Matt Jackson 610: Suggesting that MoTay for DA is ...

Just more speculation...I'll believe it when I see it. And Matt is right, it's not so much of us getting DA, it's more of getting rid of MoT. DA will come too late into the season and will be one of the last people on the rotation. Let's be happy getting rid of MoT, and not putting too much into getting DA.

 

You are right, it's all a little murky.

Apparently, Anderson said (after tonight's game) that he "was told" that he would be traded to the Rockets.

I don't know, Matt Jackson didn't elaborate beyond that.

 

DA has exactly the same contract with Mo, but he could help the team a lot more from the look of things.

 

Answer: ESPN does from an article dating July, 27th 2001... DA signed an $8 million/year deal in the summer of 2001. ($48 million over six years)
_________________________________________________________
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Derek Anderson says the San Antonio Spurs lied to him. The team said he broke his word about re-signing with them. No matter what was promised to whom, Anderson is now with the Portland Trail Blazers.


Anderson was traded to the Blazers on Wednesday for Steve Smith in an exchange of shooting guards, a deal brought on when Anderson rejected a six-year, $42 million offer from the Spurs last week and immediately committed to Portland.


"My loyalty is with the people who are going to be loyal to me," Anderson said during a news conference at the Rose Garden.


The Spurs also included guard Steve Kerr in the deal, which will pay Anderson $48 million over six years.


Anderson signed a one-year deal last season for $2.25 million, with the understanding that he would be rewarded with a long-term contract starting in the $8 million range. Team officials said they had a verbal agreement from Anderson to accept their offer last week.


Anderson, however, was insulted that the deal wasn't fully guaranteed in the final season. When team officials gave him a deadline of 2 p.m. Friday, he and agent Tony Dutt committed to Portland.


"I just think they're in a situation where they have to look at themselves in the mirror and say, `What in the world were we thinking?' Because I did nothing negative to them," Anderson said of the Spurs.


"I don't buy into the `Aw, it's a business, people lie to you.' You don't have to lie to me; tell me the truth and move on."


In a separate news conference in San Antonio, Spurs assistant general manager R.C. Buford responded, "Contract negotiations in team sports happen all the time, and I'm not sure that anything here happened differently than they would most places."


Before the sign-and-trade deal was struck Wednesday, Anderson was prepared to accept the Blazers' mid-level salary-cap exception, which would have paid him $33.8 million over six years -- far less than what he stood to earn with the Spurs.


San Antonio reportedly didn't want to make the trade but risked getting nothing in return for Anderson.


Now they get Smith, whose knees are questionable and who lost his starting job to Bonzi Wells last season. Smith also had been pushing the Blazers for a contract extension, on top of the $19 million he's due to earn over the next two years.


When he heard that Blazers general manager Bob Whitsitt was courting Anderson, Smith demanded to be traded.


"I'm happy to get the chance to go to the Spurs," Smith said Wednesday. "When you get traded or ask to be traded, you never now where you are going to end up. If you had to pick an organization or a team that fits for me and what I stand for, the Spurs were right there on the top of my list."


Buford added, "We're thrilled that this has happened. It's another piece that puts us right back in contention for a championship."


Smith averaged 13.6 points last season and seemed to play better after going to the bench. He regained his starting spot after Wells injured his left knee late in the season, but the Blazers stumbled to an 8-17 record in the final six weeks, capped by a three-game playoff sweep by the Los Angeles Lakers.


Anderson nearly became a Blazer last summer, when he was leaving the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent. But the deal fell through and Anderson signed with the Spurs. Anderson said he didn't forget how honest Whitsitt was during their talks.


"He was very up-front and stuck by me, and I think that's why I came," Anderson said.


He averaged 15.5 points last season, and his outside shot improved. A career 28 percent shooter from 3-point range before last season, he made nearly 40 percent of his 3-pointers in 2000-01.


Anderson likely will start at shooting guard for the Blazers, with Wells backing him up after he recovers from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.


Kerr, who has two years left on a contract that pays him $2.4 million a year, will be the third-string point guard, behind Damon Stoudamire and Erick Barkley.

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2001/0724/1230547.html

 

With TMac averaging over 43 minutes a game in the last 10 games, Sura averaging close to 35 in the last 10, and Wesley averaging over 35, another guy who can spell all 3 of them and put points on the board may be huge. We're now 11-3 without Mo Taylor.

Howard actually has averaged over 36 minutes a game in his career, so he's used to big minutes, and he's not even having to play that many- averaging just over 30 in the last 10, and 32 in the last 5.

My guess would be if we make this trade (and I think Jackson is just recapping what we already know, not an imminent deal), we release either Strickland or Barrett, likely the latter, and sign another big man with his roster slot- perhaps Jamal Sampson, or prepare to cringe, Derrick Coleman. Or we pursue backup options with the TE (like Clifford Robinson).

 

Ok so its not a done deal just yet. Hopefully we can get him here in the next few days so he can practice with the team and be ready for the last stretch of the regular season.

 

We would still be okay at the 4 spot. We've got Howard, Padgett and Weatherspoon.

 

Mo Taylor just doesn't offer any rebounding or defense when he's in the game. He is a great shooter for a PF, and a superb finisher, but he is just such an incomplete player. Honestly Weatherspoon, is a better substitution (at his height, he gets more rebounds and can shoot just as well, and his defense is better)

Anderson might be disgruntled in Portland, but he still plays defense. And he can still hold his own. Anderson with a change of environment will definatley improve his play.

If the Rockets can get something better than Anderson, I don't know, but I hope that they do trade MoT. And Anderson can help this team so much better.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. If you can add a Anderson and Cliffy, this team would be VERY versatile. Sure, we won't have the one good banger at the 4, but we would make the best second options.

 

I'd like to hear from a more reputable source than Matt Jackson before I believe a rumor, no offense meant.

 

Wait a second......we've got some people saying that postgame comment from Anderson said:

1. he "was told" he will be traded to the Rockets, and/or

2. he "believes" he will be traded to the Rockets.

Can someone verify which of these was said? There's a huge difference between those two terms.

 

Yeah T-mac has looked tired at times out there and we dont want him to wear out by the time the playoffs roll around. DA should allow the Rockets to give T-mac another 3-4 mins on the bench (about 38 mins a game) and limit Sura's and Wesley's mins as well.

 

Hey, it's good info. If the player himself is told that he is, it means much more than some guy on the radio thinking something will go down on a hunch.

If he indeed was told, it had to be either the team or his agent, both would be pretty good sources.

 

Agreed!! When you hear it from the horses mouth, it's a good thing.

 

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/02/09/b1.sp.blazers.0209.html

 

MAtt Jackson said that Anderson said that he "was told"

I was paraphrasing -- I don't think you we can take too much from what Matt Jackson said or from what has been written above. I think you are looking way too much into this. You're right about the difference in terms, but it's all 3rd hand "he said, she said."

 

I hope the trade goes through. Would Portland handle the rest of MoT's contract? Or will the Rockets eat it?

 

Both DA and Mo T have about equal contracts in years and monies owed, if I am not mistaken.

Portland would have to pay Mo, and we would have to pay DA.

DD

 

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