Mega Trade from Combined Rumors

[PosImpos]

Combining some of the latest rumors about players that are available and which teams are interested in what, I came up with this monstrosity:


Boston --

Out ($16.2 mil):
Rajon Rondo
Jermaine O'Neal

In ($19.2 mil):
Pau Gasol
Darius Morris


LAL --

Out ($29.9 mil):
Pau Gasol
Ron Artest
Luke Walton
Darius Morris
Steve Blake
1st Round Pick

In ($28.1 mil):
Rajon Rondo
Michael Beasley
Andray Blatche
Roger Mason
Ronny Turiaf


Minnesota --

Out ($11.1 mil):
Michael Beasley
Darko Milicic

In ($13 mil):
Ron Artest
Jermaine O'Neal
1st Round Pick (LAL)


Washington --

Out ($11.6 mil):
Andray Blatche
Roger Mason
Ronny Turiaf

In ($14.5 mil):
Darko Milicic
Steve Blake
Luke Walton


I would present this in the Trade Machine, but it tends to choke on deals with more than 2 teams.  I'm fairly certain the salaries work here.

Boston gets their Rondo for Gasol swap.

Lakers get Rondo and also take on two players who have fallen out of favor with their current teams who nonetheless are fairly young and have a lot of talent (particularly offensively) -- they also get out of the contracts of Blake, Walton, and Artest.

Minnesota unloads Beasley and gets out of Darko's contract; they get a 1st round pick for their trouble and also acquire two defense-first veterans, which they need badly.  Artest could see a bit of a career renaissance reuniting with Rick Adelman (who coached him in Houston).

Washington has indicated a strong desire to change their team culture for the better; in this deal, they get rid of bad character guy and bad contract Andray Blatche, getting in return a couple of good character guys in Blake and Walton, also adding needed depth at backup PG and backup C; they lose some cap space in the short term but gain it in the long term, which is fine since they aren't a free agent destination and have indicated a willingness to get better gradually.



Secondary deal for the Celtics to acquire starting PG:

Boston --

Out:
Keyon Dooling
1st Round Pick (LAC)

In:
Ramon Sessions

Cleveland --

Out:
Ramon Sessions

In:
Keyon Dooling
1st Round Pick (LAC)

Boston gets a starting quality PG who can shoot a bit and also distribute effectively in a half-court offense.  They give up a 1st round pick that will probably be in the mid 20s.

Cleveland gets something for Sessions while getting out of his contract, picking up a good character veteran for the rest of the season in Dooling and also acquiring a late 1st.

[Kane3387]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

[PosImpos]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

Maybe so, but again, I think the important factor to keep in mind there is Adelman.  Artest was a good player in Houston, and I have to think that he and Adelman had mutual respect.

If Artest can put it together even half-way toward what he was doing a couple years ago, he is exactly the sort of player the T-Wolves need to be better right now.  A veteran guy who is a tough wing defender who can also make some open shots.  I imagine his offense could be helped a lot by being on a team with a point guard who can create open looks for others for the first time in years.

[Kane3387]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

Maybe so, but again, I think the important factor to keep in mind there is Adelman.  Artest was a good player in Houston, and I have to think that he and Adelman had mutual respect.

If Artest can put it together even half-way toward what he was doing a couple years ago, he is exactly the sort of player the T-Wolves need to be better right now.  A veteran guy who is a tough wing defender who can also make some open shots.  I imagine his offense could be helped a lot by being on a team with a point guard who can create open looks for others for the first time in years.

If Artest could be what he was in Houston then I think this trade has merit. I think Washington would need a pick to be more motivated to do it.

[Q_FBE]

I admire your creativity and research into this. That said I think this trade helps no one and screws Minnesota and Washington badly. How much is Gasoft really going to help us? Who is going to be the Celtics Point Guard? From the Lakers perspective they get Rondo but the rest of the players are horrible. Can Kobe and Rondo really co-exist? Both are coach killers and will eat Mike Brown for lunch. Besides, don't we have a trade exception to get Ronny Turiaf our selves?

[PosImpos]

I admire your creativity and research into this. That said I think this trade helps no one and screws Minnesota and Washington badly. How much is Gasoft really going to help us? Who is going to be the Celtics Point Guard? From the Lakers perspective they get Rondo but the rest of the players are horrible. Can Kobe and Rondo really co-exist? Both are coach killers and will eat Mike Brown for lunch. Besides, don't we have a trade exception to get Ronny Turiaf our selves?

I'm not sure how much I like this for the Lakers, but it's fairly consistent with what we've heard about the players they want to acquire (particularly Beasley and Rondo) and their willingness to move Gasol.

I don't think there's any question that the Celtics get better at least in the short term when both the first and second deal are considered.

As for the T-Wolves and Wizards, I don't agree that they get screwed.  I think this deal is in line with their objectives (or at least what ought to be their objectives).

Overall, I think this trade isn't amazing for anyone involved, but each team could say they got something worthwhile out of it without really feeling like any one team took complete advantage of any other. I think that's a sign of a solid trade, if not an excellent one.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I like it for Boston — we get our big man (Gasol) and a solid PG in Sessions, though this does prevent us from having cap space for two max free agents, right?

[PosImpos]

I like it for Boston — we get our big man (Gasol) and a solid PG in Sessions, though this does prevent us from having cap space for two max free agents, right?

It would leave us with considerably less cap space, yes (though we'd still have enough to add some players with reasonable value).  But max free agents (Howard, D-Will) aren't likely to come here, anyway -- even with Gasol on board.

[bdm860]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

No record studios?  Metta World Peace can do a collabo with Prince and get Jimmy Jam to produce the album. 

He could also ball with Prince too, and afterwards Prince would probably serve him pancakes.

Pancakes.

[Kane3387]

I like it for Boston — we get our big man (Gasol) and a solid PG in Sessions, though this does prevent us from having cap space for two max free agents, right?

It would leave us with considerably less cap space, yes (though we'd still have enough to add some players with reasonable value).  But max free agents (Howard, D-Will) aren't likely to come here, anyway -- even with Gasol on board.

See I disagree with this. If you did Rondo and JO for Gasol then after this season that leaves you with only Pierce, Gasol, Avery, and Johnson on the books. I believe you have enough to sign one Max Free Agent.

Pierce and Gasol with the chance that Ray could be brought back on the 2.5 exception you get when you reach the salary cap (like JR Smith for the Knicks signed) would be attractive to Howard or Williams. I mean it's better then anyone else can offer. A max deal and you can play with 2-3 all star players besides yourself.

Gasol is 31. Same age as KG when he was traded here. KG is now in his fifth season with Boston. If Gasol can stay away from injury then I think his game can age the same way Duncan's game has. Pierce can age nicely too. You're looking at 2-3 solid years from those two.

Ray wants to stay in Boston. His kid is in the treatment centers in Boston and he's settled there. I think for a chance to keep winning he would likely stay in for what amounts to half the MLE or almost the Mini MLE. He's only playing for a contender so he is looking at no better then MLE money.

At this point if you have Ray, Pierce, Gasol, Doc, and a D-Will/Howard then KG has got to at least consider coming back for one more year at the minimum if we have no other cap space. Karl Malone did it with LA. Shaq did it lat year. Guys will accept that money if they want to play and can compete for a title. Plus don't forget Kg has deferred payments for after he retires based on his last contract, so he doesn't need to go to the highest bidder.

[bostonpatriot]

Overall, I think this trade isn't amazing for anyone involved, but each team could say they got something worthwhile out of it without really feeling like any one team took complete advantage of any other. I think that's a sign of a solid trade, if not an excellent one.

Or just sign of a bad but balanced trade. A trade with something for everybody to dislike.

I disagree though: I doubt Minny will take Artest's presence in the locker room + his salary (there's a trade kicker in his contract, by the way) + weaken their bench this season for a late first round pick.

I doubt Cleveland is willing to give up Sessions for a late first rounder. Those picks have little to no value. They can get more for Sessions; if not, they're better of by simply keeping him as their backup.

And Washington can dump Blatche in a straight salary dump for expiring contracts. Or close to it. They won't need to take back those contracts to get rid of him.

[Gomesfan]

Who the heck is Ron Artest???


Oh wait, he actually looks just like that "stud" Metta World Peace, Are they related? B-D

[PosImpos]

Overall, I think this trade isn't amazing for anyone involved, but each team could say they got something worthwhile out of it without really feeling like any one team took complete advantage of any other. I think that's a sign of a solid trade, if not an excellent one.

Or just sign of a bad but balanced trade. A trade with something for everybody to dislike.

I disagree though: I doubt Minny will take Artest's presence in the locker room + his salary (there's a trade kicker in his contract, by the way) + weaken their bench this season for a late first round pick.

I doubt Cleveland is willing to give up Sessions for a late first rounder. Those picks have little to no value. They can get more for Sessions; if not, they're better of by simply keeping him as their backup.

And Washington can dump Blatche in a straight salary dump for expiring contracts. Or close to it. They won't need to take back those contracts to get rid of him.

a) there have been reports that Cleveland is willing to give up Sessions for a first round pick.  I think a late first is probably the best they could get for him.

b) Washington can't just get rid of Blatche in a salary dump.  Read the story on the front page -- they've been trying to dump him and haven't found any takers.  Best they can probably hope for is to take back some good-character players on bad -- but not as bad -- contracts.

[miraclejohan]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

No record studios?  Metta World Peace can do a collabo with Prince and get Jimmy Jam to produce the album. 

He could also ball with Prince too, and afterwards Prince would probably serve him pancakes.

Pancakes.

TP. Pancakes.

[PosImpos]

Artest would not be a happy camper in Minny. No Record Studios and no Kobe. That would be bad for business for artist and something tells me he acts a fool to get out of that one.

No record studios?  Metta World Peace can do a collabo with Prince and get Jimmy Jam to produce the album. 

He could also ball with Prince too, and afterwards Prince would probably serve him pancakes.

Pancakes.

TP. Pancakes.

Blouses!