NBA trade machine

I have been playing with some trades and wondered what you guys thought of them:

First:

Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor for Boris Diaw, Corey Magette, Desanga Diop and DJ Augustine

This would basically be a big salary dump for the Hornets with Diaw and Augustine being in their last years of their current deals and Magette and Diop having shorter years left than Okafor.

It would let us have our first star in Paul and get Thomas and DJ White some playing time. We would still be thin at the 3 though, with Cunningham the starter.

Second:

Al Jefferson for Boris Diaw and Diop

This lets them free up cap space with Diaw in the last year of his deal and makes way for Kanter to get playing time. It gets us a big man who can score.

Third:

Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace for Corey Magette and Boris Diaw

I thought this one was funny...

Fourth:

Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher for Diaw and Augustine.

We get a better option at the 3 and a veteran to help Kemba come along. The Lakers get cap relief and an upgrade at the point.

 

i don't think shedding salary is something the hornets would want to get out of trading away chris paul. particularly since they are (presumably) trying to retain david west. no chance they can keep west around if they trade paul and okafor for salary relief.

besides, they are actually in decent shape salary-wise. they have like 6 guys under contract and the only ones making decent money are quality players. if they can get keep west and he comes back from his rehab in good shape, they just need a few pieces to be a decent team.

if they can't retain west this year and are unable to compete, then maybe they'll deal paul later in the season but i would expect for them to get some young talent and picks in exchange -- particularly if they're taking on albatross contracts like diop's.

okur's contract expires next year. if they want to save salary, i'm guessing they just let him walk rather than trading away jefferson.

i doubt the lakers are willing to totally rebuild just yet. i think talent-wise it's probably a somewhat level trade, but i think odom and fisher probably mean too much to the lakers. i suspect they'd want to see how things develop under mike brown before they decide who needs to go and who should be brought in.



i'm not really sure where the bobcats should look to get better. the roster doesn't have glaring holes, it's pretty equally "meh". they got a boatload of bigs (particularly if they re-sign kwame) but to me augustine and henderson are really the best players they have. the pf/c thing could be handled by committee, so i guess maybe a quality sf would be a worthy addition. or jettisoning some of the bigs for a better big.

 

They have a bunch of 4s but not much at 5. They have a lot invested at the point too. It is odd for this team but really they are weakest at the wings.

 

few thoughts..

Diop is in his last year BUT he has a player option after this year that guarantees 7.3 million. he would be out of his f'n mind to pass up that for free agency. So you can figure no team wants that contract. Same for M.Carrol who has 3.5 M player option after this year. bobcats are stuck with those two.

Any trade for Paul or with New Orleans for that matter will be under the microscope since they are owned by the NBA right now. I could see any owner-gm up in arms with the league , I mean new orleans trading a franchise player-like a trade to NY or Orlando. fucking stern

Diaw might play better since he is in a contract year and since Jackson is gone. He was much more effective before Jax was here. Unless they can get decent picks or a young player for Diaw, I saw let him play the year out and risk losing him in FA and gain cap space.

 

I would rather see Diaw gone sooner rather than later. I want to see more minutes for Thomas and White. If we can get something for him then we need to.