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The Heat are in a catch-22. The more appealing the team, the less money there is available to offer Thomas a contract. And if reports that Lebron James is seriously considering moving to a new team are true, it opens up the requisite cap space but makes it much less appealing for a player looking to win.Still, if the Heat bring the big three back and if Thomas is willing to take a salary of less than $8 million then the Heat are a real threat. But those are some mighty big ifs. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the lower the salary Thomas is willing to accept, the more likely it is that the Kings match the offer.

The Lakers are awash in cap space and are hoping to attract some serious talent to join Kobe Bryant. Their first attempt is trying to lure Carmelo Anthony with the promise of a maximum deal. That would mean he'd make an average of $24 million for four years, and that means that it would be extremely difficult for the Lakers to have enough available cap space to offer Thomas a competitive deal. And, to reiterate, the lower the contract offer, the more likely it is that the Kings will match.And let's say that the Lakers don't sign Carmelo. Who could they sign to entice Thomas? They'll have Bryant, who will take the ball out of Thomas' hands quite a bit, Steve Nash and Robert Sacre. The team would have about $18 million to play with, but if they don't land Carmelo, they will likely hoard cap space in an effort to sign Kevin Love next year.

Now, we can finally talk about the Pistons. Detroit is obviously interested as their $24 million offer shows. Thomas would represent an upgrade over incumbent Brandon Jennings, and fits better with the core of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe.If the Pistons gave Thomas $8 million a year, the Kings would not be able to match without stretching a player because it would take them over the apron. More importantly, the Kings would be able to get more in return from the Pistons than they would from the Heat or the Lakers. Before the draft, the Kings and Pistons were reportedly in deep discussions about a trade involving Josh Smith and Jason Thompson. Detroit reportedly walked away from the deal, but it makes sense to revisit it with Thomas a primary piece.For example, the Pistons could trade Josh Smith, Will Bynum and Josh Harrellson. This represents $17.5 million in outgoing salary. The Pistons could take back Isaiah Thomas at $8 million, Derrick Williams at $6.3 million and Jason Thompson at $6 million. This represents $20.3 million. This allows the Kings to sign Collison to the full MLE and also keep the Kings under the luxury tax line.

Snakebites wrote:I feel like various media outlets have let speculation run RAMPANT based on very limited information cleaned over the last couple of weeks.

What we actually KNOW:

1) Smith to the Kings was discussed with various minor players sent back. Pistons walked away from talks shortly before draft.

2) Isaiah Thomas was offered a 3 year deal worth 24 million by the Pistons. No word on his level of interest in playing in Detroit, nor his willingness to accept that price. Heck, we don't even know if that offer is still on the table, as it was reported before the signing of Meeks and may not be salary-possible anymore.

3) The signing of Darren Collison makes it unlikely Isaiah will be returning to Kings.

That's it. Any talk of a sign and trade is purely speculation based on those facts. We don't know if any such discussions happened.

So lets see if this is actually happening (or even has a chance of happening) before praising our brass for it.

thesack12 wrote:I think this involves reading between the lines a little too much.

Thomas has to want to go to Detroit or else all of this is moot. Detroit isn't his only suitor either. Detroit also isn't loaded with cap space.

The only leverage Detroit has here is if Sac truly covets Josh Smith. Even if that were the case, Thomas still has to want to be a Piston.

Blkbrd671 wrote:

thesack12 wrote:I think this involves reading between the lines a little too much.

Thomas has to want to go to Detroit or else all of this is moot. Detroit isn't his only suitor either. Detroit also isn't loaded with cap space.

The only leverage Detroit has here is if Sac truly covets Josh Smith. Even if that were the case, Thomas still has to want to be a Piston.

and he's going to to turn down possibly 6 million dollars

thesack12 wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:

thesack12 wrote:I think this involves reading between the lines a little too much.

Thomas has to want to go to Detroit or else all of this is moot. Detroit isn't his only suitor either. Detroit also isn't loaded with cap space.

The only leverage Detroit has here is if Sac truly covets Josh Smith. Even if that were the case, Thomas still has to want to be a Piston.

and he's going to to turn down possibly 6 million dollars

Huh?

Snakebites wrote:The Lakers will be able to offer him a similar deal once Melo rejects them.

Whether that's something they want to do is another matter, but he'd choose them over us by what little indications we have.

thesack12 wrote:^ Those are the only reported offers on his table, he may have others. Also we are still in the infancy stages of the free agent season, Thomas' market will heat up after the alpha free agent dominoes fall.

Blkbrd671 wrote:

Snakebites wrote:The Lakers will be able to offer him a similar deal once Melo rejects them.

Whether that's something they want to do is another matter, but he'd choose them over us by what little indications we have.

If Melo's not there, it would be hard to convince him to go. This is how the meeting would go


Isaiah: What up Kobe!
Kobe: What up Might mouse
Isaiah: What up Jeanie!
Jeanie: Hi Isaiah, or what up, as gesture of our commitment to you we brought the whole team to Welcome you to LA

Isaiah: But its just Kobe?
Jeanie: We are working on it

Snakebites wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:

Snakebites wrote:The Lakers will be able to offer him a similar deal once Melo rejects them.

Whether that's something they want to do is another matter, but he'd choose them over us by what little indications we have.

If Melo's not there, it would be hard to convince him to go. This is how the meeting would go


Isaiah: What up Kobe!
Kobe: What up Might mouse
Isaiah: What up Jeanie!
Jeanie: Hi Isaiah, or what up, as gesture of our commitment to you we brought the whole team to Welcome you to LA

Isaiah: But its just Kobe?
Jeanie: We are working on it

He's a lifelong Laker fan.

Snakebites wrote:The Lakers will be able to offer him a similar deal once Melo rejects them.

Whether that's something they want to do is another matter, but he'd choose them over us by what little indications we have.

Piston Pete wrote:How long do we keep the offer out there until we decide to move on? Perhaps we give him a deadline to give us an answer by?

Or do we just wait?

My concern is that it would be better to get plan B than wait, and for IT to decide to go elsewhere....and by then, plans b, c, and d are all gone.... so we're stuck signing a plan e guy.

thesack12 wrote:Yes, Thomas is a Lakers fan. Why his name is Isaiah Thomas is related to him being a Laker fan.

That being the case, I would have to think he is going to wait to see what kind of offer they come at him with before making a decision. Unless of course, another team makes him an offer he can't refuse.

Him being a restricted FA still needs to be taken into account as well.