Here's a couple of trades that I'd like to see the team make this off season. Trade #1 would be the first trade I pursue. Then, I'd pursue one of the next two trades. Trade #1 Houston sends Mobley/Cato to Dallas. Dallas sends Jamison/Fortson to Houston. Jamison would upgrade our starting SF & we could move JJ to SG to replace Mobley. I believe that Fortson is still a solid PF & is playing on a team that isn't geared for his skills. Dallas is a run & gun offense, that plays little, to no, defense & has virtually no low post game. Fortson is a solid low post player that can rebound, score, & play defense. He seems to have healed up nicely, & would be a very nice addition to the Rockets. As for Jamison's lack of defensive ability, our team is more of a help defense team, so he wouldn't have to be an outstanding defensive player. Dallas would get themselves a solid, defensive starting center that can get up & down the floor. Mobley could play SG & allow Dallas to move Finley to the SF position. Trade #2 Houston sends Francis/Taylor to Orlando. Orlando sends Gooden/Garrity/Lue/Hill/next year's unprotected #1 pick to Houston. This is a rehashed trade, but it's one that I really like. This deal would be contingent on Hill's contract terminating after next year. We'd get Taylor's contract off the books. We'd pick up a young PF that appears ready to explode on the scene, a sweet shooting 3/4 in Garrity that has legitimate 3pt shooting range, & a very solid veteran PG in Lue. To top it all off, we'd have Hill's contract coming off the books after next year, which would put us at around $39.5 million tied up in 9 signed contracts. That would leave us plenty of room to round out the roster with role players. Orlando could use Francis to show McGrady that they're willing to go out & get him an Allstar player, & with their top 5 pick, draft a player that's ready to contribute from day 1 (Okafor). Or, they could trade that pick for more veteran talent to put on the team. If they could find a way to get our trade exception as well, they might be able to turn around & trade Taylor/TE to Seattle for a resigned Rashard Lewis (Hmmm, I wonder if they'd take that deal from us?). McGrady/Francis/Lewis/Howard/Okafor could be a scary starting 5 in the East. Who could stop them? Trade #3 Houston sends Francis/A.Griffin to Detroit. Detroit sends Billups/Campbell/resigned Okur/#1 pick to Houston. We get the similar offensive punch of Francis from Billups, but with better ball handling skills. Campbell would give us a strong veteran influence off the bench & a backup center to replace Cato. Okur (assuming he's not a one hit wonder) would give us a big starting PF (6'11" 249 lbs.), with the size to play backup center when needed. You could substitute Milicic for Okur if you wanted to. With the emergence of Billups this year, I'm not sure if Detroit would even consider this deal. However, maybe, just maybe, Larry Brown might see Francis as a better Iverson & be tempted to bite on the deal. With Milicic, Okur, & Rasheed on board, Detroit can afford to lose one of them & might be tempted, if Francis were dangled in front of them. One other thing, offensive fire power was one of their weaknesses this year, & Francis (in the right system) could be their "Answer2". With Trades #1 & #2, our lineup could be: C: Yao/FA (Doleac, Okur, Foyle, Medvedenko, Keon Clark, Ostertag) PF: Gooden/Fortson/Spoon SF: Jamison/Garrity/Nachbar SG: JJ/Piatkowski/A.Griffin PG: Lue/FA (Damon Jones, Rafer Alston)/Wilks We'd be solid at the 2/3/4 positions. If we could pick up Damon Jones or Alston, we'd be solid at the point & would only need to find a backup center to fill in for Yao while he's resting. After next year, when Hill's contract comes off the books, we'd be about $6 million, or more, below the salary cap. With Trades #1 & #3, our lineup could be: C: Yao/Campbell/Okur PF: Okur/Fortson/Spoon SF: Jamison/Nachbar SG: JJ/Piatkowski PG: Billups/FA (Damon Jones, Rafer Alston)/Wilks With these trades, we'd be solid at the 4/5, but might need an upgrade to our depth at the 1/2/3 positions, unless Nachbar & Piatkowski step it up next year. In that case, we'd only need to upgrade the PG depth. Now, if we nix the deal with Dallas & pursue the trade of Taylor/TE for a resigned Rashard Lewis with Seattle & then pursue the Detroit trade, we'd have a lineup of: C: Yao/Cato/Campbell PF: Okur/Cato/Spoon SF: Lewis/JJ/Nachbar SG: JJ/Mobley/Piatkowski PG: Billups/FA (Damon Jones, Rafer Alston)/Wilks Ohhhhhh, Baby!!! Now that gets me excited!!! Oh well, just some idle thoughts from a man with too much time on his hands.
whoa... I kind of agree with the Jamison / Fortson trade -- on the grounds that you are upgrading players here. Jamison is a better and more valuable player than Mobley. Jamison is also an efficient scorer and good shooter inside the arc, and provide offense when Yao is on the bench. BUT... Jamison is not a good passer, and would not improve our ball movement. Fortson is good for spot duty if Yao is able to take on more minutes. On the whole though... this is a trade you make if you've already made other trades... by itself this isn't going to improve us very much at all. I disagree with trades to Orlando that doesn't fetch us TMac. I also would rather have Juwan Howard than Gooden. Trade three I like the most. Star and scrub for two quality players, a good backup, and a first rounder? Not bad, especially since I really like Okur. Realistically though, I'm not sure Detroit would do this trade. Although I like the way you think because they do need to get rid of Campbell and Okur. Trade three doesn't preclude trade two either. So in a sense we can have Billups JJ Jamison Okur Yao that's a pretty sweet team! i don't see championship team. but it's got a lot more firepower than this year's team. wow... so many possibilities. can you work out a way where we can get both Nash and TMac? Or Nash and Brand? That way I can dream about it later when I go to sleep.
I like going for it with Darko, Billups and Campbell. I like Yao/Darko up front. Two 7 fts that can shoot and work the post. Campbell is adequate backup and allows us to move Cato for Donyell Marshall or combine Cato with Cat for Al Harrington/Pollard. I'd love to move Mo Taylor for Brent Barry. I'd love to pick up Matt Harpring with the TE. Yao/Campbell Darko/Marshall Harpring/Boki JJ/Brent Barry Billups/Brent Barry We can shoot, we can defend, we can score inside. I haven't even used the MCE above. There's lots of possibilites. So long as we axe Francis, Mobely, Taylor and Cato, I'm happy. Let's get moving on the future.
Clearly you haven't seen Fortson play. He's a bad defender. If he was ANY good at defense, he'd get more playing time in Dallas, but he's not defensively better than Walker/Jamison/Nowitzki, which is why he can't get off the bench. Can't stress on that enough. He's also undersized and doesn't block any shots. No range whatsoever. I think we can do better than that deal Dallas may be willing to give up Finley for Mobley and Cato. That would be a good deal for both sides. Finley is aging, but we're giving up spare parts for him. He's really not a maing cog in their team anymore, while I really feel Mobley can fill the 6th man role for them and Cato can be the big man they've been looking for. I wouldn't make trade #2 because I would never trade Francis for anything but an established star that is a better fit for Yao Ming. All draft picks this year are a gamble. I really don't think our team would improve in that trade, not long term and definitely not short term. I would make the third trade, but sincerely doubt Detroit would. I don't think anyone in Detroit believes that Francis is an upgrade over Billups, and Billups makes peanuts, and he just held Kidd scoreless while putting 22 points on him in game 7 of their series. I really don't think Detroit will move any of their top 6 or 7 players.
Cato + Cat improves Dallas more than Jamison and Fortson improves us! We are in the same division, it does not work for me! Nevermind the max contract Jamison has. The second option makes us a lottery team! The third option is basically saying we are giving Detroit Francis and we are getting Billups and a late 1st rounder. The problem is, the team that gets the best end of the deal is almost always the team that gets the best player out of the deal. Also, we just made it easy for the Pistons to resign Wallace by allowing Okur to leave! We have a scoring pf forward in Mo. Okur is the same type of player. WE SHOULD NOT TRADE FRANCIS UNLESS WE GET A BETTER PLAYER IN RETURN.
Hottoddie: Always enjoy your posts because they always provoke new insights or new approaches. Now, I'm going to post this amendment to Trade #1, but before you fall on the floor laughing, take a closer look. Dallas trades: SF Antawn Jamison (14.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.9 apg in 29.0 minutes) C Shawn Bradley (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.3 apg in 11.7 minutes) Dallas receives: C Kelvin Cato (6.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.0 apg in 25.3 minutes) SG Cuttino Mobley (15.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg in 40.4 minutes) Change in team outlook: +3.8 ppg, +2.4 rpg, and +3.0 apg. Houston trades: C Kelvin Cato (6.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.0 apg in 25.3 minutes) SG Cuttino Mobley (15.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg in 40.4 minutes) Houston receives: SF Antawn Jamison (14.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.9 apg in 82 games) C Shawn Bradley (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.3 apg in 66 games) Change in team outlook: -3.8 ppg, -2.4 rpg, and -3.0 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED Jamison is more comfortable by his own admission playing PF. He gives us scoring punch and has a decent all around game. Yipengzhao asserts Jamison is not a good passer, but I disagree. He is better than tolerable. So he and Mo Taylor are both offensive weapons. Now, Bradley. The addition of Bradley gives us a backup center who is even taller than Yao. That keeps pressure on the opposition and he does have a good shot. However, he always kicks it out to one of his three main shooters because that is what Nellie wants. Oh, yes, let some other team face his bony elbows and knees! PG -- Francis, Wilks or FA (Barry?) SG -- Jim Jackson, A. Griffin SF -- Nachbar, Pike PF -- Jamison, Taylor C -- Yao, Bradley
You can argue about what he does and doesn't do, but when compared to other PF's in the league, Jamison is one of the least willing to pass. Despite this, I'd love to have him on our team. Some conditions though: 1) If he plays PF, we need a tall, shotblocking, sweet shooting SF. These are rare, in fact, I don't think any exist. 2) If he plays SF, we need someone who can block shots, as well as go outside. Mehmet Okur, Chris Webber, and Rasheed Wallace would be decet. Jamison is a PF in a small body. What we know is that we are absolutely fabulous when our PF is blocking shots, and Jamison is too short to play tough defense or block shots. MoT is not much better, but I wouldn't want them BOTH on our team. If MoT goes in the deal, then good. Betetr yet, if we could have Cato back him up, that would be nice too.
Why not just ask for this year's unprotected #1 pick instead of waiting until next year when they will assuredly have a better record with Francis, Mcgrady and Okafor on the team?
Okay, then play the Ivory Towers -- Ming at PF while Bradley plays C. Owwwwch. Also, trade MoT for Wizard's Etan Thomas, Steve Blake and change (bench strength). C - Bradley PF - Yao SF - Jamison SG - J.J. PG - SF3
Isn't this what the billboards purvey: "Something BIG! Actually, if Slavko Vranes then joined the Rocks as SF, then we would be "Something Reeeaaallllly Big."
I rather have Cato then Fortson. Fortson is a dirty player and all he does is get rebounds and clogs the paint. His defense isnt that great and Cato is probably more mobile that him. Fortson just has a big body that he uses to push people out of the way and makes most of his shots from offensive rebounds. Is that nessecarily a bad thing, not really but he will be uneffective if he is not parked in the paint and I would rather have yao work in the paint.
pasox2, The only reason I'd be hesitant to take Milicic is that he's still such an unknown commodity. He's still got the "Potential" label stuck on him. With Okur, you at least have a couple of years of proof that he can play with the big boys. Sane, You're right, I haven't seen Fortson play in the last couple of years for two reasons. One, I don't follow the Mavericks & secondly, he was injured all of the previous year. But, prior to that, he was a rebounding machine & was pretty good at cleaning up around the basket. Has he changed that much, or could it be that Dallas's system doesn't fit his game? I agree that he doesn't block shots, but as to your comment that he's undersized, he's 6'8" 260 lbs. Compare that to Brand (6'8" 265 lbs), Malone (6'9" 259 lbs), Duncan (7'0" 260 lbs), Webber (6'10" 245 lbs), Walker (6'9" 245 lbs), Swift (6'9" 230 lbs), Taylor (6'9" 255 lbs), McDyess (6'9" 245 lbs), & Amare (6'10" 245 lbs). Other than Duncan, Garnett, & Nowitski, he's only 1-2" shorter than any of the players I listed & he's got 15-30 lbs on most of them. I'd have to pass on Finley, because of his age (as you alluded to), his salary, & because I feel that Mobley & JJ already give us what he would bring to the table. thumbs, Thanks again for your kind words. I like your idea of getting Bradley in the deal, & if we'd be able to get Gooden or Okur in a subsequent trade, then we wouldn't need to trade for Fortson. What surprises me, is that no one has picked up on the 4th trade that I snuck in there at the end of my post. By passing on the Dallas trade, we could possibly move Taylor to Seattle & pick up Rashard instead. Someone proposed a similar trade of Taylor/TE for Rashard/dead weight center of their choice (probably Booth) a while back. I think we'd have to add a little more to it, like Taylor/Nachbar/TE for Rashard/Booth (4 years left on his contract). That way, we could keep both Cato & Mobley, while picking up Rashard. I'd even let them have Cato, if they wanted him. New Jack, I doubt they'd be willing to give up a guaranteed top 5 pick this year. madmonkey37, While Yao is most effective in the paint, he doesn't necessarily have to live in the paint. He's got a shooting range that extends out to the 3pt line. Besides, wouldn't a little nastiness down low be good for our team? If he plays dirty (& I don't think he does), wouldn't it be nice to have him on our team? Oh well, it was just a thought. I'm sure there'll be a lot more trade suggestions being discussed before next season's tip off.
Will Wednesday, May 26, ever come? Once we know the draft order, then the plotting, scheming and dreaming can finally get under way. Orlando, for instance, could be picking anywhere from #1 to #5 (except #4). Since the top two picks are PFs and they have already have two of stature, then a deal for their top pick might be possible. If Orlando picks at #3 and takes Shaun Livingston, then the Francis deal might not smell as sweet, even though McGrady might bolt because he doesn't want to wait for a rookie PG to develop. Would JVG be interested in an 18-year-old 6-7 PG prodigy? Man -- the variables are endless!
My guess would be no. After the info that Doc Rocket gave about nobody liking JVG & JVG getting into it with Les, I'm betting that he's under a ton of pressure to go deeper into the playoffs next year, just to keep his job. Although, a 6'7" PG has a nice ring to it.
No no no, don't get me wrong. He's still a great rebounder. It's really weird actually, he's one of the best rebounders in the entire league, easily top 3 or 4. But he's always been a bad defender, picking up cheap fouls, getting too rough. He can't keep control, and if he plays it right (footwork), then he gets beaten easily because he is really bad at it. As for him being undersized, he's basically shorter than everyone but maybe Jamison, maybe Antoine Walker? If McDyess is 6'9 and Webber is 6'10, then really, Fortson is generously listed at 6'8. The potential I do see in him though is, maybe JVG can turn him into a good defender and he can come off the bench? But in this case, I would really need to see the other PF being a shotblocker. Basically, the other PF would have to be someone terriffic, like a Rasheed Wallace or Stromile Swift. Fortson can't hit the 15-footer consistently, so the other PF would have to be able to do that, as well as be athletic and block shots, otherwise Yao would consistently get into foul trouble.
HT, I certainly didn't miss the Rashard deal. If Seattle really is looking to retool - and they really are unhappy with 'Shard vs. Radman, then I can certainly see them moving him. I know you know that's the rumors from Seattle. Wouldn't you expect them to package him with Barry in a S&T, given that Barry is almost certainly gone? Brent Barry/Rashard Lewis is a pretty good package. Now, Seattle wants a max talent back; they've said before they want a power forward that can deliver boffo points and boards. Here's a few options : SAR - underachiever? soft? Still young. Webber - see above, plus injuries, not young. K Mart - worth the money? Small, East style, no stats. Now, I suppose they can also make a run at Okur or a draft guy like Okafor. However, I think the trade they'd really like is Brand. Brand - Seattle Clippers - Lewis and Barry Kamen/Drobjnak Wilcox/Ely Lewis Maggette/Q Barry/Jaric + draft picks. That's a good clipper team. They score a lot, spread the cost out. Regardless, I think they'll be a lot of other offers out there when Seattle starts dealing. I don't see Taylor pulling Lewis. Taylor for just Barry - maybe. Hard to see them moving Lewis for just Taylor. Lewis scored fifty to start last season.
I thought that too, but I’ve read a few rumors that they’re looking to get rid of it. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the latest rumor has the Magic offering the #1 pick to the Mavericks for Antoine Walker if the Mavs take on Grant Hill’s contract. Link "Tim Povtak of Orlando Sentinel: Following the results of the May 26th lottery, Orlando Magic executives expect to have at least couple of teams knocking on their doors to inquire about the availability of the pick, and GM John Weisbrod makes it no secret that the pick may indeed be available for veteran help. One of the more interesting trade scenarios that already has grown legs involves the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs would send a combination package involving forward Antoine Walker in exchange for that pick and taking the contract of injured Grant Hill. Antoine Walker is coming off of a dissapointing season with Dallas, after he was acquired in an off-season trade involving Raef Lafrentz, while Grant Hill sat out the entire season following the 4th surgery on his left ankle. Orlando Magic have the highest chance of winning the lottery at 25 percent."
