HAWKS-THUNDER ideas?

[ACE_reppin_ATL]

With the steady Collison and talented sophomore Jeff Green staring in OKC's front court, Chris Wilcox seems to be the odd man out of the Thunder rotation as of late....I think he'd be a nice addition to the Hawks for cheap....He's about Al Horford's size - 6'10_240lbs, very athletic, good rebounder, and would be very productive in our system, especially when we rebound and run....He is also an expiring contract @ a very reasonable price of less than $7M and he is hungry to play...

What do you guys think?

[Harry10]

Why would OKC want to give up Wil?

and who (and/or what draft pick) are you suggesting the Hawks trade away for Chris?

and why would the Hawks want to sign Wil in the summer when the Hawks have to worry about resigning key free agents?

[td00]

This Hawks team looks like it will stand pat. Their true lineup really hasn't played much together this year and they are 4th. They could improve a bit, but I expect them to stand pat unless they are willing to give up some of their future for now.
We need another player off the bench who could provide a spark. Evans, Mo and Zaza need help as a unit.
I like where the Hawks are now and a minor deal might be doable Wilcox might be a good thing to have in Atlanta, giving that he will be playing for a new contract.
Are the ASG's hands tied at this stage? They need to provide a small boost as we head towards the playoffs. Wilcox would be very serviceable.

[JoshB914]

I like the idea of Wilcox coming in here. But I wouldn't be willing to give up all that much to get him.

[evildallas]

This thread got me looking at the teams in the trade checker and there is one trade that makes sense provided a few things prove true. That would be Nick Collison for Speedy Claxton. The conditions would be this:
1) Speedy is being 80% paid by insurance and that would continue after trade.
2) The ASG could afford 5M in cash outlay (difference between insurance deductible and full salary)
3) Atlanta is more than $500K below the luxury tax threshold.
4) The ASG is willing to take on an extra year of salary commitment to solidify bench now.

Truth is OKC ownership needs cash probably more than any other team right now due to non-basketball financial loses. Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox aren't as attractive to trade because they are expiring deals already. Collison has 2 more years after this one on his deal which is one year more than Claxton. If OKC only has to pay Claxton about 1.2M a year because of Insurance they get a real savings over the healthy player they would be dealing. Collison gives another big to the rotation with some experience and some beef on his frame.

In all truthfulness Krstic would be an even better fit because of height and salary, but because he signed so late he can't be traded until March 30th.

BTW, there are a couple other players on other teams that would fit a similiar trade scenario if the conditions above are met:
Jeff Foster IND
Darko Milicic MEM
Dan Gadzuric MIL
Reggie Evans PHI
Mikki Moore SAC
Etan Thomas WAS

All considered Collison might be the best of the bunch.

[killbuckner]

dallas- I don't think that OKC would have trouble getting an expiring for Collison- he is a very useful player and doesn't have an extravagant contract.

[evildallas]

killbuckner, I generally agree with your assessment of Collison's attractiveness, but sellers seem to outweigh buyers right now in the NBA, so expiring deals may be cherished too much. Also the financial benefit of Speedy's deal IF it is covered primarily by insurance is even greater than an expiring deal, because it helps now as well as the future to reduce real cash payouts. The other 3 conditions were more what it would take for Atlanta to make a deal not OKC. I think #3 is true, but not exactly sure of the math. #2 and #4 require a knowledge of the ASG that I don't have.

[killbuckner]

Dallas- here is the math I do. If Collison were an UFA this offseason do you think he could get a 2 year MLE contract? Even with 2010 looming I still think he could get that from someone. That means that he doesn't have the kind of contract someone would be willing take on Speedy to get out of.

[evildallas]

Dallas- here is the math I do. If Collison were an UFA this offseason do you think he could get a 2 year MLE contract? Even with 2010 looming I still think he could get that from someone. That means that he doesn't have the kind of contract someone would be willing take on Speedy to get out of.

Doesn't it have to be at least a 3 year deal to utilize the MLE? Ignoring that. I'm not sure he'd get the full MLE. Look at last summer, who got that kind of contract? Diop got the full MLE and Posey and James Jones got close. Most of those expenditures were flops as well. With teams using the economy as a real reason or even just an excuse the market should be even tighter. I see he contribution level closer to nabbing $4M that was spent on Kwame Brown (overpaid again). Collison at 6M isn't a big bargain, I'd say he's slightly overpaid. 2 years ago I would have agreed that he'd be a likely grab for an expiring contract, but I think teams are more content now to let contracts expire and some of the teams see his deal as going one year too long to be worth taking. I'm not saying we are the only potential suitor, but I just don't see him causing people to beat down the door with offers.

I think if Speedy is mostly paid by insurance the OKC owners would probably conside the deal if not welcome it (I still don't know the facts on Speedy's situation). It has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with financials.

Are we both agreeing that Collison could help our rotation? Are we arguing what level of offer it is going to take to make it happen?