# 1 aside, why should it be so unrealistic to get Lewis? (warning: long post!)

I have brought this up before without much reaction. Following Will's logic in his post (which I thought was great) it is really all about the composition of the players on the team - they need to make sense as a combo. I definitely do not see Lewis as worthy of giving away a # 1 pick - any such talk is ridiculous and should be dismissed immediately. However, I do think it should be possible to work out a trade without involving the # 1 or Francis, Mobley and Griffin.

The following is based on my following assumptions (which I believe are true) and facts:

1) Lewis wants to play in Houston or at least seriously considers it. He is not just using Houston to get a higher offer from the Sonics. (assumption).

2) Lewis' style fits the Rockets (assumption). He is a deadly three-point shooter, good rebounder and overall a high-percentage shooter (fact).

3) The Rockets want Lewis and believe he would fit in well with the rest of the team (assumption - this is the one I doubt the most because it is so odd that CD and Rudy did not pick Rashard back then - I wonder if whatever motivated them to do so would no longer hold them back now. I hope so.).

4) The Sonics don't have a first-round pick this year (fact). There are some potential impact players in this draft for them which could be available at # 15: Hilario, Tskithisfadsfsdgabsabdbbsvavili, Stoudemire, Chris Marcus, Frank Williams, etc. They also have Radmanovic who is a decent alternative to Lewis at the 3 and Desmond Mason. (my opinion)

5) The Sonics were very interested in Mo Taylor before he signed with Houston. (fact)

6) The Sonics don't really have a decent shot-blocking threat at center - maybe Calvin Booth, but I would say that even Cato might be better than Booth or any other center they have. (just my opinion)

7) Seattle might be hesitant to just pay Lewis the max and keep him. (assumption).

I really do not see how a package of # 15, Taylor and perhaps Cato or, if they don't like Cato, Thomas, Norris or whoever they want except Francis, Mobley, Griffin would be that unrealistic if Lewis basically tells the Sonics he wants to play in Houston. Yes, the Sonics would lose a very good player, but what could they do if he told them he wants to go to Houston and Houston wants him? Yes, they could pay him the most money unless a sign-and-trade is done, but Lewis could force their hand. Again - he should think about where he will have a greater future - Payton is old, Baker is mentally weak and Seattle still has lots of rebuilding to do. Houston, especially now with the No.1, is way ahead of Seattle in terms of rebuilding and getting closer to putting together a team with championship potential.

I think the Rockets should totally focus their efforts on getting this deal done. They could also throw in their second round picks this year and next year.

PG: Francis (imo top 5 in his position)
SG: Mobley (imo top 10)
SF: Lewis (imo top 10)
PF: Griffin (at least future top 10, imho)

In my opinion, this team should make the playoffs if healthy - even with just Collier at center. This is a great young core and if you add just one or two cheap tough veterans (Elie or Avery Johnson or Bo Outlaw type - perhaps even Rice could fill that role), you could have something close to a contender with that team already.

This is why I think the Rockets' management should totally focus on getting that deal done.

And NOW comes the icing on the cake - if you add Ming to that team with the No. 1 pick - even if he just turns out to be someone like Rik Smits with a bit better shot-blocking and range in his shot - this could put the team over the edge. Ming would be like an added bonus, he would not have to carry the team and he would have time to grow with the rest of the team. He would not have to score much and in fact he probably even shouldn't score all too much. Francis, Mobley and Lewis should be the three go-to guys on offense - Griffin and Ming should focus on defense and gradually improve their offensive games. Don't you think that the combination of Francis' and Mobley's speed with everyone from 1 to 5 being able to stick the three and with Griffin's and Ming's shotblocking and with having a 7'5 giant in the middle would be deadly to any opposing team? Coming to Will's logic on why to draft Ming (because suddenly everyone else on the team would make sense together), I think that the composition of this team would be just perfect.

Francis, Mobley, Lewis, Griffin, Ming - in my mind, this team has all the potential in the world to go from being good to true greatness. After a lot of thinking, I would even prefer this team to a team with just Francis and Garnett and scrubs for which we would have to blow up our core. If things go bad and Ming sucks, it would still be a very good team. If Ming turns out to be better than Shawn Bradley, this team could potentially dominate for 10 years.

My question to aelliott or NIKEStrad or some other cap guru is the following:

In what order would things (giving Francis the extension, drafting Ming, doing a sign-and-trade deal with the Sonics) have to be done for this to work if it were to work?

Thanks for the patience in reading this long post and I would be happy to see some constructive replies.

 

Umm, okay, thanks. If we traded Mo Taylor, Cato, the 15, the 38 and our second-round pick next year for Lewis: Who would be the base-year compensation player involved? And wouldn't Taylor and Cato together make the max or something close to it or perhaps even more?

 

Okay, that would be bad. Then I don't really know how a draft-day trade with the Sonics involving the picks could be combined with a sign-and-trade of Lewis.

True. The only way it could work is if Lewis really made it clear that he does NOT want to stay with the Sonics under any circumstances.

 

Thanks, GATER. That's a lot of IF's, I admit.

But that deal starting at $ 8 m sounds great to me...could it be a 7-year deal starting at 8 and then increasing by quite a bit instead? Or, if we included Moochie or so in the sign-and-trade, could it be an "almost max" deal?

 

Thanks aelliott.

 

If Seattle could only take back 50 % - would that not mean # 15, the second-round pick this year and next year (all irrelevant to the cap) and Kenny T + Mo Taylor could work for Rashard Lewis + Shammond Williams if Rashard gets something like a $ 13 mio. contract? Then Seattle could take back 6.5 mio. + the ~ 2 mio. Shammond Williams makes.

I believe that Mo's and Kenny T's contract would match that.

I do realize that Seattle still has Vin Baker as well, so they would probably not want to do this. Just trying to understand if we could do it without a third team being involved.

 

Okay, something really crazy:

Rice, Taylor, Thomas, # 15 (= $ 17.9 mio)

for

Vin Baker ($ 12.375 mio) + Rashard Lewis (1/2 of ~ 12 mio. = 6 mio.) (= 18.375 mio.)

The huge downside would be that we would have to eat Baker's horrible contract which lasts until 2005/2006 and peaks out at $ 15.75 mio. per year.

The upside for us would be that we could have a re-signed Lewis for 7 years - we would have our starting 5 locked up for many years. Actually, Baker is definitely not worth the money he makes but he is also not completely horrible - good size to lean on Shaq, decent shot-blocker - he cannot carry a team, but as the No. 5 or No. 6 behind Francis, Mobley, Lewis, Griffin, Ming, he could be pretty good . Plus, when he finally comes off the cap, we could give that money to Mobley and/or Griffin.

Why would Seattle do it? It would give them a chance to rebuild. I am almost sure that Seattle would consider this one - remember that Payton said all these great things about Kenny Thomas and remember that they do not have a first-round pick this year. Rice comes off the cap after 2003/2004, sooner than Baker. They like Mo Taylor and would have him locked up long-term.

Our team:

PG: Francis (6'3), Moochie
SG: Mobley (6'4), Torres
SF: Lewis (6'10), Morris
PF: Griffin (6'10), Baker (6'11)
C: Ming (7'5), Cato (6'11) (edit: added after GATER's post), Collier (7'0)

That team has championship written all over it, imho .

 

Damn, how could I forget to put Cato in . Thanks!

Yes, I think the trade would give us a lot of size and flexibility. To make it more attractive for the Sonics, I personally would even give up our first round pick in 2004 because I have a lot of confidence in this team having a great record in 2003/2004.