At this point, who catches himself wanting DH to go to HOU?

[parson]

I'll admit that I'm not convinced he won't "Dwightmare" us the same way he's done the last 3 years, especially since he seems to not like the idea of living in Atlanta.

I'll also admit the thought of playing serious basketball, with a true Center like Asik and without the drama, particularly appeals to me. And I'd take Lin, if the owners can capitalize on the Asian market. If not, surely there's a West Coast team that could and would take him and ship us a couple of 2nd rounders (maybe even a 1st rounder, wouldn't that be nice?).

Not only that, but there's the potential for schadenfreude: Horford could play with Howard and Smith; I'm not sure Harden can. 3 egos and one ball would be precious to watch.

Asik / Horford / Korver (we'd easily have the money to re-sign him) / Jenkins / Teague with about $20 million available for a bench. Let Boooodenhowwlllzer (I loved how the interviewer and Schröder pronounced his name in german) coach his 1st team without prima donas. I'm beginning to think I'd prefer that.

[tcorbin]

Al Jefferson > Asik

Pek > Asik

Splitter > Asik

taking on Asik would just be a horrible move for Atlanta. He is a big contract with alot of limitation, in addition, their is no point helping out Houston when their are better centers out their on the market, especially Asik who just averages one block a game and struggled against Marc Gasol and Robin Lopez last year.

If Ferry is dumb enough to take on Asik, that means their is zero cap left for Jefferson or Pek and both Jefferson and Pek are way better than Asik

As for Lin, he is with out a question another horrible contract that would be impossible to move. even NY fans think Lin is overpaid. Lin gets 8 million and is trash. Tony Allen only gets 5 million and is ten times the player Lin is. Ferry can easily take the 17 million owned to Lin and Asik and get way more value in a guy like Allen and a post player.

[OmegaUltima]

Howard only gave the Hawks the time of the day just as a PR stunt. Hawks shouldn't want to help the Rockets get both Smoove and Howard. If they get Howard and Smoove follow him there. Hawks will at least get something back in return for Smoove which is Asik who is a damn good Center. He has 2 years remaining.

[Jamaaliver]

Not only that, but there's the potential for schadenfreude: Horford could play with Howard and Smith; I'm not sure Harden can. 3 egos and one ball would be precious to.

You do remember that Harden played beside Durant and Westbrook for 3 years and never rocked the boat, right?

I'd like to see Dwight go to that team because they would be pretty impressive. They'd challenge OKC and give MIA a run for their money.

Also, I guarantee Josh makes the biggest mistake at the worst moment on national TV and costs them in the playoffs. Then the Smoove backlash will be worldwide and we can all agree what an idiot he is.

[tcorbin]

Howard only gave the Hawks the time of the day just as a PR stunt. Hawks shouldn't want to help the Rockets get both Smoove and Howard. If they get Howard and Smoove follow him there. Hawks will at least get something back in return for Smoove which is Asik who is a damn good Center. He has 2 years remaining.

This is just stupid... the Hawks already got something back for Smith, and that is significant cap space. i don't know why people are saying Hawks have to do a sign and trade if they are getting back trash players with bad contracts. Ferry would much rather have cap space and get the players he wants, than taking on another team's bad contracts

you can either parlay Josh for a sign and trade or indirectly parlay him for a guy like Splitter, but you can't have both Splitter and Asik, you have to choose which guy you want to use Josh's cap space on.

[parson]

Al Jefferson > Asik

Pek > Asik

Splitter > Asik

Asik is one of the best defensive Centers in the NBA, better defensively than Jefferson (who is a joke, defensively), better than Pekovic, better than Splitter. I'd greatly prefer to have a Center who focuses on defense. We can get our offense somewhere else. Our interior defense has stunk for years; Asik at Center and Horford at PF would fix that.

taking on Asik would just be a horrible move for Atlanta. He is a big contract with alot of limitation, in addition, their is no point helping out Houston when their are better centers out their on the market, especially Asik who just averages one block a game and struggled against Marc Gasol and Robin Lopez last year.

Ranked #1 in the NBA in Total Rebounds (956)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds (681)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (13.3)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (18.6)
Ranked #3 in the NBA in Rebounds Per Game (11.7)
Ranked #4 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per Game (8.3)
Ranked #4 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds (275)
Ranked #7 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (3.4)
Ranked #11 in the NBA in Field-Goal Percentage (0.541)
Ranked #14 in the NBA in Double-doubles (33)

And, yes, he:
Ranked #28 in the NBA in Blocks Per Game (1.06)

If Ferry is dumb enough to take on Asik, that means their is zero cap left for Jefferson or Pek and both Jefferson and Pek are way better than Asik

Zero? We have enough cap space for 2 max FAs, yet you think Asik's $8.5 million will leave us "zero cap" for another FA? We could take Asik and Lin (who I don't want) and still have enough for one max FA.

What would be "dumb" would be signing Al Jefferson. Guy is a volume scorer who plays no defense. UTAH had better athletes and better defensive talent than we had, yet he couldn't take them anywhere. Asik WAS the Rockets' defense.

[parson]

Not only that, but there's the potential for schadenfreude: Horford could play with Howard and Smith; I'm not sure Harden can. 3 egos and one ball would be precious to.

You do remember that Harden played beside Durant and Westbrook for 3 years and never rocked the boat, right?

You think he's going back, now that HOU is his team? I wonder how he'll look, waiting for Howard to kick the ball back out to him for a 3. That's not his game.

Also, I guarantee Josh makes the biggest mistake at the worst moment on national TV and costs them in the playoffs. Then the Smoove backlash will be worldwide and we can all agree what an idiot he is.

As I said, schadenfreude.

[tcorbin]

Al Jefferson > Asik

Pek > Asik

Splitter > Asik

Asik is one of the best defensive Centers in the NBA, better defensively than Jefferson (who is a joke, defensively), better than Pekovic, better than Splitter. I'd greatly prefer to have a Center who focuses on defense. We can get our offense somewhere else. Our interior defense has stunk for years; Asik at Center and Horford at PF would fix that.

taking on Asik would just be a horrible move for Atlanta. He is a big contract with alot of limitation, in addition, their is no point helping out Houston when their are better centers out their on the market, especially Asik who just averages one block a game and struggled against Marc Gasol and Robin Lopez last year.

Ranked #1 in the NBA in Total Rebounds (956)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds (681)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (13.3)
Ranked #2 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (18.6)
Ranked #3 in the NBA in Rebounds Per Game (11.7)
Ranked #4 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per Game (8.3)
Ranked #4 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds (275)
Ranked #7 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (3.4)
Ranked #11 in the NBA in Field-Goal Percentage (0.541)
Ranked #14 in the NBA in Double-doubles (33)

And, yes, he:
Ranked #28 in the NBA in Blocks Per Game (1.06)

If Ferry is dumb enough to take on Asik, that means their is zero cap left for Jefferson or Pek and both Jefferson and Pek are way better than Asik

Zero? We have enough cap space for 2 max FAs, yet you think Asik's $8.5 million will leave us "zero cap" for another FA? We could take Asik and Lin (who I don't want) and still have enough for one max FA.

What would be "dumb" would be signing Al Jefferson. Guy is a volume scorer who plays no defense. UTAH had better athletes and better defensive talent than we had, yet he couldn't take them anywhere. Asik WAS the Rockets' defense.

Asik way overrated and only novice fans think he is worth is contract. if you ever watch the Rockets, you would see that Asik would get lighten up every night by the opposing post player. the opposing center would generally get more points and higher field goal percentage when going up against Asik. but if you only care about numbers and not game film then here you go...

Asik PER: 14.9
Jefferson PER: 20.9
Pek PER: 18.7
Noah PER: 18.1

[parson]

Asik way overrated and only novice fans think he is worth is contract. if you ever watch the Rockets, you would see that Asik would get lighten up every night by the posing post player. the posing center would generally get more points and higher field goal percentage when going up against Asik. but if you only care about numbers and not game film then here you go...

Asik PER: 14.9
Jefferson PER: 20.9
Pek PER: 18.7
Noah PER: 18.1

PER? Try real numbers, like how their team fares when they're on the court, as opposed to offcourt:
Jefferson's team is 8.2 points WORSE per 100 possessions when he's on the court. Marinate in that sewage for a minute. Lousy, huh?

As for the real Centers,
Pekovic's team is 3.7 points better when he's on the court. MIN is expected to match any offer for Pekovic.
Splitter's team is 5.5 points better when he's on the court. Splitter has already agreed to re-sign with the Spurs.
Asik's team is 5.7 points better when he's on the court.

If you want to argue for Pekovic, know that MIN is going to make it hard to get him. If they lose him, they'll lose Love next year. If you want to argue for Splitter, know that it's too late.

If you want to argue for Jefferson, ha. You may be right that I'm a novice. However, it seems to me that a novice-type mistake would be to not realize how important a Center is to a team's defense. And Asik is the clear choice, defensively, over Splitter, over Pekovic and - laughably - over Jefferson.

[theatlfan]

Wow... this took off.

1st, no, I want Dwight here (Aside here: I do agree with those who question if he'll ever be the same after back surgery, but it's a risk that I'd be willing to take). Just finished reading a couple of articles: the 1st of which was talking about what SAS was doing defensively to stop MIA; the 2nd of which talking about the O from the ORL team that Dwight took Finals in '09. We seem to be in a good place with the SAS coach who helped put that D on the floor and would have Dwight as the backstop. The O that ORL team put out shot 39% with Dwight on the floor; 35% when he was sitting. With Korver and Jenkins, we'd have two of the most lethal shooters in the NBA while Teague and L Williams aren't horrid. Going deeper, if Horford were to extend his range by a few feet (he shot 43% last year from 16-23') and Muscala shows his range in games, then we'd go 6 deep with shooters to surround Dwight with. That's a deadly team before you start adding in the role players and the abilities of the surrounding cast. It may not be ready for prime time in y1, but man, it's close.

2nd, Asik is a more than competent starting C and his contract isn't bad for what he brings. Is he a game changer? No, but few are. He can set the interior D even if he does have a few things to work on in regards to man-to-man post D, but he's actually still fairly new to the NBA game and has only been a starter for 1 season so some additional gains in his game shouldn't be unexpected. The most vital thing he brings is that we can move Horford to PF fulltime instantly and there's something to be said for that. I always figured that Horford would take the Duncan role in the SAS system. For those who don't remember, for the 1st, like, 10 years of Duncan's career SAS always insisted on labeling him a PF while running out the likes of Rasho Nesterovic, Francisco Elson, and Fabricio Oberto as the starting C after David Robinson retired... and they still won rings. IIRC, it continued until Stern stepped in and asked them to stop because of how it affected the AS ballots (I don't think they actually stopped - just redid his position on the ballots). Asik can definitely play the role better than any combination of Rasho, 'Cisco, and Oberto - and probably well enough to stay on the floor at the end of the game (the thing that Stern had the problem with).

3rd, there is simply no way ASG would take on both Asik's and Lin's contract - maybe one of the two... maybe. The fact that HOU used the Arenas rule to make the balloon payment in y3 of their contract means that there'll be ~$6M difference between each of their salaries and their cap hit. That money doesn't disappear - it still goes against the bottom line. Why is this important? When the ASG originally bought the Hawks and Thrashers, the NBA had a problem with the deal since they didn't think the ASG had enough money to do the deal (the NFL threw out a bid to buy the Arizona Cardinals for the same reason about 5 years ago except that they got the additional satisfaction of saying "no" to the guy whose business was a euphemism for female genitalia... and then they ended with a marijuana advocate - who knew?). The problem was that the old group were absentee owners and didn't have anyone else to sell it since they were insisting that the Hawks, Thrashers, and Phillips Arena be a package deal which basically meant that the teams had to stay in Atlanta. Fast forward a few years: the ASG is suing each other, and the end resolution is that the group will buy out one of the partners (Belkin). Not only was it questionable if they had enough money in the 1st place, but more money had to go in to buy out one of the guys with money. All of this money isn't coming from someone's pockets, it's coming from a bank in a loan that is being paid back. From numbers I saw last year, the team was leveraged to about 90% of it's value. I just can't see a team in this sort of financial straits agreeing to outlay $12M that goes directly to the bottom line. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a serious outlay for advantages that you get very little of. For a team as in debt as we are, that's a big consideration.

4th, the most valuable asset out there right now is '14 picks. If I'm trading someone the ability to put together a championship window, then I'm expecting a '14 pick - no ifs, ands, ors, or buts. If there isn't one forthcoming, then I really have no intention of helping out any other team with their plans. Maybe they could find someone to take the Asik/Lin package without giving back any salary - h3ll maybe LAL would end up taking it for Dwight. But I'd still rather be the team that didn't blink than the one who did.

[dms269]

Asik does not have a bad contract for a starting nba center. 8.3M for him over the next two seasons really isn't that horrible for what he can provide us.

That being said, Ferry had to be hardball with the Rockets in regards to Smith. If he isn't getting what he wants than Smith an look elsewhere. Lin does nothing for this team.

[Grover]

I'm cheering for Houston only due to the moving parts from assorted teams after or while it unfolds and Ferry's solid negotiating position if he does not buckle. How Kupchak responds while D'Antoni is the coach will be interesting and what Donnie Nelson has up his sleeve will likely surprise the community. Utah might try to get in to the mix as a facilitator as well while several small market teams with limited cap space might add a couple of picks for taking on some salary. If Howard resigns with the Lakers we are far less likely to see as many trades and that's what keeps me coming back.

[parson]

Well, if we're going to bring up business, does anyone know the effect Lin would have on that front? Does he bring in the Asian market? Is just the Taiwanese market enough? Just the Asian-American market?

I still think the West Coast teams, especially those who need a PG (Sacramento?), would be interested if the price were low enough.

[supertruck97]

Wow... this took off.

3rd, there is simply no way ASG would take on both Asik's and Lin's contract - maybe one of the two... maybe. The fact that HOU used the Arenas rule to make the balloon payment in y3 of their contract means that there'll be ~$6M difference between each of their salaries and their cap hit. That money doesn't disappear - it still goes against the bottom line. Why is this important? When the ASG originally bought the Hawks and Thrashers, the NBA had a problem with the deal since they didn't think the ASG had enough money to do the deal (the NFL threw out a bid to buy the Arizona Cardinals for the same reason about 5 years ago except that they got the additional satisfaction of saying "no" to the guy whose business was a euphemism for female genitalia... and then they ended with a marijuana advocate - who knew?). The problem was that the old group were absentee owners and didn't have anyone else to sell it since they were insisting that the Hawks, Thrashers, and Phillips Arena be a package deal which basically meant that the teams had to stay in Atlanta. Fast forward a few years: the ASG is suing each other, and the end resolution is that the group will buy out one of the partners (Belkin). Not only was it questionable if they had enough money in the 1st place, but more money had to go in to buy out one of the guys with money. All of this money isn't coming from someone's pockets, it's coming from a bank in a loan that is being paid back. From numbers I saw last year, the team was leveraged to about 90% of it's value. I just can't see a team in this sort of financial straits agreeing to outlay $12M that goes directly to the bottom line. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a serious outlay for advantages that you get very little of. For a team as in debt as we are, that's a big consideration.

Just to be 100% clear, those year 3 discrepancies would be somewhat offset by the advantageous year 2 payouts of $5 mm each.

So, essentially, both contracts are 8.3mm/yr for 2 years for cap purposes, but $10mm / yr (avg) for 2 years in actual cash payout. So the actual cash paid for each contract is ~$3.4mm more than the cap hits over the 2 years. Or a combined $6.8mm total for both. Not the 12+ mm you lay out there. Assuming the Rockets would be ok sending over the max $3mm cash, you are talking about a remaining combined cash discrepancy of $3.8mm. Hardly something to get too worked up about.

So Laying it out:

Year 1
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 5mm
Cash vs Cap: +3.3 mm Cash

Year 2
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 15 mm
Cash vs Cap: -6.7 mm Cash

Total
Cap Hit: 16.6 mm
Cash Payout: 20 mm
Cash vs Cap: -3.4mm Cash

So, that is the breakout for the each deal (they are identical). Assuming you get both, that's a combined discrepancy of -$6.8 mm Cash vs Cap. Again, could be lowered by Houston sending $3mm cash, which would bring that total down to $3.8mm.

[theatlfan]

Wow... this took off.

3rd, there is simply no way ASG would take on both Asik's and Lin's contract - maybe one of the two... maybe. The fact that HOU used the Arenas rule to make the balloon payment in y3 of their contract means that there'll be ~$6M difference between each of their salaries and their cap hit. That money doesn't disappear - it still goes against the bottom line. Why is this important? When the ASG originally bought the Hawks and Thrashers, the NBA had a problem with the deal since they didn't think the ASG had enough money to do the deal (the NFL threw out a bid to buy the Arizona Cardinals for the same reason about 5 years ago except that they got the additional satisfaction of saying "no" to the guy whose business was a euphemism for female genitalia... and then they ended with a marijuana advocate - who knew?). The problem was that the old group were absentee owners and didn't have anyone else to sell it since they were insisting that the Hawks, Thrashers, and Phillips Arena be a package deal which basically meant that the teams had to stay in Atlanta. Fast forward a few years: the ASG is suing each other, and the end resolution is that the group will buy out one of the partners (Belkin). Not only was it questionable if they had enough money in the 1st place, but more money had to go in to buy out one of the guys with money. All of this money isn't coming from someone's pockets, it's coming from a bank in a loan that is being paid back. From numbers I saw last year, the team was leveraged to about 90% of it's value. I just can't see a team in this sort of financial straits agreeing to outlay $12M that goes directly to the bottom line. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a serious outlay for advantages that you get very little of. For a team as in debt as we are, that's a big consideration.

Just to be 100% clear, those year 3 discrepancies would be somewhat offset by the advantageous year 2 payouts of $5 mm each.

So, essentially, both contracts are 8.3mm/yr for 2 years for cap purposes, but $10mm / yr (avg) for 2 years in actual cash payout. So the actual cash paid for each contract is ~$3.4mm more than the cap hits over the 2 years. Or a combined $6.8mm total for both. Not the 12+ mm you lay out there. Assuming the Rockets would be ok sending over the max $3mm cash, you are talking about a remaining combined cash discrepancy of $3.8mm. Hardly something to get too worked up about.

So Laying it out:

Year 1
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 5mm
Cash vs Cap: +3.3 mm Cash

Year 2
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 15 mm
Cash vs Cap: -6.7 mm Cash

Total
Cap Hit: 16.6 mm
Cash Payout: 20 mm
Cash vs Cap: -3.4mm Cash

So, that is the breakout for the each deal (they are identical). Assuming you get both, that's a combined discrepancy of -$6.8 mm Cash vs Cap. Again, could be lowered by Houston sending $3mm cash, which would bring that total down to $3.8mm.

I know HOU fans are running around making sure everyone realizes the difference between the cap and the actual payout of Asik and Lin, but reread the post you're quoting: we're not a team with incredible finances - in fact, we're a team with one of the worst cash flow situation in the NBA. We wouldn't be inclined to pay HOU what amount to ~$6.8M (2x the difference for in your "Cash vs Cap" entry in the "Total" section which would represent the current cash flow advantage HOU has with these contracts) without significant compensation. Ferry has done a pretty good job in getting the ownership to not simply take cash for 2nds, but also note that we're not paying cash for 2nds either. It'll be an uphill climb to get them to give nearly $7M to HOU on top of paying these players salaries.

[supertruck97]

Wow... this took off.

3rd, there is simply no way ASG would take on both Asik's and Lin's contract - maybe one of the two... maybe. The fact that HOU used the Arenas rule to make the balloon payment in y3 of their contract means that there'll be ~$6M difference between each of their salaries and their cap hit. That money doesn't disappear - it still goes against the bottom line. Why is this important? When the ASG originally bought the Hawks and Thrashers, the NBA had a problem with the deal since they didn't think the ASG had enough money to do the deal (the NFL threw out a bid to buy the Arizona Cardinals for the same reason about 5 years ago except that they got the additional satisfaction of saying "no" to the guy whose business was a euphemism for female genitalia... and then they ended with a marijuana advocate - who knew?). The problem was that the old group were absentee owners and didn't have anyone else to sell it since they were insisting that the Hawks, Thrashers, and Phillips Arena be a package deal which basically meant that the teams had to stay in Atlanta. Fast forward a few years: the ASG is suing each other, and the end resolution is that the group will buy out one of the partners (Belkin). Not only was it questionable if they had enough money in the 1st place, but more money had to go in to buy out one of the guys with money. All of this money isn't coming from someone's pockets, it's coming from a bank in a loan that is being paid back. From numbers I saw last year, the team was leveraged to about 90% of it's value. I just can't see a team in this sort of financial straits agreeing to outlay $12M that goes directly to the bottom line. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a serious outlay for advantages that you get very little of. For a team as in debt as we are, that's a big consideration.

Just to be 100% clear, those year 3 discrepancies would be somewhat offset by the advantageous year 2 payouts of $5 mm each.

So, essentially, both contracts are 8.3mm/yr for 2 years for cap purposes, but $10mm / yr (avg) for 2 years in actual cash payout. So the actual cash paid for each contract is ~$3.4mm more than the cap hits over the 2 years. Or a combined $6.8mm total for both. Not the 12+ mm you lay out there. Assuming the Rockets would be ok sending over the max $3mm cash, you are talking about a remaining combined cash discrepancy of $3.8mm. Hardly something to get too worked up about.

So Laying it out:

Year 1
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 5mm
Cash vs Cap: +3.3 mm Cash

Year 2
Cap Hit: 8.3 mm
Cash Payout: 15 mm
Cash vs Cap: -6.7 mm Cash

Total
Cap Hit: 16.6 mm
Cash Payout: 20 mm
Cash vs Cap: -3.4mm Cash

So, that is the breakout for the each deal (they are identical). Assuming you get both, that's a combined discrepancy of -$6.8 mm Cash vs Cap. Again, could be lowered by Houston sending $3mm cash, which would bring that total down to $3.8mm.

I know HOU fans are running around making sure everyone realizes the difference between the cap and the actual payout of Asik and Lin, but reread the post you're quoting: we're not a team with incredible finances - in fact, we're a team with one of the worst cash flow situation in the NBA. We wouldn't be inclined to pay HOU what amount to ~$6.8M (2x the difference for in your "Cash vs Cap" entry in the "Total" section which would represent the current cash flow advantage HOU has with these contracts) without significant compensation. Ferry has done a pretty good job in getting the ownership to not simply take cash for 2nds, but also note that we're not paying cash for 2nds either. It'll be an uphill climb to get them to give nearly $7M to HOU on top of paying these players salaries.

Again, if YOU read MY post, you would see that Houston could include $3mm in the deal, making the difference a more manageable $3.8 mm. That seems like a small price to pay for getting a top 10 starting Center for a guy who could walk to Detroit and leave the team with nothing. I'm sure Houston would probably offer up one of their young bigs as incentive as well (#BeWell anyone??? ).

[Jamaaliver]

You think he's going back, now that HOU is his team? I wonder how he'll look, waiting for Howard to kick the ball back out to him for a 3. That's not his game.

Harden, as a young man, wanted the opportunity to prove himself as a top player and franchise cornerstone. To prove himself as a starter. As an all-star. He's done that.

He learned what all young All Stars have to learn, it takes two top players to really contend. Harden is their primary ball handler and a top 3pt shooter.

TCorbin, Asik matches or exceeds Splitter in pts, rebs, blks. Asik produced impressive numbers against Eastern teams and teams with small frontcourts.

Vs NJ : 15ppg 14rpg
Vs MIA: 17 ppg 14rpg
Vs CHI: 12ppg 12 RPG

Asik's production is akin to Mutombo's when he was dominating the lane...if you're old enough to remember that timeline.

Asik is basically a more productive Splitter.
Aside is basically a more experienced Lucas Nogueira.

[theatlfan]

Again, if YOU read MY post, you would see that Houston could include $3mm in the deal, making the difference a more manageable $3.8 mm. That seems like a small price to pay for getting a top 10 starting Center for a guy who could walk to Detroit and leave the team with nothing. I'm sure Houston would probably offer up one of their young bigs as incentive as well (#BeWell anyone??? ).

Well, we still haven't covered the difference in paying someone we'd view as a backup PG without the versatility to jump out to the 2 an $8.3M cap hit nor the factor that we would want the '14 1st. IMO, the path of least resistance here would be to find a team willing to take Lin for a useless expiring which we'd take along with Asik+the 1st. The example here would be GSW with Biedrins (not saying they want Lin - just saying that when I think "useless expiring, a little less than $10M", I think Biedrins 1st). It'd be on y'all to give whatever GSW requires to take Lin, but we'd be more open to give value, including Asik, or take on $$ depending on who would come back but just note that without us having Howard, we're looking for youth to build with - veteran on decent contracts wouldn't interest us much. That deal would give y'all the option of finding anyone in the league to take Lin without having to insist that you don't take any $$ back; we get the things were looking for - a C and the '14 pick.

[parson]

Asik's production is akin to Mutombo's when he was dominating the lane...if you're old enough to remember that timeline.

I wish. Asik does everything Mutombo did, except for the most intimidating of all: shot blocks.

And I'm old enough.

[supertruck97]

So...you are hoping that a FA with other options is going to net you a Top 10 Center AND a 1st round pick in the stacked '14 draft?

Good luck with that.