Tag: Milwaukee Bucks (Page 16 of 18)

      29 teams, 36 potential trades for Amare Stoudemire

      February 12, 2009 /

      The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 19, and the biggest name on the trading block is Amare Stoudemire. The Suns appear ready and willing to trade their former 1st Team All-NBA player (against my free, unsolicited advice), so I decided to play along and come up with a potential trade scenario (or two) for just about every team in the league. I’ll go through the league franchise-by-franchise and discuss the chances of each team actually making a play for the 26 year-old All-Star. Each blurb will also contain a link or two – if you click it you can see the trade in the ESPN Trade Machine. (I wore that thing out!)

      For the record, I don’t really care where he lands — I’m just happy that the Suns didn’t announce a deal as I was writing this opus. Now that would have been a bummer.

      Let’s roll…

      Atlanta Hawks
      The Hawks are pretty much set at every position except point guard. Mike Bibby’s contract is up this year, so that’s the only hole going into next season. That said, they’d be more likely to offer some combination of forwards than they would Joe Johnson. How about Al Horford (young star), Marvin Williams (young star) and Zaza Pachulia (cap relief)? I don’t think the Hawks would be willing to part with Joe Johnson or Josh Smith.

      Boston Celtics
      There’s no deal that would work unless the Suns truly covet Rajon Rondo. KG and Paul Pierce are untouchable. Rondo and Ray Allen for Amare and Alando Tucker would work, but since the trade offers no salary cap relief for the Suns, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Besides, if they trade away Ray Ray and Rondo, who’s going to play guard for the C’s?

      Charlotte Bobcats
      I think the Bobcats and Suns have already done all the deals they’re going to do. The only possibility is a trade that would include either Ray Felton or D.J. Augustin and Emeka Okafor. How about Felton, Okafor and Sean May for Amare? However, it’s highly unlikely that Stoudemire would re-sign with the Bobcats, so this trade is just a fantasy.

      Chicago Bulls
      The Bulls are actually one of the front runners to land Stoudemire and there are a number of different players that could be shipped to Phoenix. I keep reading that Phoenix is most interested in Tyrus Thomas, so let’s assume he’s part of any deal the two teams would make. How about Thomas and Kirk Hinrich for Stoudemire? Or how about Thomas, Ben Gordon and Drew Gooden’s expiring contract? (Note: The Bulls would need to receive consent from Gordon to execute this trade.) What about Thomas, Gooden and Luol Deng for Stoudemire and Robin Lopez?

      Cleveland Cavaliers
      The Cavs just don’t have the young stars to pull a trade off. The best deal I could come up with is Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract, J.J. Hickson, Daniel Gibson and maybe a first round pick or two for Stoudemire. It would give the Suns a ton of cap relief, but Hickson is a bit of an unknown at this point and Gibson has been up and down. I think the Suns can do better.

      Dallas Mavericks
      To deal with the Mavs, one would think that Josh Howard would have to be involved. How about Howard, Brandon Bass and Jerry Stackhouse for Stoudemire? I doubt the Suns would want to take on Stackhouse’s contract, but I don’t see another package that would work. It’s doubtful that the Mavs would want to bring Stoudemire in as he and Nowitzki play essentially the same position. (Amare can play some center, however.)

      Denver Nuggets
      The Nuggets lack young, affordable stars and expiring contracts, so the only deal that’s equitable is Carmelo Anthony for Stoudemire, but I don’t really see that happening.

      Detroit Pistons
      I don’t think the Suns bite on a deal with Detroit unless Rodney Stuckey is involved, and that might be a dealbreaker for the Pistons. Stuckey and Rasheed Wallace works, but would Detroit go for it?

      Golden State
      The Warriors have apparently been pursuing Stoudemire for the last couple of weeks, but what could they offer? Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright and Kelenna Azubuike would work – would both teams go for it? The Warriors would be left without a point guard, but would get an All-NBA big to replace Randolph and Wright. The Suns would get an All-Star caliber point guard to eventually replace Steve Nash and then get a couple of nice prospects in Randolph and Wright.

      If the Warriors don’t want to trade Elllis, they could offer up Corey Maggette, Andris Biendrins and Wright for Stoudemire. This trade wouldn’t give the Suns the cap relief they’re looking for, but they’d be getting three starter quality players. The Warriors could substitute Jamal Crawford for Maggette in that trade as well.

      Houston Rockets
      The Rockets don’t have the pieces to pull off a deal for Stoudemire. Their only major expiring contract is Ron Artest, so they’d have to ship him, Carl Landry, Luther Head and maybe a first round pick to make things even. Landry is a very productive player, but Artest is a wildcard and the Suns would have to be willing to re-sign him to make it worth their while (and that offsets the value of his expiring deal).

      Indiana Pacers
      The Pacers are another team that lack the young stars that the Suns would be interested in. They have Danny Granger, but he’s pretty much untouchable at this point. How about T.J. Ford (solid point guard), Brandon Rush (prospect) and Rasho Nesterovic’s expiring contract?

      Los Angeles Clippers
      The Clippers just don’t have the expiring deals to give the Suns the cap relief they want, so they’d have to give up a couple of big pieces like Baron Davis and Al Thornton to make the trade worthwhile for the Suns. Since Steve Kerr is still in love with Steve Nash, it’s doubtful that he’d want to bring in a point guard like Davis.

      Los Angeles Lakers
      The Lakers aren’t going to make a deal of this magnitude given their current record and Phoenix would probably refuse to trade with a division rival. However, a straight Gasol-for-Stoudemire deal would work, as would a deal that included Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and a first round pick.

      Memphis Grizzlies
      The Grizzlies have a number of young talented pieces that the Suns might be interested in, but they don’t have any expiring contracts to provide Phoenix with salary cap relief. However, the Suns might go for a deal that included O.J. Mayo, Kyle Lowry and Darko Milicic, wouldn’t they? If the Grizzlies didn’t want to give up Mayo, they could offer up Gay instead, though I think that would be a mistake.

      Miami Heat
      Miami is considered one of the teams with a real shot at landing Stoudemire, but it looks like they’d have to give up Michael Beasley to get him. (And it appears that the Suns aren’t all that high on the rookie.) If the Heat were to offer up Beasley and Shawn Marion’s expiring contract, the Suns would have to throw in a couple of small contracts like Alando Tucker and Goran Dragic along with Amare to make the numbers work. This deal would give the Suns the salary cap relief they’re looking for and a young star to build around. The Heat would be able to pair Stoudemire with Dwyane Wade, giving the team a championship-caliber duo.

      One thing working against this trade is that the Heat should be able to sign a big-name free agent (along with Wade) this summer or next if they simply let Marion’s deal expire. That would give them Wade, Beasley and whoever they sign to build around. However, if they were to pass on Stoudemire here, they run the risk of not being able to sign a big to go along with Wade in the summer of 2010. Miami is a pretty attractive place to play, so they do have a good shot at Amare or Chris Bosh in 2010 if they just stand pat.

      If Steve Kerr is dead set on moving Amare, this is a pretty sweet deal. Beasley is a budding star.

      Milwaukee Bucks
      Why am I even bothering? My beloved Bucks don’t have the pieces to pull off a deal. Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson are overpaid, and Milwaukee simply doesn’t have any expiring contracts that would be of value to the Suns. If Phoenix REALLY liked Charlie Villanueva and Luke Ridnour, this deal would work, but I’m not going to hold my breath. If the Suns liked Charlie V AND Andrew Bogut, and didn’t care about the cap ramifications (yeah, right), a deal that included Villanueva, Bogut and Damon Jones would work (for Stoudemire plus Tucker).

      Minnesota Timberwolves
      I don’t think the T-Wolves would part with Al Jefferson, so any potential deal would probably have to include either Kevin Love or Randy Foye. How about Love, Mike Miller and Jason Collins expiring contract for Amare? That deal would give the Suns a starter-quality player (Miller), a nice young prospect (Love) and salary cap relief (Collins).

      New Jersey Nets
      Does Steve Kerr still consider the lying-about-his-age Yi Jianlian to be a good prospect? If so, a deal that included Yi along with Brook Lopez and the expiring contracts of Stromile Swift and Jarvis Hayes would provide the Suns with some salary cap relief and a couple of young prospects.

      New Orleans Hornets
      My guess is that David West is untouchable at this point, so I don’t really see a legitimate trade offer coming from the Hornets. They could offer up Tyson Chandler and Julian Wright, but that wouldn’t give the Suns any cap relief.

      New York Knicks
      There appears to be some bad blood between Steve Kerr (or Robert Sarver) and the Suns former coach, Mike D’Antoni, so it is unlikely that the Suns will deal with the Knicks. But if New York offered David Lee, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler and Malik Rose’s expiring contract, the Suns would have to think about it, right? The downside for Phoenix is that Lee and Robinson will need to sign new contracts soon, so that offsets the salary cap relief they’d get from the deal. For the Knicks, it would be a heck of a lot easier to sign LeBron next summer if Amare is already in New York.

      Oklahoma City Thunder
      The Thunder would have a tough time re-signing Stoudemire, but they have the expiring contracts and young players to make a deal work. Would the Suns go for an offer of Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox’s expiring contract? I think they might. The deal would give the Thunder a very dangerous duo to build around, assuming they can convince Amare to stay.

      Orlando Magic
      I don’t see a deal happening here. Orlando’s stars are all locked up to long term deals, so unless the Suns really covet Hedo Turkoglu (and are willing to pay him big bucks next season), it’s just not feasible. An offer of Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson and Redick would work, but the Magic aren’t going to go for that.

      Philadelphia 76ers
      The Sixers made their big move last offseason when they signed Elton Brand, and that hasn’t turned out very well (yet). Philly might be able to squeeze Amare out of the Suns if they offered up Andre Miller (and his expiring contract) and rising star Thaddeus Young, but eventually Brand and Stoudemire would have to play together and I’m not exactly sure how that would work.

      Portland Trailblazers
      Reportedly, the Blazers are considering a trade that would send LaMarcus Aldridge, Jerryd Bayless and Raef LaFrentz’s huge expiring contract for Stoudemire and a throw-in. That’s a pretty good deal for the Suns, as it would give them salary cap relief, a young star (Aldridge) and a good prospect (Bayless). I’m not sure that I would do that deal if I’m Portland, but it’s a simple preference between Aldridge and his upside and Stoudemire’s current ability.

      Sacramento Kings
      Would the Kings be willing to trade away their affordable star, Kevin Martin, for a shot at Stoudemire? How about Martin, Jason Thompson and Bobby Jackson’s expiring contract? That wouldn’t leave the Kings with much, but they didn’t have much to begin with. The real challenge would be to get Amare to re-sign next summer.

      San Antonio Spurs
      A deal with the Spurs just isn’t going to happen. They would need to be willing to give up either Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili, and they simply aren’t going to take the risk. The Spurs look like the second-best team in the West, so why tinker?

      Toronto Raptors
      There has been a lot of talk about Chris Bosh wanting out of Toronto, but he denies telling the team that he’s not going to re-sign next summer. A straight Bosh-for-Stoudemire swap would work, but the Raptors probably aren’t going to go for it. Bosh is a better defender and is more likely to re-sign than Amare would be. They might as well hold onto Bosh and hope for the best. The Raptors apparently want to pair Bosh with Stoudemire, but I think it’s going to take an offer of Jose Calderon, Andrea Barngani and Anthony Parker’s expiring deal to get the Suns to bite.

      Utah Jazz
      Boozer is going to opt out this summer. He may elect to re-sign, but the Jazz run the risk of losing him without compensation. What about a Boozer-for-Stoudemire swap? Boozer is more injury-prone, so the Jazz might have to throw Ronnie Brewer in to make it equitable (and to make the numbers work).

      Washington Wizards
      I don’t think the Suns would want to take on Gilbert Arenas’ balky knees or Antawn Jamison’s big contract, and the Wizards don’t have any expiring deals to speak of, so they’d have to do it with talent. How about Caron Butler, Nick Young and Javaris Crittenton for Amare? I love Butler’s game, so if I’m the Suns I’d have to think about it. Of course, if I’m running the Wizards, Butler is pretty much untouchable.

      So what do you think? Are any of these trades completely unreasonable? If your favorite team were offered a shot at Stoudemire, would you want them to jump on it? And if you’re a Suns fan, which trade seems to be the best?

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      Which NBA teams project to have the most cap space over the next two years?

      February 5, 2009 /

      In previous columns, I ranked the top 10 free agents of 2010 and identified several players with expiring contracts that might be moved before the Feb. 19 trade deadline. Now it’s time to talk about cap space.

      We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how teams are “clearing cap space” so that they can sign a big-name free agent in the summer of 2010 (or in some cases, 2009). But what exactly does this mean?

      The NBA has a “soft cap” which is currently set at $58.7 million. Teams that are over the cap can’t sign a free agent from another team for more than the mid-level exception, which usually starts at around $5 million per season. Teams that are under the cap can offer free agents whatever cap space they have up to the level of a max contract, which starts at about $14 million per season under current conditions.

      HoopsHype has all the salary data for each team, but I thought it would be useful to compile it all into one table so we can easily see who will have money to spend over the next two summers.

      First, my assumptions:

      – Given the current state of the economy, the salary cap is likely to stay at about $59 million over the next two seasons, so I used the current cap ($58.7 million) to calculate each team’s cap space.

      – Certain players have already indicated that they’re planning to “opt out” of the final year of their contracts so that they can enter free agency. For those that have not announced, I used my best judgment to determine whether or not a player is likely to opt out. For example, LeBron James is very likely to opt out of his contract in the summer of 2010, but Michael Redd, who stands to make more than $18 million that same season, is likely to play out the final year of his deal because he’s not going to get anything close to that kind of money on the open market.

      – I’ll also list the major (and some minor) decisions that each franchise will have to make over the next two seasons. These are typically decisions about whether or not to re-sign a player whose contract is up (or is entering restricted free agency). For example, if the Knicks decide to sign David Lee to a long-term deal, it’s going to have an impact on the team’s available cap space.

      Without further ado, here’s the table, sorted by total projected cap space in the summer of 2010.

      The data is interesting. If teams didn’t spend another dime until the summer of 2010, there would be seven teams capable of signing one player to a max-type contract and 11 teams capable of signing two players to max deals. This isn’t realistic, however, as most teams are going to re-sign their current players when they enter restricted or unrestricted free agency, and that’s going to take a bite out of their cap space. Plus, there are a number of stars – Carlos Boozer, Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson – and several starter-quality players that will sign free agent deals this summer. That’s going to gobble up cap space as well.

      Of the four teams that have significant cap flexibility this summer – Detroit, Memphis, Atlanta and Oklahoma City – only two, the Pistons and the Hawks, have major decisions to make this summer. The Hawks have to decide whether or not the 30 year-old Mike Bibby is worth a significant long-term deal. If they do sign him to a contract averaging, let’s say, $10 million per season, it is going to reduce their cap space for the summer of 2010 by that amount. They can always re-sign Joe Johnson (because he is “their” free agent), but they may not have enough space to sign another top tier player. That space would be reduced further if they elect to sign Marvin Williams to a long-term deal.

      The Pistons have to make a decision about Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace. Both players are getting on in age, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pistons allow both contracts to expire and use the new cap space this summer or next, building around Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince.

      The Grizzlies have a ton of projected cap space over the next two years, but their challenge is not the money – it’s attracting a top-tier free agent to a small city and a bad team. No one really thinks that Memphis has a shot at any of the top five free agents of 2010 – LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson – though there’s a slim chance that Amare or Bosh might want to play with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay. Small market teams like Memphis that are struggling to win are going to have to overpay for second-tier free agents. The Thunder, Timberwolves, Raptors and Kings are four other teams that will have significant cap space over the next two seasons but are unlikely to attract a top-tier free agent.

      These numbers will obviously change over the next two seasons as teams make trades and sign free agents (and draft picks). However, I can’t remember a time when this many teams had this much cap space. Under normal circumstances, it would lead to a frenzy of spending in the short term, but with the current state of the economy, teams may be quite a bit more cautious as they open those checkbooks.

      NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Does Chris Bosh want out of Toronto?

      February 2, 2009 /

      The answer is yes, according to Stephen A. Smith. Bosh has apparently told the team he doesn’t have any interest in staying in Toronto, and Smith said that Miami and Dallas were likely suitors in a possible trade.

      Bosh’s contract runs through the 2009-10 season, so he is one of the members of the vaunted free agent class of 2010. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo is no dummy, so his first step will be to try to convince Bosh to stay. If that fails, there’s a chance that the team could move him before the trade deadline, which is about three weeks away. They should be able to get more for Bosh now than during the offseason since whatever team trading for him will have his services for the remainder of this season and the playoffs.

      Smith mentioned the Heat and the Mavericks as possible trade partners. Miami’s major trading chip is Shawn Marion, but he’s in the final year of his contract and most of the league seems to be unwilling to pay him what they believe he is going to ask this summer. For that reason, trading for the Matrix is a dicey proposition. In Dallas, Josh Howard would presumably be the centerpiece of a deal for Bosh, though he has now stated publicly that he wants to stay in Dallas.

      One team that should put a trade offer together is the Cleveland Cavaliers. They do have Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract ($13 M), so the Raptors could get immediate salary cap relief. They could package Wally’s contract with J.J. Hickson and two or three future first round picks and see if the Raptors bite. It would be a heck of a lot easier to re-sign LeBron if Bosh were already in Cleveland.

      I’d also like to see the Bucks make a play for the talented power forward. Would the Raptors take Michael Redd and Charlie Villanueva for Bosh? I realize that Bosh would be unlikely to re-sign unless the Bucks vaulted into the top four in the East, but with a starting lineup of Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, Richard Jefferson, Bosh and Andrew Bogut, that would be one of the better teams in the East.

      I really don’t know what happened to the Raptors. After re-signing Jose Calderon to a long-term deal, acquiring Jermaine O’Neal to help down low, and the emergence of Andrea Bargnani as a legitimate scorer, the Raptors should be a lot better than they are. They’ve already lost two in a row and they have the Lakers, Cavs and Hornets coming up in a brutal three-game stretch. And now the news breaks that their franchise player doesn’t want to return.

      Things are bad in Toronto.

      2/2 Update: Bryan Colangelo says the rumors about Bosh not wanting to re-sign with Toronto are untrue.

      “It isn’t true,” said Colangelo. “It’s a complete fabrication.”

      “It’s a non-story. Stephen A. got a little carried away. I’ve e-mailed him to talk about it but he’s in bed with the flu. Maybe the basketball Gods have something to do with that. I don’t know where that story came from.”

      It will be interesting to see what Smith has to say about this. He didn’t cite a source or act like he was breaking a story; he just said that Bosh has already told the team he doesn’t want to return as if it were common knowledge. I’d like to see Smith defend himself here.

      2/3 Update: Chris Bosh speaks out about the story.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Michael Redd to have knee surgery

      January 27, 2009 /

      The Milwaukee Bucks’ playoff chances took a serious hit Saturday when Michael Redd went down with a knee injury.

      Michael Redd has battled through some serious injuries during his pro basketball career but he has never had an injury that required surgery.

      That’s why the Milwaukee Bucks guard is going through a difficult time after tearing the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee Saturday night against Sacramento.

      Redd will undergo surgery in early February, although no date has been established yet.

      The Bucks still have enough talent to finish in the 7th or 8th spot in the East, but they have to play with more consistency. Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut are going to have to pick up the scoring slack.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Conley on the move?

      January 12, 2009 /

      The Racine Journal-Times is reporting that the Bucks and Grizzlies have verbally agreed on a deal that would send Mike Conley, Jr. to Milwaukee in exchange for Ramon Sessions and Joe Alexander.

      I’ve been told both teams have virtually agreed on the conditions of the trade and only Bucks owner Herb Kohl had to give his stamp of approval. Bucks general manager John Hammond, reached in North Carolina where he was on a scouting trip, said it was his policy not to comment on any trade speculation.

      As a Bucks fan, I don’t really want to see this trade go down. I’m not clear on why Sessions isn’t getting any run despite being the 15th most productive point guard in the league. He must be in Scott Skiles’ doghouse. That’s the only explanation. And it’s a shame because the kid has shown tremendous potential. At 22 years of age, he has a bright future ahead of him.

      Neither Joe Alexander nor Mike Conley has shown a whole lot in their brief careers. Conley continues to struggle with his jumper (41%), and if the Bucks were to trade for him, it would be for his potential, not his production. I don’t understand why a team would trade for a semi-expensive, 21 year-old, unproductive point guard when they’d have to give up a cheaper, more productive 22 year-old point guard. Sessions is a better shooter and has a much better assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43 vs. 2.47). I’ve always liked Conley as a prospect, but simply stated, when comparing the two, Sessions is simply more of a proven player.

      Like I said, it looks like Sessions may be in Skiles’ doghouse. While I do like the sense of discipline and defense that Skiles has brought to the Bucks, I’ll be disappointed if Milwaukee trades away a productive young player because the head coach can’t find a way to get through to him.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

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