I remember reading somewhere that Olshey said he met with Aldridge and they agreed that he should not be traded for two years. Anyone else remember this? And what does it mean? Does it mean that Aldridge agreed not to demand a trade or that Aldridge wanted reassurance that he wouldn't be traded? I interpret it to mean that there's no point in speculating in trading Aldridge to bottom-feeding teams (like Sacramento, for Cousins) but that it might not rule out trading him to a contender (not sure if the Bulls count).
If I were Aldridge I would trust the word of an NBA GM about as much as a used car salesman. How many times over the years have you read interviews with upset stars and quasi-stars who resignedly shrug after a trade and say, "It's a business." No matter what was promised him, I'd assume we'd trade him today if the right deal came along. Just like any other team with any player other than LeBron or Durant.
I read an article that stated Olshey told LA he would not trade him for 2 years, and that put LA's mind at ease.
Not sure what your ugh-ing about. There's no way we get equal value for LMA on the market. He makes this team multidimensional and is NOT easily replaceable.
Y'know, I think I might trade Aldridge for Hibbert. That probably sounds crazy given Hibbert's big salary and current struggles, but Indiana still has one of the league-leading offenses and it just is easier to get a PF than a C. I like a C who's smart, a great shot-blocker and defender and a willing passer. I think playing next to someone like that could make Hickson a better player, too. Of course, apart from getting an all-star, this doesn't really make sense for Indiana, because they have David West.
Probably not possible, but worth an offer is Greg Monroe from Detroit. Solid big, very good passer for a C. Could make the case that with Drummond playing so well he makes Monroe expendable for the right price. Plus to make salaries match we'd need to take back another contract, an expiring like Maggette could open up even more cap room next offseason while giving us a solid sub in the meantime.
These fairly realistic moves make Portland better IMO http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cqp3u6n http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bm4p47k http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cfwrays http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=d2bsrcx
the one I keep coming back to (though I don't know why they would do it) is LMA to WAS for Okafor, Seraphin, Livingston and their draft pick. With Nene, Okafor is an expensive luxury and Seraphin isn't getting enough burn. Wall/Beal/Ariza (or Vesely)/LMA/Nene can do pretty well going forward in the east. Okafor is about the same cap hit as LMA for the next two years, so we don't lose our flexibility this summer while picking up Livingston to back up LIllard/Wes, and another project big. And WAS's first, which would be late-lotto to mid-first, but since they started off this year crappily there isn't much chance they'll give up a pick this year unless it's heavily protected. The other options that I'm intrigued with (Gibson + picks/Mirotic, or Ibaka + TOR's pick) are under poison pill and horribly tough to trade for. To GSW for Lee and Thompson isn't enough, though I like Thompson a lot -- Lee is paid a bunch for a long time to not be close to an All-Star PF. And they don't have picks available until 2016
Your Varejao deal is a little intriguing. Knocks about $5mil off our salary after this season. I guess it makes sense to us if we think we can big free agent players this summer. But a 30 year old hustle player putting up great numbers on a lousy team. Yuck. Casspi is interesting. I'd like to have him on our bench. The Nene deal is kind of the opposite. It bogs us down with his big contract. It swaps out (Aldridge) who averages 38mpg for a guy who averages 24mpg. With the lack of talent on our team, that's a massive hit.
Trading Aldridge you have to get young assets to hopefully build around in the future. Varejao makes no sense. You'd like him with Aldridge, not for Aldridge.
As Fez noted if you trade Aldridge it's probably an attempt to get multiple assets not make lateral moves for guys his age or older. That said, I'm more curious to see if he can start to turn the trajectory his current season appears to be headed -- whether that's because of health, motivation, improper usage, whatever.
because Aldridge is better, and they can likely just turn and flip Aldridge for better long term pieces to put alongisde Irving than they can get for Varejao.
