Sixers Trade Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth to T-Wolves

[Fan from VT]

With the Sixers potentially throwing around all this money this summer between resigning Iguodala and possibly adding Brand/Smith, what are they planning on doing next summer when Andre Miller is a free agent?

This "window of opportunity" will be much smaller if they are unable to resign him.

they will be able to go over the cap to keep miller, the only question is will they be willing to.

[guava_wrench]

Why would you want Booth and Carney? The number 1 is nice though.

I don't think anyone is claiming that they were targeting these two guys. They wanted the free pick.

There won't be good this year regardless.

[munjman]

What I find interesting is that while Brand (coming of a torn achilles) is considered a catch at the age of 29, Paul Pierce was considered by many pundits to be "too old" to win it all at 30 this time last year.  If the Celtics' window was purportedly only 2-3 years at best this time last year, wouldn't that give the Sixers a similarly small window?  Then why consider signing Brand for 5 years?  If the lack of Finals experience for Paul, KG and Ray was considered a detriment to their championship hopes a year ago, isn't Brand's even scantier resume in the post-season make him an even less attractive prospect?  Just wondering...

This is true, but you can't teach a player the post moves that Brand has... It's almost an Al Jefferson type thing... there will always be a market for players with post moves, just like KG... But Pierce and Allen on the other hand "were just aging veteren guards with shaky knees, which made them replaceable"

[Fan from VT]

A first round pick as well?

I think Josh Smith is the guy they are targeting. By all indications, he is ready to sign an offer sheet with Philadelphia.

This is still a bit confusing to me though. If I'm not mistaken, even if Philadelphia does secure the rights to Josh Smith if Atlanta chooses not to match, can Andre Iguodala still be able to re-sign at a max level contract? Meaning, even if a team is over the cap, or too close to it to sign just any player to a max contract, if they have still retained the bird rights to said player, he can be given a max contract am I right?

My understanding of the situation is that all those "projections" of cap space for Philly are already assuming that Iguodala signs a large extension. Looking at their salaries on Hoopshype, with Carney and Booth still on the books and not counting any salary for Iguodala, they are locked in at 34.6 mil, about 25 mil under the cap. I think people are guessing 13 mil for A.I., which is why initial projections were for 12 mil in cap space; trading Carney and Booth for no contracts bumps the overall cap space to around 28 mil, 13 for A.I. and 15 to lure a biggie.

It is my understanding that, say, if Philly had 13 mil in space, they could NOT use that 13 to get a free agent, then turn around and exercise their bird rights to sign Iggy over the cap. there are holds, etc. that prevent this.
This is why the clippers would have to renounce their bird rights on brand and maggette et al in order to remove the holds so that they'd have the space to sign davis, with enough room left over for brand maybe.

Hey Roy: if all the above happens, once Philly is over the cap, would they THEN be able to use the MLE? or is your ability to use the MLE established once at the beginning of the FA period?

Edit: I just visited the ol' FAQ, and Philly will not be able to use the MLE this year.

[iowa plowboy]

Sounds to me like maybe the Sixers are one of the growing number of teams positioning themselves for the primadonna in 2009-2010. 

[wdleehi]

Sounds to me like maybe the Sixers are one of the growing number of teams positioning themselves for the primadonna in 2009-2010. 

Both of the guys they traded could have been let go by then without cap hits. 


This is a move for this year. 

[Roy Hobbs]

Carney may turn into a player.  Booth is a stiff, but he's an expiring stiff.

Yep, exactly.  Carney has legit talent, he just hasn't put it together at the NBA level yet.  He may never do so, but it's worth the gamble.  Add an additional #1, and this is a no brainer.

[MaineBleedsGreen]

I don't think Brand goes to Phili, and it's just because I can't picture him being that kind of guy, especially if the whole story of him and BD making a pact is true. It would just show horrible judgment on Brands part to back stab not only a team but a very outspoken, enigmatic, and likable personality such as BD.

Josh Smith sounds more likely, and is a pretty scary thought to have AI, Smithy, AND Dalembert on that front line ... with that athleticism they're already a top 8 defensive team if that happens, then imagine if some one teaches them to buy into a decent system that exploits their strengths and gets them playing together. wow.

[Bankshot]

I have a feeling that Elton Brand is about to bamboozle Baron Davis and the Clippers like Carlos Boozer did the Cavs a few years ago.

Nah.  Brand already stated he wants to win and that money isn't everything.  He has already made tons of money and he will still make a lot of money with the Clippers.  His best chance to win will be to play with Baron, not to go to the Warriors and be the lone allstar once again.

[iowa plowboy]

Carney may turn into a player.  Booth is a stiff, but he's an expiring stiff.

Yep, exactly.  Carney has legit talent, he just hasn't put it together at the NBA level yet.  He may never do so, but it's worth the gamble.  Add an additional #1, and this is a no brainer.

You're probably right, wdleehi.  While being no expert on the cap....It seems as though Philly took no cap hit by doing this now.  The Nets are doing the same thing and don't appear to be disguising what they're trying to do.  It seems to me like they're moving in the same direction.  I'm thinking longer-term if the Brand or Smith sweepstakes don't pan out.  Puts the Sixers in great shape for the primadonna sweepstakes the year after.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'd be excited to see Smith, Iggy, and Dalembert on the same team.  I'd like to see some meaningful Celts-Sixers games again.  Also, selfishly, I live outside of Philly, and this would put a higher quality product on the floor for me to watch.

I'm curious to see what they do if Atlanta matches their (inevitable) offer sheet to Smith.  I don't think Maggette is the type of player they want to commit big dollars to; you may see them wait until next year.  If Deng hits free agency, he might not be a bad option then.

[Chief]

I have a feeling that Elton Brand is about to bamboozle Baron Davis and the Clippers like Carlos Boozer did the Cavs a few years ago.

Nah.  Brand already stated he wants to win and that money isn't everything.  He has already made tons of money and he will still make a lot of money with the Clippers.  His best chance to win will be to play with Baron, not to go to the Warriors and be the lone allstar once again.

His best chance to win is to get out of the West. Philly with Brand is just as good or better than the Clippers.

Miller
Green
Iguodala
Brand
Dalembert

I would not be surprised to see Tony Allen go there also. It would be a perfect fit. And if the Sixers do sign him (Brand), we ought to be really worried.

[drza44]

Nah.  Brand already stated he wants to win and that money isn't everything.  He has already made tons of money and he will still make a lot of money with the Clippers.  His best chance to win will be to play with Baron, not to go to the Warriors and be the lone allstar once again.

His best chance to win is to get out of the West. Philly with Brand is just as good or better than the Clippers.

Miller
Green
Iguodala
Brand
Dalembert

I would not be surprised to see Tony Allen go there also. It would be a perfect fit. And if the Sixers do sign him (Brand), we ought to be really worried.

I think that his best chance is in LA with Davis.  Think about this: in 2003, the Clippers fielded a line-up of Dre' Miller, Corey Maggette, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, and Olowokandi.  That isn't dramatically different on paper talentwise or stylistically than a line-up of Dre' Miller, Andre' Iguodala, Thad Young, Elton Brand, and Dalembert.  That Clippers team went 27-55.  Now granted Brand and Miller are more experienced now, and hopefully the attitudes/fit/health would be better, so I'd expect playoffs instead of lottery.  But still, I don't see that team's ceiling as championship.

The West may have more quality teams, but there Brand would be paired with Baron Davis.  That's two borderline superstars instead of one plus a bunch of just "good" players like he'd have in Philly.  That teams peak would be on the order of New Orleans or Utah, who most consider to be contenders.  So if I were him, I'd be signing up to stay in LA if the consideration really is where the team would be best.

[Roy Hobbs]

ESPN is reporting that if Brand leaves L.A., he's more likely to sign with Philly than Golden State.  Interesting.

[Moranis]

Nah.  Brand already stated he wants to win and that money isn't everything.  He has already made tons of money and he will still make a lot of money with the Clippers.  His best chance to win will be to play with Baron, not to go to the Warriors and be the lone allstar once again.

His best chance to win is to get out of the West. Philly with Brand is just as good or better than the Clippers.

Miller
Green
Iguodala
Brand
Dalembert

I would not be surprised to see Tony Allen go there also. It would be a perfect fit. And if the Sixers do sign him (Brand), we ought to be really worried.

I think that his best chance is in LA with Davis.  Think about this: in 2003, the Clippers fielded a line-up of Dre' Miller, Corey Maggette, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, and Olowokandi.  That isn't dramatically different on paper talentwise or stylistically than a line-up of Dre' Miller, Andre' Iguodala, Thad Young, Elton Brand, and Dalembert.  That Clippers team went 27-55.  Now granted Brand and Miller are more experienced now, and hopefully the attitudes/fit/health would be better, so I'd expect playoffs instead of lottery.  But still, I don't see that team's ceiling as championship.

The West may have more quality teams, but there Brand would be paired with Baron Davis.  That's two borderline superstars instead of one plus a bunch of just "good" players like he'd have in Philly.  That teams peak would be on the order of New Orleans or Utah, who most consider to be contenders.  So if I were him, I'd be signing up to stay in LA if the consideration really is where the team would be best.

Two things about the 02-03 Clippers, they had more injuries than just about any team has had in awhile.  All 15 players started at least 1 game and 11 players started at least 10 games.  These are the games played from their starters Brand 62, Maggette 64, Odom 49, Kandi 36, Miller 80.  These are the games played from the other 10 guys: Piatkowski 62, Richardson 54, Jaric 66, Dooling 55, Rooks 70, Parks 30, Ely 52, Zhizhi 41, Wilcox 46, Fowlkes 37.  The team had so many injuries and so many different lineups it was ridiculous.

Second, the only guy to play virtually the entire year was Andre Miller and he was a cancer.  He didn't want to be there and Sterling made it known early on he wasn't going to pay Miller in the off season, which just made it worse.  Miller destroyed whatever consistency and continuity that team may have had.  I have no idea how Miller and Brand got along that year so I don't know if that will affect Brand's decision at all, but Miller was about as big a team destroyer that has ever existed.