 |
|
Good morning, Sixers fans. I'm stressing the good in that sentence, for the time being. Here's why. ESPN is reporting that the Sixers are looking to send Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth to the Timberwolves for either cash considerations or draft picks, or both. Minnesota has a $5.2M trade exception it could use to swallow both contracts. What exactly would this mean? Well, depending on where the cap number comes in later tonight, the Sixers might just be able to offer Elton Brand a contract that starts at $15M in the first year. With the standard 8% yearly increase, that would put the entire deal at 5 years/$90M. In other words, they can just about match the money Golden State was offering and they can offer more than L.A. would be able to offer if they're still going to give Baron Davis $65M for 5 years. That's only the beginning of the big news from the story. Here's the quote that got me writing at this ungodly hour: Yet separate sources suggested Monday that Brand -- if he's ultimately
drawn away from his Face of the Franchise status with the Clippers --
would be more inclined to jump to Philadelphia than to Golden State,
given the Sixers' residence in a conference with far fewer contenders
than the West and the opportunity to join an emerging Philly nucleus (Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young and the considerable wingspan of center Samuel Dalembert) that won many admirers as last season progressed.
Obviously, this is the same logic we've all been clinging too. I'd love to know who the sources are, and there's still a huge part of me who thinks Brand and his agent orchestrated the whole Baron Davis thing from the beginning and he's just keeping appearances up at this point. Still, this is the best-case scenario. Clear the cap space, get Brand, and go from there. One question remaining, however, is this. If Brand is not an option, and Josh Smith is not an option, is it in the best interests of the Sixers to either give Carney and Booth away for nothing, or even worse, have to give something up to clear the salaries? Even if they can get Brand or Smith, Carney is the closest thing they have to a three-point shooter on the roster right now. Ed Stefanski has said a bunch of times that shooters are the final piece to the puzzle, so I doubt Carney would be a stumbling block to getting something done, but it should be a consideration if the Sixers clear all of this cap space and then have nowhere to spend it. Following my "Dream Big" theory, if the Sixers are going to basically pay someone to take some salary off the books, and the trade exception Minnesota holds is or $5.2M, why not try to package Willie Green and Calvin Booth in the deal. Their combined salaries are about $4.5M. Or just send Reggie Evans outright, his salary is $4.6M. There's also talk that Memphis is interested in Carney, and they have the cap space to eat his salary as well. If the Sixers get creative, they may be able to clear even more cap space. Let's just hope they have something to spend it on.
Comments
hopefully the #1 is the Utah pick.
It has to be, doesn't it? I hope whatever pick it is, it's lottery protected.
If it's for Carney and Booth alone it's a good deal for the T-Wolves, add in the first rounder and it's a great deal. The trade exception is a use it or lose it type thing, they aren't going to use it to contend this season, so using it to stockpile a pick, maybe pick up an asset in Carney and pick up a garbage expiring contract in Booth is a stroke of genius. Too bad McHale couldn't find a way to help out Boston with it.
Come on Brand, you know you want to come to Philly.
If they don't land Brand, I'm not sure they throw the whole pile of money at Smith. I'm not sure they have to. Atlanta wants to keep him, but how high will they go? I thought it was questionable they'd match $11M/year, $15M/year might be overkill. There might be some kind of sign-and-trade involved at a lower price, although I'm not sure who the Sixers would send down to ATL. I read somewhere that it might be Thad but that makes zero sense and I dismissed it right away.
Me too, but if it isn't Brand it's going to be a full-court press on Smith. You better hope your ownership has it's priorities straight.
If they pay that much for Josh Smith they're heading into the luxury tax stratosphere with Joe Smith and Bibby coming into free agency soon enough. I'd be shocked if they matched an offer that started at $14 or $15M. Whether or not the Sixers should, or need to go that high is another matter. Let's see what happens with Brand before we start talking about Smith.
I'm sure they don't.
I'm making BRAND/SIXERS picket signs to hand out in Philly.
I don't think anything is set in stone yet. You can't finalize a trade until the 9th (12am tonight). So it's entirely plausible they are keeping this verbal deal with the wolves in place for negotiating flexibility. Everyone is waiting for the cap figure to be set tonight so that they can negotiate salary ceilings. Once this happens they should know quickly whether Brand is serious about coming here. If he is they can use the wolves deal to help the cause.
I would much prefer shedding willie over the current rumored deal. But if I'm the wolves - why in the world would I take Green? He is older now and they already have a sucky starter in Brewer. Carney and the 1st provide extra upside. Trade exceptions are worth something in today's league. You have to give up something to get something in return.
In my mind, a future 1st and rodney carney is worth it if they land Brand. Look at his stats over the years. The man has averaged 20 and 10 over his entire career. Players of Brands stature don't just fall off trees.
I don't think anything is set in stone yet. You can't finalize a trade until the 9th (12am tonight). So it's entirely plausible they are keeping this verbal deal with the wolves in place for negotiating flexibility. Everyone is waiting for the cap figure to be set tonight so that they can negotiate salary ceilings. Once this happens they should know quickly whether Brand is serious about coming here. If he is they can use the wolves deal to help the cause.
I would much prefer shedding willie over the current rumored deal. But if I'm the wolves - why in the world would I take Green? He is older now and they already have a sucky starter in Brewer. Carney and the 1st provide extra upside. Trade exceptions are worth something in today's league. You have to give up something to get something in return.
In my mind, a future 1st and rodney carney is worth it if they land Brand. Look at his stats over the years. The man has averaged 20 and 10 over his entire career. Players of Brands stature don't just fall off trees.
I understand give up something to get something, but Mchale isn't exactly hard to bargain with. I think you might have been able to dump salary in different ways maybe not involving a pick. If it lands Brand/Smith then no harm, I can part with Carney to get one of them but Id rather get something better in return besides just cash so I guess we'll see with what the official deal is.
oops; fatfingered a double post ;)
If it's the Utah pick, it's not that big of a deal. Probably going to be a pick in the mid-twenties which isn't really worth that much.
As for what to do with the money, that's a good point. Don't worry about Iguodala, they can go over the cap as much as they'd like to sign him, they have bird rights and he's a restricted FA, so no matter how much some other team wants to overpay for him, the Sixers can, and probably will, match. The only worry with him is timing, if he signs an offer sheet at midnight tonight, the Sixers are screwed. Hopefully he'll realize that if he's getting offers from other teams there will be some communication so the Sixers can make the moves they need to with the cap space, then sign him long term.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of Krstic. This summer has to end up in an impact player, Brand, Smith are options 1 and 1A. Maybe someone we haven't even talked about yet like Amare becomes available, who knows. There's a lot you can do with that cap space. If we only wind up with Krstic I'll be extremely disappointed.
No way stefanski pulls a billy king and signs Krstic to a willie type deal. I just refuse to believe the man is that stupid.
Vujacic is out of the question, he'd be too expensive and the Lakers said they'll match any offers for him.
Honestly, I think with a few minor signing, this would be the team we'd be going to battle with this season plus Brand or Smith. Then next year they could use the mid-level to bring in whatever they need.
I didn't realize they had the bi-annual exception. That's big. A little wiggle room if they max out Brand to bring in a Kareem Rush type.
I think you're right about Willie Green too. If he could've unloaded him, I think he would have. That contract is an albatross, I was just saying I wish they could have.
Oh yeah and of course the Sixers wanted to move Green. Why would Minny take him though? Doesn't make sense for them.
I'm sure Ed does too, I don't think it was an option. I'd probably be on the phone right now with Memphis, who has coveted Carney for a while. Maybe you could just send him to Memphis for a second round pick, clear some cap space that way.
Agreed, as long as we get Brand or Smith. If this winds up being a trade for cap space so we can get Maggette and or Childress, I'm not thrilled. Mainly because I'd see that as a huge letdown for this Summer that's been built up in all our minds as the true turning point for the franchise.
True Brand or Smith are the only results that will satisfy me. I don't see how either Maggette or Childress even fits on our team with Iggy and Thad.
Totally agreed. But, at the least, our chances just got a lot better. 1 day ago all our eggs were in the Josh Smith basket. Now we have a shot at Brand, and our chances for Smith grew as well. Lastly, if neither works out we still have the trade market where we can now take back 15 mil over what we give out.
I really don't think (hope) Stefanski is interested in either of those players who merely duplicate what we already have.
This train of thought has captured my feelings entirely.
The deal is a calculated gamble on Stefanski's part, and if it results in the Sixers landing Brand or Smith, then it will have been a worthwhile one. But if we wind up dumping Carney and a first round pick for nothing (note: Maggette/Childress = nothing) then it'll have backfired big-time.
In Ed we trust, right?
We have to at this point.
I am more than excited, I'm shitting my pants with anticipation of the first move.
Do you have a link? I can't find this anywhere.
Adrian W over at yahoo says "several league sources" say he is leaning to philly.
I have no link for Eskin. I am listening to 610wip.com
They are talking Sixers!! it is crazy.
Eskin says so. He said "almost done, very close" referring to the Brand trade. He said the Carney deal is done and will go through tomorrow.
Adrian W. at yahoo says several league execs think Brand is coming here.
Why does Ed do this unless this deal is essentially done? If Brand doesn't come here and Smith is matched, Ed is out of a job essentially because he just traded 2 1st rounders and a 1 million dollar contract for a 2nd round pick.
I just saw that ESPN radio in Philly is reporting it as a done deal too.
This is huge. Absolutely huge, if it happens.
Sixers are a top 2 East Defense with this trade. They are possibly the 2nd best defense in the entire NBA.
I don't think that's an understatement at all. Their starting five does not have a weak spot on defense, in fact, they're plus defenders across the board and they have more athleticism on the floor than just about anyone.
Let's cross our fingers, hopefully we'll only have to keep them crossed for another 4 hours or so.
Gordon would come at to high of a price. I like the idea of Brent Barry though.
|
|
 |
Subscribe to my feed
RSS feed.
It would be great to get Elton Brand, and losing Carney and Booth wouldn't be too much of a loss, with all due respect to their abilities. Getting Brand would make this trade, the Korver trade and even the Iverson trade all worthwhile.