Kerrsed wrote:The article posted states that the writer spoke with another teams GM and he was the one that was quoted as saying, "that the Suns would love to package their assets to acquire a star" and that he was "stunned that the Suns haven’t been talked about more leading up to the trade deadline because they are looking to make a big move.".
That has been McD's mission for a while now, re-create what he helped do in Boston. With that anonymous GM being quoted, it sounds like maybe we have put out more than a few offers out there or even some feelers on star players. With all that being said, and me racking my brain to come up with a Boston-Big-3-ish move that could be somewhat possible with damn near all our valuable assets, there is one that seems at least somewhat plausible.
One of the biggest "disgruntled" stars that is known to be looking for a new team is Melo. Say what you want about him, he is still a star player that puts up crazy stats and still has a great PER. Now the issue with Melo is his No-Trade clause in his contract, and he has to agree to waive it before being traded, and lets face it, as the Suns roster currently sits, there is no way in hell he would even entertain the idea of playing here.
Now this is where things could get interesting. Just like when we were courting Aldridge, we approached and signed a friend of his, one that he always wanted to play with (Chandler) to help lure him to the valley, which worked......until Coach Pop pulled off his black magic voodoo in the 11th hour. Now when i think of who would help Melo change his mind about playing in Phoenix, a few names pop into my head, but one of them seems like the most realistic route to take. He too is currently an all-star on a playoff-bound team, but that team is also headed for a rough road as he is currently expected to miss the next month or so. Yes, i am talking about CP3. Since his injury, the Clippers have gone 5-7, and even though they are currently 4th in the West, the are only 3 games ahead of being knocked all the way down to the 8th spot.
Now why would LA entertain such a trade? Because we have on of their old fan favorites, many of whom were pissed off when he was traded away for scraps, Bledsoe. While we could let CP3 heal for the rest of the season if so be, the Clippers could slide Bledsoe right in and keep their playoff position in tact. It could also make them major players when the Kings decide to move on from Cousins, and i dont know about you guys, but a Bledsoe/Griffin/Cousins trio would be a very exciting trio to watch.
But back to the Suns... with CP3 added to the squad, i think Melo would be more than ok with playing in a Suns jersey. So next season could start out with CP3/Booker/??????/Melo/Chandler. Yes, its an older squad again, but one that would bring us much much much close to a title. We also know there is another name out there (that many people HATE, but cant deny that he is one of the greatest), that is also a part of the "Superfriends" and is hoping to play with the other two as well, and he is conveniently on a year-to-year contract, allowing him to leave his current team when he see's fit. Someone that we might be in favor with his agent after sending Bledsoe to the big market LA team.
Sure it could cost us an arm and a leg to accomplish this, but i think it could be done while also keeping Booker and a few more of our assets. Melo? maybe something like Warren/Len/Knight/and a 1st. This deal would also save the Knicks around $6M right off the back this season. I think we could get CP3 (if McD talks to them right) for Bledsoe/Bender or Chriss/a future 1st. They too would be taking back less in salary and would be saving around $5M this season.
All in all, with all our outgoing players in those trade going into effect, and the addition of CP3 and Melo, our team would be sitting at around $83M next season, while the cap is set at $102M.
Both ideas make me want to vomit. Melo has a great PER because he is a great offensive player. He is also a horrendous defensively player who is old, overpaid, and has not shown he can be the guy on a title team at any point since he left Denver. Trading Warren, Len, Knight and a 1st is a horrifying move that would literally make me choose to root for another team until McD got fired. He's 32 and has like a $10 mil trade kicker on top of his maxed out, long-term salary.
I'll start off with the basic premise that Melo is still a great player because of his great PER. His ORtg is not all that good (110). He shoots well from 3 on the year, but his 2 point shooting is down and actually the worst of all players in that group he is getting traded for except for Knight. This is why his ORtg is barely higher than Len's (108). Then you get to DRtg (112). So we're talking a guy who gives up 2 more points every 100 possessions than he would score, and also gets beyond (thanks to the trade kicker) maxed out through age 37 or so to do it. That's before even diving into his horrific defensive numbers.
That is a move that sets this franchise back a decade and doesn't make the playoffs. That is volunteering to be the Nets in the Celtics Nets deal for KG and Pierce.
The 2nd one involving Paul makes more sense only in the fact that Paul is still a damn good player (unlike Melo), and his offensive and defensive advanced stats (not just PER) bear that out. He has a whopping 23 PPG Ortg-Drtg, and his WS is still crazy high, as are his numbers across the board. That said, he's 31, and not even he could drag that Suns team anywhere. That is nowhere near as good as his Clippers teams from the past few years. Trading all of those guys for him is a horrible move. Not at his age. Not with what it would leave us with. Particularly not with Melo.
I hate to break it to you, but Booker is good for his age--he isn't that legitimately good yet. Thus, a lineup of Paul, Booker, Tucker, Melo, Chandler is just absolute trash. You do that if the goal is to beat the Hornets. You don't make that move to win a title.
Also, with the Clippers, you mention them pairing Bledsoe, Griffin, and Cousins. With what would they trade to get Cousins? They have no picks of their own, and while Deandre is great, why would a rebuilding Sac want someone Deandre's age? I guess you think our assets are what nets them Cousins. If that is the case, why wouldn't we just go after Cousins ourselves? He makes immensely more sense than trading for 31+ year old stars who are ultra demanding and one who is not a true star anymore with a trade kicker.
We have a future star who is 20 and a bunch of promising 19 year olds and high upcoming picks and we should trade them to become maybe, if all falls perfectly, the 3rd or 4th best team in the conference?
If we're giving up that much in assets, we better be getting Cousins and Butler back, who at least are young enough to keep our window reasonable. If we make those trades for Melo and Paul we will be better for 2 years and then royally screwed.
