GT Mar 7th: Clippers vs. Bobcats 7:00pm

[Battery]

So MJ was willing (apparently) to make a trade with the Warriors for Beans and Lin, but couldn't work a deal with the Clippers for Kaman.

Why would he want Kaman??? He's UNRELIABLE and he makes a ton of money and on top of that he hasn't helped the Clippers win in like what 4 years??? No team would take Kaman on unless they are dumping some stiff onto the Clippers so the Clips might as well keep him. It's not like he's signed for 5 more years so it makes no sense for them to deal him for a stiff. And nobody is trading the Clippers someone like Granger for Kaman. Thats just not reality. 2 years ago yes, but not today.

[BigSlam]

So MJ was willing (apparently) to make a trade with the Warriors for Beans and Lin,

Really? Thank GOD that didn't happen! What an awful return. Beans is all sorts of horrible and Lin is bench fodder.

but couldn't work a deal with the Clippers for Kaman.

I know. It's a head scratcher considering Kaman would have been perfect for us and put us in a great position immediately AND going forward.

We can always hope we take a shot at acquiring Kaman this summer.

[Battery]

I know. It's a head scratcher considering Kaman would have been perfect for us and put us in a great position immediately AND going forward.

We can always hope we take a shot at acquiring Kaman this summer.

Sorry for blowing your cover, because I now realize you are all about landing in the lottery for the next 2 seasons. My apologies to you if you thought I was harsh. I must say though you are going about it very sneaky, you kill two birds with one stone by saying how much you love Kaman and how much he will improve the team (so the kids don't get upset thinking Kwame Brown is our only center) all the while knowing Kaman probably won't even make it out of training camp. Brilliant strategy! I'm in awe.

[Marvel]

Kaman is better than any big man prospect coming out of the draft. Sullinger has the potential to be a future star in 3-4 years, but Kaman is proven. Quality bigs are hard to come by these days.

[W_HAMILTON]

Trading essentially Diaw for Kaman, I would do it because Diaw is useless and both have contracts will probably essentially end at the same time. However, unless we could re-sign Kaman cheaply, I would not retain his services after the end of next season (invoking the rule that we should not pay any center more than 1-3m/year for a short length of time unless the center is a bonafide franchise player).

[Det the Threat]

Something like:

Char out: Diaw
Char in: Kaman

LAC out: Kaman + some sort of pick
LAC in: Granger

Ind out: Granger
Ind in: Diaw + some sort of pick from LAC

Bobcats get their starting C
Pacers get their starting PF (with George moving into the starting SF position)
Clippers get their starting SF

Why should we include you guys in something like that?

Kaman > Diaw and that's something the Pacers certainly view the same way, as they could flip Kaman for something else.

Diaw alone wouldn't net you Kaman and you'd have to give up more then that to get him.

BTW: I'm also not the biggest fan of Granger, who's a volume scorer and not the greatest defender and I don't think that's really what we need next to Griffin and Gordon.

What's not to like for the Pacers?

Clippers traded their 2012 pick to Boston through the Perkins trade, so it'll have to be a 2013 pick.
I just think Bird is too high on Granger to trade him for a 2013 pick and a fat expiring.

We traded a future protected(top 10) pick to OKC for Eric Bledsoe on draft night 2010.
That pick starts in 2012 and is protected till 2015.

Though, if that Minnesota first round pick 2012 somehow ends up being out of the top 10(I highly doubt that) then the Celtics(via OKC, LAC and MIN) would receive this pick.

[BigSlam]

Why should we include you guys in something like that?

Because the Pacers have no use for Kaman and a glaring need at the PF position.

Diaw alone wouldn't net you Kaman and you'd have to give up more then that to get him.

Kaman is a great fit for us, but he does have his draw backs. Let's not make him out to be The Dream here. He's currently playing off your bench and he becomes an UFA at the end of next summer so essentially could be a 1 season rental.

Don't over state his worth.

[BigSlam]

Trading essentially Diaw for Kaman, I would do it because Diaw is useless and both have contracts will probably essentially end at the same time. However, unless we could re-sign Kaman cheaply, I would not retain his services after the end of next season (invoking the rule that we should not pay any center more than 1-3m/year for a short length of time unless the center is a bonafide franchise player).

I agree W_Hamilton. That's why I think he would be good for the now and for the future.

He would help us win now and if we can reatain him for a decent dollar amount in the future as well. The flip side is that we would just let him walk and we would open up a lot of cap space for future use.

[BigSlam]

Kaman is better than any big man prospect coming out of the draft. Sullinger has the potential to be a future star in 3-4 years, but Kaman is proven. Quality bigs are hard to come by these days.

100% agree Marvel. If Sully was 4 inches taller it might be different, but there are no C's in this upcoming draft that bring to the table the things that Kaman does.

[Det the Threat]

Because the Pacers have no use for Kaman and a glaring need at the PF position.

What makes you think Diaw would be any answer to their problem?
He isn't even the answer for you guys at the 4 spot and you could also play Kaman alongside Hibbert as we did with Camby last year and with Jordan this season.

Kaman is a great fit for us, but he does have his draw backs. Let's not make him out to be The Dream here. He's currently playing off your bench and he becomes an UFA at the end of next summer so essentially could be a 1 season rental.

Don't over state his worth.

I know that Kaman isn't a superstar or a guy with the greates trade value, but it's still higher then Diaw who, himself, also isn't more then a 1 year rental.

I don't see either of them being of interest for the Pacers and as Kaman has more value he'd make more sense for them, as they could flip him for something of more value then they could do with Diaw.

Therefore including you guys in something like that makes not all that much sense, as long as you don't add something else on top of Diaw to a team like the Pacers might want.

[thruthefire]

Who knew that Clippers fans traveled so well? Alley-oop throw down by Griffin was pretty nasty.