Four Team Deal Sends Howard to Lakers

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Rondo said:

Cleveland is only listed as a potential destination because of the cap space we have. Bynum has given no indication to anyone that he wants to come play here. He has an acquaintance with Coach Scott because they both have ties with the Lakers Organization and you can pretty much assume that everyone in the league is friends with Kyrie Irving. IMHO it would be great to have a center of Bynum's calibur, but now is not the time. We are too early into the rebuild and have gaping holes within our roster that need to be filled. I think this year we make the playoffs without a Bynum. I truely believe Kyrie is that good. I think we do not give enough credit to Grant for his Waiters pick and I believe he will pan out to be a good sidekick for Kyrie. Making the playoffs with Kyrie and Dion will be what attracts players like Bynum to come play here. Giving up all our assets to aquire him without any idea whether he would stay after one year is suspect. Give it another year of the rebuild. It will give our young guys time to develop together and I think the Kyrie/Dion tandem is the most important aspect of the organization at the moment that needs attention.

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How can you possibly know this?

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

3 straight hours of watching the coverage in Colorado.....need to get my mind off that with some fun....BORED:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7lrjhrb

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

KeyzerSozee said:

Doesn't that lessen what we could pay him? Also, what are the odds that you "lure" bynum from LAL when it's clear he's going to be the next face of the NBA's most important franchise in a few years?

And to the extent we gathered Assets to acquire a player. That is what we are doing? Unless you mean our young guys, but I really doubt Grant gives up well, he can't give up anyone but Thompson?

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The lure is the fact that we have 2 young stars in their early 20s and could be a long term potential winner with an organization with plenty of flexibility. Our flexibility is not going away until we use it to aquire a player at which we need assurance he will be here longer than one season. Once our fleixibility is gone, it's really hard to get back.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

KI4MVP said:

How can you possibly know this?

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Maybe because there is no where in any article/tweet/etc. where Bynum has said "I wouldn't mind playing in Cleveland."

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

theSTEREO. said:

Not to sound like a broken record, but I completely agree.

There is no WAY that Houston's offer is that good, because Orlando's entire front office should be fired and given a lifetime basketball ban for not taking that offer immediately.

Somehow this Rockets offer is getting blown way out of proportion.

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I think this is Orlando's fantasy goal that they want to get out of Houston (that is why it was floated the media)
Until Orlando comes down to reality from their utopian dreams there will be no trade anywhere,
When that will happen? That is the million dollar question.
My Guess is sometime in Early August, they will come to their senses and make a fair deal and move on to rebuilding the organization, which should be there number 1 priority long term!

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

KeyzerSozee said:

I've had enough of "Don't trade Jarret Wright for Pedro"- "Don't trade Hickson for Amare". How bout we trade for a good possible great player, to add to a good possible great core. If it is Thompson or Andy that go? Well let's live with it and wish them luck.

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I know this was a footnote in your post, and I am being admittedly nitpicky, but this is false. We included JJ Hickson in our trade proposal to Phoenix for Amare. This rumor rises from the grave every few months, and it is incredibly frustrating to see it keep coming back. It's the herpes of false trade rumors.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Rondo said:

Maybe because there is no where in any article/tweet/etc. where Bynum has said "I wouldn't mind playing in Cleveland."

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strange that I've read a half dozen reports saying he'd like to play here. There are league rules against him being directly quoted saying that.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Rondo said:

IMHO it would be great to have a center of Bynum's calibur, but now is not the time. We are too early into the rebuild and have gaping holes within our roster that need to be filled. I think this year we make the playoffs without a Bynum. I truly believe Kyrie is that good.

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Those two statements don't make a lot of sense to me. If you believe we're a playoff team without the Bynum trade, then the value of the draft picks we'd be trading is pretty low. And if you believe we still have "gaping holes", how are we supposed to fill those holes with non-lottery picks? To me, if you believe we are a playoff team without Bynum, then now is the perfect time to acquire him, because he's the kind of talent you can't acquire outside the lottery anyway.

Just heard John Ireland, the Laker's play by play guy, on the radio. Seemed really sharp and on top of things, and knows Bynum well. He says the most important thing for Bynum is to get a max deal. Also says that Bynum likes Byron Scott. Anyway, his opinion was that if the Cavs trade for Bynum, Bynum won't sign an extension right away because he could only get a shorter deal. But at the end of the season, they'd be the only team able to offer him a max contract, and Ireland felt pretty confidence Bynum would take that. It's not a guarantee, obviously, but it does make sense. And of course, if he didn't want to remain here, we'd still be the only team able to sign him for a max deal, and that would make him a good trade asset.

Certainly, it's rolling the dice. But, it's also true that whatever team trades for him is going to be the team most likely to end up with him long-term, and a Kyrie/Bynum combo can be the core of a championship team. Obviously, Grant and his folks would have to meet with Bynum first to get the sense as to the likelihood of him resigning. But I wouldn't be averse to rolling the dice on this, because Bynum is a talent that doesn't come along very often, and at a level non-lottery teams just can't get in the draft.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Cleveland Trade: Gets you really bad really fast with a bunch of picks and a player you can trade for something. Not bad for a rebuilding team.

Houstons Trade: Bunch of good young players, most to be role players probably, not superstars. Will keep you in the middle of the pack. ... MIDDLE.. Not a good thing for a rebuilding team.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

KI4MVP said:

strange that I've read a half dozen reports saying he'd like to play here. There are league rules against him being directly quoted saying that.

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Then your "reports" are just rumors and speculation. Until he says it himself, there is no evidence he would truely extend here. No one knows what he wants besides his agent and himself. Our job is to convince him that he wants to be here not just make a trade off of what Woj or any other reporter has said about him. If he truely wants to be here we will have no problem snagging him up in free agency.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

If we do end up acquiring Bynum, it was a big mistake not to sign Scola. You'd have an amazing 5-deep big man rotation and add to the value of our assets over the next couple years as we prepare to contend. If we're working on a longer haul of a rebuild, than not signing Scola makes sense.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Rondo said:

The lure is the fact that we have 2 young stars in their early 20s and could be a long term potential winner with an organization with plenty of flexibility. Our flexibility is not going away until we use it to aquire a player at which we need assurance he will be here longer than one season. Once our fleixibility is gone, it's really hard to get back.

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We have a ton of flexibility and we'd still have flexibility left after making a trade. We'd have cap space for a max player in 2013 (likely used to retain bynum) and a max player in 2014. We have 6 first round picks in the next 3 years. We'd only send a couple of those out, leaving us with 4.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

Rondo said:

Then your "reports" are just rumors and speculation. Until he says it himself, there is no evidence he would truely extend here. No one knows what he wants besides his agent and himself. Our job is to convince him that he wants to be here not just make a trade off of what Woj or any other reporter has said about him. If he truely wants to be here we will have no problem snagging him up in free agency.

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he can't say it publicly. He'll be fined. He can talk to people who leak it to the press. It's been reported by members of the press not known to just make things up without a source. And in free agency, the team who he finishes the season with has a major financial advantage in retaining him.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

LukeWitte said:

Those two statements don't make a lot of sense to me. If you believe we're a playoff team without the Bynum trade, then the value of the draft picks we'd be trading is pretty low. And if you believe we still have "gaping holes", how are we supposed to fill those holes with non-lottery picks? To me, if you believe we are a playoff team without Bynum, then now is the perfect time to acquire him, because he's the kind of talent you can't acquire outside the lottery anyway.

Just heard John Ireland, the Laker's play by play guy, on the radio. Seemed really sharp and on top of things, and knows Bynum well. He says the most important thing for Bynum is to get a max deal. Also says that Bynum likes Byron Scott. Anyway, his opinion was that if the Cavs trade for Bynum, Bynum won't sign an extension right away because he oculd only get a shorter deal. But at the end of the season, they'd be the only team able to offer him a max contract, and Ireland felt pretty confidence Bynum would take that. It's not a guarantee, obviously, but it does make sense. And of course, if he didn't want to remain here, we'd still be the only team able to sign him for a max deal, and that would make him a good trade asset.

Certainly, it's rolling the dice. But, it's also true that whatever team trades for him is going to be the team most likely to end up with him long-term, and a Kyrie/Bynum combo can be the core of a championship team. Obviously, Grant and his folks would have to meet with Bynum first to get the sense as to the likelihood of him resigning. But I wouldn't be averse to rolling the dice on this, because Bynum is a talent that doesn't come along very often, and at a level non-lottery teams just can't get in the draft.

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I think that Kyrie is good enough to get us into the playoffs this year. We still have holes in the roster and that is a fact, but they can be filled in FA and a draft pick if it turnes out that way. But that is just my opinion.

Re: Three-Way ORL/LAL/Cavs Rumor

BigMar992 said:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7lrjhrb

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Beyond the issue of Bynum not extending, this proposal is a great example of why a deal is so hard to get done.

There's no way the Cavs should take on $20 million more in bad contracts than LA, when the Lakers are getting the best player. That needs to be flipped. But LA doesn't seem to have the pieces to do that. Unless they also want to give up Gasol.