Okay, I know not everyone is going to like this, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. This trade is based upon a lot of the ideas posted on this board & of course, my opinion. With Yao turning 29 before next season, he's only got about 3 really good years left & possibly another 2-3 years as a solid role player. Add to that, the fact that Scola will be turning 30 by the end of next season. So, making that assumption (right or wrong), I'm proposing a trade that is geared towards making one more serious run at a championship by giving up some of our youth in exchange for what I believe are some very good veteran players to take us to the championship. Unlike my last proposal, this time I'm going to assume that the Rockets step up & do whatever is necessary to resign Artest. So, here we go. Houston sends McGrady to the Clippers. Houston sends Brooks/Landry/Barry to Minnesota. The Clippers send Baron Davis/Camby to Houston. Minnesota sends the #6 pick/Cardinal to Houston. Minnesota sends #28 pick to the Clippers. Minnesota is looking for an upgrade at PG since they are not pleased with the progress of Foye & Telfair. Brooks is coming off an impressive run in the playoffs & his perceived value is at an all time high. I believe they jump at this opportunity. Landry offers them an upgrade over Cardinal & is quick enough to play both the 3/4 positions. He's an up & coming young player that adds another dimension to their team. The combination of Jefferson, Love, Gomes, & Landry gives Minnesota a very talented front court. Minnesota has 5 picks in this draft & the opportunity to trade for 2 proven players while still retaining the #18 pick & both 2nd rounders should be very appealing to them. The Clippers have been rumored to want to get rid of Baron Davis most of this last year & are looking to get something for Camby before he leaves at the end of next season. The lure of McGrady is his expiring contract & the possibility that he could come back healthy & make a major contribution. Not to mention, if he's healthy, then the Clippers have a star player to go up against Kobe in the battle for LA's dollars. In this deal they remove Davis's contract from the books & pick up a late 1st round pick in exchange for Camby. Besides that, Sterling is still cheap & would most likely love to reduce his overall payroll. This would be a bold move by the Rockets, but given the relatively narrow window of opportunity to win a championship that I indicated above, this could pay off huge. As I'll explain, we give up 2 of our younger players for 2 solid veterans & give ourselves a chance of drafting one of the top players in this year's draft. I can't pretend to know who they want in this draft, so I'll throw out the player that I believe will make the biggest & quickest impact where we'll be drafting. I really like the potential of DeRozan & Jennings, but the one player that fills a need & is the most NBA ready is Harden. So, we could offer the #6 pick & our lottery protected #1 next year to move up & select Harden. As I stated at the beginning of this post, we'll step up & do what it takes to resign Artest, which should pretty much keep our nucleous from last year intact & will have upgraded 3 positions in the process. This'll still leave us with the MLE to go after a player or two if we need them. Also, Camby's contract expires at the end of the year & should shave off about $11 million from the cap if we choose not to resign him. Our new roster will look like this next year. C: Yao/Camby/Dorsey PF: Scola/Camby/Hayes/Dorsey/Cook (waived or IL?) SF: Artest/Battier/White SG: Harden/Battier/Wafer PG: Davis/Lowry
He suggested trading the #6 pick plus next year's protected 1st to move up. This is a really interesting, well thought out post. We'd have to do it if it was available, in my opinion.
The only drawback to this trade is the huge and long contract of Davis. Are the Rockets willing to get tied to this? The rest is just fine.
Yes, I think we should be moving further towards only having shorter contracts. This year will probably define our actions for the next few years. If Yao and Moreys bunch fail to give us a championship we will be able to take a step back and trade assets that aren't dogged by ridiculous contracts.
I see Baron Davis as a detrement to this team more than anything. Nelson benched him in Golden State for deviating outside the "free flow offense". Frankly I am shocked how bad you have to play for a bad coach who lets his players basically do anything to yank you from the game and sit you. The next year he put up career low numbers in Clipper land, refusing to play motivated and within the confines of what Dunlevy was trying to do. With both, Davis and Artest on the floor at the same time, atleast half of our shots will probably be bad ones. Furthermore, Davis is essentially unmoveable, so if it doesnt work out you dont recieve a get out of jail free card like we did with Artest coming in as an expiring contract. We would be locked in for multiple years, which I don't think Morey will do. I veto this trade on account of Davis being our new starting PG. The rest looks good though.
Very intriguing deal! I may be a bit biased but I want to say this is a runaway deal for us! If you told me we could get Davis, Camby, and the 6th pick for Landry and Brooks, I might consider you crazy! (Yes I see McGrady in the deal, but there is no timetable for his return, and going off just speculation from the Morey interview yesterday, December and March could be when he returns, I myself wouldnt expect much out of him by then.)
The Rockets should try to get players that are worth taking a risk on. Players that would not tie the Rockets down. Remember Cato, Mo Taylor and even Matt Maloney. Their contracts seemed forever counted against the salary cap of the Rockets thus limiting the movements of management.
if we were to do that trade I want Harden or nothing. Evans and curry are good but they aren't starting SG material and losing Landry for that would hurt.
Rofl this deal is lopsided as hell in Minny's favor. We get a couple of guys who could make us great or may not? Bdiddy doesn't fit our style of play I don't believe. But Minny essentially gives up a TERRIBLE contract and #28 for Brooks, Landry, and Barry. Wow what a steal... Wouldn't be a bad trade, but I think Landry may have to move to clippers or us keeping Landry wouldn't be bad .
The only player that I can think of thats name has been thrown around or associated with us that'd be worth the risk is Vince Carter. His contract runs for 2 more years I believe? Correct me if I'm wrong. You fill the void at SG, and allow Artest or Battier to come off the bench. B.Davis - I'm intrigued by it, but his contract is too long if things dont go right. Stoudemire - I was originally for aquiring him, but until I learned he could opt out after the season, which he will likely do no matter where he's at, it wouldnt be worth giving what we'd probably have to give up. Shaq could make sense, but then again not. 20 mil backup C? No thanks, thats money that could be used elsewhere. I may have missed some players, but overall, a Carter deal would make most sense to me. Worst case, Tracy expires come seasons end.
Some team would come knocking at the Rockets door begging for his expiring contract. It may take time but it is likely going to happen by the trade deadline.
I would rather start Harden and Battier over Artest. Harden is a better fit offensively for this team than Artest is with his shooting and presumably higher offensive IQ. At the same time, we need at least one wing stopper in the starting lineup. On the other hand, if we couldn't draft Harden and were to start Artest then we would need an offensive upgrade at PG or PF. Other than that it seems like a solid, plausible, move.
I can see HOU and MIN accepting; Clipper fans are not that excited about Davis/Camby for TMac swap. I doubt #28 would change their minds.
I agree with you 100%. Baron Davis' contract can cripple us for the next five years. Too much risk involved on a guy with questionable motivations.
If we could keep Landry and get Harden then this would be a dream offseason. Harden is awesome and would be my first choice over Rubio if we got a veteran PG like BDiddy!! Highlights of the guy here: <object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ABw4d_sw1M0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ABw4d_sw1M0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object>
Very thought out trade proposal but Cardinal is missing from this roster view, does his contract screw with the MLE money?
Harden is going to be a huge bust. We would only be so fortunate to have the 6th pick and have him not be there.
