The Blazers are running out of options. SAR is more available than ever, and his style would be nice now that we have Tracy. His expiring contract doesn't hurt either. With Tracy and Yao, it sounds like we'll be slowing it down more than last year, and that's the type of game where SAR could excel. He'd be an easy 17/10 on our team. Surely, he won't get 20ppg with Yao and T-Mac around, but he'd be able to grab at least ten rebounds. He averages 9+ and has averaged 10 before, and on thisteam, he could concentrate less on scoring and more on rebounding and defense.
James WILL play. He's the best of a bad bunch, even with the rookie Swift. You would have to substitute Booth and give them a draft pick in return. Portland wouldn't want Booth's contract. Still, the Blazers might consider that deal, or they might just quietly let SAR's contract expire after next season instead of taking on a very high-priced backup PF. Despite the trade rumors, I think that's what they'll be doing. Damon Stoudamire, SAR, and NVE will all have max deals expiring next summer. I'm pretty sure Kemp's deal will be off the books as well. If they trade Shareef, I'll bet it's for more expiring contracts.
I am definately no GM. I respect you sane. I just don't want to see it happen. I have always thought SAR on the right team having other contributing players would be great. A weird twitch tells me that we don't need another scorer after T-Mac,Yao, and JH. I just feel that would take shots away from more efficient players. just my 2 cents. feel free to bash!!!
James is not the best. Potapenko outplayed him when healthy. It doesn't really matter if James is marginally better. Only 2 C's will play good minutes, and Swift will be one of them. The difference between James vs Booth or Potapenko is what's going to make the Sonics think twice? I really don't care which one of James or Potapenko goes, it's just about the numbers - they both suck equally in different ways. Darrinlane, I see what you're saying, but I think that we need a slightly better rebounder and slightly more size up front. SAR does everything JH does but better - don't forget that JH is on the downside of his career. Don't get me wrong, I love JH but he's not a full-time starter. I'm a bit uneasy about now having a solid 3rd scorer - a 34 year old JJ and a 33yr old JH? Tyronne Lue? SAR, I think, would solidify this team and this trade would also add to the Rockets cap flexibility in the near future. Previously, I was opposed to getting SAR but now, we have two players whol need to slow it down - TMac and Yao. SAR will be playing hard for his new contract. He's a better scorer/rebounder than Mo and JH, and he also has better size. I'd send a first rounder to Portland for this deal to work. It's as much about the cap flexibility as it is about getting the right fit.
SAR for Taylor? That is a no brainer on our side. SAR is a better player and his contract is expiring so in effect if we dont like him we can lop him off the cap. However, the Blazers ARE trying to clear cap space for next summer and SAR's expiring contract IS part of that. One of the reasons we heard the Kittles for SAR trade mention is that Kittles as well is coming off the cap after this season. So financially that trade makes sense for the Blazers. The Blazers are not going to trade for Mo Taylor. They dont need to rid themselves of SAR that badly. SAR for them is a commodity. They wont move him unless they get a legit good player in return or another expiring contract.
Both Seattle and Portland would say no: 1. Seattle would need more than the TE to give up 2 quality players. Switch James w/ Booth and throw in a filler, then maybe. 2. Portland doesn't need another PG, especially another short one. NVE, Stoudemire, Telfair, Lue? No need for 4 short PGs, they need a SG. 3. Also, MoT is the exact player Portland doesn't want. They recieved a lot of critism when they were the "Jailblazers," and even though MoT got caught w/ pot long ago, that is probably what they are thinking about.
Mo only made hald of SAR money last year I believe. So it's not like they are eating up all their capspace. A significant portion, but they're not eating it all up. Remember, NVE and Stoudamire both come off the cap as well. I'm not sure, but maybe Patterson too? The Nets deal is dead now that they've signed Hassell. How much capspace do the Blazers want next season exactly? Are they looking to re-build from scratch? Who are the best FA's next year? Antoine Walker and SAR are probaly the two best players on the FA market next year, and they will both be looking for big money. Even with this trade, I think Portland has a significant amount of cap space next season. They just lose something like 5-6M? If they had 15, now they have 10, if they had 20 they have 15. If they had 10, then there may be a problem. If they sign Hassell and they re-sign Darius Miles, then they're looking at less and less capspace next year. Everything they have been saying in Portland points to them looking for depth and not rebuilding. They are in good position to bring their payroll down to earth - but ultimately, they're not rebuilding. They want to stay competitive according to their moves and the FA's they've approached. SAR just playing the season out is out of the question. A buyout is WAY WAY more likely. SAR makes around 13M, so a buyout would be pricey. If he's bought out, we go for him as well. But I really doubt they'd rather buy him out and get nothing in return. They lack depth as it is, this would just make things worse.
Portland has these players in the backcourt: NVE, Stoudamire and Derek Anderson. They are adding Hassell. Since day 1 they've been preaching depth in the backcourt. Depth does not mean a new starter. BTW, they get a backup C in this deal.
1. What you're saying makes no sense. Why would we take Booth? They have 4 C's, and we're taking James off their hands. In exchange, they don't pay him 5M to avg 15minutes, 3pts, and 3 reb. For us, we benefit because he's expiring and could find time in Portland. Why in God's name would we take Booth off their hands for free unless they threw in an unprotected first rounder? 2. They can cut Lue. 1.65M for one year - big deal. We'll throw in 1M in cash and they can cut Lue. Costs them nothing. 3. A legitimate concern. I see this as a potential stumbling block. Although I was very curious to hear that they acquired NVE - who is not the friendliest lockerroom guy, and has repeatedly bashed his team via the media. I don't know if he's ever been caught for pot, but he's widely recognized as one of the more disruptive players in the league. But again, MoT has been busted for pot, and they may prefer to stay away from him. CD's job to try to convince them otherwise.
DA is allways injured to be called an starting SG. Van exel and mighty mouse would be the worst defensive backcourt in the league by a long way. i cant see portland starting them together.
Sane, first of all, I don't think Portland would ever do this deal, and secondly, I don't think it could be done before Sep. 1 because it is a multi-player trade and Lue was recently traded.
The solution to problem 3 is to replace Taylor with Howard. I think it's pointless to even talk about trading Taylor because no team is going to give any thing of value for him. He's untradeable. If the Rockets could have traded him for a contract that wasn't worse than his, he would have been traded already. If you want to get rid of the glut at the power forward spot, trading Juwan Howard is the only option.
To me, it looks like this proposed deal doesn't come close to working cap wise. The only way the TE comes into play is that we could use a portion of it to cover Daniels salary of $2.2M (You can't use the TE to cover James, since the TE can only be used to cover players that end up with the Rockets). So, let's assume that's what you are doing. Then the remaining simultaneous part of the deal from Houston's end is : Taylor ($7.8M) and Lue ($1.5M) for a total of $9.4M going out. We're taking back SAR @$13.5M . Remember that if we use the TE, the similtaneous part of the deal still has to work on it's own (from our point of view) and $9.4M out and $13.5M in doesn't come close to working. Additionally, Seattle it trading away multiple players so they are not eligible to receive a trade exception.
Good to see you aelliot. If James' and Daniels' salaries together are equal or less than $6.9 milllion, could Seattle trade them to us (for a pick or something) straight-up? It sounds like you're saying that you can only get a team's TE if you trade one player. Can anyone confirm that James and Daniels make less than $6.9 mil? I've posted before that Patricia had them making $7.2 mil combined last season. There's none of that 15% flexibility with the TE, so I wonder if such a deal is possible. Something like Pike for Daniels and James might be, but I don't see it as appealing to Seattle.
errr... isn't there some rule about you can't trade away a play immediately after you obtain him unless it's a 1 on 1 trade?
blazers wont want lue, but anyways if they did, it doesnt matter because it wont happen, who cares i can make up a trade rite now, but CD doesnt look at clutch fans so its pointless
Yes, if James and Daniels salaries were equal or less than our TE, then the exception could be used to cover their salaries. Correct that you only get a TE if you are trading away a single player and taking back less salary. Daniels made over $2M last season and James made over $5M, so no you wouldn't be able to use the TE to cover both of their salaries. It would have to be one or the other.
