Official trade thread

If San Antonio or Denver beat one of them in a seven game series I wouldn't be in the slightest bit shocked. Both teams possess superstars that could elevate their game at the right moment and propel their team past anybody.

I wouldn't put it past Utah pulling one out of their butts either.

But I guess to make my prediction a tad bit bolder, one of those two teams (Phoenix and Dallas) will play San Antonio or Denver before reaching the Conference Finals ......

And one of them will get eliminated before ever getting to face the other one.

Salary filler to dump Nazr's contract... who cares... not like he would play over Amir or Brahma

I'm not against losing CB. His lack of clutch shooting has cost us dearly this year. In our many close losses the other team has had a sure shooter in the last minute and we have not.

I would give up Sheed for a quick, shot blocking, help defender-rebounder. Most of our losses have come from getting beat on the pick and roll and the weak side. Sheed is good at these only when he is really motivated and that is too rarely.

I think Joe has to protect our future nucleus...Amir, Maxiel, Delfino, Rip and Tay.

I've changed my opinion on who we should trade for... I'm leaning now towards a mobile center.... mostly because of our options next summer.
The draft being very thin at center after the lotto.. we are more likely to find a SG or PG (kinda thin here too)... but we can't assume we'll fill our center void through free agency or the draft.... It's looking like a good chunk of the MLE will have to be used for Amir & Acker.
If we thought that Nazr could help out defensively this wouldn't be as much of a concern for next year... but you don't need high bball IQ to see one of our biggest weakness is a paint defender.
If Delfino can continue to grow as a point forward then Lindsey's role as a spot up shooter and PG defender would be a decent option for now.

We have never had a history of trading our expiring contract (more likely looking to add more) so I'm thinking Davis is here for the year (especially if you look at next years financial picture).

Keep an eye on Seattle dealing one of their mobile bigs (albeit green)... where they'll be drafting is heavy on big talented kids.

I think it's safe to say that nobody will trade an up-n-coming big for Nazr... but we could get an expiring contract for him which would free us up to trade Davis for a young center (Seattle is very interested in his contract).
I'll take my chances of obtaining a decent PG next year (or Blalock developing) vs trying to get the needed size/athleticism at the 5 spot.

Denver. Will the Mountaineers even make the playoffs? That is the question every thinking hoops fan has to ask themselves.

Personally, I would bet against them. AI & CA just a bad combination all the way around. The record of the Mountaineers since AI arrived is not even at .500.

I think the Dirty Knickers have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Mountaineers.

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Interesting. Davis hasn't played much the past 10-12 games, which corresponds to the time that Earl Watson has been starting over Ridnour. The rumor in Seattle is that one of these two guys is on his way out, and the Sonics are trying to decide who gets the hook. Earl has played pretty well as a starter, but not well enough. Luke gets the start against Phoenix, and ... Earl goes to Detroit for Davis?

This is a fun time of the year with all of the trade speculation... of course it's 99% BS...
One thing that is surfacing is that several teams are looking to shore up their backup PG position... Joe & Riley are competing for the same available talent... if I'm not mistaken Mike James started his career in Miami.
I still think the right thing to do is to go after a big first before moving Nazr... unless Joe has something up his sleeve for next year.

From Langlois at Pistons.com


But Dumars would sleep a little better if he had one more veteran perimeter player on the bench, someone who could run the offense so Chauncey Billups wouldn’t have to play 40-plus minutes a night and Lindsey Hunter could concentrate on what he does better than any other guard in the league – be a momentum-changing catalyst on the defensive end. In other words, Dumars would like to add a bench player who could affect a game on the offensive end in the same way Hunter does defensively. Toward that end, he’s made phone calls inquiring about the availability of Minnesota’s Mike James, Memphis’ Chucky Atkins and Charlotte’s Brevin Knight. But nothing is close, he told me this week, and that probably means nothing will happen before Thursday as that afternoon’s deadline nears – if at all.

Looks like Flip may need to start going deeper into the bench i.e. Nazr, Maxi, DD and Flip Jr.

I just read an article from Houston that says Mike James has a trade kicker in his contract... it will be dificult to trade for him (unless he waives the kicker bonus).
I get a kick out of some of these journalist making it sound like certain deals are already done.

This one makes it sound like the trade for James is a done deal.

From Betus.com

From CBS Sports line about trade rumors.

Other names rumored to potentially be on the move are Gasol's teammate Chucky Atkins; Seattle's Luke Ridnour, with Atlanta a possible destination; the Clippers' Corey Maggette; Sacramento's Shareef Abdur-Rahim; Portland's Jamaal Magloire and Juan Dixon; and Detroit's Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray.

Link

A more reliable source saying James is on his way out of Minny:

"The Wolves, according to NBA front-office sources, have committed to trying to move James before the deadline after he lasted just a half-season as the No. 1 point guard in Minnesota before ceding his starting spot to rookie Randy Foye".

Marc Stein ESPN

According to Joe chances are slim of a player move before the deadline... From the Det News:

Q. Are the Pistons any closer to making a deal?
A. No. In fact, the phrase Joe Dumars used Tuesday morning was, "nothing remotely close.
"But he and vice president of basketball operations John Hammond stayed in Auburn Hills and were working the phones Tuesday while the team was in Milwaukee. The deadline is Thursday, and they are still searching for a veteran perimeter player, preferably a point guard.

I'll second that... we could prolly at least get Jason Hart for a bag of peanuts.