<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With that said, let's take a look around the league and see just who might become available in the next few weeks -- you know, in case the Pistons get antsy. Out in Seattle, Ronald "Flip" Murray has been taken out of the rotation. He is in his third season and will be a free agent this summer. The Sonics are thinking of moving him, especially if he starts sulking about sitting. The Pistons loved him coming out of Division II Shaw University and had him high on their draft board. He would certainly enhance offensive production off the bench, though he might produce some headaches for the coaches on the defensive end. Still, he's young and he's affordable. The Sonics have entertained talks from Denver, who are apparently offering Nikoloz Tskitishvili. The Pistons should be able to offer a better package than that. Maybe they can get old friend Rick Sund (Sonics general manager) to do them a favor.</div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of Chris McCosky and the Detroit News.</font> Not sure how much truth there is to all that, but I think we all assume deep down that Flip is very much available to other teams. In terms of Detroit, a deal with Pot/James and Flip for Murray for McDyess and a pick would be somewhat appealing, but we'd give up cap space without really improving the team. Skita though? No thanks, he still looks horrible and clueless. Our forum slogan should be "Who needs Skita when we've got Peter Fehse".
How about Flip for Milicic I think Milicic could be a starter here because sonics dont really have a True Center
Somebody call Danny Ainge! Boston trades: SG Jiri Welsch (8.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg in 22.8 minutes) Boston receives: PG Mateen Cleaves (0.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.3 apg in 1.6 minutes) SG Ronald Murray (4.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.6 apg in 15.1 minutes) Change in team outlook: -4.2 ppg, -0.7 rpg, and 0.0 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED I think Jiri would fit in well with the Sonics. He can shoot the lights out, and he's a pretty good one-on-one defender. I would love to have Flip on the Celtics. What do you guys think of that deal?
^ You're crazy if you're serious Flip To Denver for Skita! Since I'm a Denver fan this would be a perfect trade. However, for the Sonics, they're getting an expiring contract and a player with skills that won't get much playing time. They could do better than Skita. However, not many teams out their are in a need of a SG for half a season. Unless, you wan't to acquire PJ Brown somehow from the Hornets and take his contract. EDIT: The Crazy part was directed to Bosnian
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Somebody call Danny Ainge! Boston trades: SG Jiri Welsch (8.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg in 22.8 minutes) Boston receives: PG Mateen Cleaves (0.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.3 apg in 1.6 minutes) SG Ronald Murray (4.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.6 apg in 15.1 minutes) Change in team outlook: -4.2 ppg, -0.7 rpg, and 0.0 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED I think Jiri would fit in well with the Sonics. He can shoot the lights out, and he's a pretty good one-on-one defender. I would love to have Flip on the Celtics. What do you guys think of that deal?</div> No benefits for Sonics. A reason for shipping Murray at the first place is that we have overcrouded backcourt rotation, I think if Sonics try to move Murray then they are looking a post player. But you never know...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Semmi:</div><div class="quote_post">No benefits for Sonics. A reason for shipping Murray at the first place is that we have overcrouded backcourt rotation, I think if Sonics try to move Murray then they are looking a post player. But you never know...</div> Good point, but I don't think they can find much in a quality post player for such a small contract. Besides, I wouldn't want to see an emphasis on the post take away from the Sonic's current gameplan. I think the key to them being consistent is having many interchangable parts - so when a guy goes cold, you can sub for him and not lose a lot in terms of talent. I think the Sonic's big men are perfectly suited for their roles. The weaknesses that they have just feed into the Sonic's strengths.
It's funny you bring that up Thrilla, as I do remember a strong rumour around draft time that the Sonics were interested in Jiri, but the Celtics valued him too highly in terms of compensation. I would strongly consider that, Welsch seems a guy capable of playing three positions and he has a nice stroke.
The Sonics are not going to give Flip away. They know how talented he is and again they need insurance in case something happens to one of the guards in the rotation. The Sonics are probably looking to trade Flip for future considerations considering that they don't need to bring in anyone in to break into the rotation (especially at Flip's current salary). The only thing scenario where I can see Flip getting traded is to a team who is struggling who is willing to give up a first round draft pick or a promising young player w/ a second round draft pick (Kevin Martin from Sacramento/second round for example). Teams are going to be reluctant to give away much for Flip considering that he is an unrestricted free agent next year. The best case scenario for Flip would be to get traded to Denver or even Utah, but I would much rather him flourish in the green and gold. Although it doesn't seem likely right now, I would definitely not bet against him. This scenario is everything that is wrong w/ sports. An athlete is given no opportunity to win a starting job despite proving himself more than capable, gets injured, rehabs as fast as he can to get on the court, comes back too early and reaggravates his injury, the team goes on a winning streak, the coach decides to wait until the team loses before he activates him from the injred list despite the fact that the athlete is healthy, does not immediately place him into the rotation, he puts him into the rotation in limited minutes, he plays well when he gets extended minutes in the absence of another guard in the rotation, the other guard comes back and the coach decides to bury the player in his contract year at the end of the bench, the coach expects him not to complain despite using a media outlet to humiliate him, the athlete surprisingly does not complain but is still at the end of the bench, and the athlete is being shopped publicly through the media. Where has he done anything wrong? Nate may be doing a great job coaching the Sonics this year but I'm not sold on him as a person. He's a hypocrite and he's fairweathered. I think that the Sonics should really consider other options for a possible vacancy following this season. One third of a season does not make a great coach. I want the Sonics to keep up the winning but you will not see me make a thread about why Nate deserves a contract extension. Two (possible) playoff appearances in five years doesn't bring back memories of Chuck Daly.
Maybe....just maybe there are some other issues between Murray and McMillan or Murray and Team. But to cover those issues McMillan told the press that Murray won't play because he doesn't want to change the rotation. That sounds like a bad conspiracy theory but we never know what excactly happens between players and coaches. We can make desicions based only on what we see or what we read. There are things happening in locker rooms and in practices that we don't see and that we don't know nothing about. But....I hate to see Murray just wasting his talent on our bench!
Pistons sure could do with Flip right about now, the thing thats missing in Detroit at this moment is instant offense off the bench. Although Larry Brown isn't a huge fan of guys who don't play defense so It may not work.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Although Larry Brown isn't a huge fan of guys who don't play defense so It may not work.</div> Then he should still be a fan of Flip b/c Flip can play D. That rumor was started by Nate last year when he was looking for an excuse to bench him when he was averaging 22 points a game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Then he should still be a fan of Flip b/c Flip can play D. That rumor was started by Nate last year when he was looking for an excuse to bench him when he was averaging 22 points a game.</div> Surely Ray Allen is a fairly good reason? Flip sure can play D, but that doesn't mean he always does. He is tough as nails, but that doesn't automatically mean it translates to the defensive end.
I'm hoping we find a place for Flip as the season wears on. He basically kept the game out of reach against Denver and there were numerous times last year where he carried us offensively. The Portland at home and Minnesota on the road games come to mind. I really feel at some point we're going to need his scoring i.e, Ray Allen is playing 40+ minutes a game and his medical history isn't the greatest. That being said, if it doesn't work out I'd be intrigued with Darko. Supposedly he does some 'unbelievable' things in practice and Joe D (among others) were obviously high on him for a reason.
Trading Darko would be PR suicide. He's still a center with relatively good skills for such a young guy. It's not like we expect Swift to contribute anytime soon, either. *gets shot*
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">^ Are you implying the Pistons would consider trading Darko?</div> Replying to Bosnian a few posts above. I haven't heard anything of the sort - but now that I'm thinking it I have a feeling he really needs to get out from under Larry Brown for him to flourish. Whether that's Detroit or somewhere else I have no idea.
Honestly I don't even think Joe D would trade Darko for even Ray Allen, he's that high on Darko and has made It clear they are going to wait and develop his game for the future. The only thing the Pistons would offer for Flip would be Campbell,Jenkins along with Coleman and I'm guessing that wouldn't really interest the Sonics. Campbell could certainly help Seattle in the playoffs though.
Nobody is going to give up anything significant for Flip Murray unless he is packaged w/ a big who isn't in a contract year (Nick Collison). Flip's salary is so low that the Sonics will not get equal compensation (if there is such a thing) and the fact that he is a free agent will turn teams off from wanting to give away reasonable talent. Unless draft picks are involved I'm almost positive that Flip will remain a Sonic throughout the season. One thing that our management has proven is that they are not going to rush to making any decision. As long as Flip stays quiet about his demotion, and the Sonics keep winning, Rick Sund will not alter the chemistry of this ball club by bringing in a new player who most likely wouldn't be able to break into the rotation anyway.
Honestly, I think if Joe Dumars has a choice between Larry Brown and Darko Milicic, he'll go with the latter. On the other hand, we could get Skita. Once we lose Radman at the end of the year we'll need a tall, dark handsome European to bring said handsome on a nightly basis, and he could do it in a few years time.
Ha. I think Swift and Skita would be too much handsome for us to handle. Shiek, you raise some great points. If I had to put money on it, I'd lay it down on Swift remaining a Sonic for the rest of the season.
