Wow this guy is in his contract year. If that doesn't motivate him to leave it on the court nothing will. I accept that his injury may have slowed him down a bit, but this millions of dollars he is throwing away. Where is the effort? If he can't see that now with Millions on the table nothing will change. I pass. I would rather Les take those 8 million he will ose if he trades Yao's contract and spend it on draft picks. He should be able to get 3 early picks in the second round. Let's just roll the dice and hope we get a project like Jordan or Dejuan blair.
Sammy D is not a bad option, but Andy V is an even better one -- whom I believe we will have by the trade deadline!
Well, he is serviceable and what we need right now. I think as a last resort (if we can't get a star, or a better trade etc.) we should take a look. You make a very good point on the other side of the argument as well. I'm just curious, how often do teams make that kind of swap (what is the history of teams going for that etc.)? And how deep is this draft in Centers? Perhaps we could rent him and still pick up a center with our normal draft pick? (if we decide not to keep him next year)
I'd go for Dalembert. It's hard to trade for a good C without giving up a lot, or for another good C. Tyson Chandler was traded for Emeka Okafor, Brandon Haywood (& Caron Butler's contract) for Josh Howard, Jason Richardson had to go in order to get Gortat (Vince Carter not the centerpiece), Favors is the centerpiece of the Carmelo Anthony deal. If Dalembert can be 10pts, 10reb + 2blks, and in consistent minutes I think he can, he'll either fetch the MLE, or give us a chance to upgrade the C position by having a decent C to use in trade. And for his playing style, 30 isn't old or a stop gap. Looks like at least 4-6 good years left.
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/06/kings-could-be-sellers-in-trade-market/ Samuel Dalembert If our conspiracy theories hold any weight (and only Westphal knows if they do), then Dalembert might qualify as the most likely Kings player to be moved. And depending on how the next month plays out, I could almost see Petrie shipping Dalembert out for another player(s) with an expiring deal(s) who wouldn't play in a good-will type gesture. It would relieve the pressure if he still isn't playing while giving him a better chance to showcase himself to prospective employers. As chronicled by Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, Dalembert's agent, Marc Cornstein, was in town on Tuesday to see his free-agent-to-be client and check in with Petrie. But there was no similar spike in playing time, as Dalembert logged 18 minutes in a loss to Atlanta and was so ready for more action afterward that I saw him running on the treadmill in full jersey at the team's practice facility that's across from Arco Arena. Then again, that was a spike in relative terms considering Dalembert played a combined 11 minutes in the previous two games. Dalembert, the nine-year veteran who is being paid $12.2 million this season, is averaging just under 20 minutes per game in what is his lowest playing time mark by far since he was a rookie. While Cousins' progress has significantly impacted Dalembert's minutes, the veteran believes the two should play together more often. That has yet to happen consistently, though, and the truth is that the desperate need for size among so many potential suitors like Houston, Oklahoma City or Orlando could spark some very intriguing chatter between Petrie and his peers in the next seven weeks. Again, the subtle pressure being applied from all these directions means you could probably assume that Westphal's handling of the playing time will do two things here: reveal the organization's internal totem pole as it relates to these players and lead to at least one of them being traded. Dalembert's camp is certainly disappointed by the current state of affairs, especially considering Cornstein tried so hard in recent years to get his client to Sacramento because he considered it such a good fit.
Or even: Going out: Yao + Jeffries + AB Coming in: Dalembert + Whiteside + Tyreke Evans Go easy on me on new to this stuff, but is there something blatantly obvious I'm missing here that both teams don't benefit from? Kings get AB who they say they really want (he will most likely be too expensive to keep anyways) large expiring contract of Yao and Jeffires (I don't know which free agents the kings would go after this season). Rockets hopefully get valuable minutes from Dalembert and two promising rookies namely Whiteside. The real question is whether we can get more value from AB than Tyreke Evans? The trade works salary wise. Some feedback please...
Serious question...Is it really worth it for Les to want to spend that much money to acquire a center for this year?
Bird rights really aren't helpful for a player who will make LESS next year. We could re-sign him using the non-Bird exception; it would amount to the same thing, basically. If the guy is our FA, we can re-sign him, even if we're over the cap. Of course, he can also sign with another team, if he wants. It is too bad his contract is expiring. That pushes him out of our price range. Our only hope would be in a three-way deal; I don't think DM will pay what it will take to get him. I also think that DM would not take him unless 1) he agreed to a reasonable contract going forward, or 2) DM is prepared to release most of our FAs, get under the cap, and get somebody that way. BTW, Dalembert is no more disgruntled than anybody else would be in his position. And as for Whiteside (and Landry, for that matter): look at what he is doing now! Forget your pre-season expectations! If we could give the Kings a 2nd round pick that was guaranteed to be in the top half of the second round, I am sure they would agree to it. If we threw in DD, I am sure they would.
