Trade Talk Soup..... Target... LAC.

[Guest]

Been reading about the Clippers and their search for a PG.

here's everything that i have found.

Clipps approached Cleveland and offered Maggette/#12/#8 on draft night...

Cleveland said No Deal.

Cleveland then offered Miller for Miles/#8.

Clippers said No deal.

The Clipps then offered Odom/#8.

Cleveland said Odom is too risky.

As the Clipp show was making their pick.... Cleveland offered

Miller for Odom and Caron Butler if the Clipps could get him at 12.

At 10 Miami took him.

Cleveland still would like Butler, Maggette, and a PF.... or Miles.

So LAC is said to be trying to work a three-way with Miami.

The problem is that I don't see Miami needing anything but Butler.

Therefore if there's a trade from Cleveland it would probably be Miles/Ely to Cleveland for Miller.

The other trade partner is New Orleans.

The big trade that was mentioned was Davis to LAC, Miller to N.O. and Odom/#8 to Cleveland. I think Cleveland said no deal. I don't see why N.O. is trying to trade Davis in the first place... However, it has been stated very loudly that Davis wants to end up in NY.

Final word on LAC is that I think they want Miller more than Davis... BUT Davis would almost be a perfect fit for them. N.O. may be a little more willing to negotiate than Cleveland has been.

However, all this noise has got me to thinking. So I went to the Dieselputer and came up with this:

JT/Hendu/1st for Wilcox/Odom

My thinking is this... If they would give up that for Baron Davis, Surely they'd give it up for JT. They play the same game and JT's faster. Plus Odom's stock is down low.

This would be great.

We'd live for the times when the lineup is:

DD/DJ/SAR/Wilcox/Theo.

talking about Swat Central.

[capstone21]

I am not ready to hand the point guard duties to DD yet until he proves himself.

[DJ_Money]

I like the deal. I don't know how the Sterling would feel about Hendu's contract and the fact that JT will want (and is deserving of) a pretty big deal in a year.

I wouldn't mind lining up DD/DJ/Odom/SAR/Theo. If DD can't handle the PG duties, Odom is there for us to fall back on. I might give the ball handling duties to Odom completely, to free up DD to shoot more often.

But, having DD/DJ/SAR/Wilcox/Theo on the floor would be fun, at times...

[Traceman]

though. Talentwise, it makes a whole lot of sense but I don't know about trading a solid citizen and team leader like JT for a weed head and an unproven rookie. If Babs pulled the trigger on the deal, I would understand it though.

By the way, even though they could, no way LAC takes Hendu. If they are hesitant to pay 3 big salaries, you know they won't pay 4 (Olowokandi, Brand, JT, Hendu). It would have to be something like JT/DG (ending salary) for Odom/Wilcox.

[Dukegotgame]

Whats up.. i havent posted in a while but I will start to post more often!

I really like that trade I wouldn't mind giving up JT and DG to get the salaries to work... I would also probably move odom to point which would make our lineup....

Odom/DJ/SAR/Wilcox/Theo

We would have a very big backcourt not to mention lineup.... I hope we could get that to deal to work

[ATLien_]

Is anyone else besides me suprised that LAC were willing to give up so much for Miller? Odom and two lotter picks for Miller? Seems like an awful lot to me. If LAC want to give Odom away because they don't want his contract they can send him here and we can start racking up Championship Rings.

Could you Imagine JT/DJ/Odom/SAR/Theo.

Odom would be the best player on this team assuming he plays at his normal level. LAC were practically giving him away. He has tons of talent.

[Diesel]

I don't think LA has a problem spending money, i think Sterling has a problem spending money for losing.

Let's face it, LAC has the right coach in play. If they were to get JT they'd be playoff Caliber. Also, we have to get something for taking Odom. That something is lose Hendu's contract.

I think that the problem they really face now is:

Will we pay:

Odom, Brand, and later on Miles all Max contracts...

[Diesel]

Odom's cloudy drug past and 2 strikes makes him a huge risk.

BTW, Iverson just got into trouble. I don't know if he still has the 2 strikes against him from the league (being that he was a "changed Citizen" and MVP.)

Odom is in the same boat as Rider was. Great talent but off the court shananagins has made him........questionable.

It would be nice if we could get him for:

Vaughn/1st

[ATLien_]

Yea but Odom is way more talented then JR Rider every was. He has a chance to be a top 5 player IMO and that is worth the risk to me.

[Traceman]

help with the problem? Olowokandi is going to get the max or close to it as well whether Odom stays or not. So if Olowokandi, Brand, Miles, JT AND Hendu are getting big dollars, what does that say for Magette, Q Richardson, etc. LAC is NOT going to tie up big dollars to get rid of Odom when they don't have to. Besides, would you rather have Andre Miller (Baron Davis) or JT, particularly when would have to take Hendu to get JT and NOBODY to get Miller or Davis. It just makes no sense.

[Traceman]

Let's see Andre Miller, Baron Davis or JV, who would I rather have?

[Diesel]

Olowakhandi will not get the max. Not even close. He will be lucky to get more than the MCE... 5 million. He hasn't done more than Nazr or Marc Jackson. IN fact, he has been a huge disappointment. His improvement isn't enough to warrant much over 5 million.

The problem next yr will be:

Odom and Brand. They both will want the max. While Brand will definitely get it, Odom won't. They have lowered his value so that now he might only be a 6.5 million dolllar player. They have 2 yrs to worry about Miles...

They lowered Odom's value by:

1. His reputation.

2. Showing that he was not neccessary. The majority of their winning took place without him.

Right now teams around the league are not rushing to trade for him for these two reasons.

So, no, those guys are not getting big money.

JT is not a max player either. He will not make more than 6 million per. No PG (not even Kidd) has made the Max..... save Payton and JT does not do the same thing that Payton does.

So if you want a list:

JT ~ 6.

Miles 2.4 million

Khandi 5 million

Brand 9.0 million

Hendu 6.5 million

Maggette 1.0 million

Ely 1.0 million

Richardson 1.5 million

That's the beef or their lineup (under my proposal) and they are still under 40 million and FAR under the luxury tax of 55 Million.

Their problems will occur in 2 yrs when Richardson, Miles, Maggette start looking for their contracts...

[Diesel]

Thats all good and fun...

But neither NO or Cleveland wanted Odom for their players straight up.

In fact, Cleveland turned down: Odom + #8 + #12 for Miller.

What does that tell you about Odom?? He has very little value.

Maybe not JV/1st yet...

However, the longer he stays untraded, the shorter his value will be.

[Traceman]

The following was taken from yesterdays Insider:

Insider polled six league executives about the contract demands of four prominent free agents this year and another six prominent members of the draft class of 1999. Who should get the max? Here's what they said.

Free-agents

1. Michael Olowokandi -- Consensus: the max

We'll pause while Elgin Baylor revives Donald Sterling. While every source Insider talked to agreed that Olowokandi is still a project, they felt that given the dearth of big, athletic true centers in the league, Olowokandi was worth every penny. Given that the average salary for a starting center already starts at $7.5 million, Olowkandi's contract demands (a max deal would start him at about $10 million this season) aren't that ridiculous.

"Of all the guys on the Clippers, he's the player we all covet," one league executive told Insider. "He's still raw, but you see him improving every season. You're always a little concerned when you see a guy make a huge jump in his play during a contract year, but Michael's combination of power, athleticism and size doesn't come along very often. If he played on a team that featured him more in the offense, I think he'd be an All-Star."

Another GM put it more bluntly. "If the Clippers screw this up and he becomes an unrestricted free agent, barring some sort of injury or atrocious season, he'll get max offers from several teams."

It is the consensus of SIX league executives that Olowokandi should get the max and you say he won't get close to it and will be lucky to get the MCE? What the hell are you talking about? That is just an ignorant statement.

The ONLY way he doesn't get the max (or very close to it) is if HE decides not to sign a longterm deal with the Clips and takes their qualifying offer for this upcoming season. Then next season, he will be an unrestricted FA.

So bottom line, if 6 top league execs say the guy is worth the max, then why would he sign for the exception? If Sterling is to cheap to pay him, he just plays for the qualifying offer that he was extended (which I think was in excess of $6 million) this upcoming season and becomes an unrestricted FA next season.

Most execs think that Brand would be easier to replace than Olowokandi and that is probably true. In other words, LAC could trade Brand and go with Wilcox and Ely. If they trade Olowokandi, who is going to play Center?

Odom's problems and injuries have decreased his value quite a bit but not as low as you would have people believe. At any rate, he certainly doesn't have as much trade value as Olowokandi.

As far as PG's getting the max goes, you're wrong about that too. Marbury got the max and Kidd signed his current deal BEFORE max salaries were put into place. Francis, Davis and probably Miller will all end up with max deals as well. Payton, Stoudemire and Brandon make more money now than those guys will in the first year of their max deals so for salary cap reasons, they might as well have max deals too.

JT probably won't get a max deal but combining him with Hendu's salary is MORE than a max deal.

Even if your numbers weren't all screwed up (they are), do you think LAC has no interest in signing Miles, Richardson or Magette to long term deals? Do you think they would let Miles, Richardson and Magette walk for the privelege of trading Odom (who is a more talented player than JT by the way) and Wilcox for JT and Hendu? Do you realize how RIDICULOUS that sounds. They would NEVER take Hendu in that deal. NEVER! I don't think they would take Hendu to get SAR.

[Diesel]

Don't go nowhere trace... When Khandi does not get the max... I want to hear you eat the crow!!!

If Mark Jackson didn't get the max after the season he had with GS, there's no way that lowly Khandi will get the Max. Hell McCollough had all those attributes that are mentioned and he was actually a good player. Khandi is not.

[Hawksfreak]

Candi man is too much

[Traceman]

and become unresticted next year. He wouldn't get the max THIS YEAR if he did that. He could also sign a deal very close to the max without getting the max as I said before.

Since the max is going to be around $10 million season and you claim he won't get any more than $5 million season, I'll eat Crow if he signs a deal starting at less than $7.5 million season (not including this years qualifying offer of $6 million which he could play for) and you eat crow if he signs a deal starting at greater than $7.5 million. How's that?

[Hawksfreak]

he is probably gonna be they closest center to shaq

[Diesel]

7.5 million or lower you eat... (save if it's a 1 yr deal.)

7.5 million or higher, I eat.

Cool.

Ask who you will. He's been on I-20 too long with a gun and a ski mask. He's not better than any of the second tier Cs. I doubt he gets first tier money.