Frank Lee wrote:lilfishi22 wrote:JRich could be our best trade asset aside from Nash.
The past couple of years have inflated your perceived value of expiring contracts. Owners had been trying to shed salary to position themselves for the big free agency run and this CBA on the horizon. Many were willing to deal lengthy contracts for the expiring ones. The run is over. Half of the league flushed out half of their rosters this past yr.
JRich has a 14 mil deal... and its done next yr. He is also a SG which is the easiest position to fill. Finding a trade involving him is very very difficult, and largely will involve Phnx taking on more salary next yr (not a likely scenario) There is NO leverage with a JRich deal. His expiring contract is more valuable to us.
Dudley, on the other hand, is far more valuable to others. You get him cheap this yr, and set up a reasonable extension for the next 3. Trading him (or not locking him up) is a step backwards in our future. I am hesitant about supporting any short-term-win-now moves as we did in the past.
IMO, the most likely way we obtain a PF this yr will be packaging Earl Clark, a draft pick, and the TPE. Teams can shed 3-4 mill instantly, and we can get a $4-5 million marginal PF. Can you say Brandon Wright ?
Now on the other hand, if a certain someone mentions he is unhappy.... who knows then.
JRich is a good trade asset not only because he's an expiring but because he can be re-upped for cheaper next season after he's expired. He's a good SG who's still relatively young, productive and after his playoff run last season, I think teams will want him. Teams obviously aren't as aggressive as the last few seasons trying to get into a better cap situation going into last off-season's FA bonanza, but there are still a number of teams just trying to get rid of ugly deals or long term money deals they just don't want but aren't necessarily bad. Teams like New Orleans and Philly aren't necessarily trying to clear cap space for FA's, they are just trying to get into a better financial situation and I think we could take advantage of that with JRich's expiring deal. Whether JRich is more value to us than to other teams and whether there his deal gives us any leverage or not is a different matter. The fact is, he's a productive player with an expiring deal and while we may not be able to pull off what the Rockets did with TMac's deal, JRich is still a decent trade asset. I certainly don't expect us to bring in some young stud.
Brandan Wright could be a possibility. His 4th year option hasn't been picked up so it's possible we could make a swap with EC.
