Miami Makes a Move

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=l37rl2

Sorry for another Boozer to Miami trade but this one is pretty significantly different.

Miami trades Udonis Haslem (1 yr 7.1 mil) and James Jones (1 yr 4.3 mil + Team Options) to the Jazz and trades Jermaine O'Neal (1 yr 23 mil) Daequan Cook (1 yr 1.3 mil + Team Options) to the Bucks. Utah trades Carlos Boozer (1 yr 12.6 mil) to the Heat and Kyle Korver (1 yr 5.3 mil) to the Bucks. Milwaukee trades Michael Redd (2 yrs 35 mil), Dan Gadzuric (2 yrs 14 mil), Francisco Elson (1 yr 1.7 mil) and Malik Rose (1 yr 1.3 mil) to the Heat.

Miami is the far and away talent winner in this trade. Along with the other big trades that have gone down this offseason that means that they also take back the most money. In this case that means a lot more money. Wade, Boozer, Redd and Mike Beasley would give the Heat an unbelievable offensive lineup that can do everything. It would also mean that they would have some serious defensive liabilities and a big luxury tax bill. They also would still not have a center although I hear that Eddy Curry is available... As with last night if it causes Dwayne Wade to resign it would be worth it. Gadzuric has one of the worst contracts in the NBA but but between he, Elson and Joel Anthony they could fill the spot with guys that will rebound, defend and hustle to the best of their ability. This is a good thing because there would not be many shots to go around. If this team doesn't work out Redd expires after 2010 and could be used as an expiring contract that year.

Utah dumps a bunch of salary (six million) and gets productive players back. Haslem seems like the kind of guy that Jerry Sloan would like coaching. He definitely gets the most out of his talent. James Jones and Kyle Korver are pretty similar so there isn't really much lost there. Jones also has an interesting contract because all of his years after this coming year are team options. Since the options are in the neighborhood of 5 million it might be a good idea to keep him coming back. If not though the Jazz can treat him like an expiring contract or move him to somebody that would value him as that.

Milwaukee gets to essentially take a do over for all of the bad contracts they have given out over the last few years. They could really go crazy and throw in Bogut and Bell for expiring contracts from the Heat if they wanted as well. Most likely this is far enough. Going into 2010 hardly 20 million committed. With Brandon Jennings, Charlie Bell, Daequan Cook, Joe Alexander, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Andrew Bogut they would have great backups at every position as well. Too harsh? Maybe but this trade would allow the Bucks to really hit the reset button, get another high pick and have the opportunity to sign some guys that could really make a difference for them. It is always dangerous to count on cap room and draft picks but the Bucks are definitely not going to win an championships as currently constructed and have already admitted that by moving Richard Jefferson for nothing. This is would be one way to accelerate that process.

Money, Money, Money

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=mlengh

Utah trades Carlos Boozer (1 yr 12.5 mil) to Miami and Matt Harpring (1 yr 6.5 mil) to OKC. Miami trades James Jones (1 yr 4. mil) to Utah and Udonis Haslem (1 yr 7.1 mil) to OKC. OKC trades Damian Wilkins (1 yr 3.3 mil) to Miami and Nick Collison (2 yrs 12.5 mil) to Utah.

The driving force behind a trade like this is money. Utah is close to the luxury tax and Paul Millsap just signed a big offer sheet with the Blazers. To further complicate matters the Blazers have front loaded the contract so that Utah would have to pay him over 11 million this year to keep him. If they can't find a way to trade salary, they probably can not match the offer. This trade would allow the Jazz to dump 8 million and match the offer for Millsap. Once a team would get past this coming year in the contract offered to Millsap the salaries are not so bad because it is so heavily front loaded. Nick Collison is a hard worker who gets the most out of his talent and he would fit well in Utah. James Jones replicates what Kyle Korver does (shoot) but he is a productive player. Not really a fair trade talent wise for Boozer but both players that they would recieve are productive and it gives them the finanical flexibility to retain Millsap.

Oklahoma City essentially pays just over 3 million to move Collison's 6.75 cap number for 2010. They do replace him with a capable player in Udonis Haslem. Matt Harpring will most likely not play this year so his salary is wasted but Damien Wilkins wasn't going to play either so talent wise this works out fine for OKC. Most likely they will be involved for Utah to save significant money because the only other team with cap room left is the Blazers. Alternatively Utah could find a team with a large trade exception that was willing to take on salary.

Miami would get a real post presence that they have been desperately missing since Shaq was traded. They take the largest salary hit of more than 5 million (10 million with the luxury tax). This might be too much for Miami to consider the deal. However if it would cause Dwayne Wade to sign and extension then it would definitely be worth it. Boozer, Wade and the lure of South Beach could cause free agents to flock to Miami. Even if Wade re-signed and Boozer took a deal starting at 12 million, they would have only 40 million committed in 2010 (although they would have only 4 players under contract). The downside of this trade for Miami is that Boozer is not a center and with Michael Beasley at the 3 the Heat would be very weak defensively. Miami also could send a combination of players with small salaries back to OKC in order to lessen their financial burden although it would make the trade less attractive for OKC.

Clarification

This trade ended up quite a bit different than it looked last night. Here is how it ended up: Dallas got Marion, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai, Greg Buckner and cash (from Toronto). Toronto got Devean George and Antoine Wright. Memphis got Jerry Stackhouse, a 2015 second round pick (from Toronto) and cash (from Dallas). Finally Orlando got a 7 million trade exception. Pretty complicated for something that started with nothing but the rights to sign Shawn Marion to a contract.

I covered the Dallas angle last night. All of the smaller pieces have changed since then and make the picture much clearer as to why Memphis and Toronto were interested in doing this deal. Toronto gets to keep their mid level exception by having Orlando agree to a sign and trade instead of just signing Turkoglu from them. Memphis gains 4 million in 2010 cap money by moving Buckner. For Dallas, Humphries and Jawai will fill the backup PF role that Brandon Bass is leaving while Wright was pretty redundant with Josh Howard and Jason Terry playing SG. For Toronto he might start and should at least play significant minutes. A similar deal was then worked with Memphis who received Stackhouse and sent Greg Buckner packing to Dallas. Buckner has only 1 million guaranteed on his contract so Dallas will buy him out. The interesting thing is that Humphries and Jawai have a couple of years left on their contracts while Wright and George both expire this year. So Dallas took on 5 million (Jawai has a team option that could make this smaller) in 2010 in order to pay Shawn Marion 8 million dollars a year for 5 years. It is really nice for Dallas to have an owner that is willing to take on money to bring in important piece like Marion back. Here is how they end up:

Jason Kidd/Juan Jose Barea

Josh Howard/Jason Terry/Quinton Ross

Shawn Marion/Matt Carroll/Shawne Williams

Dirk Nowitzki/Kris Humphries/Nathan Jawai/Ryan Hollins

Marcin Gortat/Erick Dampier

and Toronto (They still have the midlevel):

Jose Calderon/Roko Leni Ukic/Marcus Banks

Antoine Wright/Demar DeRozan/Quincy Douby

Hedo Turkoglu/Devean George

Chris Bosh/Pops Mensa Bonsu/Reggie Evans

Andrea Bargnani

They don't have a center. I don't know who actually fills this spot but the starting lineup is probably set.

ESPN

Dallas Adds Another Piece

Although the details of this trade have not been released it sounds like it is going to go through. Essentially Memphis/OKC and Toronto play facilitator to Marion getting a larger contract. There could be some incentive for those teams from Dallas but we don't know that quite yet. At the very least Dallas will be sending 2 million to cover Jerry Stackhouse's buyout. He still is an interesting trade piece and could potentially get moved again. He has to be bought out by August 10th in order for his contract to not be guaranteed fully (7 million).

Dallas adds a major piece without giving up much of anything. Stackhouse's contract does have some value but cashing it in for a guy like Marion makes a lot of sense. The Mavs now can trot out a lineup as follows:

Jason Kidd/Juan Jose Barea

Josh Howard/Jason Terry/Antoine Wright/Quinton Ross

Shawn Marion/Matt Carroll/Shawne Williams

Dirk Nowitzki/Ryan Hollins

Marcin Gortat/Erick Dampier

Dallas did win 50 games last year with Josh Howard missing 30 games and being far below 100% for the majority of the season. Since Stackhouse didn't really play last year it is as if Marion was just a simple free agent signing. Adding Marion, Gortat and potentially quite a bit more from Howard to the team that the Mavs had last year really improves their flexibility and athleticism. Marion will make further Josh Howard injuries less impactful but more importantly will provide lock down defense and allow the Mavs to have 5 excellent rebounders on the court. Also the Mavs will have the flexibility to put a Kidd/Terry/Howard/Marion/Nowitzki lineup that would be very difficult to guard. If the opposing team does not have a center that can consistently beat Nowitzki down low then that might be the lineup of choice. Jason Kidd has always been an incredible fast break player but with Nowitzki and Dampier playing big minutes last year he was not able to show those talents. The addition of Marion and to a lesser extent Gortat could solve that problem.

A couple of downsides are that Marion and Howard are slightly redundant and Marion does not make the team younger. Also Marion has not been able to shake the belief that he should be the best player on a team. Maybe at 32 he can accept his role of very skilled second (or third banana). Even still this trade/signing keeps Dallas near the top of the Western Conference. On top of that they have team options for 2010 on Dampier and Howard who could be moved as expiring contracts giving the Mavs in upwards of 25 million in expiring contracts. With an owner like Mark Cuban these are definitely assets that can be put to use.

Toronto Star

Dallas Morning News

Can't we just switch nicknames?

A little outside the box here but it could work...

Jazz trade Carlos Boozer (1 yr 12.5 million) to the Hornets for David West (3 yrs 25 mil) and Rasual Butler (1 yr 3.9 mil)

The number one priority of the offseason for the Hornets is to shed some salary. With a payroll sitting around 80 million (90 after luxury tax) that is understandable. They can not compete with the likes of the Spurs, Lakers or even Nuggets and either need to add even more salary or start to blow it up. Trading for Boozer could potentially accomplish both of these options in one fell swoop. Detroit did something similar last year when trading for Iverson. They get to cut about a million off of this year's payroll through the trade. That is fine but the really nice thing would be potentially shedding the 16 million left on West's contract. If everything would work out well with Boozer they could re-sign him or have the option of using him in a sign and trade. Since he is arguably a more dynamic player than West they would be adding talent too. If the Jazz could convince Portland to take James Posey (and the three years left on his deal) off of their hands for a second round pick they would be in a much better financial position.

The Jazz would gain stability in 2010 and beyond with West. He has a very reasonable contract going forward that actually decreases in the money owed to him each year. West has been a more consistent, if not as talented, player as Boozer. Most of this is due to the fact that has not had the injury problems that have plagued Boozer throughout his career. The Jazz also would add a very capable player in Rasual Butler and could use his shooting touch and athleticism off of their bench. With West in the fold the Jazz could let Paul Millsap go or use him in a sign and trade next year (assuming he is forced to take his restricted tender). Either way West would bring stability to the Jazz' financial situation and to the court. If they could trade Kyle Korver for Jerry Stackhouse and buy him out they would also be in a better financial position this year than they would have been without the trade.

The Matrix to Cleveland?

Toronto's signing of Hedo Turkoglu requires them to either renounce the rights to Shawn Marion, Carlos Delfino and Anthony Parker. The other option is to do a sign and trade with one or all of them. Here is one thing they could do:

The Raptors sign and trade Shawn Marion (??? 3 yrs 30 mil) to the Cavaliers for Anderson Varejao (??? 4 yrs 26 mil) and Daniel Gibson (4 yrs, 17 mil)

For Toronto this trade would add the defensive, rebounding presence that they had been missing. Varejao isn't really a center but he can provide some of the toughness that the Raptors have been missing. Daniel Gibson slots in as a shooter off the bench and as some insurance in case Demar DeRozan is not ready to play big minutes. Because Jose Calderon is a bigger point guard, playing Gibson at the 2 won't hurt the Raptors in the same way it hurt the Cavaliers. Also having Turkoglu handling the ball could allow them to play Gibson more at the 1. The downside to this deal for Toronto is that they are eating up cap space on role players. As long as Bosh stays that isn't a big deal but if he leaves next summer, they would be regretting this trade. Conversely if they let Marion, Delfino and Parker go for nothing the team will have serious holes and that might make Bosh go as well. With or without the trade if the Raptors don't feel that they can re-sign Bosh then they have to move him before the trade deadline.

In a very roundabout way the way free agency has gone so far (Zach Randolph to Memphis, Artest to the Lakers, Turkoglu to the Raptors and Ariza to the Rockets) could work out extremely well for the Cavaliers. Marion would fit in really well next to LeBron providing great defense, versatility, rebounding, athleticism and acceptable shooting. It would also allow LeBron to freely interchange between the 3 and 4 without changing personel. The great thing for the Cavaliers is that this trade would allow them to add talent while keeping the mid level exception. With Marion on board adding another free agent like Grant Hill, Linas Kleiza, Anthony Parker etc would put this team in a place to be favored for a championship again. Considering the bleak outlook at the begining of the offseason that would be a great accomplishment. At the very least, with this trade, they have solved the issues that they had with the Magic in the playoffs.

A Clippers move that makes sense!

Continuing the trend of salary related moves so far this offseason the Clippers traded Zach Randolph (2 yr 33 million) to the Grizzlies for Quentin Richardson (1 yr 9 million). I wouldn't have posted this trade as a potential option because I didn't think the Clippers would have been able to get any expiring contract much less a contract that would also save them 7 million this year. It really is an unbelievable deal money wise that accomplishes a number of things for the Clippers.

1. Blake Griffin gets room to start and grow with Randolph out of the picture.
2. The Clippers now enough room in 2010 to sign a max contract. At this point they have to be the most talented team with that kind of room. Having Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Blake Griffin is the start of a really good team. They also reside in a major market, have amazing weather and give a potential free agent the added bonus of wresting LA away from Kobe and the Lakers. I don't know what more you could expect a team to offer.
3. It give them the option to grab a free agent this year or take on salary from another team. One option that makes sense here is getting Trevor Ariza by offering slightly more than the mid-level. They could also deal Ricky Davis (1 yr 2.5 mil) and Mardy Collins (1 yr 1.8 mil) for James Posey (3 yrs 19.5 mil) and Rasual Butler (1 yr 3.9 mil). It would really upgrade the Clippers bench and allow New Orleans to get within shouting distance of being under the luxury tax.
4. They now have the option of bring back one of the great basketball comedy teams by signing Darius Miles and reuniting him with Richardson. Who doesn't still do the head bump that they came up with? I know I do.

That said it does make some sense basketball wise for the Grizzlies to take on Randolph's contract. Randolph was actually a pretty productive player last year and will fill a huge hole the Grizzlies had at PF. His scoring and rebounding ability could fit in well with Hasheem Thabeet's defensive oriented game. It will take up most of their cap room for 2010 but I doubt that a quality free agent would come to Memphis in the first place. It is amazing that Richardson's contract was traded instead of Marko Jaric's which has one more year on it. Of course you can't blame the Grizzlies for wanting more of Adriana Lima around.

The real issue is that this seems to be an expensive solution for a hole that they could have filled in other cheaper, younger ways. Signing Paul Millsap to a 10 million a year contract would have been cheaper over the next two years than trading for Randolph. David Lee, Drew Gooden and Brandon Bass would also have worked as cheaper alternatives. It is nice to see that the Grizzlies are willing to spend some money however who they chose to spend it on seems odd. Remember that Randolph has been dumped by his last 3 teams for essentially nothing each time.

ESPN's take

Where will amazing happen?

I ran across a few of the parody where will amazing happen videos. Here are some of the highlights. High quality entertainment.

Show me the Money - Rockets Plan #1

The easiest way for the Rockets to solve their problems is to spend a lot of money. To do this the Rockets would have to get approval from ownership to pay a pretty hefty luxury tax bill. If they got the go ahead they could definitely add to the success that they enjoyed last year.

Step 1 - Artest

The first step in this plan is to bring Ron Artest back. Artest teamed with Shane Battier last year to be the best pair of wing defenders in the NBA. With the Rockets' lack of size inside having good wing defenders is very important to their success.

Step 2 - Move McGrady

The second step of this plan is to move the McGrady contract. Plenty of teams are looking to shed salary and with a contract as large as McGrady's (23 mil) the Rockets can surely help. The team that is most looking to shed salary also happens to be able to fill the biggest need that the Rockets have - a center.

Rockets trade Tracy McGrady (1 yr 23 mil) to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler (2 yrs 24.5 mil), James Posey (3 yrs 19.5 mil) and Antonio Daniels (1 yr 6 mil)

That trade would get Houston the big man insurance that they need while also adding another great wing defender. New Orleans would be able to shed 20 million in 2010. New Orleans would probably prefer to add Maurice Peterson instead of Daniels or do the following:

Rockets trade Tracy McGrady (1 yr 23 mil) and Brian Cook (1 yr 3.5 mil) to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler (2 yrs 24.5 mil), and Peja Stojakovic (2 yr 29.5 mil).

New Orleans would shed even more salary in this deal while the Rockets would get two productive (if healthy) players back.

The Rockets would then end up either

• Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry/Antonio Daniels
• Ron Artest/Jermaine Taylor/Brent Barry
• Shane Battier/James Posey/Chase Budinger/James White
• Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Chuck Hayes/Brian Cook/Joey Dorsey
• Yao Ming/Tyson Chandler

or

• Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry
• Ron Artest/Jermaine Taylor/Brent Barry
• Shane Battier/Peja Stojakovic/Chase Budinger/James White
• Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Chuck Hayes/Joey Dorsey
• Yao Ming/Tyson Chandler

Whichever way the deal would go down, the Rockets would improve. They would be taking on extra salary for 2010 but an Artest signing plus draft picks (they own the Suns 1st round pick in 2010) would make that point moot anyway. In this scenario they really wouldn't be adding a ton of salary for 2009 and would not be very far past the luxury tax.

Rockets Offseason Outlook

With the news that Yao Ming's foot is not healing on schedule the Houston Rockets' plans are in limbo. They will not know the full extent of Yao's most recent injury until the season is much closer. He still could heal quickly enough to not miss much, if any, of the season but could also be forced into retirement as soon as next year. The Rockets were already making the transition away from Tracy McGrady who looks like he will miss significant time again this season. Last year they made up for injuries to both of these players by adding Ron Artest and taking on a tough, defensive mindset. With Artest being an unrestricted FA even that is in jeopardy. To complicate matters further the Rockets, as currently assembled, are dangerously close to the luxury tax. There is some hope in that the Rockets have upwards of 30 million in expiring contracts. Either way the Rockets have some very tough decisions to make that could significantly alter the direction of their franchise going forward.

Current Roster

• Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry
• Tracy McGrady/Jermaine Taylor/Brent Barry
• Shane Battier/Chase Budinger/James White
• Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Chuck Hayes/Brian Cook/Joey Dorsey
• Yao Ming

Salary Cap

• 67 million committed to 14 players assuming Budinger and Taylor make the team
• 31 million committed to 5 players

Expiring Contracts

• Tracy McGrady (23.2)
• Brian Cook (3.5)
• Luis Scola (3.3)
• Chuck Hayes (2.1 - Team Option for 2010)
• Brent Barry (2.0)
• Kyle Lowry (2.0 - Restricted in 2010)
• Joey Dorsey (0.8 - Team Option for 2010)

Players to Re-sign

• Ron Artest

Needs

• Yao to be healthy (McGrady would be an added bonus)
• Another wing if Artest does not re-sign and McGrady is hurt
• Backup Center (Starting center if Yao misses the year)

Quick FA Primer

Similar to last year when Elton Brand was the headliner for the free agent class there are not any superstars for hire this year. If Kobe opts out of his contract that changes but after winning a championship there is very little reason for him to do so. Instead there is a group of guys that clearly have to be the second or even third best player on championship teams. That isn't to say that one of these free agents couldn't play a big role in next years champion. In fact there are a number of them that could push a team like San Antonio, Boston or Orlando over the top. Also hovering over this years class is the state of the economy and how willing teams will be to make large and/or long commitments to players when their

The player that has the best chance to influence a title contender is Rasheed Wallace. Already there are rumors linking him to Cleveland, Orlando and San Antonio. For any of those teams Rasheed would easily cause them to jump a level in the rankings. For San Antonio it would propel them to the favorites to win it all next year. Maybe we are still too intoxicated with his potential but the gifts he brings to the table are numerous even as his career is winding down. Still his combination of scoring ability, shooting, experience, versatility and defense would be a great add to any NBA team. A team like Boston or San Antonio that have built in support systems to handle his eccentric behavior would be even better.

Another interesting story is where Ben Gordon is going to get his money from. He reportedly turned down a 10 mil a year offer from the Bulls last season. The Bulls are in a great position to play hardball with John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich to fill in at SG if Gordon is not re-signed. Without Gordon the Bulls have enough 2010 cap space to bring Dwayne Wade home or entice a scoring big like Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh to sign. The only significant money is in Oklahoma City, Memphis and Detroit. Now that OKC has Harden, none of those places make sense for an undersized shooting guard. Stay tuned to see how another summer of tense negotiations goes for Ben Gordon and the Bulls.

Good players who will inevitably get overpaid

Carlos Boozer - if he opts out

Hedo Turkoglu

Ben Gordon

Young guys with at least some potential - Restricted

Paul Millsap

Marvin Williams

Charlie Villanueva - Milwaukee declined his option so he is no longer restricted

David Lee

Marcin Gortat

Ramon Sessions

Raymond Felton

Josh Childress

Established/Older guys that can really help teams:

Rasheed Wallace

Jason Kidd

Shawn Marion

Andre Miller

Ron Artest

Lamar Odom

Grant Hill

Memo Okur - if he opts out

Nice role players

Trevor Ariza

Anderson Varejao - if he opts out

Marquis Daniels

Antonio McDyess

Zaza Pachulia

Chris Anderson

Rashad McCants - restricted

Carlos Delfino - restricted

Drew Gooden

Anthony Parker

Top FA Ranking from NBA.com

Full FA List from ESPN

Things that made sense from the Draft

Blake Griffin - even if the Clippers have too many big guys Blake Griffin was far and away the best player in the draft.

OKC - James Harden is more athletic that people thought and fills a need for the Thunder. I don't know what the chances are of BJ Mullins actually working out but he would fill out their starting 5. They also took him late enough that it doesn't matter as much if he doesn't work out.

Ricky Rubio - We don't know if he can fit with Jonny Flynn but Rubio is one of the few players in this draft with superstar potential and they didn't have to trade up to get him.

Earl Clark - Could really be a homerun playing next to Amare. They can run again and should be really fun to watch with Clark and Stoudemire running the floor.

DeJuan Blair - Fits a need for the Spurs and they took him really late. They seem to always work the draft well.

Knicks - Filling a need with Jordan Hill and Darko they don't have to pay David Lee and take up valuable 2010 cap space.

One Man's Trash...

Jamal Crawford - 2 yr, 19.5 million

for

Acie Law - 1 yr, 2.2 million then TO

Speedy Claxton - 1 yr, 5.2 million

I like this move for the Hawks. They get a fairly productive player for really nothing. Crawford and Joe Johnson are an interesting backcourt as both guys can handle the ball and are pretty versatile offensively. Crawford is no stud on defense but neither was Mike Bibby. The nicest thing is that the Hawks are able to gain back 7.4 million of productive cap which they desperately needed. Now they are hovering at 43 million or so and have a 7 million restricted offer for Marvin Williams. They will still have only the mid-level to offer unless they renounce the rights to Josh Childress but it will be better used than being forced to resign Mike Bibby. If they resign Flip Murray and Zaza Pachulia then grab a PG at 19 they should be set for next season. A PF would make sense in the draft too.

Crawford/(Ty Lawson/Jeff Teague/Eric Maynor)

Joe Johnson/Mo Evans/Flip Murray

Marvin Williams (restricted)

Josh Smith

Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia/Randolph Morris

Golden State will be able to save some money by getting insurance money for Speedy Claxton. They also will have some 2010 cap room or it gives them 13 million in expiring contracts. They really didn't need Jamal Crawford and in fact he probably would have caused more issues just by being present. The trade is a really excellent example of two teams swapping their undesirable parts and having them make a lot more sense in their new home.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4284512

Actual McHale Redo

Mike Miller - 1 yr, 9.75 million

Randy Foye - 1 yr, 3.5 million then restricted FA

for

Etan Thomas - 1 yr, 7.3 million

Darius Songalia - 1 yr, 4.5 million then PO for 4.8 million

Oleksiy Pecherov - 1 yr, 1.5 million then TO for 2.3 million

#5

Plusses

Wizards

• Get a shooter
• Get a backup guard
• Dump money and a bad contract
• Could potentially get under luxury tax with another move

Timberwolves

• Get another draft pick
• Don't have to make a decision about Foye
• Really leaving McHale's decisions behind them

Minuses

Wizards

• ???

Timberwolves

• Less 2010 cap room
• Have to hit on #5 pick - tough to evaluate until draft is over

This trade definitely changes what the Timberwolves do in the draft. If everything went their way (really unlikely) the draft goes Thabeet at 5, Harden at 6, Lawson at 18 and Budinger/Ellington/Green at 28. The Timberwolves then end up

• Ty Lawson/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
• James Harden/Rodney Carney(TO)
• Ryan Gomes/Corey Brewer/(Budinger/Ellington/Green)
• Al Jefferson/Kevin Love/Mark Madsen/Brian Cardinal/Craig Smith/Shelden Williams(TO)/Darius Songalia
• Hasheem Thabeet/Etan Thomas/Oleksiy Pecherov

Or Rubio at 5, Harden at 6, BJ Mullens at 18 and Budinger/Ellington/Green at 28. The Timberwolves then end up

• Ricky Rubio/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
• James Harden/Rodney Carney(TO)
• Ryan Gomes/Corey Brewer/(Budinger/Ellington/Green)
• Al Jefferson/Kevin Love/Mark Madsen/Brian Cardinal/Craig Smith/Shelden Williams(TO)/Darius Songalia
• BJ Mullens/Etan Thomas/Oleksiy Pecherov

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4282279

Bucks Salary Dump

Richard Jefferson

for

Bruce Bowen

Fabricio Oberto

Kurt Thomas

Plusses

Spurs

• Get a small forward that can defend and pick up some of the scoring load
• Another team oriented veteran
• Didn't give up much
• Much better equipped to handle an injury to Manu Ginobli

Bucks

• Financial relief (3 mil) - more (7 mil total) if they cut Bruce Bowen as his contract is not guaranteed
• 15 million off the books for 2010
• Allows more freedom to re-sign restricted FA Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva
• Open up playing time for Joe Alexander
• Get a PF - don't necessarily have to draft one or re-sign Villanueva

Minuses

Spurs

• Less 2010 cap space although filling it with a player like Richard Jefferson is a good idea
• Jefferson is not a great 3 point shooter

Bucks

• Not nearly the same talent level coming in as what went out

UPDATE

Reportedly the Bucks are going to move Oberto to Detroit for Amir Johnson so Charlie Villanueva is probably out of luck if he is looking for a long term contract from the Bucks.

McHale Redo

Inspired by this rumor.

Mike Miller - 1 yr, 9.75 million

for

Chris Kaman - 3 yrs, 34 million

Why it happens

Timberwolves

• Get a center and a really good big rotation with Jefferson, Love and Kaman
• Find out who Corey Brewer really is

Clippers

• Move a big
• Get another shooter to create space for Griffin/Randolph and Baron Davis
• A lot of cap space in 2010 (LeBron in LA with Boom Dizzle, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin anybody?)

Why it doesn't happen

Timberwolves

• Less cap space in 2010

Clippers

• Miller is only signed for this coming year
• Could possibly get a better return for Kaman

Other Variations

• Timberwolves could include one of their first round (or future picks)

Written from the Timberwolves perspective, ideally after this deal the draft goes Harden at 6, Lawson at 18 and Budinger/Ellington/Green at 28. The Timberwolves then end up

• Randy Foye/Ty Lawson/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
• James Harden/Rodney Carney(TO)
• Ryan Gomes/Corey Brewer/(Budinger/Ellington/Green)
• Al Jefferson/Kevin Love/Mark Madsen/Brian Cardinal/Craig Smith/Shelden Williams(TO)
• Chris Kaman

Minnesota Offseason Outlook

The end of the Kevin McHale era is finally here. It couldn't be coming at a better time given his history of botching the draft, among other things, as the Timberwolves truly have a chance to turn things around. They have a young horse to build around in Al Jefferson and another promising big in Kevin Love. They have a stable of draft picks, a ton of expiring contracts and potentially enough cap room in 2010 to sign a couple major free agents. On top of that the Timberwolves had a really good run in January before Jefferson got hurt going 10 - 4 for the month. With all that hope and promise the truth is that Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer went down with ACL tears during last season and even with a large amount of cap room it might be tough to get people to come to Minnesota. New GM David Kahn definitely has work cut out for him but he has enough pieces to build this team into a contender down the road if he makes the right choices.

Current Roster

• Randy Foye/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
• Mike Miller/Rodney Carney(TO)
• Ryan Gomes/Corey Brewer
• Kevin Love/Mark Madsen/Brian Cardinal/Craig Smith/Shelden Williams(TO)
• Al Jefferson

Salary Cap

• They are around 51 million committed without Carney (2.5) and Williams (4.3)
• 23 million committed to
• With three picks in the first round they essentially have no extra cap room

Expiring Contracts

• Mike Miller (9.75)
• Brian Cardinal (6.75)
• Williams (4.3 - team option)
• Ryan Gomes (3.8)
• Randy Foye (3.5)
• Corey Brewer (2.9)
• Mark Madsen (2.8)
• Rodney Carney (2.5 - team option)
• Bobby Brown (1)

Players to Re-sign

• None

Needs

• A big PG so Foye can play SG
• Find another really good/great player to pair with Al Jefferson
• At least one true NBA center on the roster
• Al Jefferson to come back healthy from his ACL tear

Draft Picks

• First Round - #6, #18, #28
• Second Round - #45, #47

Please, Please, Please Take Zach!

Zack Randolph - 2 yrs, $33.5 mil

for

Luke Ridnour - 1 yr, $6.5 mil

Dan Gadzuric - 2 yrs, $14 mil

Charlie Bell - 3 yrs, $11.5 mil

Why it happens

Clippers:

• Dump Randolph
• Get a backup PG
• Extra cap room in 2010

Bucks:

• Get a PF
• Get rid of 2 bad contracts
• Already over the cap for 2010

Why it doesn't happen

Clippers:

• None

Bucks:

• Randolph wouldn't fit well with Skiles
• No experienced PG - unless they resign Ramon Sessions

Clippers Offseason Outlook

The major decision of the Clippers off-season is what it would take to move the number one pick. Closely tied to that decision is determining what the difference between Griffin and Ricky Rubio is. If the difference is not very large, in their opinion, then they would have a couple really nice options to trade down. Most likely they will keep the pick.

When that happens they really need to move a big guy. Ideally that guy would be Zach Randolph. He is not a guy that you want young players to be around. The Blazers realized this a couple of years ago when they dumped Randolph for absolutely nothing just so that they could get him out of town and away from their young players. Even if the Clippers get nothing back, like the Blazers, moving Randolph would be a positive. In contrast to Randolph, Marcus Camby is a guy that you want young players to be around. Bottom line, they cannot trade Camby and let Blake Griffin go through his formative NBA years alongside Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman. Somebody has to go and it has to be either Randolph or Kaman.

Current Roster

Baron Davis/Mardy Collins/Mike Taylor

Eric Gordon/Ricky Davis (PO)

Al Thornton

Zach Randolph

Chris Kaman/Marcus Camby/DeAndre Jordan

Salary Cap

• 61 million for 11 Players (53 million for 9 players in 2010)
• Assumes they make at least a top 5 pick

Expiring Contracts

• Marcus Camby (7.6)
• Ricky Davis (2.5 - PO)
• Mardy Collins (1.8 - Restricted)

Players to Re-sign

• None

Needs

• Backup G
• Backup SF
• Move a big

Draft Picks

• 1st - Blake Griffin