Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XXXIV Off-Season Edition)

[MagicTownBaller]

MTB, get part 35 ready. lol

Lol, I'll be ready with it tomorrow.

[Tayswagzzz]

Just can't see us rebuilding like this. Rich Devos himself said he didn't want to go through this if I remember correctly. I don't blame the guy..he's put so much into this organization for us to achieve a championship, to see us go through another rebuild process, he might not live to see us ever get a championship. Idk

[mattyBoi]

Don't **** with me Rob I swear!

[OrlandO]

Yes, let's turn the Nets into another Miami and boost their chances of winning multiple championships. Let's give them a jumpstart on becoming the next LA where stars envy the location and winning tradition and ultimately wait in line to join them... Let's do this in the eastern conference where it will make it even harder for the Magic to ever return to the finals. And all that for brook lopez and fillers... players who will be wasted anyway since we'll be rocked by the nets/heat for the rest of the decade.

Trading Dwight to BK for Lopez won't just be bad for the immediate future, it will doom us for a long, long time. I'm sorry, but I would lose all faith in Hennigan if this was his first major move.

[rcklsscognition]

In a perfect world we'd trade out $40,401,835. In reverse CBA math wizardry that'd mean we'd need to take in $32,241,468 in a straight up trade. That could be made up of, ugh, 7.75 mil for Lopez (BYC), $1,160,040 for Brooks, 5,000,000 for Gaines (1 year dl), 3 million in more Brooklyn scrubs, and we're still 14 million short of getting rid of our bad contracts. I don't see how this ends well. Maybe Cleveland sends us an expiring for J-Rich?

[kasedafk_1]

WTF! I hope Dwight's back gets seriously **** up. This **** douche screwed us hard. **** Brooklyn and gay-Z.

[TDJacksonville]

11 players: Make your lists:

Howard
Turk
Richardson, J.
Humphries
Brooks
Lopez
Gaines
Johnson
James
Williams, S.
DUHON!

I have no idea. It could be anybody. All trade machines are messed up.

Dwight, Humphries, Lopez, Gerald Green, Brooks, Duhon, Turk, teletovic, Jrich, qrich, ERDEN.

[MMFla]

JRich and Duhon need to go and make it a point to never do business with players that have Fegan as their agent or players that's best case is Chris Duhon.

I don't mind Lopez and a ton of pick if we can get rid of those two and rebuild I'd be happy. Learn from these mistakes and improve on it, get a wing go-to scorer with the good big man and actually get a decent backup center and keep him.

[TheDarkKnight]

The Nets are progressing with plans to recruit a third team to absorb salary in a blockbuster trade proposal that would send Dwight Howard to Brooklyn, league sources told CBSSports.com Sunday.

A key component of the proposed deal with Orlando would be finding a third team to take the Nets' Kris Humphries in a sign-and-trade arrangement. Cleveland has emerged as a “possible destination” for Humphries in such a scenario, in which the Nets would attempt to accumulate at least three first-round picks to send to the Magic in their package for Howard, one of the sources said.

The Cavs have as many as six first-round picks in the next three drafts -- three of them from previous trades, with various levels of protection -- plus the right to swap another pick with the Lakers. However, with cap space to sign Humphries as a free agent, getting Humphries in a sign-and-trade wouldn't provide any incentive for Cleveland to surrender one of those picks. In fact, if past negotiations with the Cavs are any indication, Cleveland likely is holding out for multiple picks as the price for taking Humphries in the deal.

This is the same place where the Nets got stuck in talks that would've landed them Carmelo Anthony at the 2011 trade deadline. Cleveland was involved as the third team in those negotiations and insisted on two first-round picks for absorbing Troy Murphy into their trade exception, effectively killing the deal and paving the way for Anthony to be traded to the Knicks. New York solved the dilemma by finding another team, Minnesota, to take Eddy Curry's contract, with the incentive being that the Timberwolves got Anthony Randolph in the exchange.

Preparing for all contingencies, the Nets also have explored the possibility of signing and trading Brook Lopez to a third team in exchange for draft picks that would "sweeten the pot" for Orlando, league sources told CBSSports.com. But people involved in the Howard trade talks believe that, if a deal is there to be made between the Nets and Magic, the most likely scenario remains Lopez going to Orlando.

The complicated framework was far from agreed to Sunday, but the Nets were "making progress" in their longtime pursuit of Howard, one of the people said. The Magic remain engaged in trade talks for Howard with several teams and have not been given the green light by Brooklyn officials that a third-team facilitator has been found, another source said.

The Lakers also remain involved in the Howard discussions, but the Magic are reluctant to send Howard to L.A. for Andrew Bynum if the Lakers' center isn't willing to commit to a long-term deal as part of the trade. Yahoo Sports reported Sunday that Bynum has given no inclination that he's willing to do so.

Similarly, Howard's camp has not signaled that the Magic All-Star is ready to relax his stance that he'd only sign a long-term deal with the Nets if traded, sources said.

In the ideal scenario for Orlando, one of the first-round picks they'd get for Howard would come from a third team. The Nets have their own first-round picks to offer in alternate years under league rules, but if they added Howard to Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, those picks almost certainly would be in the bottom third of the draft for the foreseeable future.

Word began circulating in NBA front-office circles Saturday night that the Nets were trying to put together a package that included as many as five first-round picks for Howard. But a person briefed on the discussions described the notion of the Nets funneling more than three first-round picks to Orlando as "unrealistic." Orlando isn't solely interested in draft picks and young players in a Howard trade, but also cap relief from a team willing to absorb the contracts of Hedo Turkoglu and/or Jason Richardson.

It was not immediately clear Sunday how that requirement would be satisfied, but the Nets have five trade-eligible players in addition to Lopez and Humphries. Brooklyn also has forestalled the imposition of a hard cap at $74 million by making arrangements to sign Bosnian forward Mirza Teletovic to a three-year deal at the taxpayer mid-level exception. Signing Teletovic to the higher, non-taxpayer mid-level would've capped the Nets' payroll for next season at $4 million above the luxury-tax line.

The Rockets, also still in the hunt for Howard, have a valuable first-round pick acquired from Toronto that is virtually assured of being a lottery selection. But if Houston GM Daryl Morey is unable to land Howard, it seems farfetched that he'd help the Nets get him by facilitating the trade as the third team.

The Nets have begun talks with Lopez's representatives on a contract extension, a step that one person close to Lopez described as "a formality." It is understood that Lopez would garner close to a max deal to be the starting center in Brooklyn or Orlando, depending on how the Nets' pursuit of Howard plays out.

While the Magic continue to engage the Nets, Lakers, Rockets, Hawks and Mavericks in trade talks, another option for Orlando remains holding onto Howard and seeing if offers improve after Dec. 15, when players who signed contracts this summer become trade eligible. Either way, the Nets have registered their interest in 38-year-old center Marcus Camby, who postponed his visit with Miami Saturday and had what a source described as a "very productive" meeting with Knicks officials Sunday. Brooklyn is pursuing Camby to be their backup center regardless of whether the starter ends up being Lopez or Howard, sources said.
Source:http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ken-berger/19533651/nets-trying-to-assemble-at-least-three-first-round-picks-for-dwight-howard

[CaliMagicGuy]

oh i guess you didnt see bynum get absolutely carved up by jj barea before he sent him flying in the playoffs last year. Bynum seriously isn't that good.

Time to stop posting now. It's obvious you have not seen Bynum play often. He is perhaps the 3rd best defensive center behind Dwight and Chandler. Your hate for the Lakers is making you blind. I got league pass and watched a bunch of Lakers game this past season.

ok first of all I'll post as much as I like, whenever I like. You're free to think whatever you want. I see just about every laker game, and actually attend quite a few as my uncle who is a big laker fan has season tickets. Yeah, Bumknee might be "better" then I give him credit for, but not much better. this guy is a walking injury. He might be young but has the knees of a 45 year old. A healthy bynum is one thing, but hes never healthy.

[MagicTownBaller]

The Dwightmare may actually be coming to an end, *sigh*

[TSKD000]

Tyshawn Taylor better be one.

[rcklsscognition]

Brook's foot injury is going to ruin this franchise. Didn't he break it, then break it a 2nd time just after coming back from rehab? He'll be playing with Von Wafer in Shanghai by the end of his contract.

[T-Rob]

I hope Tyshawn Taylor is thrown in, not that he is an incredible player but I think he can be a decent player he has a lot of tools that can make him a solid player if he learns to wise up and not make stupid decisions but he is already a good perimeter defender. I'd much rather have him back up Jameer.

[OOO]

oh i guess you didnt see bynum get absolutely carved up by jj barea before he sent him flying in the playoffs last year. Bynum seriously isn't that good.

Time to stop posting now. It's obvious you have not seen Bynum play often. He is perhaps the 3rd best defensive center behind Dwight and Chandler. Your hate for the Lakers is making you blind. I got league pass and watched a bunch of Lakers game this past season.

ok first of all I'll post as much as I like, whenever I like. You're free to think whatever you want. I see just about every laker game, and actually attend quite a few as my uncle who is a big laker fan has season tickets. Yeah, Bumknee might be "better" then I give him credit for, but not much better. this guy is a walking injury. He might be young but has the knees of a 45 year old. A healthy bynum is one thing, but hes never healthy.

[OrlandO]

Dwight and his boys obviously leaked this nets info... Rudolph doesn't have any other sources.

[ClayDavis]

If this new GM came from the OKc spurs tree , gonna need a lot of convincing a nets trade is great.

[TheXFactor]

y.

[/quote]

lol

[rcklsscognition]

I wouldn't be surprised if the decision is made tomorrow. Weird that everyone knew it was going to happen tomorrow.

[Howard Mass]

We will have to see what the deal is if true but I think it would be a big mistake for Orlando to acquire Brook Lopez if that do not plan to move him again.