Chris Broussard @Chris_Broussard Sources: Cavs shopping Dion Waiters. They've spoken w/Chi, NYK & Philly. No deal imminent. Waiters is open to being traded. https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=Chris_Broussard
http://espn.go.com/espn/print?id=10046614&type=story Waiters $3.8 mill --- Deng $14.2 mill How will they make this work?
I'm not a fan of Waiters. He seemed to me to be an end of the roster NBA talent who was allotted minutes because he was a high pick on a crappy team. Which is to say, if you're actively trying to get worse, he wouldn't be a horrible acquisition.
There are a lot of things not to like about Dion Waiters, but if the Bulls are serious about doing some re-tooling (and I'm not saying they are), then this is the sort of deal you have to look at. If the Bulls trade Deng it's a given they won't get equal talent back. Waiters is young, on a rookie contract, and looks like the type of player who'd benefit from a change in scenery. He'd also improve the Bulls' draft stock if that's what you're gunning for. I certainly don't see him being an adequate replacement for Deng. He strikes me as more of a cross between Jason Terry and Isaiah Rider, but I could see him finding a place here.
Something to look at. If you decide you are not going to pay Deng, getting him for the 2 and going with Butler / Snell at 2/3 could work. Of course, if you wanted an undersized scoring 2 you could have just kept Nate.
Why would Cleveland do a trade with us for Deng this season? Wait until the off season then sign him outright. That way you won't lose any assets. Waiters looked really good last night. From what the Cleveland announcers said, he has been playing that way over the last 3 or 4 games.
The team that controls Deng's rights can sign him to a five year contract instead of just a four year contract. And there are no sign and trade transactions allowed anymore. If Deng is of the mindset that he is willing to play for Cleveland but only if they give him a five year deal then they have trade for him before the deadline. I agree though that he doesn't have much trade value even in this scenario. Maybe you get a heavily protected first out of it. A couple of second rounders is probably more likely.
And the team that owns his rights can set up the contract with 7.5% annual increases rather than 4.5% which adds some flexibility. Huh? There are some new limitations for teams over the luxury tax apron, but I believe as long as the apron team's total team salary is reduced by the S&T, it's OK. How interesting. For decades I've heard posters tell me about how incredibly valuable big expiring contracts are, and here when the Bulls have this big, expiring contract of not just some shlub, but a two-time all star, it's worth no more than "a couple second rounders." Say it ain't so, all you expiring-contract-philes.
Hilarious that Deng won't fetch as much as Tyrus Thomas did. We were able to trade Larry Hughes for the expiring contracts of Tim Thomas and Jerome James. Neither of those two made a list of teams they'd accept trades to and re-sign with the new team. The Knicks actually wanted Hughes and expected him to be a key part of their team. The value of an expiring deal to your trading partner is that they get to give you a player (or players) whose contract is not expiring.
