Discussing Other Teams' Moves (Part IV)

[Hoopalotta]

The trouble with the Grizzlies position is not in their cap, but rather in the attendance figures and ticket prices. I believe they are bottom in the league in that capacity, though they do have one of the richest owners.

[mhd]

I could see Gay as a player the Knicks target. I'd rather have Gay (at a lesser cost) than Joe Johnson considering age, etc.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

In games, Johnson is big....but Gay goes hard to the hole.

[Rafael122]

I'm not a big Gay guy, but he'd be pretty sick on the Wizards. Doubt we'll see him in DC though. Why Memphis would build around Randolph is beyond me.

[miller31time]

In games, Johnson is big....but Gay goes hard to the hole.

Eh, Johnson gets pretty small down the stretch.

[LyricalRico]

*Sigh*

Didn't we already do this in another thread?

[P'Oed]

I'm not a big Gay guy.

hiyooooooooo

[spaceman_E]

Landry + and an expiring for Kevin Martin, 2011 #2 overall, 2012 #6 overall... not bad Houston. Didn't New York do this before with Eddy Curry?

[LyricalRico]

Bobcats add Tyrus Thomas and Theo Ratliff to their frontline. They are really deep and could be a tough out in the playoffs, depending on the matchup.

Chandler/Ratliff
Mohammed/Tyrus
Wallace/Diaw
Jackson/Henderson
Felton/Augustin

[miller31time]

Bobcats add Tyrus Thomas and Theo Ratliff to their frontline. They are really deep and could be a tough out in the playoffs, depending on the matchup.

Chandler/Ratliff
Mohammed/Tyrus
Wallace/Diaw
Jackson/Henderson
Felton/Augustin

I'd really hope they don't go with a Chandler/Mohammed pf/c rotation. Neither are fit to be a power forward.

They'll start Thomas or Diaw and move Chandler to the bench, IMO.

[Ruzious]

*Sigh*

Didn't we already do this in another thread?

We can't say, because of the don't ask don't tell policy.

[nate33]

Been thinking about the TMac trade because it didn't make sense that NY wanted TMac so bad.

I think I figured it out. NY is going to set TMac up with some off-the-court spokesman gigs so he can make big money outside of the NBA salary structure. Then he'll agree to come back next year and play in NY for the league minimum alongside two max free agents.

The Knicks might roll next year with:

PG Lebron
SG TMac
SF Gallinari
PF Chandler
C Amare

Look at the size of that backcourt!

[Severn Hoos]

Been thinking about the TMac trade because it didn't make sense that NY wanted TMac so bad.

I think I figured it out. NY is going to set TMac up with some off-the-court spokesman gigs so he can make big money outside of the NBA salary structure. Then he'll agree to come back next year and play in NY for the league minimum alongside two max free agents.

The Knicks might roll next year with:

PG Lebron
SG TMac
SF Gallinari
PF Chandler
C Amare

Look at the size of that backcourt!

At one point, McGrady said publicly that he would sign with the Magic for the minimum (or MLE/LLE or whatever) after/if Grant Hill & Tim Duncan signed there to create a real "Big 3" Of course, Duncan stayed in SA, so the Magic had money to spend on Hill & Tmac at Max level deals. But if he was serious about doing it then - he should definitely be serious now, after he's banked so much money and is at the end of his career instead of the beginning. And since he's been through all those years without winning even a single playoff series, he must be pretty desperate to truly contend.

Hmmmmm.......

[LyricalRico]

Bobcats add Tyrus Thomas and Theo Ratliff to their frontline. They are really deep and could be a tough out in the playoffs, depending on the matchup.

Chandler/Ratliff
Mohammed/Tyrus
Wallace/Diaw
Jackson/Henderson
Felton/Augustin

I'd really hope they don't go with a Chandler/Mohammed pf/c rotation. Neither are fit to be a power forward.

They'll start Thomas or Diaw and move Chandler to the bench, IMO.

Yeah, probably right.

Mohammed/Chandler
Diaw/Thomas
Wallace/Brown
Jackson/Henderson
Felton/Augustin

Still pretty deep, especially up front since they also have Diop who can defend.

[Hoopalotta]

So then, the Rockets made a play at STAT at the end too.

According to Marc Stein (via Chad Ford) of ESPN, the Rockets were the team that made a last minute run at acquiring Amare Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns.

Steve Kerr and the Suns ended up keeping Stoudemire for the second consecutive season after shopping him heavily.

The proposed deal had Phoenix receiving Shane Battier and Luis Scola, multiple draft picks and the expiring contract of Brian Cook for Stoudemire, according to sources.

So basically, the insufferably arrogant Rockets fans that came to our board to fleece us were correct and they are in fact the chosen people of the basketball gods.

[Hoopalotta]

Been thinking about the TMac trade because it didn't make sense that NY wanted TMac so bad.

I think I figured it out. NY is going to set TMac up with some off-the-court spokesman gigs so he can make big money outside of the NBA salary structure. Then he'll agree to come back next year and play in NY for the league minimum alongside two max free agents.

Definitely, something's rotten in the state of Denmark, er, Gotham, especially with reports of the super-agent-pressure on Sactown.

That angle sounds good and the slant being spun from someone, I forget who, was that T-Mac was some kind of recruitment tool for the Knickers to land LBJ, which actually makes sense under your scenario as it doesn't matter if they renounce his rights.

With all the criticism T-Mac has gotten over the years, I bet he'd love to be the guy who took the minimum money to land LBJ in the biggest media market in America. They'd build him a monument and he'd be loved for generations to come. And as you mentioned, he might not even be leaving money on the table when you look at peripheral earnings available in that economy with Dolan working to make things happen for him.

So yeah, something like that. While I always saw T-Mac as a big expiring contract, it sounds like the Knicks actually wanted to 'get' T-Mac and not just 'get rid of' the Jeffers.

It has to be something like that.

[LyricalRico]

^ That may be the plan, but I still say LeBron doesn't go to NY because even with another star and TMac they still won't be deep enough to compete with the Lakers in the Finals IMO. And I see Bosh and Wade playing together, either in Miami or Chicago. So McGrady could indeed sign for the minimum...somewhere else.

Either way, it's an ambitious plan. And I think they'll probably end up with Amare and Gil, while also resigning Lee and TMac - which is worlds better than what they've had in the last 10 years.

Lee/FA
Amare/FA
Galinari/Chandler
McGrady/Douglas
Arenas/FA

As long as Gil is a good boy and McGrady can actually play, I can see D'Antoni's offense getting them 45-50 wins and a solid playoff seed. But they still won't be able to stop anybody when it counts. Basketball will be back in NY, though, which is good for the league.

[verbal8]

Definitely, something's rotten in the state of Denmark, er, Gotham, especially with reports of the super-agent-pressure on Sactown.

That angle sounds good and the slant being spun from someone, I forget who, was that T-Mac was some kind of recruitment tool for the Knickers to land LBJ, which actually makes sense under your scenario as it doesn't matter if they renounce his rights.

So yeah, something like that. While I always saw T-Mac as a big expiring contract, it sounds like the Knicks actually wanted to 'get' T-Mac and not just 'get rid of' the Jeffers.

It has to be something like that.

The Knicks being so anxious to add TMac doesn't make a lot of sense. They must be planning to sign him to a deal between the LLE and MLE as soon as Free Agency starts. Signing him to the MLE or more is stupid for 2 reasons - he is not worth it and they just undid the cap space advantage of dumping Jeffries. If they offer him an LLE deal, they could just used the LLE on him. If they don't renounce or sign him to a new deal, the cap hold ties up the cap space.

[LyricalRico]

Wow, the Boston players are all pretty down on the House-for-Robinson trade. House is deadly from 3 when he's hot and they could play him and Rondo together for stretches. Not sure they can do that with Nate, although he's individually a better player than House.

[spaceman_E]

^ That may be the plan, but I still say LeBron doesn't go to NY because even with another star and TMac they still won't be deep enough to compete with the Lakers in the Finals IMO.

This is the same thing we all thought about Boston when they got Garnett and Ray. You can be sure older FA's would flock there for bargain bin prices. Imagine Lebron and Amare signing with NY, then Tmac, Shaq, and a couple other roleplayers signing on for cheap. Stranger things have happened