If PHX rumors are real!?.......

[misterglover]

There are rumors that PHX making be looking to move either Amare or Marion for both salary and/or chemistry reasons. I for one think that if there is any truth to the rumors the the 'Cats need to make a call and see what we can do to get involved. I am not an Okafor supporter, I like the guy and has wanted him to develop since we drafted him but he hasnt seemed to improve one bit offensively, he is too soft down low and has no go-to post moves, he is best suited to be a clean up man meaning scoring off putbacks and dunks you can not run a low post offense thru him that isnt his strength. Either Marion or Stoudamire would be a good fit here I prefer Amare cuz he's a young scoring big. Dont know what it would take to get either but I think Okafor and a 1st rd pick( we are in the Eastern playoff race, we may be a lottery team but we are to good to expect a top 5 pick this year plus we still dont know what we have in May, Morrison, Dudley, Hollins or Davidson due to injuries or lack of playing time thats a lot of young guys we still have to develop & Felton still hasnt developed as a true PG yet....)

Im not one of those cap-ologists types so not sure what would make the salaries work but some combo of Okafor, a draft pick, Hollins, Othellas contract and if we have to May or Morrison for say Marion or Amare + say Banks?......

We are still a low post threat away from really make a LEGIT move in the east not just this year but long term and while I love what Nazr has done he is not that guy especially long term even if its Marion he can rebound & hit the 3 while playing the 3 and 4. He and Crash play similar styles but it can work cuz as Gerald has shown all year he adjusts his game to what we need be it a 1, 3 or 4...run the offense, post , rebound , slash, pick up his jumper he is a true team player.

[fatlever]

amare is a chump, but if we can add amare and banks for what you suggest... this team would be NASTY!!!! something tells me the capologist will bunk that trade though... i'm too lazy to look.

[e4Nf6]

Recent success notwithstanding I would take Okafor+pick for Marion or Stoudamire, but I think PHX can do better.

[chrbal]

It would be great to get Stoudmire, but this will/could be much easier this offseason...with Okafor essentially signed and traded to Phoenix in a trade package.

The problem now is that just to get Stoudmire we would have to trade Okafor, Morrison, and May. Two of those guys were done for the season long before it started. You basically have to convince Phoenix to take on Morrison and May, Adams not so bad but May is. You also have to convince them to want to then dump one or both of those guys to pay Emekas next contract.

[misterglover]

I just tried out ESPN trade machine not sure how accurate it is but according to that thing we could trade Okafor, Hollins, Morrison & Othellas expiring contract for Amare & DJ Strawberry. That doesnt include any draft picks which if we would give them one means PHX would have 3 ( their own, ATL unprotected & ours).

I know PHX fans will probably still shoot it down but if they dont win the title this year change is around the corner.... at least with this trade they could get a young big to replace Amare in Okafor, they would be in position to add 3 young draft picks 2 of which could possibly be lottery picks(or trade to move up or get another player), & 2 young guys in Morrison & Hollins that could blossom in their style of play(especially Adam with their run & gun - no defense style... just setup and wait on Nash to drive & dish?!) In terms of name value their fans may not like it but in terms of quanity of good talent I dont know how much better they can get.......

[BigSlam]

I just tried out ESPN trade machine not sure how accurate it is but according to that thing we could trade Okafor, Hollins, Morrison & Othellas expiring contract for Amare & DJ Strawberry. That doesnt include any draft picks which if we would give them one means PHX would have 3 ( their own, ATL unprotected & ours).

Switch Twiggy out for McMinus and give them the option to swap our '08 draft pick with the Hawks "08 draft pick.

Not that I would do the deal, but if I was going to I would want it more like that.

[amcoolio]

PHX probably isn't going to trade Amare, and Marion makes too much to be coming this way in any deal we would do, so alas, it won't happen. Although if Marion made Gerald Wallace type money, I would consider Okafor and McInnis for Marion and Banks, then use our 1st rounder on a big.

A J-Rich, Wallace, Marion wing/forward trio would be pretty hard to match, and could offset Boston's trio in the time being.

[Rich4114]

Adding Amare to this team would give us someone to more evenly compete with Dwight Howard. Right now, Okafor isn't doing a whole lot for us. At least not what he was doing last season. Defensively, Okafor is the more talented player. Offensively, Amare is way ahead of Okafor. I'd really hate to let Okafor go though, I think the main reason he seems to not be living up to expectations this year is the coaching, rotation, and system.

[Paydro70]

I don't know how Marion and Wallace could really play together... they're so similar, wouldn't they just get in each other's way?

I'm also not super-excited about Amare since I learned he has maybe the worst opponent PER in the league: 23.6, equivalent to, say, Al Jefferson.

Granted, he outproduces that, because he's maybe the league's best offensive big, but I have my doubts about whether you can make up for that kind of terribleness on defense.

Nonetheless, at this stage if Okafor is the only piece of substance we'd have to give up, I would be on board.

[W_HAMILTON]

Over the season series:

Howard vs Okafor:
+16.7 points
+7.8 rebounds

Howard vs Stoudemire:
+15.5 points
+12.5 rebounds

It looks like the one of the few teams Howard plays better against than us, is Phoenix. If you want Stoudemire for the things he can do against the other teams, cool; if you want him because you think he's gonna be a "Howard-stopper," or even come closer to matching Howard's totals than Okafor, you might want to think again.

[Walt Cronkite]

Dwight Howard is the next Shaq. I think we shouldn't really weight anyone against how they perform against DH. True, he's going to be a thorn in our paws for a long time b/c of the Division alignment, but I mean, 4 games a season we can come up with a gimmick, like the 2nd half of last night.

[Bowens]

Over the season series:

Howard vs Okafor:
+16.7 points
+7.8 rebounds

Howard vs Stoudemire:
+15.5 points
+12.5 rebounds

It looks like the one of the few teams Howard plays better against than us, is Phoenix. If you want Stoudemire for the things he can do against the other teams, cool; if you want him because you think he's gonna be a "Howard-stopper," or even come closer to matching Howard's totals than Okafor, you might want to think again.

Howard had 2 very bad games against the Suns last season. And in their first meeting early in the season, Stoudemire was gimpy with a sore knee. The Suns are 4-0 against the Magic over the past 2 seasons.

But I'm not saying Stoudemire is better than Howard or even can hold his own against him, I'm saying this is a team game and I'd MUCH rather have Amare on my team than Emeka. And if our guards can do a good job of stopping the Magic guards, then we really don't have to worry about DH.

[spectre_]

I agree with the idea of NOT trading Mek for the sole purpose of finding a counter for Dwight. Even tho he had a nice couple games this past week, Mek's still not fully confident with his game and the "slump" continues. I really don't think last night's first half is a "sign of the times".

As for the deals...

Marion can opt out after this season can't he? There's going to be a couple of teams with cash this offseason and I'd sure hate to lose Mek for basically nothing.

Amare for Mek is better value wise, but due to Mek not getting paid yet we'd have to include others...which makes it very difficult. Besides, I think PHO is going to value Amare more than Mek and will want Crash included...which gets a big HELL NO from me.

[realfung]

They will not move Amare..........

[Paydro70]

I doubt it too.

Bowens, I'm surprised at your attitude, isn't Amare weak on defense for you?

[Bowens]

I doubt it too.

Bowens, I'm surprised at your attitude, isn't Amare weak on defense for you?

Yes but exceptions can be made in certain circumstances. If I had to choose between Okafor and Amare? Come on that is a no brainier. However, I am very leery of taking on Amare because of his bad knees and long contract. My first choice is always defense, but I feel Jokafor will not be worth the contract he will command this offseason because he's abysmal on offense, and defensively, he's been a huge let down this season. On top of that, I am very concerned about his conditioning. But that is for another thread.

I want Sean Williams, Antoine Wright, and a #1 pick from the Nets for Jokafor. Then our roster would be more flexible and we could possibly make further moves so we're under the cap enough to sign an additional player for something a little higher than the full MLE.

[Paydro70]

Seems light to me. Maybe you see more in Sean Williams than I do, but what is he really going to do other than block shots? Plus, even without Okafor they might be in the playoffs, with him they almost certainly are, so we're giving up Okafor for a project/attitude issue big, a mid-first, and Antoine Wright? Sounds terrible to me.

[Bowens]

Seems light to me. Maybe you see more in Sean Williams than I do, but what is he really going to do other than block shots? Plus, even without Okafor they might be in the playoffs, with him they almost certainly are, so we're giving up Okafor for a project/attitude issue big, a mid-first, and Antoine Wright? Sounds terrible to me.

I watch a lot of Nets games because I'm a huge fan of Marv Albert and I like to watch Jason Kidd so I've seen enough of Sean Williams to know he's been very impressive. Yes he's still rough around the edges, but, for a rookie whose played limited college ball, he's definitely come a long way in a short amount of time.

Antoine Wright impressed me early on in the season, but he's been gimpy of late and hasn't been the same. But healthy, he could be nice role player off the bench.

Then you throw in a mid first round pick. But, I'm mainly doing this deal for Sean Williams AND cap space. Keeps our team flexible salary cap wise where we could add a player above the MLE or make a trade with a team looking to shed some cap space.

[CarolinaCash]

Basically it would be something like Sean Williams, Antoine Wright, Antawn Jamison, and draft pick (Kevin Love, Ty Lawson, Collison, DeVon Hardin) for Okafor.

I would do that in a second!!!

Felton/Lawson
JRich/Carroll
Wallace/Morrison/Dudley/Wright
Jamison/Williams/May
Nazr/Williams

[RichBoy923]

-= original quote snipped =-
I want Sean Williams, Antoine Wright, and a #1 pick from the Nets for Jokafor. Then our roster would be more flexible and we could possibly make further moves so we're under the cap enough to sign an additional player for something a little higher than the full MLE.

I dont think Nets would ever do that