I talked to somebody who has ties with the Sonics (I live in Seattle). The main scoop is that the Sonics do NOT want to give Rashard the max and are looking for a S&T, if he insists on it. They feel that Brent Barry, Desmon Mason and Vlado Radmanovich give them enough at the 2-3 spots, and they are really desperate for 4s and 5s. As far as S&T goes they harbor some slim hopes for McDyess, but their main project is Keon Clark in a S&T for a S&T (gee I didn't know that works under CBA). One thing to consider is that the Raps apparently do not want to give Lewis the max either unless the Sonics take some deadweight (I would imagine t.murray, or Montross). I asked him whether the Rockets have played in the equation and he said he hasn't heard anything, but he speculated that a Cato + #15 may do it.
Seattle is r****ded if they trade rashard for cato and the piece of ***t that comes out of 15. if this happens i will shave my head happily.
As much as I hate Cato and want to get rid of his lazy butt, I would not trade him unless and until we have a bona fide starting center. Don't think anyone can count on Ming till he proves he can play in the NBA every day. But if they would take Taylor for their hole at the 4(Baker stinks) then I would do Taylor and #15. After all the Sonics were the team that was going to originally sign Taylor till the Rox swooped in.
IMO, Rashard is one of the Top Ten most overrated players in the L. I wouldn't trade Cato for him straight up.
If that speculation is true, or is close to what Seattle would consider I would do it in a heart beat. Center could be a bit of a problem with Ming having to mature, but I'd rather go out and get a journeyman center to help man the spot if it got us a quality SF like Rashard Lewis!
Perhaps we can get Rashard and Hakeem in some sort of treeway trade with Seattle and Toronto. Cato and #15 to Toronto, Keon Clark and MoT to Seattle, and Hakeem and Rashard to Houston. I think Hakeem could help Ming out with adapting to the NBA, and Yao would definitely listen to Dream(unlike Cato) since Dream is his idol. Not sure If we want to take on Dreams salary along with Rashards max contract though.
While I agree that Lewis is a bit overated and not worth the max, he is lightyears ahead of Cato in talent and desire. All thing being equal, I would take Lewis over Cato in a heartbeat. Besides , if Lewis agreed to a pay scale that was equal to or a bit more than Cato then what's the problem. If Cato is not traded, we have to pay him anyway. Who would you want to pay...Cato or Lewis?
toss in Rice and Maybe Moochie some other things would be require for money matching purposes. Rocket river
If Cato and a #15 is Seattle's price then Dallas should get involved. Maybe they can dump Bradley and the #55 to get Calvin Booth back. Seriously, Seattle can't be that stupid.
There are 3 competing issues: 1) Rashard will likely not exercise his player option with the Sonics and thus makes himself an unrestricted FA. 2) Houston without a S&T can only offer Rashard the MCE. 3 Seattle has a choice to let Rashard walk before they S&T him for contracts/players they don't want. To me the bottomline has always been how much Rashard is going to want. He has the most power in the three way configuration. Because Lewis has a player option and because no players can be signed until July 17th, Rashard CAN NOT be part of a draft day trade. It may be wise for the Rockets to think C or PF when they draft #15.
I looked at the Sonic roster and it all made perfect sense. If they give Rashard the max they'll have 9 players under contracts worth more than $50 mil. and the only 4s and 5s there will be Calvin Booth (who was not good even before he missed a year with an injury), Vin "Fat Ass" Baker and Peja "Really Fat Ass" Drobnjak. Ouch! If Shultz is to give rashard the max and sign some capable bigs as FAs, he would have to sell the latte for $19.99 to make the payroll of this team.
O, I missed the first part, because I thought everone was aware of it. Rashard's agent has told the Sonics he WILL exercise the option and he WILL be looking for the MAX. Accordingly, the MCE or a similar deal will not work for the Rockets. I don't know how high the Sonics are willing to go but I assume they'll offer something starting $7M-8M or so...
If you dont know what I mean by that, you must have started following the Mavs when the playoffs started
