I was listening to ESPN radio and some guy called up and said that he had heard that Elton Brand was going to the Rockets. Now this is a dream trade to me so of course I was giddy. He also went on to say that it was early and they had not discussed who would be traded for him, except that it wouldn't be Yao or Steve. Now my only resource is this guy that called in to the radio show, but he talked about a lot of basketball trade news that sounded reasonable. The host of the show seem to respect all the stuff that he had to say, but ultimately I just heard it on the radio.
Sounds interesting. Maybe the Clippers are trying to clean house again. They can't afford to pay for Brand, Kandi, and Miller. Looks like Brand may be on his way out since they have Wilcox and Melvin Ely waiting in the wings. But do the Rockets have enough trade bait? I don't think Cuttino and Griffin will get this done.
Elton Brand? He would be awesome for this Rockets team, but who would Rockets have to part with. It's not gonna be easy.
Would the Clips give up Elton straight up for Eddie? I think they may Eddie has a ton of potential and has years left on his contract. If the rockets can pull that off as much as I love Eddie's game and his potential. He will probaly never get up to the level of a Elton Brand. So they gotta pull the trigger. Cat and Eddie that will be a tough one to do.
Rockets can't trade Cat and Eddie unless another player is added to the mix(one of their SF or SGs). It's a money issue and Brand is on his rookie contract. I think they might want Griffin, but that is my opinion. The guy seemed like he was an anonymous caller, but the host seem to respect him because he was articulate and spent at least 6-7 minutes on the radio. That's a lot of time for any caller, even if they are a guest. Once again, none of this has to mean anything.
If it's just for one year I wouldn't do the trade. I mean we're probably not going to win it all this year, so having him for one year while dumping two others who we could have for a few more years wouldn't work in the longrun. Unless they think they can warm up to Elton Brand and get him to sign after the seasons ended.
beyond Yao, Steve and IMO Posey We'd trade the rest of the frickin team That is how much I like Brand But I look to the clippers and what they want The got MEGA CONTRACTS coming up Miller, Odom, Brand and to an extent Olowakandi ALL WANT THE MAX I doubt ANY of them get it Which of these players would you max out? IMO . . ONLY BRAND! Everyone else. . . . .better settle their egos and *sses down ODom hasn't been healthy enough Miller and Kandi have not PROVEN to be max guys I don't too much want to mess with the team now HOWEVER For Brand I would do it. . . . Steve, Yao, Brand and 2 CBA scrubs would be a formidable squad. If we could Keep Posey . . . Adding another 2 or 3 would be no problem . . .dime a dozen Rocket River
Yeah, I also heard this on FoxSports Radio in Austin last night. They had Steven A. Smith or one of these "experts" on talking about teams in the west. When he brought up the Rockets, he said that they were still learning to play with each other and Yao, and that it was very likely that Elton was going to be on the move, and the best bet was Houston. The reasoning was that after the Clippers balked on extending Kandi-man, the rest of the players have just been playing for stats. Since this is the last year of Elton's rookie contract, they are trying to get something for him before he bolts.
Elton Brand, Eric Piatkowski and Sean Rooks….for… Kelvin Cato, Eddie Griffin and Bostjan Nachbar work good. Both Piatkowski and Rooks salaries drop of at the end of the season so re-signing Brand would not be as painful and we would also have some additional room to resign Possey and TMo.
This team can win it all and Elton improves us. I can't see why we wouldn't do this. We also need to make the playoffs this year and there are teams we need to brush off to hold onto our playoff spot. Mentally, EG is worth Brand and making the playoffs. If you hold on to EG and we make the playoffs, then things are different, but if we hold on to EG and don't make the playoffs, it'll be a serious blow to the rockets. Also, I'm sure Elton would like to play for a team like the Rockets. They are moving up in the NBA world, they have a team around his age, they have a well respected coach and a team that LIKES each other. Staying in Houston might be a good deal for Elton, so it may work out in the long run as well.
If we were to get Brand and had to give him 8-9 mil a year (he said he didn't need the max). Would that send us over the luxary tax limit( if there is a luxary tax) next year?
Depends on who we trade to get him, if we can make any other moves to rid us of other big contracts (MoT, Cato, Rice), and if/how much we resign Posey for. But, most likely, yes.
Lets hope Rudy and CD can pull it off. I would be willing to trade pretty much the whole team, minus Francis and Yao, for Brand.
That looks good, but I really don't think this is going to be a trade with lots of players. I bet it'll be Brand straight up for whoever.
Cat is the only one with a salery to match Brand's. He is the only one that we can trade straight up for Elton. I just don't see that but I would certainly do it. Another trade that works is Cato and Griffin for Brand and Piatkowski. I think that L.A. would want some talent that is still tied up for a few years in replace of Brand so that they do not have to worry about Max or High paying contracts right away.
