Mid-season trades and salary dumps

[Gaddabout]

Back when basketball was a competitive sport and not an accounting exercise, the good teams made trades to get better and the bad teams stuck with younger players in hopes of improving. Now, all the teams on the margin are trying to avoid the luxury tax and there's nary a decent player on the block that might actually help someone. Some possible trades I've heard about:

- Penny Hardaway to Seattle for Reggie Evans, Flip Murray and Vitaly Potapenko. This makes sense for Seattle because Hardaway's contract is expiring. It makes no sense for New York, which is why this deal must be imminent.

- Chris Wilcox to the Wolves for Eddie Griffin. OK, this one actually makes some sense.

- The entire Knicks roster and two of Isiah's illegitimate kids for anyone Larry Brown might approve of.

- Kenyon Martin to the Bulls for who knows what. This won't go through because it will take two months to scan and e-mail Martin's medical records.

- Steve Francis to the Nugs, which is a trade I hope goes through, because it would make for a great ESPN reality show: Desperate Ballhogs.

- Raef LaFrentz and some picks for some self-respect for Danny Ainge.

 

[Gorilla]

- Penny Hardaway to Seattle for Reggie Evans, Flip Murray and Vitaly Potapenko. This makes sense for Seattle because Hardaway's contract is expiring. It makes no sense for New York, which is why this deal must be imminent.

"First, I have a scoop for you: A well-placed source tells me that Isiah Thomas is prepared to trade Channing Frye and Penny Hardaway to Denver for Kenyon Martin and Earl Watson, but only if Martin agrees to an MRI on his surgically repaired knee. If Martin's knee is in good shape, the Knicks are calling off the deal. If the knee is in rough shape, the deal is on. If the knee is in such terrible shape that the doctor says something like, "Wow, there's a good chance K-Mart might walk with a limp for the rest of his life," the Knicks will throw in an unconditional No. 1 in 2009 as well as Nate Robinson and $3 million dollars. So stay tuned."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060208

 

[myrondizzo]

no way that works under the cba.

 

[Chaplin]

"First, I have a scoop for you: A well-placed source tells me that Isiah Thomas is prepared to trade Channing Frye and Penny Hardaway to Denver for Kenyon Martin and Earl Watson, but only if Martin agrees to an MRI on his surgically repaired knee. If Martin's knee is in good shape, the Knicks are calling off the deal. If the knee is in rough shape, the deal is on. If the knee is in such terrible shape that the doctor says something like, "Wow, there's a good chance K-Mart might walk with a limp for the rest of his life," the Knicks will throw in an unconditional No. 1 in 2009 as well as Nate Robinson and $3 million dollars. So stay tuned."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060208

Won't happen. Isaiah has gone on record to say that Channing Frye and Eddy Curry are the only guys he WON'T trade.

 

[elindholm]

Uh, a more careful read of the excerpt might be in order. It's by Bill Simmons, intended as a joke.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Won't happen. Isaiah has gone on record to say that Channing Frye and Eddy Curry are the only guys he WON'T trade.

I don't know, it could be a smokescreen. Isiah's hobby is collecting bad contracts and Martin's has the potential to be real doozy. I am sure the luster is gone off Penny's deal now that it is expiring.

That's the problem with that kind of hobby. When you collect classic cars, they get older and more desirable, but BAD CONTRACTS by their very nature tend to get LESS BAD over time. Its a rare thing to find one that actually has the potential of getting worse after you aquire it (you know, like when the Suns got Penny).

 

[Gaddabout]

Won't happen. Isaiah has gone on record to say that Channing Frye and Eddy Curry are the only guys he WON'T trade.

Actually that's out the door now. Thomas even admitted he wouldn't have traded for the rights to Nate Dog if he knew Brown would be his coach. Everyone's up for grabs now. Thomas is not repairing the ship, he's taken it back to harbor and selling it off board by board.

The goal now is to find 12 guys Brown can keep under his thumb.

 

[George O'Brien]

Actually that's out the door now. Thomas even admitted he wouldn't have traded for the rights to Nate Dog if he knew Brown would be his coach. Everyone's up for grabs now. Thomas is not repairing the ship, he's taken it back to harbor and selling it off board by board.

The goal now is to find 12 guys Brown can keep under his thumb.

That's not hard. It's just that they will have to continue paying 8 or 9 who won't be on the team and can't be traded.

 

[hcsilla]

- Penny Hardaway to Seattle for Reggie Evans, Flip Murray and Vitaly Potapenko. This makes sense for Seattle because Hardaway's contract is expiring.

That doesn't work under the cap.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

28. Atlanta
Things I would do if I were Hornets GM Jeff Bower: Bring everyone into my office, call Atlanta GM Billy Knight on my speaker phone, pretend I was just checking in to say hello, then deadpan the requisite, "Hey, you aren't interested in trading Marvin Williams for Chris Paul, are you?" joke ... followed by one of those "Bwaaaaaah haaaaaa haaaaaaa!" laughs as everyone in the office cracks up.

ROFL.. Rich..

(See, this is why I could never be an NBA GM. Also, I wouldn't make dumb trades and overpay for mediocre players. That's another reason.)
.

Hmmmm.. Wonder what particular ex-Sun he was talking about there...