Official Trade Thread: Two drink minimum

[nevetsov]

I think the best trade that keeps us competitive this year while also allowing time for the rooks is:

Thomas, Plumlee
For
Omer Asik

Dragic, Ennis
Bledsoe, Green
Tucker, Warren
Morris, Morris
Asik, Len

Proven 8 man rotation with the 2 rooks splitting remaining game minutes.

Pels get some sorely needed guard help and a replacement backup C for Asik.

[thamadkant]

That would make Pelicans better and most likely eliminate the Suns from the playoffs...
And Thomas/Plumlee would/can fetch more than Asik...

[NavLDO]

That would make Pelicans better and most likely eliminate the Suns from the playoffs...
And Thomas/Plumlee would/can fetch more than Asik...

Wow! I've never done a 3-team Trade Machine where the highest projected 'win-affected' total was 2, (Pels=Zero effect; Suns= -2 Wins; Celts= +1 Wins). Though in reality? No way for 3 reasons:

1) I added draft picks to make fair, because otherwise, the Pels get shafted, IMO, and seeing as how they are competing this year, hard to see them going for a trade that in all essence, takes them out of the Playoff hunt for this year, and not only that, they only get a half season rental for the centerpiece coming to them (Dragic).

2) No way that many key players on 3 teams are moved--Our starting PG, and up until recently, starting C; the Pels starting PF and back-up C; the Celtics starting SF.

And 3), no way are we trading with the Pels and NOT taking Anderson away as our prize...

...but, as I'm living in "Fairy-Land" in, as it appears to be where I am living, this fine, New Year's morning (Happy New Years, all!!!), I'll post anyways--maybe my resolution should be to step away from the Trade Machine for a year!!

And BTW, I'm not necessarily advocating this trade, but I wouldn't be TOO upset if this were to go down, and was intrigued by the Asik suggestion.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=q6wdxl4

Suns In: SF Jeff Green, C Omar Asik, PF Jared Sullinger
Suns Out: SG Gerald Green, PG/SG Goran Dragic, SG Zoran Dragic, PHX 2015 1st

---Why? Easy, we upgrade our 'bigs', in a big way. Yes, Anderson would be better than Sullinger, but can't make it work in the Trade Machine. Plus, we still have the chance to sign Dragic in the off-season, even if we don't own the bird rights.

Pels In: PG/SG Goran Dragic, SG Zoran Dragic, C Miles Plumlee, PHX 2015 1st, LAC 2015 1st
Pels Out: C Omar Asik, PF Ryan Anderson

---Why? No clue, other than it works in the Trade Machine! Seriously, though, they'd have Goran's bird rights, correct? Giving them a leg up in the off-season, not to mention the fact they have his brother, which would also be a big selling point to Goran. Also, they get some flexibility in this next draft with 3 picks--2 of which very likely, or very close to, late-lotto.

Celts In: PF Ryan Anderson, SG Gerald Green
Celts Out: SF Jeff Green, PF Jared Sullinger, LAC 2015 1st (unprotected)

---Why? They upgrade Sullinger with Anderson, and Jeff Green with Gerald Green at a fraction of the cost. I think the Celts win in a big way.

Laugh away!!!!

EDIT: And oh, BTW, I have in fact had my two drink minimum...granted it's coffee, and not beer or alcohol, but hey, it's two drinks! (Sad that I came up with all of this while sober, isn't it!)

[red96]

Hello Suns fans. You all have made it clear that the Suns are still trying to make the playoffs and prefer to move Thomas instead of Dragic. What do ya'll think is the asking price for Thomas?
Thanks.

[Sunsdeuce]

Hello Suns fans. You all have made it clear that the Suns are still trying to make the playoffs and prefer to move Thomas instead of Dragic. What do ya'll think is the asking price for Thomas?
Thanks.

What did you have in mind? Remember IT is 15-20 point a night scorer and on a great contract. A second rounder and scraps isn't going to cut it!

So please offer something realistic!!

[NavLDO]

Hello Suns fans. You all have made it clear that the Suns are still trying to make the playoffs and prefer to move Thomas instead of Dragic. What do ya'll think is the asking price for Thomas?
Thanks.

Well, definitely not a combination of all the Rocket's trash, like has been suggested ad nauseum, like:

Canaan, Capela, Beverley, Dorsey, and Papanikollaou, for Dragic, Green, and Len

So please, don't go down that road here. A boatload of trash is still trash, regardless of how much.

For IT, the conversation starts with DMo and Capela, plus NOP 1st, plus 2015 NYK 2nd.

In all honesty, I think I can speak for most here that, at this juncture, the only players on the Rockets that we would be interested in are DMo, Harden, and Howard.

Ariza? Nah...T. Jones? Not while injured.

So, I guess I'm saying, a trade with the Rockets would be difficult. The below trade, with the two picks mentioned, would work financially, but it involves us taking 2 players we likely don't want, but would have to take to make it work without bringing in a 3rd team.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oq7jwec


But by all means, THIS trade below works for us, too.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ndk94o9

[jcsunsfan]

Why are so many people interested in Demarcus Cousins? Yes he has great numbers but he has serious attitude problems and so far has done nothing in his career to prove he is a winner. With him on the team, the Kings have never even won more than 28 games. Four straight years of 28 wins or less with him on the team. Who knows if they will win more than that this year. Let's put this into some serious perspective. Outside of the 1999 lockout season, the Suns have won less than thirty games only four times in their franchise history. The Kings have four straight years of 28 wins or less. The Suns have done that four times since 1968. The Kings are also now on their fourth coach in five years. So Cousins has had four different coaches in not even five years of playing. Plus it is not like he has no talent around him at all. He has Rudy Gay. He had Isaiah Thomas for three years. Yet the Kings have not just been bad, they have been terrible. So what is his excuse?

Remember how Kevin Love put up MVP numbers on the Timberwolves and the Timberwolves were still awful? Well now Love is playing with Lebron and Kyrie and several veteran role players and people are saying this is the worst Love has ever played. He is dramatically down in his scoring and several other statistics as well. I think Cousins is that same type of player. The only difference between Love and Cousins is that Cousins seems like a maniac. He is a hot head. He is crazy.

Look at what Cousins did just tonight against the Celtics in a game the Kings were annihilated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDVHTNv_CQ Listen to the Celtics announcers at exactly 55 seconds in: "What do you do with a player like this Tom? I'd trade him hahaha." Cousins viciously threw Marcus Smart down violently. Compare that with what Len did tonight. Fighting for the ball with Westbrook and it got heated. Cousins is insane. I have no interest in ever seeing him in a Suns uniform. I do not consider what he does to be toughness. I consider him to be a player that acts like a baby and throws temper tantrums. I do not like him.

1. Not every star in the league can be Grant Hill in terms of attitude and class.
2. Z-Bo was also "cancerous" at one stage, Rasheed Wallace was also a "big baby"... Kevin Garnett is/was labelled as one of the dirtiest players and an absolute douche bag...but all of them on the right environment made their teams VERY GOOD to EXCELLENT.
3. Getting Cousins mid season would be comparable to Suns getting Charles Barkley.. also a player who was said to have a not so "perfect" attitude.

4. Look at the top 10 players in the league and if you nit-pick enough you'll find each one has flaws that make them unlikeable to other fans. Cousins weakness would be his temper and passion (he wears his heart on his shoulders)...

Cousins on a competitive, decently-ran franchise would be an MVP candidate year in and year out.

This is all true. Most people seem to overvalue him or want nothing to do with him. I certainly wouldn't trade everything for him like some would, but I would consider for the right price.

[letsgosuns]

Why are so many people interested in Demarcus Cousins? Yes he has great numbers but he has serious attitude problems and so far has done nothing in his career to prove he is a winner. With him on the team, the Kings have never even won more than 28 games. Four straight years of 28 wins or less with him on the team. Who knows if they will win more than that this year. Let's put this into some serious perspective. Outside of the 1999 lockout season, the Suns have won less than thirty games only four times in their franchise history. The Kings have four straight years of 28 wins or less. The Suns have done that four times since 1968. The Kings are also now on their fourth coach in five years. So Cousins has had four different coaches in not even five years of playing. Plus it is not like he has no talent around him at all. He has Rudy Gay. He had Isaiah Thomas for three years. Yet the Kings have not just been bad, they have been terrible. So what is his excuse?

Remember how Kevin Love put up MVP numbers on the Timberwolves and the Timberwolves were still awful? Well now Love is playing with Lebron and Kyrie and several veteran role players and people are saying this is the worst Love has ever played. He is dramatically down in his scoring and several other statistics as well. I think Cousins is that same type of player. The only difference between Love and Cousins is that Cousins seems like a maniac. He is a hot head. He is crazy.

Look at what Cousins did just tonight against the Celtics in a game the Kings were annihilated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDVHTNv_CQ Listen to the Celtics announcers at exactly 55 seconds in: "What do you do with a player like this Tom? I'd trade him hahaha." Cousins viciously threw Marcus Smart down violently. Compare that with what Len did tonight. Fighting for the ball with Westbrook and it got heated. Cousins is insane. I have no interest in ever seeing him in a Suns uniform. I do not consider what he does to be toughness. I consider him to be a player that acts like a baby and throws temper tantrums. I do not like him.

1. Not every star in the league can be Grant Hill in terms of attitude and class.
2. Z-Bo was also "cancerous" at one stage, Rasheed Wallace was also a "big baby"... Kevin Garnett is/was labelled as one of the dirtiest players and an absolute douche bag...but all of them on the right environment made their teams VERY GOOD to EXCELLENT.
3. Getting Cousins mid season would be comparable to Suns getting Charles Barkley.. also a player who was said to have a not so "perfect" attitude.

4. Look at the top 10 players in the league and if you nit-pick enough you'll find each one has flaws that make them unlikeable to other fans. Cousins weakness would be his temper and passion (he wears his heart on his shoulders)...

Cousins on a competitive, decently-ran franchise would be an MVP candidate year in and year out.

This is Cousins' fifth year in the league though and he still is pulling the stuff he did last night too often. I cannot think of a player with a worse temper than him. I also do not think his talent lives up to his demeanor at all. Yes he is very good. However he is not that athletic. He pretty much does not out jump any other big man in the league. I remember last year Plumlee out jumping him many times in the games versus the Kings.

Seriously the thought of him on the Suns makes me cringe. He character represents everything I would not want in a basketball player. Players that are MVP caliber should at least get their teams to near .500 records regardless of who is around them. He has not won more than 28 games in four years. Something is wrong with that.

I also would not compare getting him to getting Charles Barkley. First off, that Suns 1991-1992 team was vastly superior to this Suns team. Secondly, Charles Barkley was 100 times the player Cousins is now. Take a look at Barkley's numbers on the 76ers and especially in the playoffs before the Suns got him. http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... lch01.html Although comparing any player nowadays to Barkley is not fair. Players like him or anybody from the first two dream teams do not exist in today's NBA. There are maybe a handful of current players in the league that I would think would be All Stars in the Michael Jordan era. That being said, I would much rather the Suns try for Marc Gasol, Lamarcus Aldridge, or Kawhi Leonard (even though he is restricted) in the offseason than trade several assets to the Kings for Cousins. I do not see Cousins as a championship caliber player. That is my main problem with him. I want to be clear that even though I criticized his attitude, that is not the biggest reason I do not want Cousins. It is because I think he is not a championship caliber player. The bad attitude just makes it that much worse.

[TASTIC]

Hello Suns fans. You all have made it clear that the Suns are still trying to make the playoffs and prefer to move Thomas instead of Dragic. What do ya'll think is the asking price for Thomas?
Thanks.

Well, definitely not a combination of all the Rocket's trash, like has been suggested ad nauseum, like:

Canaan, Capela, Beverley, Dorsey, and Papanikollaou, for Dragic, Green, and Len

So please, don't go down that road here. A boatload of trash is still trash, regardless of how much.

For IT, the conversation starts with DMo and Capela, plus NOP 1st, plus 2015 NYK 2nd.

In all honesty, I think I can speak for most here that, at this juncture, the only players on the Rockets that we would be interested in are DMo, Harden, and Howard.

Ariza? Nah...T. Jones? Not while injured.

So, I guess I'm saying, a trade with the Rockets would be difficult. The below trade, with the two picks mentioned, would work financially, but it involves us taking 2 players we likely don't want, but would have to take to make it work without bringing in a 3rd team.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oq7jwec


But by all means, THIS trade below works for us, too.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ndk94o9

I'd trade Thomas + Shavlik for Ariza + Capela, in a heartbeat.

Ariza's a proven starting SF who makes 3s, defends and is an above average rebounder as well. They just got Brewer on the cheap so he could slide straight in at SF and they wouldn't miss a beat.

You then move Tucker to the bench where he combines with Green/Mook to cover 2-3-4.

Ariza's contract isn't overly great, but when the cap goes up it's really not going to be that bad.

[thamadkant]

1. Not every star in the league can be Grant Hill in terms of attitude and class.
2. Z-Bo was also "cancerous" at one stage, Rasheed Wallace was also a "big baby"... Kevin Garnett is/was labelled as one of the dirtiest players and an absolute douche bag...but all of them on the right environment made their teams VERY GOOD to EXCELLENT.
3. Getting Cousins mid season would be comparable to Suns getting Charles Barkley.. also a player who was said to have a not so "perfect" attitude.

4. Look at the top 10 players in the league and if you nit-pick enough you'll find each one has flaws that make them unlikeable to other fans. Cousins weakness would be his temper and passion (he wears his heart on his shoulders)...

Cousins on a competitive, decently-ran franchise would be an MVP candidate year in and year out.

This is Cousins' fifth year in the league though and he still is pulling the stuff he did last night too often. I cannot think of a player with a worse temper than him. I also do not think his talent lives up to his demeanor at all. Yes he is very good. However he is not that athletic. He pretty much does not out jump any other big man in the league. I remember last year Plumlee out jumping him many times in the games versus the Kings.

Seriously the thought of him on the Suns makes me cringe. He character represents everything I would not want in a basketball player. Players that are MVP caliber should at least get their teams to near .500 records regardless of who is around them. He has not won more than 28 games in four years. Something is wrong with that.

I also would not compare getting him to getting Charles Barkley. First off, that Suns 1991-1992 team was vastly superior to this Suns team. Secondly, Charles Barkley was 100 times the player Cousins is now. Take a look at Barkley's numbers on the 76ers and especially in the playoffs before the Suns got him. http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... lch01.html Although comparing any player nowadays to Barkley is not fair. Players like him or anybody from the first two dream teams do not exist in today's NBA. There are maybe a handful of current players in the league that I would think would be All Stars in the Michael Jordan era. That being said, I would much rather the Suns try for Marc Gasol, Lamarcus Aldridge, or Kawhi Leonard (even though he is restricted) in the offseason than trade several assets to the Kings for Cousins. I do not see Cousins as a championship caliber player. That is my main problem with him. I want to be clear that even though I criticized his attitude, that is not the biggest reason I do not want Cousins. It is because I think he is not a championship caliber player. The bad attitude just makes it that much worse.

You are entitled to your opinion but I dont agree and chances are WILL NOT agree with you, but thats fine.

So what if its fifth year?
And he has also demonstrated an improvement almost every year as a basketball player.

The Kings were playing around 0.500, before Cousins got "sick" and missed a lot of games, posting 23/12/1.5 and was along Anthony Davis as the 2 clear most production big men out west if not all over the league.

I compare getting Demarcus Cousins to getting Charles Barkley, because in context they were among the top 3 big men in the league at the time.
Charles Barkley is MY FAVORITE player of all time, so I dont think you need to tell me the difference in Cousins vs Barkley.... which I was not making. The comparison was purely their status on the league at the time...

Kawhi Leonard is asking for a MAX contract and Spurs will NOT let him go... Spurs are NOT the Kings... Spurs have 5 championships in the last 17 years and have the highest winning percentage in that span also. They are regarded as the best ran franchise in the world.

Marc Gasol is 90% chance to re-sign with Grizzlies and the other 10% is probably joining the Spurs.

Lamarcus Aldridge? Lol, the Blazers have the 2nd best record in the league currently and are contending for top 4 out west... Why would Aldridge leave his team that is built around him and are winning?



People are saying go for Cousins because HE COULD BE the player that the Suns can build around for the next decade and be a contender. I believe in players changing under a new environment... and I believe Cousins (IF by miracle) can become an effective player as a Sun.

[Matt1979]

Would love Cousins to join the Suns.

Would give us the attitude and mean streak we are desperately lacking.