What about trades like these to get us the #3 and #7 picks? http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=3h8ykp4 Sacramento gets: Scola Bud Blakely TE for Garcia TE for Whiteside #23( possibly future pick) Utah gets: K-Mart #38(possibly future pick) Houston gets: Garcia Whiteside Okur #3 #7 Houston picks: #3 Kanter #7 Biyombo #14grin Marshon Brooks Works on the trade machine, but probably not in reality.
Another "salvage project" I think the team may consider is Andrea Bargnani. He's been an under achiever so far but has the physical skills to get better. Something like Thabeet, Miller, Williams and draft pick(s) for Bargnani and Kleiza would work salary wise.
For starters, someone useful to them. Miller/Thabeet are players you add in to make salaries work, not someone that has value. Williams has been banished from both teams he's played for, so he has very little trade value. Bargnani averaged 21+ PPG last year and you're trying to get him for the Rockets 12th, 13th, and 14th best players. Lowry/Patterson/Fillers probably gets you Bargnani. Perhaps you could get away with Lowry/Hill/Fillers/Picks. I don't know if I'd do that deal, but I have a strong inkling that's what Toronto would ask for in exchange for their best offensive player. Keliza's contract isn't that bad -- not ideal, but not someone you give away your best player to get rid of.
Bargnani is horrible with a horrible contract. I literally would not give up a single player on our roster for him.
Compare these two posts. Bargnani's value/status is probably somewhere near the middle of these two. As such, I thought my proposal is at least not laughable. He's got skills but also doesn't defend or rebound and has a big contract and has not been all that successful as either the top dog or even the 2nd banana. As such, it's not unreasonable for Toronto to consider booting his salary off the roster and use their salary space for other pursuits. He's probably where Al Jefferson was for Minny last year (traded for salary relief and a couple of not-so-good picks), or perhaps where Kevin Martin was for SAC (traded for Carl Landry). As for Kleiza... yes his contract is that bad. Not only was he unproductive, he also went down with a season ending-injury. I don't think any team would voluntarily commit to paying him a long-term deal. Lowry+Patterson+Picks would be a pretty bad deal for the Rockets-- and not one that Morey would consider making. Fun fact: Do you know that Lowry averages more offensive rebounds per game and per minute than Bargnani?
Step 1. Outbid Memphis for Marc Gasol (Max or near-max money). They're already paying Conley, Zbo, and Gay, so they'd have difficulty keeping him. It's by no means a sure thing, but Marc could be used in the centerpiece of a DH12 trade. Then, it's Gasol (BYC), Scola, Miller, Hill, Williams, Thabeet, any combination of 2011, 2012, 2013 picks For Howard, Arenas, and Bass. Lowry/Dragic/Arenas Martin/Lee Bud/???? Patterson/Bass Howard/Hayes It definitely leaves holes to be filled with draft picks and FA signings, but if Dwight agrees to an extension, I think that starting 5 is too good to say no to. Martin playing with Howard really alleviates defensive pressures from Martin and allows him to take his offensive game to another level. I like the prospect of Hayes being allowed to come off the bench and Patterson to develop next to arguably the best center in the game. Orlando does it to get Gasol and Scola as the epicenter of an Eastern conference playoff team, and to get Arenas off their books. It's about as good a package as they'll get, in my view. Of course, this all comes from 1. signing Marc Gasol to a risky Max level deal on the assumption that he'll be able to be flipped for Dwight Howard at some point. And this all might be a dumb idea because according to the rule we'd have to wait until at least midseason to trade Gasol under the current CBA rules, no?
I never said I'd do it, I just said that's what it would likely take to acquire him from Toronto. Talk about his rebounding and defense, but as Morey says "20ppg scorers don't grow on trees."
Heres a Bargs proposal from a Toronto fan http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1116327
That would be something that I would jump at, but I'm not sure Toronto would/ I mean, Andrea Bargnani for Hasheem Thabeet, Terrence Williams and #23 pick in 2011 draft seems too lopsided in the Rockets favor. I wouldn't mind though....
To add, pairing him with Scola would be a disaster on defense. If we were to make such a deal, I would imagine that we would have to flip Scola as well for young players, desperate veterans on mild to bad contracts (Iguodala, Granger), or picks.
Bargnani wouldn't be a bad idea.... How about Scola+Hill+#23 to ATL for Josh Smith Terrence Williams+#14+Goran Dragic+Memphis future pick to Toronto for Bargnani. Sign Sam Dalembert, get rid of Miller somehow Bargnani/Dalembert Patterson/Hayes/Smith Josh Smith/Budinger Martin/Lee Lowry/FA. I wonder if Toronto would need a pg enough to be interested in Dragic. Maybe the trade value for Goran will get a tiny boost as he had a great end to the year. I think he could be a starter. Bargnani would be great with Martin, except for the fact that the two together would normally render their team defensively not good. However, the grouping of Patterson, Smith and Lowry could probably offset a lot of that. Smith will still be a PF in a lot of a sense in this lineup. He will be able to play inside more while Patterson and Bargnani roam in and out.
RealGM forums.. the BleacherReport of the BBS. Bargnani is a 7 footer that drops 20 a night. You're not getting him for expiring contracts and an immature talent that's never figured it out. His "horrible contract" has him making less money than Kevin Martin. Kleiza makes less than the MLE. That is hardly a damaging contract. While I admit it's not the best deal in the world, an extra $4M a year is not hurting Toronto to the point to where they'd jettison their best offensive player to get rid of it. The real contract Toronto should want to rid themselves of is Jose Calderon, whose due $20M over the next two seasons.
Ehh Realgm is useful because it allows for fan interaction. A step above BleacherReport IMHO. Thats a Toronto fan proposal, not a Houston one. I don't even want the guy, I was just offering the opposing teams perspective on value.
