ESPN Insider...Houston, you're on the clock...

How about this:

#1
Cato
KT
Rice

for

Diop
Illgauskas
#8



Then if we pick Caron Butler with #8, here's what we have:


Illgauskas/Diop/FA signing
MoTaylor/Griffin/T-Mo
Rice/T-Mo/Butler
Mobley/Butler
Francis/Mooch


We get big and tough with this trade. Diop could develop into a VERY good C. Worst case scenario? Diop becomes a good, cheap backup C that can bang bodies with ANYONE (Shaq included). Illgauskas is productive,and of course, the question in this deal is not his health, because we won't let him eclipse 30 minutes a night, but his contract. The Cavs can pick Jay Williams and trade Miller, or pick Ming or Dunleavy or whoever.

 

Throw in Bryce Drew and it's a great deal.

 

Posted by DearRock:

This is what I'm starting to think too. When we initially won the lottory all of these trade ideas kept running thru my mind, but now the more I think about it just drafting Ming and using our 15th on Nachbar would satisfy both of our needs. We could even package the 15th and maybe KT to move up and nab Tsikeisasdfdaii(???) or Butler if he falls.

 

NJRocket, unfortunately, we have to take into account that if T-Mo and Rice are on the Rockets, they will both get 20 minutes a night, limiting our ability to add a starter there. So we'd have to get rid of one, or get rid of KT, give some PF minutes to T-Mo, and some backup SG minutes to Rice maybe. But if we have 3 PF's, then 3 SF's, and Mobley playing 40 minutes. We can't.


Maybe Rice, KT, #1 for Mashburn and Magloire? They can pick Ming:

Campbell/Ming(for now)
PJ Brown/KT
Lee Nailon/Rice/KT
Wesley/Augmon
Davis/FA signing or other pick


Basically, #1 is too much for Magloire OR Mashburn, so to balance, we raise value high, then bring it down with Rice to make it perfect.


Ming would bring their new city lots of publicity too. (NewOrleans)

 

hey guys,

The only guy other than Ming I would like to see the ROcks draft is Caron Butler. He is going to be the next paul pierce. as much as i hate jamison, getting caron butler and antawn jamison would be something wouldnt it.

pg- Steve Francis
Sg- Cuttino Mobley
Sf- Caron Butler
PF- ANtawn Jamison
C- ?

 

Sane, no offense, but all your trade proposals since we got # 1 have just been horrible .

 

I've read Ming already has a good hook shot. I'd love to see Jabbar work with Ming to perfect that shot. A 7'5 guy shooting hook shots all night would be almost unstoppable. And when he's not shooting hook shots he can go to the outside and shoot 3 pointers.

 

Ming in New Orleans? I think the Chinese Govt. would have a heart attack.

 

----What about the No. 1 and Mo Taylor for the No. 3 and Antawn Jamison?

MoT fits our system better then Jamison. I dont think Jamison is a 3 anyways. Doesnt he thrive at the 4 and then stink it up when the Warriors play him at small forward? Plus as far as I know he cant shoot from beyond 15 feet. Maurice can shoot lights out all day long. I would not do this deal at all.


---- The Knicks have already said they'll make an offer and the N.Y. Post is reporting into today's editions that they may be willing to swap Latrell Sprewell and the No. 7 pick for Glen Rice and the No. 1.

I would tell them to kiss my ass if they offered this deal. We dont need another guard! Plus Spree aint that good.


----And don't count out the Grizzlies. They covet Dunleavy. If they feel he'll be gone by the time they draft, they have the expendable talent to move up.

I would be really interested to see what the Grizz have to offer. Swift, Battier, Gasol(!), pick, etc. are really good options.

---- Would the Mavs do a sign-and-trade that would send Raef LaFrentz to Houston in return for the No. 1 and say, Cato?

Ummm.....no thanks. LaFrentz for a number one pick in a deep draft?!?!?! I dont care if they include Finley.


-----Would the T-Wolves send along scoring machine Wally Szczerbiak for the right to draft Williams?

This Szcerbiatch crap pisses the crap out of me. I mean this guy cant even create his own freakin shot. I would think twice about trading the 15th pick for this selfish ball-hog let alone the first pick.

-----Would the Sonics consider a sign-and-trade that would send Rashard Lewis to Houston in return for the No. 1 pick and Taylor? that

Ummm...Rashard Lewis is not worth the number one pick. Seattle does not have that much more to offer after that.

Draft Ming unless another established low post presence is offered via trade. The risk on Ming is high I admit, but what if he does turn out to be as good as advertised? A Ming and Griffin front court would scared the living daylights out of opposing guards. Combine that with our already super backcourt and we could be contending for championship every year!

 

Sir Jackie Chiles,

I undertsand, it's your opinion. But if you told me how to fix them, rather than just saying they're bad, I'd take your opinion more seriously.


Caron Butler sounds so good on Clutch's profile. He has a 3-pt shot. NBA draft makes him sound like a young Bruce Bowen or something.


If he is INDEED a LEGIT 6'7 (yes, one inch matters), then I'd be so happy drafting Ming, then trading KT and #15 for whichever pick will net us Butler. He can back up the 2, 3, and the 4 when the matchup works (the other PF is short).

Cato/Ming (till he gets used to the game)
MoT/Griffin/T-Mo
Rice/Butler/T-Mo
Mobley/Butler/Torres
Francis/Mooch



Without the 2 picks, we're projected to make the 8th seed. With 2 of the top 6 players, both possibly superstars soon? I think 50 wins is the target now.

 

Sigh. Okay, so I have to address it in detail:

It sounds horrible. A # 1 for a 34-year-old PF and a decent center that was a late first-round pick?!

Getting worse. # 1 for two guys who have severe foot problems and No. 8. No thanks.

Mashburn is just as injury-prone as Rice and has never taken his teams anywhere. Magloire is decent, as I said, but might not even be worth more than KT. So you would throw in the # 1 to make your deal work?


Please stop the madness.

 

What a fantastic point!

The crux of the argument for drafting Yao, while the Rocks don't blow you away with their overall talent, the core has very good potential and goes at least 6 deep.

All of the Rocks' major issues are team related, there is no one individual player who could come in and rectify them. Defense, offense, assists, rebounding, these are issues that must addressed by the entire team, there must be a change in the team concept.

If there is a team than can afford to take a chance on Yao, it's the Rockets. Unless they are presented with an unbelievable offer, they would do best by taking the risk on Yao @ #1 and concentrating on what to do @ #15: best available, trade up\down, fulfill obligation w/Memphis.

 

Amen...that Cleveland trade was very atrocious. Ilgauskas?? When was the last time that he played a full season?? Diop?? Good God, no!

The only other deal that was as bad as that one was the one that the article mentioned in Rashard Lewis for Mo and the #1. I like Rashard, but like R0ckets03 said, he ain't that good.

The Spree trade was a bad one too, but knowing the Rockets, they may seriously consider that deal.

I agree with DearRock (thought I would never say that...hehe):

Draft Ming and get a SF type at pick #15. Only trade the pick if you know that Ming is not going to be allowed to play in Houston OR if a team comes up with a trade that allows us to get Butler, get rid of a bad contract like Rice, Cato, Moochie, or Taylor, AND get a great player in return (sorry Odom and Lewis are good but not that great). I would be very surprised to see any team come through with a deal that would include all those things.

 

Gentlemen, Go to realgm.com to check if trades are accepted or decline. The following was accepted.

I still think KG is viable option, Minnesota would love to own the #1 pick and draft Jay Williams to run point due to Terrell Brandon challenges and moving Chauncey Billups to the 2 spot. Taylor and Rice would pick up scoring and give Minnesota depth.

Houston trades:
#1 Pick
C Kelvin Cato (6.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.4 apg in 25.5 minutes)
SF Glen Rice (8.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg in 30.3 minutes)
SF Maurice Taylor (8.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg in 30.3 minutes)

Houston receives:

SF Kevin Garnett (21.2 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 5.2 apg in 39.2 minutes)

Change in team outlook: +6.0 ppg, +2.7 rpg, and +3.2 apg.

Minnesota trades:
SF Kevin Garnett (21.2 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 5.2 apg in 39.2 minutes)

Minnesota receives:
#1 Pick
C Kelvin Cato (6.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.4 apg in 75 games)
SF Glen Rice (8.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg in 20 games)
SF Maurice Taylor (8.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg in 20 games)

Change in team outlook: -6.0 ppg, -2.7 rpg, and -3.2 apg.

TRADE ACCEPTED

 

As I posted somewhere else, I would love that. I would even throw in # 15 and our first-round pick next year (lottery-protected) to make that deal work. However, I think the chances are extremely slim. The only way that would happen would be Garnett wanting out and/or the Wolves thinking they will never make it past the first round if they don't make huge changes. Hmm...perhaps a few nice phone calls from Francis wouldn't hurt to find out what the chances might be...

Francis, Mobley, Garnett, Griffin, plus some big mean shot-blocker not named Cato at the 5...that would definitely be a DYNASTY. I just think that Garnett with his unselfish play would be perfect with Francis and Mobley - and Garnett and Griffin with a big shot-blocker behind them would block so many shots it would not even be funny.

 

As a memphis fan I do most definitly not consider Swift, Battier, Gasol as expendable talent! ... ... Obviously we wouldnt trade Gasol straight up for the pick and even Battier would be questionable since we lack the talent to take chances right now ... sure we would trade Swift for the pick but Huston wouldn't ... Anyway West has said in interwievs that we are staying at no 4 and that suits me fine ... we'll still have at least one of Ming, Williams, Dunleavey, Butler et al to choose from ...

As far as I am concerned you really should go for Ming ... lets face it if he works out your only problem will be the luxary taxes in a few years ... the arguments that he wont match up to Shaq is silly ... of course he won't but then again shaq will retire soon anyway ...

 

Well the pick next year can't be traded since it belongs to the Grizzlies

I seriously doubt that package would be enough to land KG. Maybe take Cato out of the equation while adding Moochie, KT and the #15. But I think it's just a pipedream. Why would Ming want to play in the twin cities and why would Minnesota trade Granett?

 

Darth West--I'd love to get Battier or Pau but Swift??? I don't see a deal happening between our clubs. I agree with you that we should take Ming and as far as the luxury tax goes, the team's revenues would skyrocket in ticket sales and merchandising. Ming = $.