Ive considered the very real possibility that the Cavs may have no choice but to use their only attractive bargaining chip. A fat expiring contract in excess of 11.5Million. This will become apparent around December if the Cavs dont mesh within the coming months (2 at most), then depending on their play it could be either Big Z or Shaq, but for the sake of a fresh argument, lets pretend the Cavs commit to Shaq and are trying to find his true compliment and moving Anderson to the backup 5, where hes been so effective in the past. Those are the Cavs needs (Stretch or Hyper Athetic-4), and while every team could use cap space, which are willing to give up valuable players for it? Forget Stephen Jackson, they cant be that much of a financial restraint or it defeats the purpose of keeping Bron. Im thinking 2 years max left on their deals, or at the very least some sort of financial relief from one of the contracts involved that very same year. Does your team need a 7"3 Center with skills and rebounding for 28MPG? Or could they buy him out and save up for 2010? Examples I could think of,(if your a fan of these teams Id appreciate the insight) under extreme circumstances some of these may seem like very reasonable options. Atlanta Josh Smith??: Probably not, the Hawks cap situation is pristine and Smith should continue to improve, but if they regret the extension this trade will always be there. Charlotte Diaw???(Nazr/Vlad/Diop): Hes got the high post and low post skills, is an underrated defender, can make players around him better and can shoot a respectable % from the field. Problem is he may be out of shape at any given point of the season. Bobcats would probably want to throw in Diop but may have to settle for Nazr or Vladamir. Both could be useful to the Cavs, Nazr is redundant. Chicago Deng : If Deng continues his downward spiral he wont fit in with what the Bulls are trying to do, has proven to possess enough talent that could thrive in a different system. Put it this way, with Dengs contract out of the way, the Bulls could theoretically sign Wade AND Bosh. Rose Wade Salmons Bosh INSANE Denver: K-Mart (Ty Law)?: Hes not much of an upgrade for the Cavs but he provides them the option of giving up Boobies horrible contract. Nuggets may have to give up a talented prospect as well. Detroit: RIP TAY CHARLIE V ... you name it any one of these players could look like a cap restraint if the experiment in Detroit fails, the untouchables arent mentioned. Houston Battier and Landry Houston is already a player for 2010 this makes them heavyweights, Battier has been great for but is nearing the end of his dominance. Big Z fills a need, Landry is a talented utility player, the PERFECT role player offensively and if hes not in a strength matchup hes a decent defender because quick on his feet. This is probably a pipe dream for the Cavs, and would require Delonte West or any other asset Morey would want. Without those 2 on the squad, Houston has enough cap for 2 franchise players, and then could sign Yao to a reduced contract. Thats mega dynasty, even if Yao gets hurt they are still contenders. MUCH more likely however is a Tmac for Z+Fillers swap but that doesnt help the Cavs much if Tmac isnt healthy or himself anymore. Or the Rockets could chose to trade Scola but hes at the peak of his game right now. Indiana Troy Murphy?? Miami Jermaine or Udonis : Probably not but not unreasonable I think Milwaukee Redd+Warrick : I know the centerpiece is not a 4 but if hes healthy he may be too good to pass up. Milwaukee considered a similar deal with Dampier, and Warrick is a talented scorer who can take advantage of the lanes Shaq provides. Minnesota Ryan Gomes + Filler: I was going to say Kevin Love AND/OR Gomes, but thats just impossible, still this deal gives the Wolves their first true Center in awhile. New Orleans They have a buttload of bad contracts wasted on role players. Posey could be valuable in their system New York: Al Harrington+Jarred Jeffries: The Cavs would have to work some trickery to get the cap figures to match but it could be done given their decent collection of assets. But they arent of use to the Knicks because they want to dump him and Curry. Cavs dont want Curry so this is the only logical trade and both could be useful to the Cavs. Oklahoma City Nick Collison + Jeff Green??? Philly Brand+Speights : Really the only way your getting out of the Brand contract is by giving up the talented prospect, him or Young. Im guessing you guys want Young. Brand for all his decline is still a good defender and rebounder, and unless hes drastically changed since I last saw him on a 82game basis hes got a money mid range J. Perfect for the Cavs but hes overkill on the cap. Luckily Spieghts doesnt make squat for the next 3 years so if you combine the 2, the salaries leverage out perfectly for their production I think. Sacramento Nocioni Utah: Boozer or AK47
Expiring contracts, as recent years have proved, are worth almost nothing. Especially in a down economy.
shouldn't that be the other way around? In a down economy, shouldn't teams be more likely to want expiring contracts to decrease its financial obligations?
I don´t think the Rockets would trade for him, but if this Andersen thing doesn´t work out, I am thinking it might make sense sign him on the cheap next year to be a backup (assuming the market for his services is not hot given his age, and likely decrease in minutes now that Shaq is there). Sorta like a Dikembe Mutombo role.
I see how what I said doesn't make sense. What I meant, though, is that it is HARD to part with the contracts even when star talent is available--they don't make good trade chips. Look at last year's trade deadline: CLE ate Wally Sczerbiak's contract, POR did the same with LaFrentz.
Why would they buy out Big Z? If Shaq is injured do they really want to sign a min contract scrub/NBDL player to replace him in a year where they're trying to win it all and also convince LeBron to stay?
lmao Yea that sounded so wrong, almost as if he said it for the sake of saying it, probably hears everyone talk about it all the time.
There is a significant difference in the context of these scenarios, for one, like you said. Cleveland chose to eat the contract, Portland CHOSE to eat up the contract. The intent in these situations are different. Its not as if Cleveland didnt have the option of getting Shaq last year, they just didnt want to mess with chemistry. **** they had the option of adding Antawn, and maybe I shouldve listed him on here but the point is that they couldve easily traded those players. Their trade partners were more than willing to oblige. Suns wanted to trade Shaq for a simple expiring but had to settle for a meager buyout of 2 lesser players. Portland let LaFrentz expire so that they could be players in 2010. On the opposite end of the spectrum the Heat parlayed Marions expiring contract into another year of Jermaine Oneal to become players in 2010, and the Raptors used that expiring contract to sign Hedo this year. So it happens more than you think.
I cant edit my posts, but I meant to say Portland let Raef expire so that they could be players in 09 FA. They used that available money to sign Andre Miller remember.
I didnt mean to imply that the Cavs would buy him out, I meant the team that trades for him would have no use for him other than his expiring contract. A team like the Knicks for example may not see the point of keeping Z if he a. doesnt fit the run and gun system, b. doesnt want to play there. Thus negotiating a buy out would save the Knicks additional money and get Z back in Cleveland. Win-Win IMO.
