Cleveland/Houston trade??? This could actually happen

[heathmalc]

I was reading an article on ESPN that was talking about trade-scenarios involving the Detroit Pistons. One of those scenarios caught my eye, not because it involved the Pistons, but rather, who they were trading with: Houston. The trade made sense, but I realized that we have players that would fill the same roles, but are younger, cheaper, and Houston GETS a pick as opposed to giving-away a pick (Here is the link to that scenario) http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=Detroit-080612

After a little playing-around with the trade-machines, I came-up with the following trade-scenario:

Cleveland gets:

* Tracy McGrady
* Houston's 2nd round pick this year (#54)

Houston Gets:

* Anderson Varejao
* Wally Szczerbiak
* #19 pick this year OR 2009 1st & 2nd round pick (from Chi)
* cash

While doing this scenario I was tempted to add Rafer Alston in the deal also, as he doesn't get along with their coach, and didn't get much time last year until the end of the year, as others got hurt. But, since he played so well during their winning streak, Houston would want too much for him.

Another idea I had was adding Gibson to the deal, but since he would be a S&T, he couldn't be added with other players and that would mean that there would need to be another player coming from Houston.

As the ESPN article stated, Tracy is only 29, and has some tread left. Add him to LeBron, and our offense changes dramatically, as Tracy has never played 2nd fiddle to another player...he has always been the first option.

As for Houston... Varejao is a much better defender than Wallace; he is younger, and a lot cheaper.... not to mention the fact that Wallace is a time-bomb. Varejao isn't the inside-scorer that Wallace is (or outside scorer either), but they need a defensive PF who is BIG... not a scorer (IE: Scolia). Anderson would be IDEAL for houston, who doesn't have a problem scoring...but has a HUGE hole on the defensive front-line.

Houston could pick-up any number of players with the #19 pick, for a future SG or PG, or would be able to do the same with an additional pick next year.

The Cavaliers' frontline would get weaker, they'd have a good 3-man rotation plus Dwayne Jones plus a MLE or possibly another trade... not to mention the #54 pick they'd have.

I know the mere mention of McGrady coming to Cleveland has some people thinking I'm nuts... but... Remember: Houston was entertaining offers for him last year. Ferry would make a SOLID offer for McGrady's services, as he has the firepower to do so this year (unlike last year, when we couldn't offer anything for Garnett or Gasol).

I think this may be one of the deals that could go down... It makes sense for both teams (Houston gets a young BIG who is good, plus a 1st rounder, plus they will save 40 million. The Cavs get a TRUE #2 guy, and still have enough pieces to make another trade for a 4th BIG and/or to get back in the draft (Memphis/Portland???).

This trade makes almost too much sense.

[CzBoobie]

You know you can't do that. If you have a question, PM me.

[Gordon Bombay]

id love the deal, but why does it make sense for houston?

[INKtastic]

that's not even a remotely possible trade. Houston doesn't need Andy and they aren't trading TMac for junk.

[Rise Against]

Why don't we trade for Yao Ming as well?

[SportsBoy]

Cavs would have to add Boobie
AND
1st round picks in 2008, 2010.

[L&H_05]

%$%##^&*^%%$%^^%$#@#$%^&&%$#@#@$

[vincent]

[ctorres]

Wow, that deal is way worse than a lot of the deals that Knicks fans come up with.

[heathmalc]

I knew that I'd get this type of response... so it's cool: Opinions are like [bleep], however, I think that it is a lot more likely than a lot of you may think:

I didn't do the entire trade that I was actually thinking of when I started this thread - It is big and complicated. The main point of my trade involved getting rid of Varejao and Wally, and getting T-Mac.

Here is the actual scenario that I thought of:

Houston Gets:

*Mike Miller (From Mem)
*Anderson Varejao (From Cle)
*Damon Jones (From Cle)
*Eric Snow (From Cle)
*Cavaliers 2009 1st Round pick
*Memphis' 2008 1st round pick

Memphis Gets:

*Luis Scola (from Hou)
*Wally Szczerbiak (From Cle)
*Joe Smith (From Cle)
*Steve Francis (From Hou)
*Cavaliers 2009 2nd round pick (via Chi)
*Cavaliers 2011 1st round pick (top-5 protected)
*Cash from Cavaliers
*Cash From Houston

Cavaliers get:

*Tracy McGrady (From Hou)
*Darko Milicic (From Mem)
*Brian Cardinal (From Mem)

Why each team does this:


HOUSTON

Houston wants shooters and they covet Mike Miller. They also inquired into Anderson Varejao last summer (About a S&T). Damon Jones gives them a bench shooter, who they have been badly wanting and needing. McGrady is replaced by the more reliable Mike Miller, who is younger, shoots better, plays better defense, makes 10 million less per year, and doesn't get injured, but is not the slasher that McGrady is. Houston gets their main target - A shooter who plays defense. They Lose Scola, who they really like, but pick-up Varejao, who they also like, and is also young. Varejao is not nearly the scorer that Scola is, but he is 20X the defender/Rebounder. Houston has no trouble scoring in the post, but they need another banger down their as an outlet, and defensive 2nd. In addition, Houston gets Memphis' 1st round pick this year, which they can either use to help move-up in the draft, or select a second youngster in this year's excellent draft. They also recieve Cleveland's 2009 1st round pick (no protection), which they will use to further their cause. Hoston comes out of this deal with a better, cheaper,less injured scorer, a wash at PF, and a bench scorer plus 2 #1 picks... they feel like they pulled-off the greatest robbery of the centery

MEMPHIS

The Grizzlies are enamored with Luis Scola, and are all-too-willing to ship-off Mike Miller, as long as they don't look bad in the process. They Envision Scola and Marc Gasol playing in their front-court together. Memphis' has insisted on Brian Cardinal being packaged with any deal that includes Mike Miller, as they are trying to lower their payroll for the purposes of selling the team. However, they are not going to Give Miller away like they did Gasol this past year, as they are not about to get roasted by the media and fans AGAIN! In this trade, they get rid of every player on their roster that has a bad contract, or is too rich for them to sell the team. They get rid of Milicic (A mistake that they have admitted to), Brian Cardinal (A bench warmer getting paid to watch games), and their largest contract (Mike Miller). In-Return they get Scola, a huge expiring deal (Wally) who can start, or come off the bench and is a good shooter, Joe Smith (Another expiring deal), who will start for the Grizz, and will be an excellent locker-room presence. Finally, the Grizz also get a 1st round pick (Which is worth more to them in 2011 because it allows the new ownership to pick their own people), and 6 million in cash, which will pay for a couple of their players' salaries, and help sell the team. Overall, Memphis trades it's best player, and this year's low pick for an excellent starter, and rids themselves of 3 huge (2 bad) contracts, while picking-up a future 1st rounder, a 2nd rounder next year and cash. Memphis feels like they have come-out well-ahead on this deal.

CLEVELAND

The Cavaliers main objective in this trade was to get a true #2 for LeBron James. McGrady is the ideal candidate: He plays defense, can create his own shot, can score in bunches, will force defenses to cover him as much as LeBron, and will help LeBron create gaping holes in any defense, so the BIGS have easy shots, and the perimeter guys have open looks from the "3". The Cavaliers get a lot weaker on the front-line, and give-up a lot to get their running-mate for LeBron. But they do it because they believe that Milicic will easily replace Joe Smith and because they will keep their pick this year, that will enable them to draft Zydrunas' heir. They are willing to part with the picks because they are making a final push to keep LeBron in a Cavs uniform, and if he does eventually leave, they'll recoup those picks. Brian Cardinal will likely be bought-out mid-way through next season, as the Cavaliers are going to draft a big-man, and will likely sign a FA BIG with the MLE, which would make Cardinal nothing more than a body taking-up space. With the tutelage of Mike Brown and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Milicic may turn into the player that everyone excepted him to be... but, if he doesn't, he is still young, and will be a serviceable 4th BIG for the remainder of his contract.[/i]

The Cavaliers roster would look something like this:

C: Zydrunas/MLE FA/#19
PF: Ben Wallace/Darko Milicic/#19?/FA?
SF: LeBron James/Sasha Pavlovic/Devin Brown (Bi-annual exception)
SG: Tracy McGrady/Daniel Gibson/Devin Brown (Bi-annual exception)
PG: Delonte West/Daniel Gibson/Billy Thomas or Vet-min player


There is also a separate deal that could happen (In-addition to the above, with a slight variance in picks):

The Cavaliers may choose to trade Gibson (S&T) and next year's 2nd-round pick (their's...the Bulls' pick is already going to Memphis) for Rafer Alston.

If they did the Rafer Alston deal, then the Cavs would send their 2010 pick to Memphis instead of their 2011 pick, and they would keep the 2009 1st-rounder originally slated to goto Houston. This may also seem unlikely, but Alston is VERY unliked in Houston, and Gibson is from Houston. The Rockets would basically be exchanging the Cavs 2009 1st rounder, for the Cavs 2009 2nd rounder, and getting Gibson in-exchange for Alston... who they were trying to give-away last year.

Anyway, that is what I was thinking. Keep your eyes open, and don't be too surprised if something like this happens... Although I'd expect (sic) apologies from a couple of you if it did happen.

[B Mac]

I actually kind of prefered when you used to claim insider knowledge on the RCF forums... At least there everyone knew you were full of it... Here you just make us look bad to all the other fans.

[L&H_05]

Douche for 800, Alex..

[heathmalc]

I actually kind of prefered when you used to claim insider knowledge on the RCF forums.

B-Mac, you make a horrible liar.

Find ONE post where I EVER stated that I had "insider" knowledge.

[B Mac]

I actually kind of prefered when you used to claim insider knowledge on the RCF forums.

B-Mac, you make a horrible liar.

Find ONE post where I EVER stated that I had "insider" knowledge.

Just one? The beauty of it is most of the guys that post here also post on RCF so not only do I not need to go searching for your old ridiculous threads over there, they also already know your history and know what Im saying is truth. At least you have finally seemed to drop the "my sources tell me" routine. There's a reason you get absolutely roasted whenever you post a trade idea heath.

[INKtastic]

post after post by heath from when he first claimed he had insider knowledge on RCF now say "This post has been deleted by the original poster"

Speculation is okay, opinions are okay, but when you come on a board and pretend to have insider knowledge, especially a board who has 2 people with known insider access, people are going to be slow to forgive and forget when you are exposed as a fake.

[A.J.]

I think Morey would laugh at that deal.

How about this trade,

Wally
Varajao
19 overall

for Scola and a 2nd rounder

[Rise Against]

This isn't trading in NBA Live or NBA 2K. Any GM would deride at a deal like that including Ferry himself knowing that that trade is impossible to happen..

[soccerplaya8192]

The only way Houston does this trade is to get rid of TMACS contract. HE is well worth it but he isnt who he used to be. Plus if they get rid of TMAC they still have Yao. Then we can trade them WALLY and Sasha to put around Yao along with Alston, Landry, and Jackson.

[RevMan26]

That is an interesting deal. Would this deal be a fair deal to everyone?

Houston in: Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak, Damon Jones, #13 & #19 pick
Houston out: Tracy McGrady, Rafer Alston, #54 pick

Portland in: Rafer Alston, 2010 Cleveland 1st
Portland out: Joel Przybilla, #13 pick, #36 pick

Cleveland in: Tracy McGrady, Joel Przybilla, #36 & #54 pick
Cleveland out: Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak, Damon Jones, #19 pick, 2010 1st

To Houston:
Anderson Varejao [2 yrs @ $11.99M]
Sasha Pavlovic [2 yrs @ $9.45M]
Wally Szczerbiak [1 yr @ $13.00M]
Damon Jones [1 yr @ $4.46M]
#13 pick [from Portland]
#19 pick [from Cleveland]
Total: $38.90M [+ $15.61M]

#13 pick: Brandon Rush, SG, Kansas
#19 pick: Mario Chalmers, PG, Kansas
#25 pick: Ante Tomic, C, Croatia

C: Yao Ming, Anderson Varejao
PF: Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes
SF: Shane Battier, Wally Szczerbiak
SG: Sasha Pavlovic, Brandon Rush, Luther Head
PG: Aaron Brooks, Mario Chalmers
IR: Ante Tomic, Bobby Jackson, Damon Jones

To Portland:
Rafer Alston [2 yrs @ $10.15M]
2010 1st Rounder [from Cleveland]
Total: $10.15M [+ $10.42M]

#33 pick: Omer Asik, C, Turkey
#55 pick: Gary Forbes, SF, Massachusetts

C: Greg Oden, Raef LaFrentz
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, Channing Frye, James Jones
SF: Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster
SG: Brandon Roy, Jarrett Jack, Rudy Fernandez
PG: Rafer Alston, Steve Blake
IR: Omer Asik, Gary Forbes, Sergio Rodriguez
IP: Petteri Koponen

To Cleveland:
Tracy McGrady [2 yrs @ $44.36M]
Joel Przybilla [3 yrs @ $20.57M]
#36 pick [from Portland]
#54 pick [from Houston]
Total: $64.93M [- $26.03M]

#36 pick: Richard Hendrix, PF, Alabama
#54 pick: Kyle Weaver, SG, Washington State

Then we can do another deal involving Eric Snow for Kyle Lowry and Brian Cardinal.

C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Joel Przybilla
PF: Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Richard Hendrix
SF: LeBron James, Devin Brown
SG: Tracy McGrady, Daniel Gibson, Kyle Weaver
PG: Delonte West, Kyle Lowry
IR: Brian Cardinal

[Rise Against]

I don't think Houston would like that trade.. We are giving up below average to mediocre players along with some mid first round picks in return for McGrady and a decent PG? It doesn't make sense for them. Surely, Yao isn't capable of leading a team by himself. He needs another superstar to play alongside with him.