With Clutch's recent thread about no one being untouchable (mentioning Mobley specifically) & this paragraph from today's article in the Beacon Journal, I was wondering if this trade would be beneficial to both teams. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/nba/cleveland_cavaliers/3293998.htm • There are plenty of trade rumors involving Miller running around. Expect the rumors to be in an all-out sprint after all teams learn today where they will pick in the draft. When Cavs owner Gordon Gund went public earlier this month about not wanting to pay Miller the maximum salary, that was yet another indication around the league that Miller is trade bait. He is. But the Cavs aren't going to deal Miller unless they can be sure about getting a top-notch point guard to take his place. Don't be surprised if the Cavs look to trade Miller in a package deal that would enable them to draft Duke point guard Jay Williams. If we assume that we land the second pick, or that JW will be available when we pick, & that Francis is mature enough to understand the long term thinking of trading Mobley, would you do this deal? This deal also assumes that no other team jumps into the top 3. Houston sends Mobley/Cato/KT/#2 or #3 pick to Cleveland. Cleveland sends Miller/Mihm/Person/#6 pick to Houston. We could then shift Francis to the SG position & have Person backing up Francis. Cleveland would draft JW to pair with Mobley for a more explosive back court. Giving each team a new lineup of: Houston C: Mihm/#15 pick?(Marcus/Stoudemire)/Collier or Willis PF: Taylor/Griffin SF: Rice/#6 pick?(Butler/Woods)/T-Mo SG: Francis/Person/Torres(IL) PG: Miller/Moochie/Brown(IL) Cleveland C: Ilgauskas/Cato/Doleac/Diop PF: KT/Skinner/Hill? SF: Murray/Davis/Jones SG: Mobley/Langdon/Stith/Trepagnier PG: JW/Coles If Wagner is still available at #6 & we believe that we could still get the SF we wanted at #8, we could then try to swing a deal with the Clippers for the #8 & #12 picks in exchange for #6 (Hey, it's worth a shot). If they agreed, we could then send the #12 pick to Memphis to relieve us from next year's #1 pick obligation. I'd do it! Would you?
I like the team on paper. The only thing that scares me is Miller getting his max so soon. Mihm might want some $$$ pretty soon too, even though he's not that good yet. Not a huge deal, just wonder if Les would pony up that money. Still, that looks like a damn good team. And even Cleveland's team looks better imo.
I'd make this trade in a second, however, I'm not so sure that the Clippers would. I've been trying to think of a scenario in which we could land Miller, but have yet to think of one that both teams could agree on. If this trade went down, I would select Butler at 6, and hope thay Stoudemire fell to 15.
I agree with you on the salary issue. Both Rice & Person's contracts expire the same year, but even with that, we'd be right at, or possibly above, the Luxury Tax threshhold. With Francis & Miller wanting (& probably getting) max contracts in the same year, Les would almost assuredly balk at that. As good as Les has been for this city & team, from a fans point of view, you have to love owners like Cuban & the Trailblazer's owner. If the draft picks panned out, that'd be a team to be reckoned with for several years to come. Oh well, it's just nice to be able to dream once in a while.
All this talk about Odom... It's a more realistic deal, HT, than mine but I don't like the fact that we give up Kenny and it also seems that we are giving up maybe too much for Andre. Also, it would be nice to have someone other than Rice starting at the 3 spot.
If Taylor is completely healed, then KT becomes redundant at the PF position & he isn't quick enough to defend the SF position. By trading him in this deal, we acquire 2 players that will start for us in Miller/Mihm & add a quality reserve in Person. Miller is a pure PG, which this team is lacking & this deal allows us to keep Francis. With PG's being the second most difficult position to fill behind the center position, being able to acquire Miller & still retain Francis would, imho, be a steal for us. We'd still have the same production from the SG spot, upgrade both the center & PG spots, & dump Cato's "Now You See Me-Now You Don't" style of play. The only concern that I'd have with accepting the deal, is Mihm's excessive number of fouls. He fouled out of 8 of the 74 games he played in & had 4 or more fouls in 40 of 74 games, while averaging just 22.4 mpg. Compare that to Cato, who fouled out of 6 of the 75 games he played in & had 4 or more fouls in 20 of 75 games, while averaging 25.6 mpg. However, Mihm is just in his second year & Cato is in his fifth year. Maybe, it's just the NBA learning curve. As for your wish about the SF position, I still want to believe that Rice will rehab properly & somewhat return to his old self. However, if he doesn't, I did indicate that we'd probably pick Butler or Woods, if they are available, at the 6th or possibly 8th pick. Once they earn the right to start, you'll have your new starting SF.
Wow! That would give us the best backcourt in the league... uh, wait a minute, we already HAVE the best backcourt in the league when Francis is healthy... hmmm... Miller would be nice, but all we are doing is making Francis make a traditional move that he refused to go to the Grizzlies for. He came to Houston because we WOULD let him play the point. But, all that aside, if Francis was FOR the deal, and willing to move to SG, then I would only consider it. IF Wagner is still there at #6, and LAC was willing to trade Odom for that pick and our filler, such as Moochie, Collier, etc. Then hope for Stoudamire/Hilario/Tskitishvili/Nachbar/Marcus at #14, Dixon/Mattox/Parket/Logan/Navarro at #38. OK, lets say all that actually happens... then I would: want Diop in the deal, not Mihm. Mihm is soft, and has a limited upside. I know people are worried about his feet, but he'll get strong, and I think be better than all the other high schoolers draft last year. And believe it or not, I don't think they'd WANT Cato, with Ilgauskas/Doleac/Mihm already on board and his long contract, and I'd actually prefer to keep him in the short run until someone else develops, so we'd have to figure some other filler in the deal. So, if all these statistically improbable things happened, we'd end up with: Cato/Diop/(Hilario hopefully, but doubtfully, maybe Marcus) Taylor/Griffin/Tmo Odom/Rice/(probably Nachbar) Francis/Torres/(hopefully Dixon) Miller/Brown Hottoddie, I'm not sure your deal leaves us substantially improved now over our current team, and we'd have spent all our trading chits to do it... I do agree that in about 5 years, when Butler and Stoudamire come around, we'd be a much superior team, but I think Miller and Francis would like to be improved now, more than later.
Sherlock I like the last team that you selected. Tell me who would like to add with the MCE? I would take Nailon if we can't get Odom. If we get Hilario instead of Marcus, then I also might consider trying to get Jerome James,because Diop would take a long time to develop.
I wouldn't take Person unless they take Moochie. Person is not cap friendly, especially for a 3rd or 4th guard. I'd rather put Moochie in this deal than Cato. Then, with the picks: #6 (CLE)-Dunleavy, Tskitishvili, or Butler (in that order) #15- Nene Hilario, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Marcus, or Melvin Ely (in that order) #38- guard-take your pick of Welsch, Marcus Taylor, Steve Logan, Juan Dixon, etc. I'd suspect we'd end up with Tskitisvhili, Melvin Ely, and either Steve Logan or Juan Dixon. Giving me: Miller/Dixon/(Francis) Francis/Person Rice/Tskitishvili/Morris Griffin/Taylor/(Mihm) Cato/Mihm/Melvin Ely Dangerous move, but if all goes well, you have 3 excellent playmakers (Miller, Francis, #6 pick if Dunleavy or Tskitishvili), potentially awesome PF, and 5 good big men in rotation.
