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Rumor: Rip Hamilton for Erick Dampier.

LyricalRico wrote:

montestewart wrote:

LyricalRico wrote:LOL @ Cleveland making the same mistake Phoenix did.

Shaq + Amare = FAIL

And what if they sign him to a long extension? Could be epic.

But that assumes that LeBron stays. If Shaq and Amare can't coexist, Cleveland doesn't win a title. And if Cleveland doesn't win a title, LeBron's chances of staying go down IMO.

Well I was thinking epic fail. Lebron's a pretty versatile player, but it seems like Stoudemire might take up a lot of room that Lebron currently uses to work, undermining both of their strengths, and if Shaq isn't replaced by a faster, younger and better center, the Cavs might be pretty defenseless in the middle (Yes, Varejao, but I think of him as much better at PF). On the other hand, maybe it could gel positively in a way I can't yet envision.

Rafael122 wrote:Rumor: Rip Hamilton for Erick Dampier.

Dang, Cuban ain't fakin'! If they can re-sign a waived Dampier:

Haywood/Dampier
Dirk/Marion
Marion/Butler
Hamilton/Terry
Kidd/Barea

LyricalRico wrote:

Rafael122 wrote:Rumor: Rip Hamilton for Erick Dampier.

Dang, Cuban ain't fakin'! If they can re-sign a waived Dampier:

Haywood/Dampier
Dirk/Marion
Marion/Butler
Hamilton/Terry
Kidd/Barea

A fool and his money just might buy a championship, if that fool has a clue and some brass balls.

Cuban's not the fool. Ernie Grunfeld is.

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Cuban's not the fool. Ernie Grunfeld is.

Cuban is a boorish fool, but he's savvy and he's got nerve. And he's got money. Grunfeld apparently has none of the above.

The Twolves apparently are looking at acquiring Tyrus Thomas. I think that could be a good move on their part. While they have some good young players I their core lacks athleticism.

Killer Tweet!

WojYahooNBA: Making stern's case!!RT @BrettEP: Suns owner Robert Sarver is on my flight back to Phoenix...flying coach.

LyricalRico wrote:

montestewart wrote:

LyricalRico wrote:LOL @ Cleveland making the same mistake Phoenix did.

Shaq + Amare = FAIL

And what if they sign him to a long extension? Could be epic.

But that assumes that LeBron stays. If Shaq and Amare can't coexist, Cleveland doesn't win a title. And if Cleveland doesn't win a title, LeBron's chances of staying go down IMO.

I'm really not getting why Cleveland or Phoenix would make an Amare trade. I find it hard to believe Phoenix can't get more for him, and if excercises his option, they have time to trade him. Plus, they're a much better team with him. And Cleve with Shaq and Amare getting in LeBron's way doesn't make much sense.

For Phoenix, the only reason they'd do it is that Sarver's so cheap, that he actually flies coach.

Ruzious wrote:I'm really not getting why Cleveland or Phoenix would make an Amare trade. I find it hard to believe Phoenix can't get more for him, and if excercises his option, they have time to trade him. Plus, they're a much better team with him. And Cleve with Shaq and Amare getting in LeBron's way doesn't make much sense.

Looking at the stats on 82 games.com it looked like the Shaq/Amare combination worked pretty well 08/09. I think the issue in 07/08 was adapting to losing Marion as much as it was to having Shaq and Amare co-exist.

verbal8 wrote:

Ruzious wrote:I'm really not getting why Cleveland or Phoenix would make an Amare trade. I find it hard to believe Phoenix can't get more for him, and if excercises his option, they have time to trade him. Plus, they're a much better team with him. And Cleve with Shaq and Amare getting in LeBron's way doesn't make much sense.

Looking at the stats on 82 games.com it looked like the Shaq/Amare combination worked pretty well 08/09. I think the issue in 07/08 was adapting to losing Marion as much as it was to having Shaq and Amare co-exist.

Welp, Phoenix has Robin Lopez starting at center, and their winning percentage is higher than last season.

Ruzious wrote:I'm really not getting why Cleveland or Phoenix would make an Amare trade. I find it hard to believe Phoenix can't get more for him, and if excercises his option, they have time to trade him. Plus, they're a much better team with him. And Cleve with Shaq and Amare getting in LeBron's way doesn't make much sense.

Moving Amare for expirings gets the Suns' 2010-2011 cap number down to about $46M. And they can even expand the deal to get more cap space next season while also getting under the tax this season.

Suns trade: Stoudamire, Barbosa, and Dragic
Cavs trade: Ilgauskas, West, and Gibson
TRADE ID 5462751

By my calculations that would allow the Suns to completely avoid the tax this season and increase their cap space this summer to nearly $14M if the cap is around $54M as has been rumored (assuming they waive West). That's pretty good for them IMO.

Cleveland gets to keep Hickson since they are shelling out another $10M or so in salary/luxtax this season. In the longterm, Barbosa is an upgrade over Gibson and Dragic can fill in until they can re-sign West if/when he's waived.

According to Yahoo! Sports, McGrady to New York looks to be almost done:

New York Gets:
Tracy McGrady
Houston's 2011 1st round pick
Joey Dorsey
Brian Cook

Houston Gets:
Jared Jeffries
Jordan Hill
Al Harrington OR Larry Hughes
New York's 2011 1st round pick
New York's 2012 1st round pick

Man...great trade for the Rockets. New York fans better hope like hell they don't suck next season because they could end up trading away a lottery pick to Houston.

Rafael122 wrote:According to Yahoo! Sports, McGrady to New York looks to be almost done:

New York Gets:
Tracy McGrady
Houston's 2011 1st round pick
Joey Dorsey
Brian Cook

Houston Gets:
Jared Jeffries
Jordan Hill
Al Harrington OR Larry Hughes
New York's 2011 1st round pick
New York's 2012 1st round pick

Man...great trade for the Rockets. New York fans better hope like hell they don't suck next season because they could end up trading away a lottery pick to Houston.

McGrady for a lottery pick. Dudes still got it. Crazy!

Wow, I didn't think NY was going to be able to do it. It's still HUGE gamble by them. They give up Hill, swap firsts, and then lost a first. Sure, this brings their cap down to about $19.5M but who's gonna sign with a team that's got a bare cupboard? They could end in a situation where re-signing both Lee and McGrady, plus trading Curry for a guy like Gil is the best they can do with their cap space. That's a huge step down from the LeBron fantasy.

LyricalRico wrote:Wow, I didn't think NY was going to be able to do it. It's still HUGE gamble by them. They give up Hill, swap firsts, and then lost a first. Sure, this brings their cap down to about $19.5M but who's gonna sign with a team that's got a bare cupboard? They could end in a situation where re-signing both Lee and McGrady, plus trading Curry for a guy like Gil is the best they can do with their cap space. That's a huge step down from the LeBron fantasy.

What you just described sounds like a lot of Knicks teams in the late 70s to early 80s.

Scenarios like that create some flexibility for the Wizards, with teams that can accommodate Arenas.

LyricalRico wrote:Wow, I didn't think NY was going to be able to do it. It's still HUGE gamble by them. They give up Hill, swap firsts, and then lost a first. Sure, this brings their cap down to about $19.5M but who's gonna sign with a team that's got a bare cupboard? They could end in a situation where re-signing both Lee and McGrady, plus trading Curry for a guy like Gil is the best they can do with their cap space. That's a huge step down from the LeBron fantasy.

Gil
Tmac
Lebron
DLee
XXx

looks damn good

Most lousy teams plan on building through the draft. The Knicks - not so much. They can save money by just not employing any college scouts. Come to think of it - with the way Hill looks, that might be a smart move.

Donkey McDonkerton wrote:

LyricalRico wrote:Wow, I didn't think NY was going to be able to do it. It's still HUGE gamble by them. They give up Hill, swap firsts, and then lost a first. Sure, this brings their cap down to about $19.5M but who's gonna sign with a team that's got a bare cupboard? They could end in a situation where re-signing both Lee and McGrady, plus trading Curry for a guy like Gil is the best they can do with their cap space. That's a huge step down from the LeBron fantasy.

Gil
Tmac
Lebron
DLee
XXx

looks damn good

My point was that LeBron's not going to sign there in the first place. And even with those 4 guys on your list, they'd have no center and barely any bench.