Tuesday, February 21, 2006

CRAZY TRADE THAT MAY NOT BE THAT CRAZY

NOTE -- FROM WHAT I AM HEARING MORE THIS IS PROBABLY EXAGERATED FORM OF ANY REAL CONVERSATION. THEREFORE, I WILL LEAVE IT ON THE BLOG FOR MORE OF A DEBATE PIECE ABOUT WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE THE SONICS GM

Take a moment and sink your teeth into this trade concept….

This is being bantered around the league today. Let be very clear – I am not saying this is pending – I have not confirmed that the conversation took place – I give this to you for food for thought

The story is that the Bulls called about Ray Allen and the conversation got to the following point. The Bulls would trade Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, the #1 pick the Bulls have from the Knicks along with cap fillers Thomas and Piatkowski.


The Bulls called back and said we can’t do it unless you include Rashard Lewis but we would be willing to include Chris Duhon.

It sounds totally nutty but …… this is what the Sonics would be left with.
New Line-Up
PG: Ridnour and Duhon
SG: Gordon and Wilkins
SF: Deng
PF: Wilcox and Collison
C: Swift and Petro


With two first round draft picks that are currently #2 pick in all likelihood Adam Morrison and the #6 pick (likely to be better) and the Sonics would also have $10 million in cap room to sign a free agent

Is this really that crazy ?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

One word - terrible. We would be starting all over!!!

Anonymous said...

David, aren't these the same rumors that were floated by the Sun-Times and/or Chicago Tribune over the weekend? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was written about in Chicago already, and then the Seattle Times I believe Sunday shot this one down big-time??

And, would the Sonics in their horrific financial situation trade off their only two all-stars? In the bigger picture, if the ownership group ends up putting the team on the block, wouldn't it benefit the sales price to have a couple of all-stars in the fold?? If they think attendance is down now, what happens when you trade your best players? This would be one whopper of a trade if it did happen, that's for sure.

One more quickie - why the lust for Morrison? Does his game translate that well to the NBA? I know he has some serious shooting range, and he's great at getting his shot off while also real effective with the mid-range jumper, but he's not real athletic and while he can score a ton of points, his competition has been fairly weak in the WCC. It makes me worry to think what NBA caliber athletes guarding him nightly might do to him, for a guy that isn't real quick, and certainly can't jump too well. I don't know if he translates into anything more that Dunleavy Jr.

Anonymous said...

We need a new PG that can play solid "D" and not allow the other PG from constantly penetrating into the paint.

Anonymous said...

This draft won't be as deep as recent drafts due to the high school kids being out, but it will not suck by any means - especially the top 5 or 6, which is what the Sonics would be dealing with here...

Just imagine adding Morrison and Gay, or Reddick and Aldridge or something like that to this team... Luol Deng is going to be a solid player, too.

Won't happen, but I'd do it in a second...

Anonymous said...

Too crazy, way way too crazy. Dilutes an already weak team talent base by substituting standard/unproven players in quantity for bona-fide All-Star talent in return?

Its one thing to contemplate such a move involving Ray OR Rashard as being beneficial by what it adds to one of our few known commodities. It is an entirely different thing to think of trading BOTH your top players without getting even a single "top echelon player" in return. Even if the Sonics were commited to a complete overhaul like this would be (which I don't believe they are), it would make way more sense to attend to it in the offseason when there is much greater flexibility as far as trading partners and FA/Draft replacements for outgoing parts.

If they trade both of their best commodities it had better be for at least one equal or better talent. Garnett, Iverson, Pierce, Davis, Magloire, Martin, Francis, et. al. are all more in the realm of "fair" than any of Chicago's erratic up-n-comers. Not to say the Sonics have many hopes of landing any of those "names", but to settle for less just in the name of change is unacceptable.

If such drastic changes are really required (in the offseason), then I hope they are preceded by the dismissal/retiring of both Bob Hill and Wally Walker, and I'll lose little sleep if Sund steps out with them. The divides separating front office, coaching staff, and players often seem too divisive when it comes to the Sonics and personnel moves. Communication and concerted action obviously are lacking when its come to putting guys together that fit whatever system the Sonics employ in a given season, going back all the way to before Wally stepped out of GM and brought in Sund. If Schultz is ready to approve cleaning house of his "Superstars" he should make a clean sweep of it and reorganize the Front office as well...in the offseason.

Anonymous said...

hmmm,
uh no!

Anonymous said...

The idea is great for Chicago, it would give them 2 very skilled veterans to go with Hinrich and Chandler.

A young team like ours need veterans who can take the pressure off of them, allowing them to develop at a slower pace. To get rid of Lewis and Allen for more young players would only unbalance the roster.
The Bulls have already shown too many young, inexperienced players on a roster is not a good thing.

In one of the weakest division's we are not that far away with what we have.
Heck we are only like 7 1/2 games out as bad as we are.
One more legitimate player to go with Allen and Lewis could definitely do it in this division.

We would be better off working on Duhon for Evans to be our backup point guard.
Or the aforementioned deal for Watson; I like that trade other than the fact Watson is signed through 2010.
By adding Watson or Duhon we fill a large need for this year and next.
Then in the off-season use some of our expiring contracts (Fortson & Potapenko) combined with a young player and perhaps a pick for that third legitimate player.
Or if it looks like Lewis won't sign an extension he becomes valuable trade bait as well.

However, if we going to make this trade they would definitely have to include Duhon and take Fortson.
Chicago sends Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tim Thomas, Eric Piatkowski, Duhon and the 2006 No. 1 pick
(from New York) to Seattle.
Seattle sends Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Danny Fortson to Chicago.

One thing is for sure if it did go down this way; Seattle basketball would be national sports news for at least a few days.


Scot

Anonymous said...

If you go to the NBA page of ESPN, there is a trade maker program. I tried it for the 7 player trade, and it works! That must have taken the teams a while to match up. I would be excited, as long as we could sign the 3 bulls that we need to keep!

Anonymous said...

Perfect time for Lewis to get hurt. If we make this trade, chances are we could have the 1st and 2nd picks in the draft.

Anonymous said...

While I love Ray and Rashard, where have they gotten this team? Neither plays very good defense and they have become very streaky shooters. Ray is a superstar, but I don't think he is a player you build a franchise on. That should be a Point Guard or a Big. If we can get a deep young team and have the ability to have two top 10 picks...DO IT! Ray can't carry this team like a Shaq or AI, so why not get some guys that are going to make us very very good for a long time, even if it is two or three years from now.