I wonder how the Rockets can "help" them out by taking a player or draft pick off their hands. Hmmmmm. How do our trade exceptions look?
Welllll if they land that number 4 pick, next year will be there best chance. Stupid made up rumor. They land the number 4 pick, and say CHarlotte or someone gets the number 2 and Durant. PHX trades number 4, Marion, and a future 1st round pick, hell 2 of them maybe, for Kevin Durant. Marion can play his ass of on defense, but in one year, KD will already be more potent on offense.
Don't worry Phoenix has many option this offseason and they could be legitimate suitors for a KG trade if they offer Marion and 4th pick. Same goes for Jermaine O'Neal. They have some good players they can package in trades and get one blockbuster type player to put them over them hump. I don't know why but I would really like to see KG get out of that frozen hell in Minnesota and salvage his career with someone like Nash it would be feel good story to see two great team players get a championship together.
i agree with you, i really want KG to succeed. still tracy getting over his own hump would be more of a feat. man hopefully this offseason won't be as bad as the playoff series was.. 5-6 more months.. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I don't get the KG thing, the whole reason Phoenix is considering trading players is to avoid the tax, KG's huge salary would push them well into tax land. It would be a shame if Marion/STAT gets traded for 50 cents on the dollar just because their owner is cheap.
Those guys would only add to their salary problem. Robert Sarver has said he doesn't want to pay the luxury tax. Though more recently D'Antonio has mentioned they can go over but will be looking to minimise the lux tax damage. I don't think it's a change of heart on Sarver's part just a more realistic option of what the front office Suns can do. The Suns could dump Kurt Thomas to a under the salary cap for nothing or Diaw for a pick and they would still be paying luxury tax. Could the Rockets get in on this? They could exchange Sura & Lucas's contracts who could save a team up to 4.2m. They might hold an advantage over teams with trade exceptions cause those can't be packaged and no team has one over 3m I think. So it's possible they could get in as a third team in a 3-way trade to pick up the crumbs in a bigger deal.
Minnesota KG - 22 million Phoenix Marion - 15 mil So to make up the difference Phoenix might dump a contract like Kurt Thomas 8 million total 23 milllion close enough. Remember KG could become a free agent at the end of next summer and any such trade would be on condition that KG takes a pay cut to play for a championship contender. I think KG might actually take a pay cut especially since he wants to win badly and he already has banked in over 200 million. This would clear a lot of room for Phoenix salary wise. They would have to pay the tax for only one year and get a dominant player for 3-4 years to come.
Minny have lux tax problems of their own. Besides what your proposing is that they take on Marion as their franchise player instead.
Plus the 4th overall pick from the Hawks which could be another solid player like Al Halford or Brandon Wright. Again I don't see many teams in the NBA with enough quality players to package a deal for KG. Remember KG could just walk away in 2008 and leave the Wolves with nothing in return. You tell me would you say no to a possible rebuilding process which includes 1) Shawn Marion 2) Randy Foye 3) 4th pick (Wright or Halford) 4) 7th Pick (Minesota's own pick maybe Jeff Green or Corey Brewer) Those are some nice pieces to rebuild with and quickly do so. Again factor in KG's possible departure in 08 and it would be hard for Minnesota to say no.
Sorry but no one will take such a trade no matter hoe many picks you add. Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are untouchable at this point. They are the top prospects to come out in a decade. Franchise players don't get traded on draft day especially one who has been so publicized and hyped. Durant at this point is a better talent than Lebron was back in 2003. He has a better shooting game and low post ability. Oden is once in a lifetime kind of players both will not be traded no matter what.
True centers are very hard to find these days especially one like Oden who I would put behind Shaq and Hakeem as the best center prospect in the past 20 years. Lebron was a huge prospect before he ever declared for the draft. But there have been guys like him before like Kobe. Kevin Durant is perhaps the most polished 6-10 wingman I have ever seen. He is a shooting guard in the body of a PF and the speed and agility of a PG. Lebron was more of PG type, most scouts said he resembled Magic Johnson with more athleticism and size. Durant is one of those freakish hybrid types like Garnett who are redefining their positions. Durant's jumpshot and range is what separates him from Lebron at the time.
No. No sir. No one has ever had as much hype coming out of HS as LeBron. No one. And you would put Oden ahead of Ewing as a prospect? I mean hind sight's 20/20, but Ewing might of been the greatest Center prospect since Wilt. If LeBron was in this year's class as a HS. He would still go ahead of Oden and Durant imo.
Do they care about championship shots, or lux tax? They would not trade them just because they are pricey, they would trade them because the combination doesn't work in the playoffs. Marion excells in many areas but is a half court offensive non-factor. Amare is an individual defensive non-factor and really gets his half court offense, though it is efficient, off of others. This combo hasn't worked. Nash is gettign older, they need another big time option to turn to when he isn't on the floor. Another creator and dominant player. KG makes a lot of sense to me. I'll have the think about what would be fair. I'd start with Amare (about even on his own given age difference OR Marion + Atl pick (if 4 or 5) + filler.
