Just screwing around at realgm, seeing what could be done to get Lewis.... First off, these are just comments, not real trade material. Second I assume that Lewis's salary will change, so this is just screwing around. I tried all of our trash for Lewis, and that generally did not work. I thought about expiring contracts, but Seattle can accomplish the same thing by just letting him walk, so I ruled that out. One trade that worked was one for one Lewis for Mobley. Does anybody consider this a fair swap? I also got Lewis and Vin Baker to swap for Mo Taylor, Walt Williams and Kevin Willis. My logic was we have to either give qualit for quality (and I don't want to trade the good players for what I am concerned may be a large contract one dimensional player - though I am intrigued by the good upside) or take something bad along with the good. Lewis is the good and Baker's contract is the bad, in case you are not keeping up. This way Seattle gets a servicable player (injury is an issue) and some cap room. Maybe we need a third team? By the way, is this smilie supposed to be Moochie when the bat is flying around.
I don't think anybody would be stupid enough to take our mediocre/old guys ( Walt/Willis ) unless it was purely a cap issue for the other team. I will go out on a limb and say we aren't getting him this next go around. It's like Webber and Duncan last time. He's eligible for the max, Seattle is building around him, and we have cap issues.
This reminds me of the dog with a bone in its mouth crossing a river. Having looked into the river and saw another dog with a bone, in the reflection, he jumped after the dog to get that bone too. Of course he lost both bones. The point is, leave that bone where it is and concentrate on the one we have. Lewis is special but we have special on our team, develop it!
Were you able to do a hypothetical trade with Rashard getting the max? Or could you only trade Lewis under his current contract?
I only did it under the current contract. Personally, I think at a max contract, he is a bad investment. Of course I also thought Tracey MacGradey was way over rated when Orlando signed him, so what do I know.
Mcgrady was much better, just wasn't given the chance. He's not doing anything anyone said was impossible. Lewis will never be able to defend well.
What makes you say that? Also, wouldn't that be a perfect fit for the Rockets? Rudy loves SF's who can shoot without playing any defense.
Whatever you think, he's going to get the max, or something very near to it. It's pointless to make trade ideas using his current salary, cause the trading deadline is passed, and really a sign and trade is the only legitimate way we could get him. Not that I've ever been there, but I'm almost certain real GM wouldn't have an option to try out that scenario, but honestly, you have to look at this from the Sonics, and Rashard's perspective. I would give up Mo T and any combination of mediocrity to get Rashard, but odds aren't good the Sonics are going to throw him away like that unless he does something drastic, which isn't likely. My bet is he's staying in Seattle.
I don't understand why a GM would give up the max for Lewis. I thought it was reserved for All-Stars or soon to be All-Stars.
He would be lucky to get 10 shots a game, with our guards running the show. Its just like McGrady in Toronto, he was not given enough opportunites. Lewis would be 3rd or 4th fiddle, and I doubt he would accept that.
To get Rashard, it would be a situation where Seattle balked on the max, so the Rockets would have to offer a max deal for Rashard to probably agree to a sign and trade. This deal would be after July 1st, and after the draft. Rashard cannot be traded before the draft, because he has an opt-out in his contract coming due. The starting salary for the max deal would be around $10 million. At that salary, Rashard would be a base year-compensation player, so we could only send $5 million in contracts to match. We could only send players under contract next year (i.e. no Walt, Willis, etc.) As such, we would need to send a combo such as Moochie, plus either Collier or KT, to work. Of course, we would have to throw in our unsigned lottery pick (which has no cap value for trade purposes until signed), to be remotely palitable to Seattle. We would have to coincidentely have already picked a player Seattle likes, because you can't agree on a sign and trade before the free agent period - Seattle can't even negotiate until then with Rashard. If we sent MoT, Seattle would have to send Rashard, plus another roughly two million in salaries, to work. Now if we offered EG, maybe Seattle would talk. Of course, that will not happen. In other words, I think Rashard to Houston is logistically a real long shot.
I definitely don't think Lewis will stay with the Sonics. Baker's going to get traded, and so is Payton. Lewis won't stay without Payton. Lewis won't ever be able to defnd well because of his frame by the way. 3 things he needs to fix: Defense Ballhandling Post game One is not enough. Ballhandling is a must. Then one of the other 2 would make him a MAX player.
One of the few teams I get to watch on a regular basis, (although not tonight ) Lewis has a real nice jumper and gets to the basket well. but thats really it, his rebounding is average and dont even get me started on his D. It is real weak, I mean, pee wee herman weak. I think he can be a good scorer, but his D needs some serious work. They played the Mavs last night and in the 4th all the Mavs had to do to score was drive at Lewis, It was like watching a deer in headlights. the guy is lost defensivly.
JBC, I believe you are mistaken on this point. In a sign & trade, it would be for the full contract value. In other words, $10 mill for sending Rashard & $10 mill in players coming back. If we assume that Rashard's max deal would be somewhere between $10-12 million, we would have to send that much back in salaries. It would defeat the purpose of trading for him, if we have to give up several of our younger players. So, to make it work, we would have to include at least one or two of our 3 biggest contracts, without touching Francis, Mobley, or Griffin. The only big contracts that we will have next year, are Rice($9.2 mill), Taylor($7.15 mill), & Cato($6.696 mill). 1) I doubt they'll take Rice, because of his age & recent injuries. So, scratch him off the list. 2) They wanted Taylor, before he signed with us. But, with his injury, I doubt they would be real interested until he plays some games & proves that he is fully recovered. If they did decide to take a chance on him, they would probably want something else of value, like Mobley, Griffin, Francis, or our unconditional lottery pick for this year. Personally, I'd hesitate to trade Taylor, because I feel he's ready to take it to the next level & will be an integral part of our system next year. 3) That leaves Cato. As much as I don't like Cato, I must admit that he's played considerably better this year. Do we give up on him? Would Seattle even be interested in him? Cato is such an enigma. You don't know whether he's turned the corner or just playing with you. One possible package using next years salaries, could be Cato/Moochie/T-Mo. However, I think that trade would be too disruptive to the team.
Rashard's not a max player, yet. I agree with Sane on game deficiencies. If you can unload dead weight and untradeable contracts for him (Cato, Rice, MoT, Mooch), well, OK - but I still don't see what you all like so much about him, except that he's from Houston, and that draft was a big screw up. If we get a 3, I hope he has ballhandling skills, size, mid range shot, rebounding, help defensive, wingspan and lateral movement, good hands, quickness. Rashard's not that guy. He's a skinny, no d, no handles, no pass, no board, no post scorer. That's not a max contract guy.
Sounds like Rudy T's dream small forward, actually. But no, he shouldn't expect, and shouldn't get, the max.
Sane, After Seattle dumps those players, who do they have left? It's like they would be rebuilding from nothing.
Hottoddie, I wish you were right. It would make a trade a whole lot easier. However, my read on the Larry Coon salary cap FAQ is that you apply the base year salary even on the sign and trade. http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm 69. Can a free agent be signed and immediately traded? Under no circumstances can a team sign and then trade another team's free agent. But there is a special rule that allows teams to re-sign their own free agents for trading purposes, called the sign-and-trade rule. Under the sign-and-trade rule, the player is re-signed and immediately traded to another team. This is done by adding a clause to the contract which stipulates that the contract is invalid if the player's rights are not traded to the specific team within 48 hours. A sign-and-trade deal can be made even with players that have been renounced. However, a sign-and-trade deal cannot be made when the player was signed using the Mid-Level, $1 Million or Disabled Player exception. Sign-and-trade deals are only allowed if the contract is for three years or longer. One complication with sign-and-trade deals is that the signed player can immediately become a BYC player (see question number 66 for more information on BYC), so it's the player's BYC value that must be used when determining whether the trade is allowed.
