RealGM

Detroit, Oklahoma City Talking Trade?

With the Detroit Pistons looking to get as far under the salary cap as they can this summer, and the Oklahoma City Thunder being one of the few teams who are able to help them shed salary, the two teams have emerged as natural trade partners, multiple NBA sources told DraftExpress this past weekend.

With very few teams projected to have cap space this summer (Oklahoma City, Memphis, Portland, Sacramento and Atlanta being the main ones), it appears that Detroit could be in great position to take advantage of the strength of this free agent class and nab a couple of pieces that would put them right back in the mix to compete for the Eastern conference finals. Detroit is currently slated to be around 20 million dollars underneath the cap, but could shed another five million or so by unloading the contracts of Amir Johnson and their first round pick (#15).

Enter the Oklahoma City Thunder. They are reportedly high on B.J. Mullens (as is Milwaukee), and likely would be able to nab him with the 15th pick. Considering how far under the cap they’ll be this summer, they would have no problem taking on Amir Johnson’s expiring 3.66 million dollar contract. They should be able to find a suitor for their late first round pick if they choose to do so, as teams like San Antonio, Houston, Toronto and Orlando are all in the market for a draft choice in that range.

With the money Detroit frees up, they could go after their top two free agent targets, rumored to be Paul Millsap and Ben Gordon.

ICMTM wrote:No!

We have pieces. We need a flat out STUD! I'd rather take a chance on a high risk/high reward player than a bunch of pieces. I know Clark is that guy for you, but I have a thing that PG's and PF/C's need to be the stars on the team.

mitchweber wrote:

ICMTM wrote:No!

We have pieces. We need a flat out STUD! I'd rather take a chance on a high risk/high reward player than a bunch of pieces. I know Clark is that guy for you, but I have a thing that PG's and PF/C's need to be the stars on the team.

How would this deal realistically hurt those chances? If anything it would give us some more immediate value.

If something like this could be done, I would be all for it. But I don't see how Clark is available at 15. I know draftexpress has him at like 19 or something right now, but I just don't get how that makes any sense--especially after how he measured out. Picking Daye over Clark would be like picking Jason Kapono over a prime Peja.

Smills91 wrote:

mitchweber wrote:

ICMTM wrote:No!

We have pieces. We need a flat out STUD! I'd rather take a chance on a high risk/high reward player than a bunch of pieces. I know Clark is that guy for you, but I have a thing that PG's and PF/C's need to be the stars on the team.

How would this deal realistically hurt those chances? If anything it would give us some more immediate value.

If something like this could be done, I would be all for it. But I don't see how Clark is available at 15. I know draftexpress has him at like 19 or something right now, but I just don't get how that makes any sense--especially after how he measured out. Picking Daye over Clark would be like picking Jason Kapono over a prime Peja.

Exactly, and Clarke might not be there at 15, but he MIGHT. If he falls that far there are some DUMB GM's. I think Clarke has as much star potential as anyone outside of Griffin in this draft. Worst case scenario, we nab Maynor who IMO will be a stead PG for years to come a la Andre Miller.

SacKingZZZ wrote:To be honest I think keeping the cap space is a better idea than taking on Amir who didn't look good at all this year.

deNIEd wrote:
Amir is an expiring.

Who do you realistcally think we can sign that will make any form of a difference?

Again, we can only sign slightly above MLE players. And if we sign ANYONE we can say bye bye max cap space for 2010.

SacKingZZZ wrote:

deNIEd wrote:
Amir is an expiring.

Who do you realistcally think we can sign that will make any form of a difference?

Again, we can only sign slightly above MLE players. And if we sign ANYONE we can say bye bye max cap space for 2010.

Rather keep our options open of maybe going after a guy like Boozer, Marion, Millsap, or Odom via sign and trade and being able to offer a nice package with instant cap relief. I think that could be a huge asset come free agency period. Might even be able to snag a non-FA if a team is looking to dump salary to get in on the action.

If they are still going for 2010 space their stupid. There is waaay too much competition from big market teams, and while the top 4-5 potential FA's are nicer than nice, there's still only 4-5 of them. Our only hope would be to land one of the those impending free agents via trade this year because their current team is spooked they'll leave for nothing.

Smills91 wrote:At 7-8 million in cap space our MAX offer is 5 years 45-55 million total. That isn't landing ANY of those guys.

SacKingZZZ wrote:

Smills91 wrote:At 7-8 million in cap space our MAX offer is 5 years 45-55 million total. That isn't landing ANY of those guys.

Like I said in my post our best option is via SIGN AND TRADE with the capspace being a major advantage in a deal. A team like Utah won't want to lose Boozer for nothing. We could easily offer a deal where they get depth at a position of need, future picks, and/or expiring contracts which would make losing a player of that level easier to swallow. Also gives us that extra power over another team trying to sign him outright by adding that 6th year player option.

If we don't land a targeted free agent that space could then be used at or before the deadline in a straight trade offering the dumping team immediate cap and/or tax relief. At least 1 of the impending "big name" FA's will be available at the deadline. Rather keep the space.