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Joe Dumars and the Cavs had a deal in place to send RIP Hamilton to Cleveland for the Cavs TPE.

The Cavs would have also gotten Detroit's 2012 draft pick (with at least some protection on it).

The deal breaker was that RIP would have to agree to a buyout of his contract for $18 millions (he's owed $25 million).

So in reality, your owner was willing to pay $18 million cash for the Pistons 2012 draft pick.

That's definitely a good sign if you're a Cavs fan.

I wish that the trade went through.. But I am not complaining however. It is a good sign that Gilbert is willing to spend a bunch of money out of his pocket to rebuild the team.

I read that it was lottery protected in 2012. Depending on the post-2012 protection, that could've been a really, really poor deal for us. Spending is only good if it's done properly.

I also read that the Cavs were willing to actually play Rip. That would've been terrible. The team is already playing a dinosaur at wing for too many minutes, taking time away from the young players.....adding Rip to the mix would've made it even worse. Granted, the blame for that falls on Scott and not Gilbert.

Essentially Gilbert is just trying to stockpile picks by any means necessary in order to build the team the right way. I really wish he would have waited a few more years for the Pistons franchise to be for sale instead of jumping on the Cavs.

Can't see why he would pay that kind of money for a protected pick though... (Unless it was unprotected in 2013 or something)

Spending money is not a problem for Gilbert. He wants to rebuild the team as quickly as possible. It appears that they really had no interest in Rip whatsoever otherwise. They just wanted to buy him out.

Gilbert is one of the best owners around...and Rip's an idiot.

The 2012 pick? Why the 2012? If anything I would have guessed the 2011 unprotected 1st (unless within maybe the top 3).

Jajwanda wrote:The 2012 pick? Why the 2012? If anything I would have guessed the 2011 unprotected 1st (unless within maybe the top 3).

The 2012 draft will be stronger and I'm pretty sure everyone expects the Pistons to be in the bottom 10 yet again next year.

Over on the GB, I had a small dbate about whether or not Gilbert is a better owner than Sterling. This settles that argument (as if there really was one). Thats a lot of money for a pick no matter where it ends up being. There is still the possibility of something like this after the season whether it is Rip or somebody else.
If it had happened I would rather have seen Rip bought out than to play, but there wouldnt be any better guy for Manny Harris to pattern his game after than Rip. Even though I hated the Pistons I really love how he played in his prime. I used to tell my son to watch how he constantly moved without the ball. Those type of guys are so tough to defend, and he was one of the best that I have seen play.

People on the GB are just complete idiots. I can't even see how there's a debate between Gilbert and Sterling. Gilbert has done everything within his power to try to win, Sterling has thrown players away and is easily the worst owner in all of sports.

Gilbert is a different breed of owner ( I love this guy ). He will take chances. He is a professional invester. He has invested in the city of Cleveland. He is a GREAT owner for a small market city. Mr Gilbert is willing to do what it takes to bring the Cavs back to where they belong. They are on the right track. 2 lotto picks in 2011, expiring of Jameson in 2012 + at least 1 lotto pick, expiring of Baron Davis in 2013 + playoffs this year, money coming back.


Cleveland Fan

Dan Gilbert might be the best owner of a small market team in sports. I love him. This would have been a pretty crazy trade though, unless the pick was unprotected.

Roger Murdock wrote:Dan Gilbert might be the best owner of a small market team in sports. I love him. This would have been a pretty crazy trade though, unless the pick was unprotected.

Whoever owns the Spurs might go down as the best.

captaincrunk wrote:

Roger Murdock wrote:Dan Gilbert might be the best owner of a small market team in sports. I love him. This would have been a pretty crazy trade though, unless the pick was unprotected.

Whoever owns the Spurs might go down as the best.

True, but they did have the good fortune of Robinson getting hurt for the season the year Duncan came out, and of course the fortunate bounce of the ping pong balls as well. Still, they do things right in that organization and we can only hope that Gilbert will be as successful here.

This Pistons fan is a big fan of Gilbert and I hope he succeeds. I realy wish we could have done the deal. No doubt Dan Gilbert is one of the best owners in the NBA and Cavs fans are lucky to have him. I have no doubt the team will be rebuilt.

I heard on KNR from the GM we have to use that $14 Million miami trade exemption before july this summer or we lost it. I was surprised of the timing of that. I figure some team will get that during the draft.

kiwibrindle wrote:I heard on KNR from the GM we have to use that $14 Million miami trade exemption before july this summer or we lost it. I was surprised of the timing of that. I figure some team will get that during the draft.

Yeah, it''s only good for a year. So, we have a year from the day we "traded" James, which was a few days after the stupid tv special. So, it will at least be good for a couple weeks into the free agency period.

mup wrote:

kiwibrindle wrote:I heard on KNR from the GM we have to use that $14 Million miami trade exemption before july this summer or we lost it. I was surprised of the timing of that. I figure some team will get that during the draft.

Yeah, it''s only good for a year. So, we have a year from the day we "traded" James, which was a few days after the stupid tv special. So, it will at least be good for a couple weeks into the free agency period.

Or it can just expire. No harm done really. Not much you can do with it that will help the team unless you get picks with it...

Yeah I thats what we are hoping for, and maybe a vet with a contract that expires in the next year or two that we could possibly move for more picks in the future.

I wouldn't mind using the TPE on an player that could *gasp* actually play for us either.
I do think we'll end up using it near the draft though. Teams that are still in it will be much more willing to dump contract then than they were at the deadline.
Wouldn't be shocked if the Rip deal went through then either.