Celtics/Hornets (trade idea for West)

[Eddie20]

The Hornets and David West(notes) have ended talks on a contract extension, but Demps will live with the possibility of losing West for nothing when West opts out of the $7.5 million owed him in the final year of his contract this summer. Demps will not try to trade his power forward before the Nov. 24 deadline, sources said.

Celtics Receive:

David West

Hornets Receive:

Davis
Daniels
Bradley

The C's are probably not going to be able to re-sign Davis, because his price tag wil be too high. On the other hand, by trading for Davis the Hornets will be able to re-sign the Louisiana native for far less than West will command. He is also a younger building block than West is (30).

West is a definitive upgrade over Davis. His scoring punch off the bench will be something we can definitely use. He can become the offensive center piece of our second unit and not force Doc to overplay Pierce and Allen because our bench isn't able to score. His 2 yr contract runs perfectly with Ainge's plan of having cap relief for the 12-13 season.

Daniels immediately becomes a high buyout candidate. This will allow the C's roster space to sign a D-Leaguer (Sims?) until a better alternative is bought out elsewhere. Additionally, the C's could then re-sign Danies, assuming he is able to return this year.

Bradley's loss hurts, because we don't know what he'll become. However, his cap figure is needed for this deal and does allow us an extra roster space. With the extra roster spaces we can then  add up to two players who are rumored to become bought out (Murphy, Rip etc.). Or we can bring back Daniels and Sheed...stranger things have happened.

[JSD]

The playoff bound Hornets reaction to this proposal:

No.

[pearljammer10]

You do realize West is a borderline All Star, right?

Why do the playoff contending Hornets trade their second best player and one of the games top power forwards for a 6th man, an injured free agent wing, and a 19 year old pg for the d league?

[Eddie20]

You do realize West is a borderline All Star, right?

Why do the playoff contending Hornets trade their second best player and one of the games top power forwards for a 6th man, an injured free agent wing, and a 19 year old pg for the d league?

West is a good player, but not a borderline all-star anymore. He made it twice in his career, but he'll never be one again with the amount of talented PF's in the west. He's not that young and could become the next Jamison in a few years.

Making the playoffs is nice, but they'll probably be eliminated in 5 games. That said, sometimes decisions are made with long term implications in mind. The Hornets will be faced with either letting West leave without any compensation, or re-signing, a then 32 year old player, to a multi-year deal. Neither option is appealing and perhaps they would have value in bringing back a popular LSU player to help in the rebuilding process, which could be received well by their fans. Regardless, no one really knows how teams value certain players. Teams often value players higher than others may.