how about Earl Watson?

[Jeff]

ok, so I'm looking for reasonable upgrades via the trade market and free agency and I thought of this brainstorm

Tony Allen and Scal for Earl Watson

he's a veteran who's not too old and would accept a backup position - especially on a contender (he's frustrated at being on the Thunder)

http://newsok.com/earl-watson-changes-agencies/article/3375209?custom_click=lead_story_title

this works especially if we can find a big (McDyess?) and a small forward (Grant Hill?) in the free agent market

[Roy Hobbs]

Many people seem to not like Watson much, but I'd do that deal.  I think he's a good passer, above-average defender, and he can score.  He's a spotty outside shooter, but better than Rondo (obviously).

[Jeff]

as a starter he's not a great option at all - but as a backup I'd be fine with him

besides, the Thunder have the PG of their future with Westbrook

[Who]

Great trade for Oklahoma and they'd make that deal too.

Earl Watson is a terrible defender and has been for the last couple of years. His lack of defense is a killer blow ... it's unfortunate, because his floor general and playmaking skills have greatly improved from his years in Memphis. Still can't shoot consistently either, another problem, shooting and defense, not enough of either.

I'm not interested in Earl Watson.

[Chris]

Many people seem to not like Watson much, but I'd do that deal.  I think he's a good passer, above-average defender, and he can score.  He's a spotty outside shooter, but better than Rondo (obviously).

I agree.  I have proposed similar deals on other sites, and not gotten good feedback, but I think Watson is one of the better backup PG's in the league.  Since you would just be trading spare parts for him, it seems like a very good value deal. 

Yeah, he would be making more money than he is worth, but so what?  He would be an important part of the rotation, and would allow the C's to use their MLE and LLE to bring in a wing and big man.

I think if the C's could make a deal like that, they should strongly consider it, unless they were being bowled over by better offers for their spare parts.

[lon3lytoaster]

I would explore other options with Scal and Tony's contracts first. I've been drooling over the possibility of getting Barbosa for a couple months now, and that's something that needs to be talked about between Boston in Phoenix. However, I do like Watson, though. And if a deal can't be reached for Barbosa, Watson would be another alright option.

[Chris]

I would explore other options with Scal and Tony's contracts first. I've been drooling over the possibility of getting Barbosa for a couple months now, and that's something that needs to be talked about between Boston in Phoenix. However, I do like Watson, though. And if a deal can't be reached for Barbosa, Watson would be another alright option.

I don't know if the C's would be that interested in Barbosa's contract.  He is making over $21 million over the next 3 years.  That is a lot for an undersized backup SG.  I would rather have House at much less money, and then look for a real backup PG. 

[hankfinkel]

Besides goodwill with the Cs what does OKC get out of this deal?  Watson is an expiring deal as well, so no savings there, and they are giving up the most useful NBA player of the 3.  I guess they fill two rosters spots as opposed to one for similar money, and I guess there was some talk about them liking TA last year, but I can't imagine they still do.  I think they could get a little more for Watson than just other expiring deals.  Throw in a cheap young player or a second round pick maybe they do it.

Packaging TA and Scal for Collison saves some cash for OKC next year.  That they may bite on.

[Who]

Oklahoma are trying hard to get rid of Earl Watson. They don't want him back next season.

Watson appears to have very little trade value so I doubt they get anything substantial for him in return. Expiring contracts which shave $1mil or so off their payroll would be enough.

[Chris]

Besides goodwill with the Cs what does OKC get out of this deal?  Watson is an expiring deal as well, so no savings there, and they are giving up the most useful NBA player of the 3.  I guess they fill two rosters spots as opposed to one for similar money, and I guess there was some talk about them liking TA last year, but I can't imagine they still do.  I think they could get a little more for Watson than just other expiring deals.  Throw in a cheap young player or a second round pick maybe they do it.

Packaging TA and Scal for Collison saves some cash for OKC next year.  That they may bite on.

Well, for one, they save about $700,000.  And if they buy out Scal, they could save even more.

Also, I think TA would be more valuable to OKC than he would be to the C's, and Watson, has made it clear he is unhappy in OKC, and wants out.  While Watson may be more useful to the C's, Tony could really put up nice numbers in OKC, and excite some fans (just look at what he did with fans in Boston, prior to his knee injury and the KG trade), and Watson would just be riding the bench behind Westbrook, and potentially Rubio and/or Livingston.

But I agree that OKC might be more motivated to do the trade for Collison, but the C's might be less interested in bringing on Collison's money next year...especially if they have a big man targetted as a FA.

[Jeff]

I wouldn't mind Collison either - he's a solid backup big isn't he?

[hankfinkel]

Besides goodwill with the Cs what does OKC get out of this deal?  Watson is an expiring deal as well, so no savings there, and they are giving up the most useful NBA player of the 3.  I guess they fill two rosters spots as opposed to one for similar money, and I guess there was some talk about them liking TA last year, but I can't imagine they still do.  I think they could get a little more for Watson than just other expiring deals.  Throw in a cheap young player or a second round pick maybe they do it.

Packaging TA and Scal for Collison saves some cash for OKC next year.  That they may bite on.

Well, for one, they save about $700,000.  And if they buy out Scal, they could save even more.

Also, I think TA would be more valuable to OKC than he would be to the C's, and Watson, has made it clear he is unhappy in OKC, and wants out.  While Watson may be more useful to the C's, Tony could really put up nice numbers in OKC, and excite some fans (just look at what he did with fans in Boston, prior to his knee injury and the KG trade), and Watson would just be riding the bench behind Westbrook, and potentially Rubio and/or Livingston.

But I agree that OKC might be more motivated to do the trade for Collison, but the C's might be less interested in bringing on Collison's money next year...especially if they have a big man targetted as a FA.

Man, these franchises that will trade any player value (if that's how they would see it)for about $700,000 (and how much is Scal going to shave off - vet min at most I imagine, but probably not even close to that) just start to make this league ridiculous.  Although, I agree OKC could be so motivated.  There certainly is not a great deal of value or risk going back and forth in this deal, so maybe this is the kind of thing that does get done and gives Watson and TA fresh starts if nothing else, and as you say perhaps they match the other team's needs better.  Maybe OKC can't do much better than this.

Yeah, if the Cs sign a vet FA, then Collison is off the list.   If they miss out on their targets, they could come back to it as a fallback.

[Chris]

Besides goodwill with the Cs what does OKC get out of this deal?  Watson is an expiring deal as well, so no savings there, and they are giving up the most useful NBA player of the 3.  I guess they fill two rosters spots as opposed to one for similar money, and I guess there was some talk about them liking TA last year, but I can't imagine they still do.  I think they could get a little more for Watson than just other expiring deals.  Throw in a cheap young player or a second round pick maybe they do it.

Packaging TA and Scal for Collison saves some cash for OKC next year.  That they may bite on.

Well, for one, they save about $700,000.  And if they buy out Scal, they could save even more.

Also, I think TA would be more valuable to OKC than he would be to the C's, and Watson, has made it clear he is unhappy in OKC, and wants out.  While Watson may be more useful to the C's, Tony could really put up nice numbers in OKC, and excite some fans (just look at what he did with fans in Boston, prior to his knee injury and the KG trade), and Watson would just be riding the bench behind Westbrook, and potentially Rubio and/or Livingston.

But I agree that OKC might be more motivated to do the trade for Collison, but the C's might be less interested in bringing on Collison's money next year...especially if they have a big man targetted as a FA.

Man, these franchises that will trade any player value (if that's how they would see it)for about $700,000 (and how much is Scal going to shave off - vet min at most I imagine, but probably not even close to that) just start to make this league ridiculous.  Although, I agree OKC could be so motivated.  There certainly is not a great deal of value or risk going back and forth in this deal, so maybe this is the kind of thing that does get done and gives Watson and TA fresh starts if nothing else, and as you say perhaps they match the other team's needs better.  Maybe OKC can't do much better than this.

Yeah, if the Cs sign a vet FA, then Collison is off the list.   If they miss out on their targets, they could come back to it as a fallback.

Honestly, I think if OKC doesn't take a deal similar to this C's deal, then my guess is they will simply be buying out Watson.  They just do not have much use for him in their youth movement, and he doesn't want to be there.

But I also think Tony Allen would be a decent pickup for a team like that.  For as terrible as he is on the C's, he could make a GM of a team like OKC look really good to his fans.  He is not going to help win many games, but he is going to score some points, make some highlight steals, and make a couple highlight dunks.  I think on a team like the Thunder, he will end up turning into essentially John Salmons without the jump shot.  Not a bad return for a guy you don't want anyways.

[Weediam]

I like the deal, but if we are to look for a backup for Rondo via trade or free angency, I'd like to get someone who can stretch the floor a little more than Watson.  He shot a horrendous 23% from threes in 68 games last year, averaging 33% for his career.  For me, having eddie as the immediate backup would be better than Watson, since he's won a title with us already in Doc's and Thibb's system.

Of course, Eddie always performed better as the backup 2.  An ideal backup for Rondo would be a good 3 point shooter to stretch the floor who can play some active defense.  Not sure who this could be.

My guy would be Andre Miller, even though he is not a shooting threat (Eddie could serve as the 3 point threat if needed), he averaged 21ppg against the Magic this postseason, and he'll be a 10 year vet next year.  We all know veteran backup PGs usually perform well on championship-caliber teams, hungry for a title.

[wdleehi]

I like the idea since I don't like any of the FA PGs out there.