Roy Hibbert - Indy says they will match/offer same terms.

[DusterBuster]

rights to claver

Then the Blazers can be like "What do you mean you don't want him? You're the one that drafted him"

Haha. Seriously though, I could see KP having a lot of interest in getting both of his Euro's back. Particularly since they're both so close to coming over to the NBA now.

[Fitz303]

Sports Biz Radio ‏@SBRadio
Pacers beat writer @MikeWellsNBA just told me on the radio that he thinks that @Hoya2aPacer will be wearing a Blazers uni next season. Wow.

This is looking good. Unfortunately, nothing ever goes right for this franchise. They'll likely match, or Hibbert will spontaneously combust on his way to Portland

[mojomarc]

Agreed. They could have the rights to both euros for all I care. Overall though, I'd call their bluff. If they're serious enough to consider Kaman and doing a S&T of Hibbert, that means they have some reservations about matching the deal. In that case, the only thing I offer them is the rights to the euros, anything else and I tell them to put their money where their mouth is.

Part of what makes me cautiously optimistic about getting Hibbert is this: not only did Indiana lowball Hibbert in the first place, but now they're going out after a plan B. I think this sort of "eh, he's not *that* valuable to us" attitude is part of the reason why Hibbert was so positive about the meeting with Olshey. I think there's a real risk here for Indiana of just matching and having one seriously disgruntled 7'2" only-reason-why-they-survived-as-long-as-they-did-against-Miami player. This at least puts an S&T as a serious option they have to consider.

Ben Golliver was just on The Sports Insider, he was a big ol' wet blanket for anyone excited for Hibbert to Portland. He expects Indy to match, which he is unfortunately probably right on.

Right now I think the odds are really a complete toss up at this point and Chad Ford is right. I'm guessing part of the "wet blanket" approach is to keep his expectations from running away from him.

The Indy's beat writer Mike Wells is just getting on with Brian Berger. Here's what he has to say.....

*No real surprise at the offer, but some worry in Indy that the Pacer may not match. Pacers should have known the max offer was coming after the season he had.

They should have known, and they should have at least offered him what he was going to get anyway. They didn't, which if I were Hibbert would be a big indication that I should look somewhere else.

*Mike Wells gut feeling with Hibbert is that he's going to be a Blazer next year. Thinks it'll be too much money for the Pacers.

I hope he's right. Not quite getting my hopes up, but Indiana is sure not looking like a team that really wants to pay that much for him.

[monopoman]

It's kind of amusing how easily people are willing to dump the euro contracts we have held onto for all these years.

The last thing we want is Claver and Freeland to come over and then play well on another team. I'd rather keep them then watch them turn into busts before my eyes on the Blazers then watch Claver and Freeland come over and become starter quality or better NBA players on another NBA team.

We wouldn't hear the end of it from other fanbases if that were to happen especially the fanbase we traded them too. Asking for a sign and trade ensures that we just gave Roy Hibbert a contract they are 99% likely not to match no need to throw assets at them now.

[mojomarc]

Asking for a sign and trade ensures that we just gave Roy Hibbert a contract they are 99% likely not to match no need to throw assets at them now.

I disagree. A sign and trade is for when Indiana makes it clear they'll match but they won't overbid. Indiana just matching means the team that lowballed him in the first place is essentially saying "well, we didn't want to pay you but Portland's offer twisted our arm, so we'll reluctantly pay you the absolute minimum we have to in order to keep you." In that case, it is probably better for Indiana to tell Portland before midnight on the 11th they'll instruct Hibbert not to sign the offer sheet, they'll sign him to the same deal Portland was going to offer, then trade him to Portland for picks/Euros/whatever plus the TPE they'd receive back. They save face, Portland gets what they want, and all they give up for an all-star young center are prospects. Everyone is happy.

[Shem]

Mike Tokito made an interesting point:

Mike Tokito ‏@mtokito

Should note that as Pacers extend RFA PG George Hill today, they could do same for Roy Hibbert before he signs offer sheet w/ ‪#Blazers

https://twitter.com/mtokito/status/219876211848003585

[DusterBuster]

*Mike Wells gut feeling with Hibbert is that he's going to be a Blazer next year. Thinks it'll be too much money for the Pacers.

I hope he's right. Not quite getting my hopes up, but Indiana is sure not looking like a team that really wants to pay that much for him.

Agreed. I would think that if the Pacers were truly determined to do whatever is necessarily to keep Hibbert, we would have heard about it by now. You'd hear reports that they've already decided to match it and is just waiting. But that's not what we're hearing. There's enough rumblings that makes me believe this won't be as easy a decision as we all would have thought.

I'm with you, I'm not ready to get my hopes up, but I'm becoming cautiously optimistic.

[mojomarc]

Mike Tokito made an interesting point:

Mike Tokito ‏@mtokito

Should note that as Pacers extend RFA PG George Hill today, they could do same for Roy Hibbert before he signs offer sheet w/ ‪#Blazers

https://twitter.com/mtokito/status/219876211848003585

I think that's what Indiana tried to do. I have the feeling Hibbert is no longer interested in helping Indiana out unless they're going to go even higher than Portland's offer. With Simon's financial issues, I am not sure that's an option.

[The Sebastian Express]

Sports Biz Radio ‏@SBRadio
Pacers beat writer @MikeWellsNBA just told me on the radio that he thinks that @Hoya2aPacer will be wearing a Blazers uni next season. Wow.

This is looking good. Unfortunately, nothing ever goes right for this franchise. They'll likely match, or Hibbert will spontaneously combust on his way to Portland

The sound I made for the spontaneously combust comment was not human.

[mojomarc]

Agreed. I would think that if the Pacers were truly determined to do whatever is necessarily to keep Hibbert, we would have heard about it by now. You'd hear reports that they've already decided to match it and is just waiting. But that's not what we're hearing. There's enough rumblings that makes me believe this won't be as easy a decision as we all would have thought.

I'm with you, I'm not ready to get my hopes up, but I'm becoming cautiously optimistic.

Maybe this is part of "rumblings," but it is worth repeating that the fact they're dealing with Kamen to me is quite telling. Hibbert is a 30mpg player who doesn't miss games--Kamen would be a very expensive option for a purely backup player. I think they're serious about it being a plan B for starting center, not a plan A for backup.

[BballFanAddict]

Mike Tokito made an interesting point:

Mike Tokito ‏@mtokito

Should note that as Pacers extend RFA PG George Hill today, they could do same for Roy Hibbert before he signs offer sheet w/ ‪#Blazers

https://twitter.com/mtokito/status/219876211848003585

With all due respect to Tokito, there seems to be a number of plausible reasons for why Indiana is sitting back and waiting.

First, the first rule in modern day business is there is no deal until the deal is signed. Hibbert and Portland cannot even sign a deal until the 11th, so what benefit is there to preempt that event? Second, Indiana likely took the same approach Portland did with Batum, that is they offered him what they thought was fair knowing that they likely would have to test his market value via RFA. Now they know what his value is on the free agent market, now they will choose to pay it or not. Lastly, what would be the rush to sign a deal with Hibbert? If I were Pritchard and Co, and even if I knew for a fact we were matching, I would tie up Portland's money for the duration. Why not?

They now know the cost of Hibbert. Why not just match it in the final hour?

[Effigy]

alSo they match our offer and they don't need to worry about a 5th year. I think it saves them some money.

[JasonStern]

hypothetical you're the GM situation
walsh/pritchard call. they claim the kaman interview went well, and they'd be willing to agree to a hibbert sign and trade for the right price. otherwise, they'll match. what is the max offer that you would make?

rights to claver

the crapfest of s. williams, babbitt, n. smith, claver, future 2nd, etc. was a given.

what if indiana wanted leonard as a cheap backup/replacement? do you gamble that indiana won't match if that's the asking price?

[Billy]

hypothetical you're the GM situation
walsh/pritchard call. they claim the kaman interview went well, and they'd be willing to agree to a hibbert sign and trade for the right price. otherwise, they'll match. what is the max offer that you would make?

rights to claver

the crapfest of s. williams, babbitt, n. smith, claver, future 2nd, etc. was a given.

what if indiana wanted leonard as a cheap backup/replacement? do you gamble that indiana won't match if that's the asking price?

Nope. I want Hibbert, but if he signs our sheet I will sit back and let Indiana worry about it. Plus, I believe Larry Coon mentioned in one of his FAQ's that this isn't even allowed under the CBA.

[Fitz303]

You can negotiate a sign and trade this week, before he signs the offer sheet, and before the moratorium ends, so that you can execute the sign and trade on July 11. But that's only if Indiana is open to giving Hibbert away, and if Portland doesn't want to chance Indiana matching.

[Butter]

hypothetical you're the GM situation
walsh/pritchard call. they claim the kaman interview went well, and they'd be willing to agree to a hibbert sign and trade for the right price. otherwise, they'll match. what is the max offer that you would make?

rights to claver

the crapfest of s. williams, babbitt, n. smith, claver, future 2nd, etc. was a given.

what if indiana wanted leonard as a cheap backup/replacement? do you gamble that indiana won't match if that's the asking price?

Nope. I want Hibbert, but if he signs our sheet I will sit back and let Indiana worry about it. Plus, I believe Larry Coon mentioned in one of his FAQ's that this isn't even allowed under the CBA.

[/quote]


I thought sign and trades were allowed UNTIL they sign their offer sheet. Once that is signed, they are no longer eligible for the S&T

[bob2]

I keep seeing people proposing S&T for Batum or Hibbert but this looks pretty unlikely.
When was the last time a restricted FA was sign-and-traded ?
This doesn't happen very often.

[d-train]

I would trade Leonard for a signed Hibbert no problem. That would free the Blazers to use more cap space before resigning Batum. The Blazers could easily acquire better FA's than Leonard with that opportunity.

[DusterBuster]

Canzano interviewed another writer from Indy on his show. The writer, Bob Kravitz (no relation), said he talked to Donnie Walsh today and after the conversation, he came away with the feeling that he's "80%-90% sure that the Pacers will match the offer."

So that definitely doesn't make it sound good, although not entirely surprising.

[d-train]

I keep seeing people proposing S&T for Batum or Hibbert but this looks pretty unlikely.
When was the last time a restricted FA was sign-and-traded ?
This doesn't happen very often.

This is like saying small market teams have a hard time attracting free agent stars. It is rare only because every team has a hard time getting free agent stars.

S&T's are rare but RFA sign and trades are not rare relative to S&T's in general.