Just talked to my buddy 'on the inside' and here's what he told me. I asked him about Nick Van Exel and he said 'Nick takes off 20 games a year. 20 GAMES YEAR! With our lockerroom....he'd have to change his stripes and most people can't do that.' I asked 'But do you think you guys will sign him?' He said, "Look, we have NO MONEY. The Dikembe deal is NOT done and neither is Bobby's" Now, I had a couple of drinks so I THINK he said Bobby but I'm not positive! If someone knows Sura's status, throw it in here. He went on to say that the Rockets are looking at a couple of two for one deals. He didn't say who was involved but smiled. He did say that Charlie and Moochie are completely out of any mix right now whatsoever. He mentioned that they are trying to move Spoon right now very actively. He said we 'have 6 one year contracts right now' and he smiled. I said 'what about Mike James?' He said 'we're not trading Mike.' I said, 'But he's already said that he wants money when his contract's up.' He said, 'Yeah, but we've got Yao coming up, Tracy's deal kicks in, and we can NOT find value for James right now.' Now, whether that means we're looking but can't find a partner or we're not looking - I don't know. He also said that SPUHNULIS VASOOOOLUS or whatever his name is does want to play here but he's making 600,000 euros and was very clear that that was like 2 million TAX FREE US dollars. He said he has a 500,000 dollar buyout that the team can pay and that it does not count against the cap. They definitely like him alot though. I COMPLETELY forgot to ask about Badiane - my bad!!! Other than that - not really much. I know it's not much but it's all that's leaking right now. They're really high on Swift though and said he's starting. ALSO FORGOT to ask about Juwan - again, my bad! The thing that he stressed the MOST was that hey are actively looking for a 2 for 1 trade. He didn't say 4 for 1 or anything like that he just said that 'we're looking at a couple of 2 for 1 deals!' And he said he 'didn't think that Nick would come here.' I personally think that he WILL but again, that's simply what he said and he's right in the mix so..... Anyway, that's it for now. More news once the season starts and I can get my guys who are on the plane!!!!!
A post from Doc Rocket without any cryptic statements? Thanks a bunch for the info Doc. Much appreciated.
Great to hear from ya Doc. Sura just seems like a Van Gundy type player, hope they keep him. Please don't go after Van Exel.
Thanks Doc. I wonder if he meant to say "The Dikembe deal is NOT done and neither is Barry's" instead of "Bobby's".
Thanks! Pretty good news about looking for 2-for-1 deals. also about moving spoon (maybe making room for baxter) and how high they are on swift. i like the fact that the ward and moochie are not in the mix. maybe moochie will be cut and ward involved in one of the deals. sucks about deke, although i'm sure he will be back. deke probably wants more money.
Weird he'd say Bobby's situation isn't settled. Sura is already under contract. maybe he said BARRY?? or maybe Sura is on the block, i hoper not. Thanks for the info Doc
Nick Van Exel would not take off 20 games while playing for this city, this coach, and with this squad. Just don't see it happening.
thanks doc btw what happened to "oilpiere"? back in the late 90's and early francis era this member used to give great insider info... he and doc were the most respected insiders on the board... anyone know what happened?
I agree. This must be what he meant. Sura has two year left on his deal at least. So it sounds like they won't use the LLE.
Please let it be for Gerald Wallace or some such player. Defense and athleticism and youth. Charlotte needs to pay the minimum on their salary cap anyway. Throw in a 1st rounder. That's the kind of thing we need.
It's Vassilis Spanoulis! - don't worry I don't know how to spell it either - I copy paste it By my calculations EUR 600,000 is about USD 738,000 then add in it is NET as in the team pays the taxes, agent fees, no escrow like in the NBA and you easily get upto USD 1.4M NBA equivalant salary. Maybe they are thowing in free housing, car & other perks but V-Span is a Greek and the team is Greek so why would they have to give him all that to play in his home country. If they want him they need to fork over the cash sooner or later.
