The NBA trade deadline is fast approaching on 18 February, 2010. There are quite a few murmurs out there about potential deals that will happen. There are also quite a few teams that have needs that need addressing. Daniel Eade of Gaze Hoops joined me in discussion about what might unfold before the deadline.
Daniel: I will start with a blockbuster of the highest magnitude.
Phoenix want to fall below the luxury tax ($69.92million), aand to do so must shave $9,124,188 off their current payroll.
So what I suggest is extreme, but not only would it save Phoenix a massive amount of money in salaries this season, it would entitle them to a piece of the Luxury Tax Pool (divided by all teams under the Luxury Tax) and could net the franchise approximately $10,000,000.
So by saving $9,000,000 approximately off the payroll, then receiving $10,000,000 approximately from the Pool, Phoenix would profit $19,000,000 (minus percentage of payments already made) approximately from these deals.
Part I – Phoenix Trade Amare Stoudemire to Washington in exchange for Antwan Jamison and Jarvis Crittenton. (While Crittenton is under investigation from the NBA, the Suns keep him away from the team.)
Stoudemire is surely going to bolt at seasons end, so in return you get two and a half-season of Jamison at $4.7million cheaper and Crittenton’s expiring contract.
In return Washington get someone who will fill seats for half a season and then have many options of what they should do with Stoudemire next season, be it sign and trade, re-sign, or let his expiring deal walk.
Part II – Phoenix trade Jason Richardson to Chicago in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and James Johnson.
With three years left on his contract, Hinrich comes $3.8million cheaper than Richardson. Hinrich can play combo-guard, admit it Goran Dragic ain’t the point guard of the future, so you also find a legitimate back-up for Nash in the process. And the high flying Johnson comes in the deal as well.
The Bulls get their need for a shooting guard, which they have missed since the departure of Ben Gordon. John Salmons ain’t a 2-guard, he’s a small forward, and at the moment the Bulls are trying to push a circle block into a square opening.
Part III – Phoenix trade Leandro Barbosa to Memphis in exchange for Stephen Hunter.
This deal is done purely to wipe money off, and with the addition of Hinrich can be more manageable with court time.
The Grizz pick up an offensive spark for their bench or a valuable trade asset if they feel they need something else.
Part IV – Phoenix trade Jarron Collins to Oklahoma City for future draft considerations.
The final piece that needs to be “thrown out” to get the Suns under the line.
The Thunder can stay well under the salary cap and also add insurance to the front line for their playoff assault.
So after all is said and done, Phoenix wipe off $9.3million in salaries, become eligible for a $10,000,000+ pay day at the end of the season and acquire Jamison, Hinrich and Johnson into their rotation to replace Stoudemire, Richardson and Barbosa for significant minutes.
So who says Yes/No?
Mookie: That is one HUGE trade! Let me address each part of it.
Part I — I can see that happening, as talk of Amar’e being traded has been rampant for a while. Jamison is a nice piece to get in return. The only question I have, is whether Jamison fits in with Nash’s pace?
Part II – this part perhaps makes the most sense of all. The Bulls have been looking to deal Hinrich for a while (if you believe the hype) and Richardson is the dynamic scorer they’ve lacked since the departure of Ben Gordon. So I can see the sense in this. Hinrich provides nice support behind Nash and alongside him.
Part III – as purely a financial move, it makes some sense to ditch Barbosa, particularly as the Grizz suit his style of play. Hunter has played in Phoenix before (04-05) also.
Part IV – pretty basic, makes sense.
In short, you’ve just overhauled Phoenix’s roster and changed the identity of it in a big way by moving Amar’e and Barbosa, two of the keys for this team in the recent era. But if they’re to get some flexibility to do big things whilst Nash is still able to be amazing (looks like that is a 1-2 year window), then they need something drastic.
Here are two trade ideas that might help address the roster issues that the Portland Trail Blazers are experiencing:
Trade VI – Steve Blake is traded by the Blazers to Detroit for Jason Maxiell. This trade would only go down if the other one above didn’t, presumably. The Pistons are one of the worst in the league in terms of three-pointers — a gunner like Blake would suit them perfectly and also provide some veteran smarts in the backcourt alongside the likes of youngsters Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum, who have been logging serious minutes. Meanwhile Portland gets the bruiser they’re seriously lacking to play behind LaMarcus Aldridge. Maxiell has fallen out of the Pistons’ rotation a little with Jonas Jerebko’s remarkable play and Ben Wallace’s reincarnation as Ben Wallace of 2004.
Assuming the Blazers made the two trades above, they’d be running with the following lineup next season, with a few questions in the big man department:
What say you on these deals?
Daniel: I say “No” to both, and I put my reasoning behind Portland not needing more youth. Nathan Jawai, Ryan Hollins or Jason Maxiell don’t stand as the most impressive specimens so I think Portland would be better off chasing a veteran big man or someone that has shown at some stage that they can deliver on a nightly basis. Brace yourself, how about Eddy Curry? We’ll continue when you pick yourself up off the floor.
Well after playing around with it, a deal for Curry can’t be done, but working with the New York Knicks, who are desperate to unload Jared Jeffries, how about this…
Trade VII – Portland trade Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake (both expiring contracts) to New York for Jared Jeffries and Danilo Gallinari.
Portland basically agree to take on Jeffries if the Knicks throw in Gallinari, which could be the difference between NY getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh or neither.
New York fall $9.5million further below the salary cap for the assault on the upcoming free-agent class.
Who say Yes/No?
Mookie: Sometimes it’s good to have a non-Portland fan to stifle my ideas with a bit more reason when it comes to Blazers-related trades. In particular, when it comes to the Jawai trade, I must admit that I was somewhat (okay, very) biased by the idea of bringing another Aussie into the team alongside Mills.
However, with regard to Maxiell, I still think it to be a sound idea. Portland needs a bruiser to be the anti-LaMarcus and Maxiell is basically just that.
Now… the Curry deal. I have to say that this would never happen. Not as a basketball decision, but because Portland is notoriously conservative when it comes to questionable personalities. Curry has had his share of controversy in the past and the Blazers wouldn’t bring in a player like that, unless they were an amazing talent. Even then, it would probably be unlikely, from what I have gleaned in listening to Kevin Pritchard over the years.
Gallo and Jeffries for Outlaw and Blake would be a particularly tantalising move for the Blazers, being able to bring in a guy of Gallo’s talent and youth. The only issue here would be the increased logjam at the swingman positions — something which has already been an issue. Would they bring in two more small forwards? I don’t know.
From New York’s perspective, they’d certainly have to realise that they were putting all of their eggs into that LBJ/Bosh/Wade basket, as the general thinking goes that they were keeping Gallo and Lee on board in particular as enticements to LeBron joining the Knicks. However, if they could make room to pull in two of those superstars at once, they might not need to worry about having any other pieces of note. I say they’re crazy enough to do it with the salivating thought of LeBron and Bosh/Wade together in MSG.
Reading all that I assume that this trade would indeed pull them far enough under the cap for two max contracts…
Now, I have another Amar’e trade idea. There is plenty of talk of him moving somewhere, it just seems a matter of where and when. Meanwhile, there seems to be some upheaval with Monta Ellis in Golden State. During the draft there were already rumours of Amar’e being moved to the Bay Area in a Stephen Curry trade. I have a new idea. Amar’e Stoudemire for Monta Ellis and Ronny Turiaf. Golden State gets a legit star who can bang down low for them and they alleviate some of the bulge in their guards department. Meanwhile the Suns get a guy who fits perfectly with Steve Nash’s run’n’gun style in Ellis and a shot-blocker in Turiaf who fits well in cleaning up the scraps and getting the break ignited.
What say you?
Daniel: I really like Amar’e Stoudemire and I really don’t want to see him go to Golden State. If Don Nelson wasn’t there, I’d maybe be a bit enticed to see it happening but I just can’t see those two co-existing. I would like to see Monta Ellis (who despite having All-Star calibre numbers is often criticised) in Phoenix, he could prove my point that everything works out with Steve Nash (even Shaquille O’Neal who was an All-Star last season), but I’d prefer that if the Suns traded Amar’e that they would acquire someone who can finish around the basket with authority and who can really work the pick and roll. Isn’t Ronny Turiaf the anti-Stoudemire? (I have no idea what that means but it sounded good.) Monta would also come into a logjam with Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa for minutes. To trade Amar’e for anything but a power forward/centre, is a deal better left for the off-season where more moves can be made. Would you trade Stoudemire to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut? Stoudemire wouldn’t stay beyond this season so the Bucks would never contemplate it, but on a one-for-one deal, I think Phoenix would. But put that one down as a trade that would never happen, I’ll move on.
I’ll give you one more. Phoenix trade Amar’e Stoudemire to New York for David Lee, Danilo Gallinari and Jared Jeffries.
Once again this trade is based on (this time) Phoenix saying they’ll take Jeffries if Gallinari is thrown in, but because they are sending New York an All-Star, they want Lee.
Now what this does for New York, is bring them one piece to the puzzle for 2010/11 and beyond. Stoudemire will be able to re-sign with New York using his “Larry Bird rights” so the Knicks would still be able to add LeBron and Bosh/Joe Johnson/Wade to Stoudemire who will already be in uniform and teamed with his former coach in Mike D’Antoni.
Mookie: Hmmm… tough call. I don’t think that the Knicks would be willing to give up that much for Amar’e. Gallinari and Lee are their two promising building blocks. To give them both up for a potentially injury-prone big in Amar’e is a risky move, particularly given that he may not stay around after his contract expires. Jeffries, whilst he has a burdensome contract, has been brilliant defensively and in fact has been a star on that end of the court for them in the last 20 games or so.
Secondly, would they indeed be able to fit Amar’e along with two max contracts under the cap? I haven’t done the numbers on this, so I don’t know.
On Phoenix’s end, I’m sure they’d love to get those players — in particular I could see Lee fitting in nicely running the break, being the mobile big that he is.
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So, what do you say? Do you think any of these trades will go down, or do you have some other trade ideas? Post them in the comments below.
