Free Agent Buzz 2.0 (mentions Hedo)

Who said anything about him playing backup?

If I'm going to bench Jason Thompson, I'm going to do it for someone like Chris Bosh... not a player who puts up only slightly better numbers, is 3 inches shorter, and is a year older... Jason will probably put up Millsap's numbers next year.

Edit: Actually scratch that. Millsaps stats are deceiving because of the amount of time he was actually a starter. Unfortunately the Deron Williams factor is still present. On a team where Millsap isn't going to get the ball practically placed in front of the hoop for him he is going to have a harder time putting those numbers up.
 
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And if the kings or spurs knew Hedo could play like that, he wouldn't have been with Orlando.

I'm pretty sure the Kings knew. He was more important to our run back in the day than he's given credit for. Looking back I think our team was better when Peja was out and Hedo was getting all those minutes.
 
The only way I see us realistically ditching KT during this summer is if we: a.) can package him with others to acquire a young, dynamic, multi-tooled big (a la Bosh) and sign to an extension, or b.) get rid of him in a S&T to acquire a scoring option at the 4/5 while ditching another long term contract (likely Noc) and a draft pick in the process.

That said, I still don't think trading Noc is an option, at least while we're trumping our new-found toughness and agressive players. Hedo would be great here, but something tells me this is Petrie doing his agent a favor and laying a smokescreen for someone he really wants. I think we'll be making a modest signing and a small deal, but nothing more.......yet.
 
And if the kings or spurs knew Hedo could play like that, he wouldn't have been with Orlando.

Kind of off tangent, but the Kings definitely knew Hedo was going to be this good. They stated right off the bat that he had skills to play 1-4, and Petrie was also found saying that Hedo would surpass Peja as a better player, but later on. So why give up Hedo?

We were in win now mode, Hedo was for the long haul, Peja was at his prime, and Hedo + Pollard (i believe) brought back an All Star center to take over the center mantle gradually. It was the right move at the time, and it also made us a championship contender WITHOUT Webber (during the season).

Now, is that cleared up?
 
I'm definitely ok with that. I've liked him for a couple of years now. If he can stay healthy he'd be a nice addition to our bench

Yeah, wehn I saw that today I definitely wondered if we could throw some money at him. Powe's a real good guy, works hard, and former Cal doesn't hurt either.
 
So here is a change. I have an honest question instead of a 2 cent opinion.

If the Blazers do manage to sign Hedo for about 8 million/year (a steal IMHO). How will this impact their ability to re-sign the likes of Roy, Aldridge (which they are likely to do) who are going to want their pay day as they are way under-paid currently? Then, in just a 1-3 years they will also need to pony-up to keep Oden, Bayless and Fernandez.

Some of these talented guys are going to be available won't they? The Blazers will not be able to pay all of them a fair salary will they?
 
So here is a change. I have an honest question instead of a 2 cent opinion.

If the Blazers do manage to sign Hedo for about 8 million/year (a steal IMHO). How will this impact their ability to re-sign the likes of Roy, Aldridge (which they are likely to do) who are going to want their pay day as they are way under-paid currently? Then, in just a 1-3 years they will also need to pony-up to keep Oden, Bayless and Fernandez.

Some of these talented guys are going to be available won't they? The Blazers will not be able to pay all of them a fair salary will they?


The Blazers are owned by one of the 10 richest men on Earth. They can pay anybody and everybody whatever it takes. If they are on a brink of a title, they might end up with a $100mil payroll, all legal since they will be resigning their own guys.
 
The Blazers are owned by one of the 10 richest men on Earth. They can pay anybody and everybody whatever it takes. If they are on a brink of a title, they might end up with a $100mil payroll, all legal since they will be resigning their own guys.

That is a legitimate theory.

However, another theory is that rich people tend to spend their money wisely and may be more frugal than those with less money. Add to that, P.A. also has nearly lost his shirt in the past with the Blazers and the arena and may be reluctant to pay a ton in luxury taxes in the future.

Time will tell I guess.
 
Here's a question. How many of you would want Dalembert? He has two years left on his contract at 12 and 13 mil a year. Philly is looking to trade him for a couple of reasons. Number one his contract, which is probably excessive when compared with his accomplishments. Number two is Philly's payroll, which next year is right at 59 mil. The cap last year was just under 59 mil and is rumored to go down slightly. Philly's salary for the following year, because of accelerating salaries is projected to be 65 mil. Well over the cap. So they're looking for cap relief.

There's no doubt that Dalembert has talent. There's also no doubt that he's been an underacheiver so far in his career. He could probably be had for KT plus part of our cap space to make up the difference. Philly gets immediate cap relief this year, and enough the following year to keep them under the cap. The Kings get a still young player with talent that perhaps is reinspired by a change of scenery.

The down side of course is that it totally screws up our cap space for this year and the next. But hey, we could be big players in 2011/2012. Let me say that I'm not a big fan of Dalembert. And I would have to think long and hard on whether I would do this trade. The two things that Dalembert has always been able to do, despite all the other flaws in his game is rebound and block shots. So I'm curious what others might think about the idea of bringing him here. :confused:
 
One last thought on the Dalembert deal. another possiblilty would be to trade Beno plus our cap space. That would help Philly this next year but not much the following year because Beno's contract wouldn't disappear like KT's. I have no idea if they would have interest in Beno, but it appears that they're about to lose their starting point guard.
 
Here's a question. How many of you would want Dalembert? He has two years left on his contract at 12 and 13 mil a year. Philly is looking to trade him for a couple of reasons. Number one his contract, which is probably excessive when compared with his accomplishments. Number two is Philly's payroll, which next year is right at 59 mil. The cap last year was just under 59 mil and is rumored to go down slightly. Philly's salary for the following year, because of accelerating salaries is projected to be 65 mil. Well over the cap. So they're looking for cap relief.

There's no doubt that Dalembert has talent. There's also no doubt that he's been an underacheiver so far in his career. He could probably be had for KT plus part of our cap space to make up the difference. Philly gets immediate cap relief this year, and enough the following year to keep them under the cap. The Kings get a still young player with talent that perhaps is reinspired by a change of scenery.

The down side of course is that it totally screws up our cap space for this year and the next. But hey, we could be big players in 2011/2012. Let me say that I'm not a big fan of Dalembert. And I would have to think long and hard on whether I would do this trade. The two things that Dalembert has always been able to do, despite all the other flaws in his game is rebound and block shots. So I'm curious what others might think about the idea of bringing him here. :confused:


I like Dalembert and I think he would be a solid third big option for us, but I wouldnt trade him for KT. I just think we can get more for that expiring and I even think just letting that money come off the books is better than bring in Sam's contract. However, If we have the cap room ( dont feel like checking out the numbers ) I would totally be game for a Beno Udrih for Dalembert swap. 76ers save more money now, we save more money later. Philly is the one team that could actually use him too if they lose Andre Miller.
 
I like Dalembert and I think he would be a solid third big option for us, but I wouldnt trade him for KT. I just think we can get more for that expiring and I even think just letting that money come off the books is better than bring in Sam's contract. However, If we have the cap room ( dont feel like checking out the numbers ) I would totally be game for a Beno Udrih for Dalembert swap. 76ers save more money now, we save more money later. Philly is the one team that could actually use him too if they lose Andre Miller.

I think the Beno deal would fly. Beno is projected to make 6 mil next year and by my figuring the Kings should be right at 7 mil under the cap. That adds up to 13 mil and Dalembert makes 12 mil next year. so I don't see why that wouldn't work. This is the deal I would prefer also. We unload Beno and his contract and then have two years to decide whether Dalembert is worth resigning. We also save the KT's ending contract for future use.
 
One last thought on the Dalembert deal. another possiblilty would be to trade Beno plus our cap space. That would help Philly this next year but not much the following year because Beno's contract wouldn't disappear like KT's. I have no idea if they would have interest in Beno, but it appears that they're about to lose their starting point guard.

I'm not a big fan of Dalembert because he is basically JUST a shot-blocker and I want more than that from my starting center. That being said, he would be a nice player to back up JT and Hawes (even if a bit over-priced). I don't like giving up our cap space though. How about if we give them BOTH Beno and KT and keep some of our cap space for next season?
 
I'm not a big fan of Dalembert because he is basically JUST a shot-blocker and I want more than that from my starting center. That being said, he would be a nice player to back up JT and Hawes (even if a bit over-priced). I don't like giving up our cap space though. How about if we give them BOTH Beno and KT and keep some of our cap space for next season?

In my scenario we wouldn't be bringing him in to be a starter. He would be a backup to Hawe's and all that would be expected of him would be to play defense and rebound. Now its true that he might have different ideas of what his skills are. But it would be a new start for him and if he were to make the best of it, especially with his contract up in two years it could benefit both him and the Kings. That is a big maybe though...

As far as giving up KT instead of cap space. Our cap space should be around 7 mil. KT's contract is worth 8 mil when it comes off the books. The reason I wanted to save it is because its worth more than our current cap space and also next year the final 2 mil of Mikki Moore's salary comes off the books, plus, Nocioni's salary is a declining one. so we could still have considerable money to work with in 2010 even if we were to use the cap space we have now.

Or of course we could do nothing and really have money in 2010.:)
 
As far as the Summer of 2010 is concerned, I think its overrated. Alot of the top of the line guys will most likely resign with there teams before they even get to the summer ( Im thinking Dwade here, and Kobe already got extended) .. on top of that with the Free Agents left, you bet none of them are coming here. I think aiming towards the summer of 2011 is a better plan. I havent looked at any of the FA's yet, but I rahter be one of the few teams with cap space in a average crop of free agents then one of the many teams with cap space during a good offseason for FA's. On top of this, our team will be alot more attractive to high end free agents when Hawes, Thompson, Evans and Greene are better players .. this gives them all two more years of development before we really try to make our push.

Going with this plan, I'd even try and get the Sixers to bite on a Nocioni and Beno for Dalembert trade. We get a good third big ( maybe one of the best bigs off the bench in the league ) for two longer contracts. This will also give Evans, Greene, and Casspi, much larger roles this season... I dont know if Philly wants to take both players, but this gives them one hell of a bench and opens up more minutes for Mo Speights who looked real good last year.

This could put us in the position to add 1 max contract and 1 10 mil guy in 2011 .. back into the playoffs..
 
As far as the Summer of 2010 is concerned, I think its overrated. Alot of the top of the line guys will most likely resign with there teams before they even get to the summer ( Im thinking Dwade here, and Kobe already got extended) .. on top of that with the Free Agents left, you bet none of them are coming here. I think aiming towards the summer of 2011 is a better plan. I havent looked at any of the FA's yet, but I rahter be one of the few teams with cap space in a average crop of free agents then one of the many teams with cap space during a good offseason for FA's. On top of this, our team will be alot more attractive to high end free agents when Hawes, Thompson, Evans and Greene are better players .. this gives them all two more years of development before we really try to make our push.

Going with this plan, I'd even try and get the Sixers to bite on a Nocioni and Beno for Dalembert trade. We get a good third big ( maybe one of the best bigs off the bench in the league ) for two longer contracts. This will also give Evans, Greene, and Casspi, much larger roles this season... I dont know if Philly wants to take both players, but this gives them one hell of a bench and opens up more minutes for Mo Speights who looked real good last year.

This could put us in the position to add 1 max contract and 1 10 mil guy in 2011 .. back into the playoffs..

I agree that many teams jockeying for a Wade or LeBron will come away disappointed next season. But I think obtaining cap space sooner rather than later still makes sense, as you can do what OKC has done in recent years, obtaining assets in return for accommodating teams' salary dumps. It also gives you more flexibility in trades. Plus, I'm still holding out hope for a Joe Johnson signing. :p
 
I agree that many teams jockeying for a Wade or LeBron will come away disappointed next season. But I think obtaining cap space sooner rather than later still makes sense, as you can do what OKC has done in recent years, obtaining assets in return for accommodating teams' salary dumps. It also gives you more flexibility in trades. Plus, I'm still holding out hope for a Joe Johnson signing. :p
And we'd be trading Kevin Martin if we did.
 
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