Its not just giving away players and getting nothing, its maximizing money and time. Maybe Griffin is a bust and I'm sure we will know alot better about it this yr, then what? Its a lot of if and I'm just stating that if your backup is only playing 13mins a night, why pay him 8m? Its about economics and ability. Utah losing Malone is pretty much out of the playoffs. GS losing Arenas is going the wrong direction also. A chance to unload 15m in payroll for a solid player and a expiring contract is icing on the cake. Is Jacson as good as both Cato and Taylor? Not sure, but he's shown when given minutes he's just as productive rebounding and scoring as Taylor is. To top that off, if it makes anyone feel better, Campbell and Jackson could be brought in to do the same job as Taylor and Cato for 1/3 the price. Its really about being resourceful with money . Getting rid of those 2 salaries should be a must. Most people want to look at 4yr plans, in 4 yrs with those 15m in contracts are we any closer to the ring? I doubt it.
Leebigez, should T-Wolves decide to trade Brandon (more specifically his contract), they can get something better than Cato and Taylor. Believe me.
I know, but this was before they signed Kandi. They could actually get a good player who will make them better if the're willing to take on a contract. Eddie Jones is one ,Brian Grant is another. All those overpaid players that teams are trying to rid themselves of.
Newgirl: "Leebigez, should T-Wolves decide to trade Brandon (more specifically his contract), they can get something better than Cato and Taylor. Believe me." I don't know why we should believe you. Look at his stats from NBA.com: <table class="SELECT"> <font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial"> <tr class="SELECT"><b><td>Year</td><td>Team</td><td align=right>Gm</td><td align=right> GS</td><td align=right>MPG</td><td align=right>FG%</td><td align=right> 3P%</td><td align=right>FT%</td><td align=right>OR</td><td align=right> DR</td><td align=right>RPG</td><td align=right>APG</td><td align=right> SPG</td><td align=right>BPG</td><td align=right> TO</td><td align=right>PF</td><td align=right>PPG</td></b></tr> <tr><td>98-99</td><td> MIL</td><td align=right> 15</td><td align=right> 14</td><td align=right> 33.7</td><td align=right> .409</td><td align=right> .250</td><td align=right> .839</td><td align=right> .70</td><td align=right> 2.80</td><td align=right> 3.50</td><td align=right> 6.9</td><td align=right> 1.60</td><td align=right> .20</td><td align=right> 2.40</td><td align=right> 1.70</td><td align=right> 13.5</td></tr> <tr><td>98-99</td><td> MIN</td><td align=right> 21</td><td align=right> 20</td><td align=right> 33.9</td><td align=right> .425</td><td align=right> .263</td><td align=right> .830</td><td align=right> .80</td><td align=right> 3.10</td><td align=right> 3.90</td><td align=right> 9.8</td><td align=right> 1.86</td><td align=right> .33</td><td align=right> 1.81</td><td align=right> 2.70</td><td align=right> 14.2</td></tr> <tr><td>98-99</td><td> --</td><td align=right> 36</td><td align=right> 34</td><td align=right> 33.8</td><td align=right> .418</td><td align=right> .255</td><td align=right> .833</td><td align=right> .80</td><td align=right> 3.00</td><td align=right> 3.70</td><td align=right> 8.6</td><td align=right> 1.75</td><td align=right> .28</td><td align=right> 2.06</td><td align=right> 2.30</td><td align=right> 13.9</td></tr> <tr><td>99-00</td><td> MIN</td><td align=right> 71</td><td align=right> 71</td><td align=right> 36.4</td><td align=right> .466</td><td align=right> .402</td><td align=right> .899</td><td align=right> .60</td><td align=right> 2.70</td><td align=right> 3.40</td><td align=right> 8.9</td><td align=right> 1.89</td><td align=right> .42</td><td align=right> 2.59</td><td align=right> 2.20</td><td align=right> 17.1</td></tr> <tr><td>00-01</td><td> MIN</td><td align=right> 78</td><td align=right> 78</td><td align=right> 36.2</td><td align=right> .451</td><td align=right> .363</td><td align=right> .871</td><td align=right> .80</td><td align=right> 3.10</td><td align=right> 3.80</td><td align=right> 7.5</td><td align=right> 2.06</td><td align=right> .27</td><td align=right> 1.99</td><td align=right> 1.80</td><td align=right> 16.0</td></tr> <tr><td>01-02</td><td> MIN</td><td align=right> 32</td><td align=right> 28</td><td align=right> 30.1</td><td align=right> .425</td><td align=right> .174</td><td align=right> .988</td><td align=right> .50</td><td align=right> 2.40</td><td align=right> 2.90</td><td align=right> 8.3</td><td align=right> 1.63</td><td align=right> .19</td><td align=right> 1.34</td><td align=right> 1.50</td><td align=right> 12.4</td></tr> </font> </table> This is a player who's at the end of his career. In the six years since the lockout, he's missed more games than he's played, and his shooting has been awful. He'd be a good pickup for the Rockets because he's a veteran with a proven Assist/TO ratio and we need someone like that behind Francis (as backup and tutor), but no team would be very likely to give much for him or give him a long-term contract.
Dude, Brandon's done! He's retired already! It's only the salary slot now - an expiring contract is the asset, not Terrel Brandon.
land_sharks: "Dude, Brandon's done! He's retired already! It's only the salary slot now - an expiring contract is the asset, not Terrel Brandon. Sheesh, I'm going to crawl back under my rock now. :-\
Do you even understand the point of trading Brandon? The point is, Minny could trade Brandon to a team who wants to dump salary. He makes 11m but comes off the books in January, so any team the gets him gets cap releif and Minny gets a player. Example: Pat Riley is having the hardest time getting rid of Eddie Jones andhis max contract, but he's rebuilding. If Riley doesn't get what he wants thisyr in free agency and seeing he has 11m this season, but wants more for next season, he could offer Eddie Jones for Terrell Brandon. Since Miami is rebuilding, it makes no sense to have high paid role players eating up cap space. After this season when a few guys come availible like Odom and Brand to name a few, Miami with the 11m they have now and another 11m could go after Brand and Odom. Combine that with the high draft pick again and now you have something. Minny would rather add a player of quality because as long as KG is making 28m, they will always be over the cap. Please try to get informed before chiming in with useless stats.
I agree with your analysis but I wonder about Riley's predicament. He has always seemed to eschew rebuilding and now it is really hurting him. But if he hoards his cap space, maybe signs a few one-year contracts, then goes after Lamar or Brand (if they're even available), then he's going to have even more of a disaster because he'll have 3 players at max contracts and a bunch of 2nd-rounders and also-rans on the team. Not to mention yet another year of empty seats in Miami. Ever notice how that arena looks especially empty, the seats being a glaring red or yellow? So maybe he'll broker some deals this year. I don't know if Chicago would want to trade, say, Jamal and E-Rob and Fizer for EJ, but that would be a really good start. One team gets a needed vet, the other gets solid role players.
Miami offering Brand 6 years, $82 million... sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketball/heat/sfl-brandspec16jul16,0,6470000.story?coll=sfla-sports-heat
He probably won't sign fearing that the Clippers match it and he's locked up with them for 6 years. The only way Brand wears another uni this year is through a sign and trade... I hope!
Maybe the Clipps are serious about keeping players. If they step up now and match Maggette, then Brand will probably sign his offer. After that,they should go ahead and sign Odom and trade Q and Wilcox. They could really be players if they set their mind to it. Whatever the deal, they have to have 31m worth of contracts and right now, they're about 20m short, so who knows.
Ok, Miami has announced they will Max Brand or Odom either this year or next. If both refuse to sign with Clips and take the 1yr-tender (and they both should), then Clips have to deal. Clips won't have enough payroll for the next season. So they have Brand - 6 Odom - 6 Rooks - 2.6 Wilcox - 2 Zhi Zhi - 2 Dooling - 1.8 Jaric - 1.7 Ely - 1.5 Q - 1.7 Parks - 1 Fowlkes - .5 26.8 . They need to get to 33, at least. Maybe they'll do it on Q and a few vet FAs. But they SHOULD look to S&T Brand for max. Ostertag (expiring contract) draft picks, Kirilenko or Harpring would look good. Would Cat, EG, and Rice look better?
You know what? That SAR deal is looking better and better. Getting him with a max for only two years is better than Brand maxed for 6. I think I'd be real happy to swap EG and Rice for SAR, now.
If the Clips elect not to match the offer sheet, you're suggesting that the Clips still trump Miami with the one year tender? I am quite sure that Brand goes to Miami a wealthy, wealthy man? Am I wrong on this? It seems that the Clips would have to do something to guarantee that they spend the $30M. Heck if they need to spend $20M of cap space, that's easy - they can have Cato, Moochie, Mobley and MoT back... for nothing .. ..we solve the Clippers problems and they can go on being a horrible organization.
I like how Sterling has front-loaded the contract. Sterling would have to hand over a $12,000,000 check before the season even starts. Not very likely. Maybe we can keep our eye on Odom now.
I just cant make up my mind on this one, I really believe that Eddie is going to become a solid player in this league, not a superstar, but a guy who can put up 17 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks, but SAR is that type of player now, minus the blocks, and we're still waiting on Eddie, who might never take the next step. I'd have to think long and hard about it, but I think in the end I'd probably pull the trigger as well.
I don't see how frontloading would necessarily stop Sterling from matching. The salary "slots" will still be spread over the life of the contract. That means, even if it's frontloaded, a few years from now, Sterling may be paying only 9 mill on a 13 mill "slot". He's so far away from the minimum salary, he almost has to match for either Maggette or Brand, if not both. Brand was the all-star on the Clippers, if anyone on that team deserves max money, it's him. One thing that's interesting though, is that the Clippers reportedly turned down a sign and trade on Kandi (why he signed for MLE money). That would've been an opportunity for Sterling to take on Brandon's high dollar contract that would be paid mostly by insurance, and make meeting minimum salary easy. IMO, that's a pretty sure sign he's going to be paying someone big bucks, and it may as well be Brand. PS- The Heat can't threaten to sign another offer sheet with Odom as a way to discourage the Clips from matching for Brand. All of that reporting is just a writer's conjecture of what may happen.
The trade i always propose is SAR and Glover for Cat,Taylor and Griffin. Many will say we're giving up too much, but i beg to differ. Eddie might be 17-9-2, but right now as a 26 yr old SAR is 20-8 at 47% and 3 asst. Posey could play 2 or a signed Glover and Posey to the 3. A like Elden could be signed to back up the 4 spot for some of the mle. SAR could take Cat's 14 shots while the other 16 taken by Griffin and Taylor could go to ming and whoever else. Many don't like , but i think its a good deal.
Sure they can! They can say all they want to the Clippers that if they match Brand they will offer Odom a huge deal. True, that might be the writers conjecture, but that does not mean that the Heat can't threaten that they will do that.
that is some pretty thoughtful analysis and i would agree with you here. Sterling probably had lots of sign and trade options available, and he turned them all down. he has to be throwing money at brand.
