A different take on the LAC offseason

[jmhybrid]

I'll try my first post with you guys before I wade into the shark infested waters of the T&T board.

I'm basing these trade ideas on the premise that Lebron is toying with us similar to how Kobe did last time. D. Wade would be nice but he will likely stay in Miami and draw another max FA there. The rest of the FA crop is redundant with positions we are strong at or would require us to overpay (JJ). So instead we take a different path and start building some assets by renting cap space and building like OKC. It also positions us to take advantage of the new CBA era which should be more owner friendly. We maintain cap space throughout the next couple of years to possibly consolidate some young talent for expensive veterans down the line as our core matures. Both trades are agreed to prior to draft day and executed after July 1st.

Trade 1: SAC - NOH - LAC

Sac Out: Nocioni / #5 in 2010
Sac In: Okafor

NOH Out: Okafor / Mo Pete / Posey / Collison / Future 1st (2012) / 2010 first
NOH In: Kaman / Nocioni

LAC Out: Kaman
LAC In: Collison / Mo Pete / Posey / NOH 2012 1st / NOH 2010 first / SAC 2010 first

Sacramento gets a proven defensive big man to solidify their front court while moving Nocioni as requested. Leaves them free to pursue whatever other plans they have because it is cap neutral for them short term.

NOH gets a third all star to pair with CP to make a run while shedding salary to get them significantly closer to getting under the luxury tax threshold. This deal shaves just under 8 million from their salary immediately and gives them significantly greater flexibility for the future.

The Clippers move Kaman to get their PG of the future while acquiring picks.

Trade 2: Ind - LAC

Ind out: Troy Murphy / Foster
Ind In: Baron Davis

LAC Out: Baron Davis
LAC In: Troy Murphy / Foster

Indy saves money immediately and gets a good point guard locked up long term.

LAC moves Baron for expiring contracts. Clears space for Collison to continue his development.

This gives us a crazy total of 4 picks to make 2010. Lots of options and further trade possibilities from here. Assuming we keep all of them you could see many possible scenarios on draft night.

Here are 2:

5: Johnson / Cousins
8: Aldrich / Aminu or (George)
11: Henry / Henry or Udoh (Cousins Insurance?)
54: Alexy Schved? (PG)

2010 - 11 Clippers

PG: Collison / FA / Schved
SG: EJ / Henry / Mo Pete
SF: Johnson / FA (Rasual?) / Posey
PF: Blake / Murphy / Aldrich
C: De Andre / Foster / Aldrich

If the cap comes in at 56.1 million, we still have approximately 6 million to play with to round out this group.

Come 2011 - 12 Our roster looks like:

PG: Collison / 2010 FA / Schved
SG: EJ / Henry / ???
SF: Johnson / Rasual? / Posey
PF: Blake / ??? / Aldrich
C: ??? / Aldrich / ????

We would have approximately 23 Million to spend in the 2011 off season and we'll need to determine if De Andre is worth renewing. We'll also have a pick somewhere near where we are right now, maybe a little bit lower.

After that, we have a lot of assets though heading into 2012, with the Minnesota pick coming in, a late first rounder from NOH, our own pick and the young core with EJ needing to be renewed. The targets for trade consolidations should have become clear then and we should have taken care of our cap space to allow us to pull off some trades to move us into contention for the west.

So after that long read....what do you guys think?

[SportsFan215]

Welcome to the board. I like your ideas, but I don't see SAC doing your first deal and NOH would probably decline too.

The Indy trade is interesting, but their fans don't seem to want Baron's contract.

[clippermitch]

I agree the trades with SAC and NO are highly unlikely to happen. I think Sac can get a better C than Okafor for Nocioni and #5 pick. In fact, I'd prob trade Kaman for that.

NO is giving up way too much just to get rid of Okafor's contract just to get back Kaman's and Nocioni's. What they want is to dump contracts, maybe even CP3 if they were blown away. If we can trade Baron, I'd trade multiple 1st rounders to NO for CP3.

I do agree we will strike out in FA.

[Recently]

I also believe we will miss out on a top FA. I would rather rebuild for real instead of half assed attempts to squeak into the playoffs.

The first trade with SAC and NO is unrealistic imo, but I think we should explore trying to get collison somehow, which NO will try to package with peja's contracts (luckily hes an SF, so that would work out short term ok.) Kaman's our best trade chip atm, and we should definitely look to move him soon while his value is still relatively high.

[Sofia]

Welcome!

I don't think Sac will give up #5 to dump Nocioni, but that is definitely one of the more well thought out first ever trades that I have seen. Usually you will see something like "Fisher for Lebron because Fisher has teh ringz! and is therefore better"

[Roscoe Sheed]

Just keep the starters as they are and add a good SF, ideally a great one in LeBron (total pipe dream though)

There is nothing wrong with the starting 5 except SF

[mkwest]

Welcome to the board jm

I think that Clippermitch pretty much summed it up. I would love to have Collison here, but New Orleans would have to find the perfect situation to add talent and remove the dead weight. This isn't fully accomplished here. Sacramento is probably looking at Cousins, Monroe or Johnson in the draft who would be much more satisfying on rookie deals than Okafor.