Rafer Alston Bought Out - Heat/Cavs front runners

[Drucci]

Well you can forget Alston, he is going to Miami (from Spears' Twitter) :

Miami has agreed to send Chris Quinn to Nets for future 2nd and cash to free roster spot and will sign Rafer Alston, sources say.

[Who]

What problems has Rafer Alston had accepting his role + inside a locker room?

The only problems I can remember him having on the court where in Toronto. Everywhere else he's been a positive influence. In Houston, and Miami, Milwaukee and Orlando. NJ too. He had some off the court trouble while in Houston but nothing negative where basketball is concerned.

On the court and inside the locker room Rafer Alston has been a team first player. Strong work ethic. Superb teammate. Got along well with his coaches (JVG, SVG, Adelman), learns their systems well + quickly and helps teach/lead his teammates on the court and during practices (the system/philosophies).

Am I forgetting parts of his past?

[Lucky17]

Well you can forget Alston, he is going to Miami (from Spears' Twitter) :

Miami has agreed to send Chris Quinn to Nets for future 2nd and cash to free roster spot and will sign Rafer Alston, sources say.

Why would the Nets pay cash and give up a 2nd for Quinn? Or am I misreading this?

Nets have a trade exception large enough to absorb Quinn, which helps Miami out. So the 2nd had better be heavily protected (virtually non-deliverable), and Miami ought to send NJ the cash, since the move helps reduce their lux tax.

Oh, and Quinn should be cut. Not worth the roster spot, especially if NJ is planning on that Najera trade to Dallas.

[Who]

Wojnarowski has the Heat sending the second round to New Jersey as part of the Chris Quinn trade ... as part of the Rafer buyout story on Yahoo's NBA frontpage.

[Lucky17]

Wojnarowski has the Heat sending the second round to New Jersey as part of the Chris Quinn trade ... as part of the Rafer buyout story on Yahoo's NBA frontpage.

Yep, that was all twisted up. I now see that Miami sends the pick and cash to Jersey, for the privilege of taking on Quinn.

I also see that Jersey bought out Alston for $4 mil, saving $1.25 million in the process. That more than covers Quinn's salary, plus the extra cash and the 2012 2nd from Miami.

Rod Thorn made the Nets some nice money today.

[nickagneta]

The way to look at this - is there any better potential FA that will become available for the rest of the year? Doubtful. Alston fills a hole for the Celtics. He's a better player than House in almost every facet of the game except long-range shooting and even then, he's pretty good.

In terms of chemistry, doubt it'd be an issue, and again, he can be cut. Alston was the starting PG on a team that went to the Finals last year. I think he'd be fine.  

I don't know. Come the trading deadline, which is the deadline for the luxury tax threshold to be met, teams could try buyouts to get as much off their payrolls as possible. Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, Denver and Utah are all teams that, depending on circumstances could be willing to dump salary fast around the trading deadline to get under the luxury tax area and not have to pay a penalty.

Also, teams wanting to shed payroll due to economic reasons might want to buy out players as well. Who knows what could happen but any of these guys have a possibility of being bought out:

Flip Murray
Brian Cook
Tracy McGrady
Earl Watson
Marcus Camby
Rasual Butler
Craig Smith
Allen Iverson
Quinton Richardson
Udonis Haslem
Carlos Arroyo
Dorrell Wright
Luke Ridnour
Hakim Warrick
Damien Wilkens
Sasha Pavlovic
Trenton Hassell
Tony Battie
Devin Brown
Larry Hughes
Nate Robinson
Chris Duhon
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
Mike Miller
Mike James
Brendan Haywood

I'm not saying all these guys could be bought out but they all are on teams that could do it to save money as they are all expiring contracts, so you never know.

[wdleehi]

Get on the phones now.  He is the backup PG the Celtics have needed.


Waive (or trade) Hudson or Walker. 

[nickagneta]

Get on the phones now.  He is the backup PG the Celtics have needed.


Waive (or trade) Hudson or Walker. 

Too late. I think this was all a part of a salary cap circumvention run around to basically trade Alston to Miami for the second rounder and Quinn.

I don't see how the league could look at this any other way.

And I can't see how it will be allowed if it is found out to be just that.

[Roy Hobbs]

Get on the phones now.  He is the backup PG the Celtics have needed.


Waive (or trade) Hudson or Walker. 

Too late. I think this was all a part of a salary cap circumvention run around to basically trade Alston to Miami for the second rounder and Quinn.

I don't see how the league could look at this any other way.

And I can't see how it will be allowed if it is found out to be just that.

While you're right that that's exactly what it is, I'm sure the league will allow it, especially since Alston is technically allowed to sign anywhere.

I mean, the league rubber-stamped it when we did the exact same thing last season with Mikki Moore (i.e., making a trade with Sacramento to open up a roster spot, and then signing Moore, who Sacramento bought out.)

[Who]

Trenton Hassell
Tony Battie
Larry Hughes

They are the three names that stand out for me. Particularly the two wings. It'd be nice to pickup an extra wing. I'd rather not be in a position where the team is solely relying on Tony Allen to play smart basketball in the playoffs if needed. Having that one extra option would ease my concerns.

[Chris]

Bobby Simmons is the guy I am hoping gets bought out.  I don't know if he is injured or what, but he hasn't been playing much for the Nets, and would benefit greatly from working out a buyout, and catching on with a contender.  He is dramatically overpaid right now, but he would be a great addition to this C's team with his length, shooting ability, and defensive ability. 

[Brickowski]

Who cares about all of this extraneous character stuff?  The fact is that Alston's excellent play filling in for the injured Jameer Nelson is one of the reasons why Orlando, not Boston, was playing in the NBA finals last year.

Alston is a legitimate NBA point guard. Tony Allen and Lester Hudson are not, although I thought Tony did an excellent job against Toronto.

[nickagneta]

Bobby Simmons is the guy I am hoping gets bought out.  I don't know if he is injured or what, but he hasn't been playing much for the Nets, and would benefit greatly from working out a buyout, and catching on with a contender.  He is dramatically overpaid right now, but he would be a great addition to this C's team with his length, shooting ability, and defensive ability. 

For me that guy is Larry Hughes. He is expiring. he is at a position we could use(wing), he's a good defender, and he can slash, score and pass while taking decent care of the ball. Basically a bigger, longer, better version of Tony Allen without all the turnovers.

I know he would be a little redundant on this team with Daniels and Tony but I think Tony's going to be traded and Hughes is a better fit to guard big wing players than Tony.

[Chris]

Bobby Simmons is the guy I am hoping gets bought out.  I don't know if he is injured or what, but he hasn't been playing much for the Nets, and would benefit greatly from working out a buyout, and catching on with a contender.  He is dramatically overpaid right now, but he would be a great addition to this C's team with his length, shooting ability, and defensive ability. 

For me that guy is Larry Hughes. He is expiring. he is at a position we could use(wing), he's a good defender, and he can slash, score and pass while taking decent care of the ball. Basically a bigger, longer, better version of Tony Allen without all the turnovers.

I know he would be a little redundant on this team with Daniels and Tony but I think Tony's going to be traded and Hughes is a better fit to guard big wing players than Tony.

I was thinking about him too, but does he have anything left?  The last few times I saw him play, he looked completely cooked.  But you are right, if he has anything left, and can still defend, he would be perfect.   

[nickagneta]

Bobby Simmons is the guy I am hoping gets bought out.  I don't know if he is injured or what, but he hasn't been playing much for the Nets, and would benefit greatly from working out a buyout, and catching on with a contender.  He is dramatically overpaid right now, but he would be a great addition to this C's team with his length, shooting ability, and defensive ability. 

For me that guy is Larry Hughes. He is expiring. he is at a position we could use(wing), he's a good defender, and he can slash, score and pass while taking decent care of the ball. Basically a bigger, longer, better version of Tony Allen without all the turnovers.

I know he would be a little redundant on this team with Daniels and Tony but I think Tony's going to be traded and Hughes is a better fit to guard big wing players than Tony.

I was thinking about him too, but does he have anything left?  The last few times I saw him play, he looked completely cooked.  But you are right, if he has anything left, and can still defend, he would be perfect.   

What I've read is that he's still working his way back from a groin injury but otherwise is fine but that D'Antoni had decided to put him in his doghouse to make room for Robinson.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/hughes_growing_tired_of_antoni_mind_UZ6plY90c6dcXOPnThyzpM

He seems to be struggling coming back from the injury but I think he'd be a decent pick up and much better wing insurance than Walker or Giddens