I dont know if I missed something or not, but reading through a few threads it seems as though Swift will make a decision today....is this a fact or are people just speculatiing?
unless there has been clarification since I last heard...I thought we were supposed to know by "early next week"(as of Thurs last week)... I never saw CD actually say Monday...but Im open to correction if anyone has linkage.
A couple of people posted that they saw a report on Fox26 News Sports that they made an offer and were expecting an answer on Monday.
The only mention of "Monday" I have seen was posted in another thread... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=98621&page=6&pp=30
Ok, so basically just speculation at this point. I heard the "by early next week" comment by CD, but that doesnt necessarily mean today. Thanks guys!
We will hear when Swift's team exhausts all his options for S&T. The teams that have cap space, Hornets, Bobcats and Hawks don't seem to be interested in Swift so I think it will be a S&T with some team that his agent is working on. If a S&T goes down, it will probably out of the conference and not with us. If we do get Swift then it will be because the guys stock is not that high, the guy has been a career backup and has never put up big numbers and we get him by default.
Im not so sure that the Hornets are not interested, but the only other team that was interested were the Knicks. Memphis probably would not mind doing a S&T with them, but i found this Q&A to be interesting: earl1226(Durham,NC): Hey John.Why can't the Knicks do a sign and trade for Stromile involving Mr.Crawford and use some of their mid level on Jerome James if they want John Hollinger: (2:14 PM ET ) The problem is that Memphis has no need for Crawford because they already have Mike Miller, so a third team woul dhave to get involved, and that's where things get hairy. Besides, i don't think that deal would help the Knicks anyway since they already have about 43 poiwer forwards.
I don't see us having a problem doing a SnT with Memphis, we have traded with them in the past. I think the thing that helps us in getting Swift is he is not a "goto" type of guy. He is simply a role player (albeit a role player that has alot of untapped potential). I do think he may fit well next to Yao, but if we lose out on him but get a decent guy instead - no big deal. We don't need studs just guys that know their role and will work hard to fill it. We obviously would benefit from younger more athletic role players though.
Care to point out any trades with Memphis since the Francis deal (which was while they were in Vancouver)? Just to prove a point... I'll go through the Memphis roster and look at how the players were acquired. NUM PLAYER 31 Shane Battier - draft 1 Antonio Burks - draft 35 Brian Cardinal - free agency 14 Andre Emmett - draft 16 Pau Gasol - trade with Atlanta (draft day, for SAR) 40 Ryan Humphrey (FA) - trade with Orlando (Drew Gooden) 30 Dahntay Jones - draft day trade with Boston 33 Mike Miller - trade with Orlando (Drew Gooden) 41 James Posey - free agency Lawrence Roberts - rights acquired from Seattle (draft day) 4 Stromile Swift (FA) - draft 12 Jake Tsakalidis - trade (Phoenix, with Outlaw for Brevin Knight) Hakim Warrick - draft 25 Earl Watson (FA) - free agency 6 Bonzi Wells - trade with Portland (Person) 2 Jason Williams - trade with Sacramento (Bibby) 42 Lorenzen Wright - trade with Atlanta (draft day, for SAR) Notice, not a single trade within their (our) division. Nor did we sign and trade Posey. If you broke down other teams rosters in similar ways, you'd notice the same trend- teams very, very rarely trade within their division. Boston's GM said just that when talking about the possibility of a sign and trade of Walker (to NY, iirc).
I think NIKE is dead on. The only way we will get Swift, in all likelihood, will be a MLE max contract. Also, I would doubt if Memphis would want to add to its already high payroll with a S & T, even if we sent them assets such as Sura and James (combined salaries = $7 million). And Swift's agent will probably shake every other team's tree for more, prior to acquiesing to taking the MLE. So get ready to wait.
You are splittin hairs with the Vancouver comment, but I believe we also traded with the NO Hornets (and they are currently in our division). I wouldn't think West would have problem with anyone as long as the deal is fair. If you want to get technical I do know that the Rocks tried to get SAR when he was still with Mem, but the deal fell through. If we gave them an expiring contract and a future draft pick, the draft pick ensures that they don't just lose Swift. Even though our pick will hopefully be at the end of the draft for the next several years they could also package the 2 to move up. DW could be a decent option for them as a SnT palyer. They have Wells (though they reportedly want to dump him) and Miller (he has a very difficult time staying healthy). DW could give them insurance if the dump Wells or Miller goes down again. West could also say if you want Swift we want a pick and you have to take JWill and his salary off our hands. Memphis has to alter their team to keep up with the rest of the West. Except for 03-04 season they have not done particularly well with their current crop of players. They have some cap issues and with all of our expiring contracts perhaps we could both be in a position to help each other out.
I'm the one splitting hairs when your support for "we've traded with Memphis before" is a deal made six years ago in a different city, under a different GM, and not a single player on either our roster or theirs has remained the same since that deal? Take a look at it, the only constant to either side of the deal is Carroll Dawson! Entirely new coaches, entirely new players, new management. There's also a difference when a team is having a firesale (like New Orleans did this year). Just take a look at the JJ mess that happened as a result of it. You don't think part of the reason SAR fell apart was because West preferred to move out of the division? You don't think a team at least outside the division would make a similarly competitive offer for Swift? I offer the more recent James Posey situation. Memphis could have gone through us, but instead went straight with Posey and dared us to match.
You all are splitting hairs. The Rockets and Grizzlies aren't in the MLB or NFL. Trading within your division in the NBA is no different than trading within your conference. Memphis plays the Rockets 3 or 4 times, as do they the Kings and the Suns and so on. True, they compete with the Rockets for a top 3 spot; but in the Spurs' division, neither team is getting any higher than a 4 seed and they both know that. So really, y'all are debating whether or not a team would trade a player to another team that they play only 3.6 - 4.8 percent of the season against as opposed to one they'd play 2.4% of the time. I guess I wouldn't trade within the conference either if it meant that I had to see the player I traded one or two more times than if I had traded him out of conference.
Here's a post from another message board regarding this supposed deadline to hear from Swift. (I know we're not supposed to repost from different boards, but I didn't think this post is a big deal because it's not some crazy rumor that will get out of control.)
I think what happened was, in an origional article, it mentioned that we could hear from Swift about his decision early in the week. Some people must have gotten this mistaken and thought a "deadline" was set for the start of the week.
Nice post, Feigan is one of my favorite sports writers, he always seems to know his stuff. This suspense is really getting to me. Like another poster said, atleast Swift didn't outright decline our offer. It's their best interest to not decide right away, the offers gonna be there, might as well see what other teams can offer. I think something is in the works (I hope). There's no basis for this prediction but things have been very quiet on the Rocket front since Swift came and things usually happen when things are quiet. The one thing about Rocket management is that things happen suddenly and suprisingly. I wouldn't be suprised if we don't hear anything for a while, especially if we are in discussions w/ other teams about S&T.
