Why would Phoenix give up Barbosa also? Rudy and Barbosa are about equally good, so they're essentially dealing Amare for Raef, Gooden and Outlaw. That's a lot of expiring money but almost no talent in return for one of the best big men in the game.
I don't think that seven shots in a players' career really matter, especially when most of them have been towards the end of NBA seasons when the Blazers are out of the playoff race. Deng is, IMO, a significantly better player who's younger and more consistent. We might have missed our chance to "buy low" on him, however. Ed O.
You expect PHX to get equally fair value for Amare when every GM in the league knows PHX is shopping him?
There's a huge difference between "fair value" and almost no value. Outlaw is barely more than simply cutting him and his salary (if that were allowed). I certainly don't think they're looking to give him away just to dump salary.
How badly do you guys want Butler? I know this smells of Trader Bob (the GM, not the forum guy): Trade Checker To Blazers: Butler Agent 0 To Washington: RLEC CFEC Outlaw Sergio If PA could choke down the luxury tax implicaitons (which would be huge for a long time), I could easily see the Wiz using this to dump salary. It would also give Portland a vet SF and PG. I think this is too much mainly because Blazer payroll would hit >$100M in no time at all.
Enough to spend Allen's money to eat Arenas' contract. The question is whether Allen wants Butler enough to do that. As far as I'm concerned, that's a great deal because it costs the team nothing in terms of competitive advantage (it throws them way over the cap, but over $5 million and over $100 million doesn't matter much from a talent acquisition standpoint...the team will be over the cap anyway once they start re-signing all their young players). Getting Butler for no loss of talent except Outlaw works for me, if it works for Allen.
The main down side of taking on Arenas is that if it doesn't work you are stuck with him for quite a while. IF (big IF), he could stay healthy and fit with the culture (another big IF), this could be the type of dramatic move to put the franchise in contention for some time. As Arenas fades, you increase Bayless in his place. As Butler gets older, hopefully Webster/Batum can step in.
But I don't think that is a downside, from a competitive standpoint. Let's suppose Arenas never plays another game. Does this materially hurt Portland? I don't think so. His contract is unmoveable, of course, but if the team is over the cap anyway (as it will be with the addition of Butler and with extensions to Aldridge and Roy) that extra salary actually makes no difference. All the same talent acquisition routes remain open (MLE, draft, trades). If I made this deal, I wouldn't be counting on Arenas for anything. I'd be doing it to get Butler, and using Allen's unique ability to absorb a lot of cost (assuming he can and is willing) as the way to get Butler without incurring a major talent cost. If Arenas provides any on-court value, that would purely be gravy.
My trade does exactly what you talk about in your first sentence. We get more time to decided on who is the back up PG and SF of the future. Hinrich and Battier become our starters at PG and SF. By the time those two are out of their prime Bayless or Rodriguez should be ready for the starting PG job and Webster of Batum should be ready for the starting SF job. This trade gives us options in the future and we don't mess with our core. We also keep Rudy's pal for at least the rest of the season to help him adjust to the NBA and life in Portland. Sefolosha and Simmons are filler. Sefolosha is only under contract for one more season. It's not like waving them would cause a problem. Hinrich, Roy, Battier, Aldridge, Oden as our Starters. A bench or Bayles or Rodriguez, Fernandez, Batum or Webster, Landry, Przybilla. I don't see why that roster wouldn't be a 4 team in the West this year and couldn't contend for a championship next year.
I wanted to dislike your idea... maybe because it doesn't give us a big name back. The thing is, it WOULD be an improvement for this team, I think, in the short run. Hinrich is an upgrade over Blake. Battier is an upgrade over Batum in the starting lineup. Landry is a pretty significant upgrade at the backup 4, and Webster can fill in at the backup three when Outlaw's gone. I wouldn't be disappointed if we made the deal, but I wouldn't be dancing in the streets, either. Ed O.
I had a similar feeling. At first it was "meh". But, then after thinking about how bad our defense has been . . . Adding Battier and Hinrich to the starting lineup should help substantially (at least it better). Not very sexy, but maybe very effective. I wish there was a way to do it without using RLEC.
Frye + Shav Bo + future first round pick to Charlotte for Raja Bell. IIRC, Larry Brown was quite fond of Channing while in NY. Bell would be a tremendous upgrade to our perimeter defense, and give us some much needed playoff experience. Plus, there's also this: [video=youtube;bVqIyl3gt4E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVqIyl3gt4E[/video]
Here's a real long shot, but what would you guys think of trading for McGrady? I've read it wouldn't take much and it would also give Portland a huge trading chip with his $20MM contract expiring conveniently in 2010. That may be the most valuable expiring contract out there next season for teams with visions of 2010.
Battier's production has fallen off a lot the last couple of years and, observationally, his defense isn't as good as it used to be. I have to say, I think I'm more in love with the idea of Battier than I am in Battier, himself. I want a "Shane Battier"...I just don't know that Shane Battier can be that anymore.
Still only a few more hours until my initial idea of Wallace + Bell for Outlaw Rudy RLEC can go through. The problem with trying to use RLEC to get Wallace is an issue of getting salaries to matchup. If the Blazers don't want to take on a player like Nazr Mohummed for a few years, it makes it difficult. I'm not saying I want to give up on TO or Rudy. In fact, my favorite trade was the one that had us get talent back using guys like Webster/Frye/Sergio. Idk.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...231~1705&teams=15~27~15~27~22~27~22&te=&cash= eh? lol doubt any of the teams would go for it ;o or eh? http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...teams=21~21~21~15~27~22~21~22~27~15&te=&cash= ive never messed with shit before so im havin fun
POR-PHX-CHI 3-way upshot--PHX gets RLEC/Batum/Thomas, CHI gets Amare/Webster, we get Deng/Hinrich. Yay or nay?
already posted this, but then I noticed this thread. http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...22~22~22~8~21~21~18~18~8~21~21&te=&cash=21:22
