Detroit

[ozman]

Detroit stink. When are we going to see rip and prince traded? both could realy help a 2nd tier team. One trade off the top of my head is both of them for kiralinkos expiring deal and pick. I cant see them there at the end of the season. They need to blow it up.

[action781]

I think that the 2 of them do need to be traded, especially Rip with Ben Gordon playing his position and now starting.  What do you guys think about Rip to Denver?  Does 'Melo simply hate Denver or is it he just wants to play on a better team?

What do you guys think about something along the lines of:

K-Mart, Lawson, and Afflalo

for

Rip, Prince, and Ben Wallace

1.  How cool would this be to finally have the "team that could have been" with 4 of the championship Pistons now with 'Melo who they could have drafted instead of Darko?

2.  Seriously though, this move would definitely be in Detroit's interest.  They get a promising young pg in Lawson, a rotational young sg in afflalo, and k-mart's contract expires after this season while they get 3 years of Rip's off their books.

3.  If this could keep 'Melo happy enough to re-sign, Denver has to do it.  So, does it do the trick?  They'd need a backup pg now, but be much more steady, experienced, and deep at the 2 and 3.

*I don't know if salaries match.  If you swap Afflalo with JR Smith, I think they would.  I'd say Detroit still does that, don't know if that makes Denver more or less likely to.

[ozman]

I like it for Denver, I don't think it's enought to keep melo aroundthough his mind seems to be made up

[Megatron]

Rip and Prince are the definition of "washed-up"

They are done, they need to both be regulated to bench players on a contending team, or just retire.

[Fafnir]

I think Rip's production combined with his awful contract make him extremely unattractive as a trade target.

Prince's deal is expiring and his level of play is still closer to its peak than Rip's. I think he'd fetch decent value in a trade.

Joe Dumars has turned a great move, trading for Iverson to free up his roster, into a mess with his extension of Rip, signing of Gordon/Charlie V.

[Chris]

I think Rip's production combined with his awful contract make him extremely unattractive as a trade target.

I don't think he will bring back a ton of value, but with the dearth of quality SG's that can actually shoot in the league, and the number of contenders who could really use one (Chicago, Utah, maybe the Mavs), I think Rip will get a lot of interest.  He won't be a first choice, but for teams that don't have a ton to offer (or are not willing to give up blue chip prospects), Rip will be at the top of the market. 

Prince's deal is expiring and his level of play is still closer to its peak than Rip's. I think he'd fetch decent value in a trade.

Agreed.  But again, I think the price for him might end up a little high for a lot of teams, and they will instead turn to Rip.

[Fafnir]

Rip's value is limited in that he doesn't shoot threes well, and he's overpaid for two more years. I just don't see the teams who need SGs taking on that extra money.

Most teams that would do so for a short term boost already have 2s.

[pearljammer10]

Detroit has been "blowin it up" for years now and just havent done it. Prince and Rip should have been traded at least 3 years ago when Stuckey started playing good ball as a young player. Rip and Prince could fit in nicely as role players coming off the bench on a contender.


Teams like Utah, OKC, Chicago, and Atlanta could add one or both of these players to bolster their playoff pushes.

[Chris]

Rip's value is limited in that he doesn't shoot threes well, and he's overpaid for two more years. I just don't see the teams who need SGs taking on that extra money.

Most teams that would do so for a short term boost already have 2s.

I could see a team like Utah (who he would fit perfectly on) trade Okur for him, now that they are looking pretty strong up front without him.  I also could see a team like Chicago try to find a way to get him to make a run.

I think he also could be an interesting piece to NJ in trying to put together a team to lure Melo to sign with them.  

[action781]

The media reports make it seem so certain that 'Melo will get traded.  Isn't the premise that he wants to go to a contender?  How is leaving a 16-10 Nuggets team to go to the 9-20 Nets a good idea for him?  If being on a contender is really his agenda, then wouldn't he rather the nuggets bring in better pieces than to be sent to a crappy team?

I feel like Nets must be out.  I would wager significant money that the Nets play .500 ball the rest of the way if they get Melo.  He'd have a worse team around him than currently.  But there can't be this much smoke from the media without any fire.  Can somebody tell me what I'm missing here?

The Bulls could be a contender but have nothing to offer.  Knicks are the only reasonable situation I think, but even their assets aren't really quite good enough.  Dallas I'll never rule out.  Rockets should be out.  What are your thoughts??

[Chris]

The media reports make it seem so certain that 'Melo will get traded.  Isn't the premise that he wants to go to a contender?  How is leaving a 16-10 Nuggets team to go to the 9-20 Nets a good idea for him?  If being on a contender is really his agenda, then wouldn't he rather the nuggets bring in better pieces than to be sent to a crappy team?

The problem is the Nuggets do not have the means to bring in better players.  They don't have the assets, and their owner is not willing to go well into the luxury tax to put his team over the top. 

As for going to the Nets, the whole thing is, he won't sign there unless they remake their team for him.  Just like the C's did to appease KG, the Nets have the assets and willingness to turn their team around on the fly, and try to turn a terrible team into a contender with a couple bold moves.  It won't be easy, but that is what they are trying to do.

[action781]

The media reports make it seem so certain that 'Melo will get traded.  Isn't the premise that he wants to go to a contender?  How is leaving a 16-10 Nuggets team to go to the 9-20 Nets a good idea for him?  If being on a contender is really his agenda, then wouldn't he rather the nuggets bring in better pieces than to be sent to a crappy team?

The problem is the Nuggets do not have the means to bring in better players.  They don't have the assets, and their owner is not willing to go well into the luxury tax to put his team over the top.  

As for going to the Nets, the whole thing is, he won't sign there unless they remake their team for him.  Just like the C's did to appease KG, the Nets have the assets and willingness to turn their team around on the fly, and try to turn a terrible team into a contender with a couple bold moves.  It won't be easy, but that is what they are trying to do.

I really dislike this.  So essentially, he wants to leave the Nuggets to go to the Nets because the Nuggets are fairly conservative in their approach to be competitive and the Nets are willing to be reckless in their approach.  Then if the bold reckless moves of the Nets work out well, 'Melo is happy.  If the moves don't work out well, 'Melo can demand to be traded and does it all over again leaving an absolute mess in New Jersey.


Ty Lawson, Afflalo, K-Mart's expiring contract, and draft picks aren't decent assets to get something back?  If that's not, then what better assets will the Nets have to build around 'Melo after they deplete all their assets in order to get him in the first place.

[Chris]

The media reports make it seem so certain that 'Melo will get traded.  Isn't the premise that he wants to go to a contender?  How is leaving a 16-10 Nuggets team to go to the 9-20 Nets a good idea for him?  If being on a contender is really his agenda, then wouldn't he rather the nuggets bring in better pieces than to be sent to a crappy team?

The problem is the Nuggets do not have the means to bring in better players.  They don't have the assets, and their owner is not willing to go well into the luxury tax to put his team over the top.  

As for going to the Nets, the whole thing is, he won't sign there unless they remake their team for him.  Just like the C's did to appease KG, the Nets have the assets and willingness to turn their team around on the fly, and try to turn a terrible team into a contender with a couple bold moves.  It won't be easy, but that is what they are trying to do.

I really dislike this.  So essentially, he wants to leave the Nuggets to go to the Nets because the Nuggets are fairly conservative in their approach to be competitive and the Nets are willing to be reckless in their approach.  Then if the bold reckless moves of the Nets work out well, 'Melo is happy.  If the moves don't work out well, 'Melo can demand to be traded and does it all over again leaving an absolute mess in New Jersey.


Ty Lawson, Afflalo, K-Mart's expiring contract, and draft picks aren't decent assets to get something back?  If that's not, then what better assets will the Nets have to build around 'Melo after they deplete all their assets in order to get him in the first place.

Well, he also does not want to live in Denver.  He is from NY, and wants to move back there. 

[jdub1660]

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=24b9fa4

how bout this for us? I know RIP isn't enjoying coming off the bench, but maybe that's b/c Gordon is playing ahead of him on a sorry team. Winning it all might change his mind?

If West comes back healthy, along with Rondo, Nate is then completely expendable. Tmac can handle the ball well if need be, and a bench unit of West,RIp,Tmac,BBD and Shaq/Perk is sick. Absolutely sick. Better than 3/4 of the league's starting5

Give up some draft picks and I think Detroit might bite