stands out? Because it's a crapshoot, no one team can consistently pick winners late in the 1st round. Therefore, it's not necessarily the pick in any given year, but the number of opportunities that determines whether you'll get a contributer or just another scrub. That is exactly why it's important to keep as many of these picks as possible. Based on history, there will always be sleepers. And most teams will select a good sleeper if given enough chances.
Soooooo...., am I to assume that you'd rather hang onto next year's conditional (lottery protected) #1 pick, on the off chance, that we might could kinda' sorta' maybe get lucky & find a sleeper, rather than include it in a trade (if necessary) that would get us a solid backup center this year to complete our new team? How's that for a run on sentence?
It all depends on what you get for that pick. Last year we traded that pick to get rid of Glen Rice's contract and the trade exception. Of course if we don't use the trade exception we ended up with nothing. If you trade away a #1 pick for an up and coming player, that's great. If you trade away a #1 pick to free up salary cap $ to sign a good player, great. However, I think it's silly for people to dismiss #1 picks as worthless or even a liability.
What if we traded a conditional #1 pick & the TE to induce another team to give us a veteran player to back up Yao, like Battie from Cleveland, or Mohammed from New York? I'm not saying it would take a #1 pick, but what if it did? Would you do it to have a team like this? C: Yao/Battie PF: Howard/Taylor/Spoon SF: McGrady/Nachbar SG: JJ/Piatkowski/Gaines PG: Barry/Lue/Wilks Or, would you rather have a team like this? C: Yao/see list below PF: Howard/Taylor/Spoon SF: McGrady/Nachbar SG: JJ/Piatkowski/Gaines PG: Barry/Lue/Wilks At backup center, you have your choice of unrestricted FA's: Keon Clark: Talk about unfulfilled potential. Jason Collier: He made some noise last year on a team with no talent. Michael Doleac: Several teams are interested. Could be too expensive. Obinna Ekezie: What's he ever done? Zendon Hamilton: 4 teams in 4 years & no more than 54 games played in any year. No thanks. Steven Hunter: Couldn't start on the center starved Magic. Sean Marks: Played in 57 games in 4 years. Tony Massenburg: He's still alive? Amal McCaskill: 4 teams in 4 years. Has almost as many PF's as points & rebounds. Oliver Miller: He's traded on Wall Street (Pork Bellys). Mikki Moore: A little light at 225 lbs., but I'd consider him. Mamadou N'diaye: Shot 40% from the field last year. A center shooting 40%? No thanks. Joel Przybilla: Didn't we dump him once already? Jabari Smith: Career 41% shooter. Robert Traylor: He's a little short, but real wide. I'd consider him. Scott Williams: Nothing spectacular, but might make a decent backup. Kevin Willis: He's a gazillion years old. Loren Woods: He's intriguing, but not the 1st center I want coming off the bench. None of these guys impress me too much.
i still like the pursuit of James or Campbell. Would Seattle keep dealing if we end up siging Barry? Have to wait and see, i guess. I have always liked Campbell's game. Not many free agents I like still , except Skinner.
