I can't believe this hasn't been talked about but the rumor after the trade deadline was that the Rockets was offered the same trade the Clips gave to the Cavs, but they didn't want to take on Davis's contract. I can't find the article but I did find this. The Clips preferred us since they would of shed all of the salary next season. http://twitter.com/#!/sportsguy33/status/45671847492190208
This is exactly why there's no way this deal was ever on the table. Not only does the alleged Rockets offer make much more sense for the Clippers, but Sterling is too cheap to even think about passing on such a deal. Also, hindsight is 20/20. The odds that the Clippers pick would turn out the #1 pick were like 2% if I'm not mistaken.
If we gave them AB and yao for Davis and the pick, their record would've been different than with Mo Williams at the point.
Futhuremore I don't think - and granted, it's obviously just speculation on my part - that the Morey-Simmons friendship is strong enough for DM to tell Simmons what kind of deals were on the table. Not specifics anyway. Morey sure is a media friendly GM, but at the end of the day he seems to give it a lot of thought of what gets put out there. For a GM that's in the media as much as he is, he plays his cards pretty close to the vest. Now, I could see DM telling Simmons that we tried to trade Yao for a high pick and would have taken on money to do so, which then lead to the Simmons tweet, however I'm quite sure that a Baron Davis and Clippers pick for Yao deal was never something the Rockets seriously considered. It obviously paid off for the Cavs, but the odds were low (2.8%) and you can't compare the Cavs to the Rockets, or most other teams for that matter. Cap space and cap flexibility isn't as important to a team like the Cavs, since they'll be irrelavent for the 3-4 years anyway and you simply won't find many free-agents that want to go there. Again, hindsight is 20-20. You gotta play the odds.
Only a 3% chance we would have gotten the #1 pick if we had the Clippers pick. Those odds don't change, even in hindsight.
No it never could have. You forget once Cleveland lost Lebron and the owners kid showed up that there was nobody else who was gonna get the number 1 overrall pick. Take that statement however you feel but things just always fall that way in Sterns NBA. By sheer luck I guess?
There's a reason they don't videotape the official lotto balls being recorded to see who won. It's because IT DOESN'T HAPPEN. David Stern sits in his office and picks and chooses who gets the first three picks. In this case, Minny was the most likely pick but certainly not the least talented team. They had Love, Beasley, Wesley Johnson, it was pretty clear they tanked the second half of last year. Whereas Cleveland was godawful, they set the NBA record for consecutive losses, anyone could look at that team and say they were one of the worst ever. But they still tried, so Stern gave them the benefit of the doubt. He let them KEEP their high pick and took that Clippers pick and made it the lotto winner. They were so bad that they needed 1 and 4.
Husky point guard vs. a sick 12 year old in glasses and a bowtie. The balls would not "fall" Kyle's way.
By the way. Love that little kid and his wardrobe. Feel good for the city of Cleveland to get those picks. About the only time I agree with the leagues tomfoolery for once and meddling in draft outcomes. Stern at least had his heart in the right place when he made this decision.
