So here we are days before the trade deadline and it feels to me like a bunch of teams are engaged in a collective game of chicken. There also seem to be two tiers of dealing teams. There are the teams that IMO have to make a deal and the teams that would like to make a deal.
Tier 1: Teams that Have to Make a Deal
CHI - They have to do it. If they don't clear money to go after two big name FAs, they are out of their minds. The question is will they have to move Deng to get the cap space or will they be able to move Salmons and Hinrich. That's why I think they are going to the wire. They are doing everything possible to make sure it's not Deng. In terms of the Cs, I think all the potential players moved by them could help and that includes Ty Thomas.
NYK - Gotta move money. They want LeBron or Wade and in order to get one, they need money for two FAs so they can pair them together or with Bosh, etc...They need to move Jeffries and/or Curry. The question is how much they have to give up to move them. I actually think that both could help the Cs but obviously are overpaid. The Knicks also have very attractive other pieces that IMO could be pried away in order to take on those contracts. Harrington, Chandler, Nate, Lee, Duhon are all interesting parts to add to the Cs.
WASH - again, they have major payroll issues and IMO need to make a move now. The package that we talk about here is Jamison and Miller. I think that that combo would work very well for the Cs, so if I were Danny I would actually prioritize it.
Tier 2: Teams that Would Like to Make a Move
SAC - They could certainly wait to unload money, but with contract like Nocioni burning a hole in their pocket, the question is how long are they willing to hold on to it. They absolutely have no use for Nocioni with Casspi and Donte Green young and needing PT. The question is whether Danny can parlay this desire to move wasted money into Kevin Martin (who is well reported as not fitting their future plans). The thing that bums me out about this is energy going after Martin could take focus away from players that are more likely to be moved (ie CHI trio of big contracts) and we will lose out on both ends.
PHO - They actually could easily be put in the HAVE TO tier. They must be scared skinny that Amare will leave via FA and they will be left holding the bag. It's their own fault really. The owner is long known to make "saving money" type moves and now it could come back to seriously set the whole franchise back. I mean, where do they go if they lose Amare for nothing? As for the Cs, it seems there are teams with better packages to offer (like MIA) and as much as I like Amare, I'm not totally sure how we use him. Do we trade Perk or bring him off the bench. Perk certainly would not be cool with that. and is a KG/Amare a good combo? I don't know, but I certainly would be willing to try it.
PHI - This is another team that really should move the big Iguodala contract. Their franchise is just not moving in the right direction and that is a lot of money to pay to be going the wrong way. Yet Iguodala is good enough that I'm sure the Sixers front office is afraid to make a move that looks bad. But I just keep coming back to the MEM move. We all killed them for that move at the time, but it actually worked for them. It would take serious guts to trade Iggy for an expiring. Maybe they would feel better about it if they could also unload Dalembert. I don't know. I would love for them to be a real player because Iggy teamed up with Paul and KG could be devastating to the EC.
GS - They are incredibly hard to figure out. They have bad contracts and they also seem to be going nowhere, so they seem to be a prime target to move money. They also have players that could definitely help the Cs. Monta, Maggette, Morrow, Radman, Biedrins, et al. all have add offense and/or athleticism to a roster (things that the Cs could use). The problem is their asking price could be way too high (ie they might want Perk) and their center pieces aren't ideal (ie Monta seems to have an Iverson problem of not being able to defend his position and Biedrins would have trouble with Howard and Shaq in playoff matchups). I would be very leary of making a move with Ray for what they have to offer.
The big final question is which tier do the Cs fall into. I tend to think they are in the HAVE TO tier if not for this season but for next. I mean, seriously, are we good with re-signing Ray until KGs contract is up and if not how do we replace him considering we are over the cap even letting his contract come off the books?
Wow. This is going to be an interesting two days.
Topic: Teams that have to/would like to deal. (Read 5745 times)