ESPN says Knicks offering 3M to anyone with cap space to take Turiaf. Would love to swing a three team deal to get him.
LAL/HOU/NO are trying to revive talks. But Stern basically said it's not possible. He said none of the two teams trading with N.O. have the young assets they need to rebuild. Odom - 32 Scola - 31 Martin - 28 with an injury history Dragic - Who? Waste. Of. Time.
That will be an interesting fit. He is an upgrade over anything they have though. Thaddeus Young is nearing agreement on a 5 year, $42 million contract to stay with the 76ers I like this one better than the Thornton deal. Batum should get more.
Would make sense, but do not think they would use the cap space efficiently anyway. They may wait till one either gets injured or proves his worth to amnesty the other.
Hard to say since not many are around these guys enough to make that determination. Would like to see someone in the Nate camp vouch for Charlie's work ethic before bringing him in.
Gosh I hope not. No way Batum is worth $8million + per year. Your talking about a guy that's best playoff series was last year when he scored 8ppg while shooting 25% from threes. The year before he was completely contained on offense by Steve Nash guarding him. Could he improve? Sure, just like Outlaw, Martell, Rudy had unfullfiled potential at one point in their careers he does now. If Batum wants a big money contract make him prove his improvement during this season then we can pay him as a RFA.
Sacramento is in a weird situation. They are so far under the team minimum salary, and such an undesirable destaination, that they have to throw stupid money at marginal players. But, there's nothing in the rules that says they have to give them 5 year contracts. Anybody know if there are any team option years in the Thorton deal? If not, they paid him too much for too long. BNM
There are plenty of teams that would give the Kings assets such as draft picks and overpaid but useful players to take on some salary. Houston, Knicks, Lakers, etc. There are plenty of ways to get to the league minimum team salary without handing out god awful contracts.
The Thornton contract is only god awful because of the length, which I why I asked about team option years. It's not as if Thornton sucks. He's young and healthy and averaged 21.3/4.7/3.4 in 27 games with the Kings last year. If the contract doesn't have any team option years it shows the Kings are banking on the fact that Thornton is young, hasn't reached his prime yet and will continue to improve. Of course, there are no guaraneets, but if Thornton does improve to the point where he averages 25/5/5, he will look like a bargain at $8/yr. I personally don't think he will. He benefitted from being a big time scorer on a bad team last year. But, it's not my money... BNM
I completely agree, this is not the kind of deal that a rebuilding team should make. Especially with the money Martin/Scola/Odom are pulling in. And the Lakers get worse short-term.
West to Boston till Da Feuhrer Stern blocks it. New Orleans gets a broken down JO and scraps for a former All-Star? Rasual Butler is also a Raptor. Always liked his play. Thornton's deal is being rumored at 31M now. That sounds much better. Will agree with anyone that said last year Wes was a steal.
