Baron reaches verbal agreement with clippers

[evildallas]

As much as I like the move for the Clippers because it keeps Brand happy and Davis can be a beast, Davis also has a bit of a coach killer legacy. How long do you think it will be before Dunleavy and Davis clash?

[HoopsGuru25]

1. Can the Warriors offer Smith Chris Paul/Deron Williams/Dwight Howard type money? If they can(and eventually do)...the Hawks are screwed because they are losing a key player or they are going to be stuck with one of the worst contracts in the league in 2 years.

2. If so...then how come Joe is considered a max player although his deal is only 5 years and 70 million?

[killbuckner]

Joe wasn't a max player. As I recall the Hawks were threatening to sign him to a max offersheet, but once it came down to a S&T he didn't get the max. And yes Golden State has the ability to pay Dwight Howard money- no one knows the exact details on the contract until the cap number comes out but the Warriors could max him out and still go back and extend Ellis and Biedrins.

[conleyorbust]

Joe wasn't a max player. As I recall the Hawks were threatening to sign him to a max offersheet, but once it came down to a S&T he didn't get the max. And yes Golden State has the ability to pay Dwight Howard money- no one knows the exact details on the contract until the cap number comes out but the Warriors could max him out and still go back and extend Ellis and Biedrins.

They could do it, but I'm pretty sure it would be a pretty silly business decision. This is a team that is already operating on fairly thin margins, take away their flexibility and you have a capped out running team without a good distributor (or even a developmental pg on the roster) and no chance to find one.

If we kill our cap flexibility, we lock ourselves into to hoping that this core (Joe, Josh, Al) can develop which was the plan all along but we have peices to ensure we keep a complete team, namely Mike Bibby.

[HoopsGuru25]

Joe is listed as a max contract player on this site for some reason.

I also wouldn't know what to do if Smith were to get that kind of money. It would suck to lose him for nothing but paying super-star money for non-superstar players is dumb. Mabury,Francis,O'neal(and soon to be Rashard Lewis)were all given Kobe/Duncan type money despite the fact that they were 2nd tier stars at best. I hope the Hawks do not have to go through that with Smith.

[D21]

...
I hadn't thought about Maggette in Orlando. That would suck.
...

Me too

Now he will only get a MLE offer, he will certainly look at teams already being contender.

When thinking about an SF upgrade, saying we would trade one of Marvin or Childress to get that king of player or use them for another position upgrade, I always see Mike Miller and Maggette as first targets.
It would be gamble because of not knowing what trade we would be able to do later, but we could sign him with our MLE, leaving Marvin, Childress and Zaza for future trade possibilities.

Not 100% fan of that, but could be a good move. Now, if he has to sign for a MLE contract, not sure he would want to play for ATL more than ORL.

[killbuckner]

If Maggette would sign with the Hawks for the MLE I would do it in a heartbeat. But if he is signing for the MLE I am guessing he will go to a more desirable location.

[Retrovision]

I dont understand why Baron didnt wait another year in GS ( he was supposed to make 17 mil) then go into free agengy?

[killbuckner]

When you are as injury prone as Baron Davis the guaranteed money is what matters. I would easily take 65 million guaranteed over 17 million guaranteed.

[JoshB914]

I think that this works out for LAC in the short term, but Baron has had a lot of injuries in his career and I see him breaking down after a couple of seasons. As for their starting lineup, it looks nice but I see them having some major defensive struggles at the guard positions and SF. Thornton can't D up anyone, Gordon was a good defender in college but he is very small for the 2 and will take some time to adjust, and it's become clear that Baron only plays D when he wants to. I just see another Denver with a lot of talent that lacks cohesion.

Baron leaving could end up being a blessing in disguise for GSW. They shed a TON of cap space right as they need to sign a potential franchise player and perennial AS in Ellis. They have a lot of young talent in Monta, Beans, Wright, and Randolph. And they could pair them with some serious vet talent next summer and become a real force. In my opinion, this gives GSW a chance to become a 55-60 win team instead of a 45-50 win team, and in the WC that makes a huge difference.

[ckchen]

GSW needs a point guard but a combo of Iggy, Jax, and Ellis might be able to fill that role by committee.

PG by committee - someone remind me again the last time that worked?