Everyone in POR has basically targeted the summer of 2009 as our big FA Summer, in large part b/c soon after that Roy and LMA will be signing big deals, or else have huge cap holds in the Summer of LeBron & Co. But what if we traded one of them for someone comparable in the 2007 or 08 draft class? Then we'd only have one big contract. (I'm assuming 12M starting contract for Roy and 11M for LMA). For instance, if we traded LMA for Horford (with assorted pieces on either side to make fit), we'd get a comparable player in the same position that saves roughly 6M in 2010 cap space. If we traded LMA for Brandon Wright from GSW (again, many more pieces required on their end), we'd save roughly 9M. That leaves Joel, Oden, Webster, Roy (@12M), bayless, rudy, batum, sergio, kopo, freeland, 2009 pick (@1.5M) under contract. That comes out to 41.2M. Salary cap assumptions are around 63M or so for 2010. So if we kept LMA (and didn't use this year's cap space) it would be at 52.3M (assuming a 11M starting contract -- about Josh Smith level). If we traded for Horford, it would be about 46.7M, leaving about 16M in space. If we traded for Wright, it would be around 44.6M, so we'd have 18M in space. If we traded Joel and LMA and got back Horford and an expiring, for example, we'd be at 37M...giving us 25M in space. Something tells me we won't be trying to trade for a stud SF, just in case. Webs and Batum can hold the fort for the next year and a half. I'm much less sold on Sergio/Bayless holding the fort over the next 18 months, so I'd go with a short-term stud PG (I keep saying Nash, but if you think Parker or Harris is "gettable", then fine). So there ends up being a couple of endgames. We have a pretty stacked roster (Roy, Oden, 2007 PF) and 16-25M in cap space in the summer of LeBron. Or we just use our space this summer to sign K*be (if he opts out), and roll with Roy/K*be/Rudy/LMA/Oden. Needless to say, I like #1 better. If we don't get LeBron, or Nash...there's still plenty to go around (not like this summer).
The Cavs could have anyone they want outside of Roy and Oden and I would pull the trigger as long as there was a guarantee that Lebron was going to stay with the Blazers for at least 5 years. Roy and Lebron on the wing with a serviceable point guard, a serviceable power forward and Greg living up to at least part of the hype with a few decent veteran role players to round out the roster is a championship team.
Aren't Roy and Lebron too similar? I say you'd have to trade Roy in any deal for Lebron, too many alpha dogs. The only way Lebron even considers coming to Portland is if Oden is looking like a superstar and destroying teams at the end of next season, and he wants to pair with a once in a generation center. Trade Aldridge and Roy and try to keep Rudy and Bayless. Bayless Rudy James Frye Oden TJ Houshmanzood.........................Championship! A sign and trade in the summer of 2010 can give Lebron a max deal and a bunch of players for his hometown team, but it all depends on Oden living up to the hype.
James a Blazer? Truehoop has a few scenarios... http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop...--LeBron-James--Flirtation-with-New-York.html #1 http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...204~454~3027&teams=22~22~22~5~5~5~5&te=&cash= #2 http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...225~2015~3027&teams=22~22~5~5~5~5~5&te=&cash= Would anyone actually do either of those right now if you could? I'm not sure i would.... without that talent surrounding him Bron would fly the coup in 2010 no matter what...
Re: James a Blazer? Truehoop has a few scenarios... The 1st one is close, but I think you'd need to trade Batum instead of Rudy. No use sending out two starting quality shooting gaurds (Roy, Rudy) and ending up with two starting quality SF's (James, Batum). I don't like the second trade, because if you trade Oden for Lebron, Lebron will leave town in 2010. You can't sell the farm to buy a tractor. The Blazers won't make an offer for Lebron unless he's locked up under contract for 5-7 years. A sign and trade in the Summer of 2010 is the only scenario I can Imagine where Lebron could end up in Portland.
It's a nice thought but you really have to see through this. If Cleveland decides to trade LeBron James, the best player in the world, that should raise major red flags right there. Why would we give up basically our franchise guys in Roy/Aldridge/Oden for a rent-a-player? If/when LeBron goes to NY we'll be stuck in the same position we were in 2004-2005 while we watch Brandon and Co. take the Cavs deep into the playoffs every year.
If we somehow do get Kobe, it would def. be Batum as the starting SF as he is the defensive/rebounding guy you woul dneed in a lineup with sooo many offensive options. But people here are correct when saying that it wouldn't be worth it (no matter how good LBJ is) to trade our franchise players for a rent-a-player.
