1. I'd be working on trades to clear Brooks (and possibly Delfino) off the roster that could be executed in stages, by taking on non-guaranteed contracts now(or July 11th) and sending out Brooks around September 11th. We have cap space left for this season. Specifically, I'd be looking to fill that cap space with non-guaranteed deals like DeShawn Stevenson, CJ Miles, Chris Quin, and Sasha Pavlovic. I would use James Anderson, Greg Smith and Tim Ohlbrecht and the $2.1 million cash I have left to spend this season as teasers to get that done. In other words, I would be willing to include any or all of those guys in trade to get the aforementioned contracts on the books by July 11. The trades would all be executed with the non-guaranteed contracts coming in on or before July 11th and the non-guaranteed players on our roster being sent out on September 11th. Roster limits are now 20. And with our cap space opening up we could add all these non-guaranteed contracts while keeping our non-guaranteed contracts on the books for the time being. If I could get this done it would give me enough non-guaranteed salary along with TRob and Royce White and Brooks to execute a sign and trade of Dwight if the opportunity presented itself, while possibly getting back value for Smith/Ohlbrecht in the form of future second rounders. 2. I would also be working on moving out TRob/RWhite and possibly one of DMO/TJones in a trade to further clear cap space necessary to sign Dwight outright and add as much value in future picks as possible, with the trade to be executed as late as September 11th. Remember we've got another $3.2 million cash to entice this deal(s) to happen. Ideally I'm looking to get Cleveland, Atlanta, Charlotte, or possibly Washington interested in TRob. I'd start with Washington and Charlotte on draft night. Offer them TRob, Royce White and $3.2 million for their pick. If they want more, I'd throw in our 2014 first rounder. If they still want more, I'd take away the cash and Royce White and offer them ...... DMo to go with TRob. (Yes, I'm willing to trade DMo to move TRob and get a high pick in this draft. If I can get them to agree I have them pick my guy for me and hold him unsigned until September 12th. If this deal leaves me with Royce White, I really don't care at this point. I'll just carry him. I'm having them pick Cody Zeller. By the way if I can't get this deal done at 3 or 4, then I'm going right down the line with every team offering them the same deal as long as Cody Zeller is still on the board. (I want Cody Zeller out of this draft to team up with Dwight, Asik, and TJones at the big man spots. I believe Zeller is better right now than any of the guys we have at the 4 and I believe his ceiling is higher than all of them. So if push comes to shove, I'm ready to give up 3 of these 4 assets to get Zeller....TROb/DMo/TJones/2014 first rounder. I'll give up any 3 of those 4 to get Zeller. Even if it takes DMo/TJones/2014 first rounder. I'll do that. I can then sell Royce White out somewhere with the cash to pay his salary and just keep TRob for a rainy day.) Once I have my draft day trade in place I have the other team pick my guy, Zeller, and hold him unsigned until September 12th. 3. Get Dwight to agree to come here. Then hold on and see if the Lakers want an S&T or if I need to sign him outright. If they want to S&T, I'll do it with my non-guaranteed deals and by executing all the above deals simultaneously on September 11th. They'll have to cooperate by taking back some of the non-guaranteed contracts or by using their $3.2 million cash to get other teams to eat those non-guaranteed deals. My incentive to do a S&T is to stay above the cap and have more flexibility to add salary in the form of the full MLE and the other exceptions. If I sign Dwight outright, I lose that flexibility. So all the trades I set up I had to either trade the guys or simply release them anyways...so I maxed value by getting some second rounders for them and I put myself in a position to execute a S&T if the Lakers want to do it. Lakers also have to ship back Goudelock to me using the minimum salary exception along with Dwight to get a S&T. This leaves me with: Lin/Beverley/Goudelock Harden/whatever, possibly Anderson or 2nd rounder...Bullock?) Parsons/Garcia-resigned using MLE Dwight/Asik/Zeller Asik/Zeller/whoever is left over of TRob/DMo/TJones/RWhite...probably White sign a couple vets....possibly find a player willing to sign the MLE for one season guaranteed and the second season non-guaranteed. This would position me to possibly go after one more max salary guy using Asik as bait. Why? I think we are a championship big man rotation away from getting a ring. And I am convinced that Dwight/Asik/Zeller is a championship big man rotation. I am very, very high on Zeller. If we have the ability to have not 1 but 2 legit twin towers on the floor for the entire 48 minutes with all 3 guys being very good to great defenders along with the ability to sprinkle in TJones and go small with Parsons at the 4 that we would be very, very tough to beat. I am high on DMo. But not as high on DMo as I am on Zeller. I've watched that kid. He digs on both ends of the court, all the time. You're not going to have to tell him to work on this or that. He already knows. He's already working on it. And he's already the superior shooter from distance to DMo. I think DMo could be a very good player in this league. But I don't think DMo is ever going to really be a plus defender and DMo is a guy that is going to launch shots. Cody will always be the superior defender and shooter and he's a couple years younger than DMo, he's probably more athletic than DMo, he's faster than DMo, and I'd bet you a dollar to donuts he's stronger right now than DMo. No Delfino? Nope. Dude is injured. Won't be back until after season starts. We can always add him with part of the MLE under my scenario.
