Sonics get Duhon,Marshall, and Newble??

[elbowthrower]

This move is just a cost-cutting precaution and brings the side benefit of getting the most ping pong balls possible in the lottery.

That team is going to suck.

It's clear the management/FO have essentially decided to fold up the tent, hope the owners vote to approve the move and wait out the next 2 years.

[big L]

Calderon is a fine PG, but over Rose? No way, my man.

[HeavyP]

I agree, but what if Rose isn't an option? The celtics sure were banking on Oden or Durant this time last year...

[D5150]

it is easy to be cynical considering the current situation. but if we can set that aside for the moment (if we can not do that, it really is impossible to objectively analyze the deals that were made), these trades were pretty solid. what both of these trades do is give the sonics TONS of flexibility going forward. lots of picks and a good amount of cap space. there are some very solid fre agents and restricted free agents available next year and not a lot of teams with significant cap space. arenas and brand will probably get big bucks but after that some guys are going to have to settle for less than the max. when you consider the fact that many teams are reluctant to go over the cap because of the luxury cap and because some of those teams have more pressing needs, some of the restricted FA's will be there for the taking. pick's and cap space also allow the team to be active on the trade front, either with sign and trades or as a facilitator. and if there is nothing that they feel can help them going forward, pick the guys you want in the draft, hold on to the cap space and wait a year.

all and all, flexibility in this teams case is a good thing. they have to consider the possibility of a move, in which case they may have trouble attracting free agents to okc. so the picks would be used to fill out the roster and the money saved would off set the loses they will continue to incour until they either move or sell to a local group and move on.

considering the circumstances and considering they are in a total rebuild, i think presti has done a solid job. but the real test will come next year. how well does the team draft, which if any free agents do they bring in, and what does he wind up doing with all of the picks.

[D5150]

or, elbowthrower is right on the money. and considering the team just basically "gifted" those players to 2 contending teams (teams that presti has ties to by the way), perhaps they are hoping for a couple of favors when the vote for relocation is taken.

[BBen]

After my initial reaction I have calmed down and realize the wisdom of this. I was also upset because I was excited to get Duhon and was not happy to have that revoked.

To me, it's another addition by subtraction move. If PJ has half of half a brain he'll sit all these players and the logjam situation we had will be a little cleared. Let's face it guys, did anyone actually like what Delonte "the second coming of White Chocolate" West brought to the table? What about his game against the Grizzlies the other night? He was obviously playing as hard as he could and he came out strong but he didn't score anything after the first or second quarter.

And Sczerbiak just wasn't needed by a team like the Sonics, better to cut his salary in half.

Also, for those of you arguing that Sczerbiak will be a better commodity next year I disagree. Honestly, even with an expiring contract, who is going to give what for him? We're not going to net a star, we'll have to take back contracts. Since we can only trade him to a contending team, we'll get maybe a draft pick as the most valuable thing in the deal. More draft picks anyone?

[wiff]

Wow what a couple of whacky couple of days.

The way I see it the Kurt Thomas move was a personnel move gaining a pick.

The Wally and Delonte trade was purely for finances.

Essentially they shed 10mil off their cap.

Last time I checked you could buy a draft pick for 3mil. So if Presti wanted to he could actually go out and buy three first round picks for Wally and Delonte.

But let

[Dick Tate]

It's called tanking. Serves Wally right for hitting that game winner in the last game. Bring on that #1 pick! Rome is waiting.

[D5150]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

of course. dick, you are getting way to predictable.

[Dick Tate]

Aren't we all?

[D5150]

my wife think's so.

[Dick Tate]

LOL, same here.

[TheUrbanZealot]

-= original quote snipped =-




Why? Aside from Chris Paul and Deron Williams, Calderon is the best young PG in the league. Yes he has more potential than Devin Harris, Felton, and Conley. I'd rather have Calderon over drafting Derrick Rose any day of the week.

Yeah but if you had a choice between Calderon at 10 million, and Rose 7 yrs younger at 3-4 million, you'd be a fool to not want Rose.

Don't get me wrong, Calderon is a solid, heady player. He makes few mistakes. One thing about Calderon though, he doesn't really have "it". What "it" is is whatever Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, etc have- and all of them average more turnovers than him. I think I want to say "killer instinct". He is just very stable. Not really going to make mistakes, but also not going to will you to win the way those other guys do. Plus, defensively he is just average.

Rose is tremendous defensively. He may not be as "heady" as Calderon, but he's a freshman PG that has helped lead his team to an undefeated record. His potential is out of this world. I will take my chances on him being a superstar, over Calderon, who at 26 yrs old is just an above average PG right now...

[Patches Pal]

Forget about acquiring Calderon or any other free agent. Bennett is not going to use the cap space until the franchise is in OKC. He is just trying to stop the financial bleeding. He says he is losing $17 million. Now he will lose $30 million because no one will attend the games or watch these guys on TV. This will backfire on Bennett. The Sonics may not win another game this year. Kurt Thomas and Wally were the only ones holding the team together.

[JES12]

I just read all 10 pages and from what I can tell, no one knows who was cut to make this deal happen. Are there no reports from Seattle media?

[McG]

I believe Barry was the only player waived. Good chance he never even left San Antonio...

[JES12]

I believe Barry was the only player waived. Good chance he never even left San Antonio...

R U speculating, or have you heard that he was waived?

[OzSonic]

I believe Barry was the only player waived. Good chance he never even left San Antonio...

Is there an official source on that one? I have read that a few times in forums and just wondering if you heard or read it somwehere?

[JES12]

http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/trade080221.html

In order to complete the trade, the Sonics waived Brent Barry to make the necessary roster spots available. Barry was acquired yesterday in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.

[OzThunder]

no barry?? my blood boils.

all future plans and cost cutting aside, we are really assembling a team of ultimate duds. The last 30 games will be very amusing.