Trade deadline Ideas

[Mdog1]

David Lee may very well be available. Not saying the Cavs would even target him, but the Knicks have announced they are not signing him to an extension by the end of this month, which I'm pretty sure means he'll be unrestricted. So they don't care about him that much. Plus, the Knicks do NOT want to take on any long term salary. They're dead set on getting read of their dead weight & salary by 2010 so they can pick up a major stud (obviously Lebron is one of them, but really any of the studs of that free agent class).

I don't see Kaman, Okafor, or Okur being available either. I also am not that thrilled about Wilcox, although it'd be very nice getting points from a big man other than Z.

And while I don't think Kaman will be available, I think it's possible Camby may. If the Clippers (who currently think they're a playoff team, and think they can be a competitive playoff team on top of that) struggle this year (which is very possible...losing Brand, Davis is obviously injury prone, Kaman is as well, Thorton and Gordon are very young, etc.), I'd say Camby is a top candidate to be shipped out of LA if they decide to go that route. He's not someone they'd build around and he makes a lot of money. Plus they know a contender would love to add him to their roster.

I'd take Lee because I like his shot and ability to finish. That being said if there is a better big i'd take him.

 

[abethespartan]

i do, but Lebron would be playing way out of position at sg at this point. He is skilled enough to do it, but actually better served at pf than sg imo.

My point exactly, to keep with the earlier analogy of the round peg in a square hole, LeBron is a crazy enough shape that he would fit fairly well at the SG spot, the PF spot and the SF spot. That is why i think Melo would work in our system. Also, he has supposedly been making an effort at being a better on the defensive end of the court as well.

 

[abethespartan]

David Lee may very well be available. Not saying the Cavs would even target him, but the Knicks have announced they are not signing him to an extension by the end of this month, which I'm pretty sure means he'll be unrestricted. So they don't care about him that much. Plus, the Knicks do NOT want to take on any long term salary. They're dead set on getting read of their dead weight & salary by 2010 so they can pick up a major stud (obviously Lebron is one of them, but really any of the studs of that free agent class).

I don't see Kaman, Okafor, or Okur being available either. I also am not that thrilled about Wilcox, although it'd be very nice getting points from a big man other than Z.

And while I don't think Kaman will be available, I think it's possible Camby may. If the Clippers (who currently think they're a playoff team, and think they can be a competitive playoff team on top of that) struggle this year (which is very possible...losing Brand, Davis is obviously injury prone, Kaman is as well, Thorton and Gordon are very young, etc.), I'd say Camby is a top candidate to be shipped out of LA if they decide to go that route. He's not someone they'd build around and he makes a lot of money. Plus they know a contender would love to add him to their roster.

As far as I'm concerned, If Camby is the best big available at the dead line, we would be better off going after a high-caliber shooting guard and trying to shore up our front court next year with Ben's expiring. Camby may pull down ten+ rebounds a game and defend well, but he averaged under ten points last year and is like 33. He is going to be just like Ben in a year or two.

By letting another year pass before targeting a big, it would be more likely that one of the solid bigs from a team on the down turn would be available ala Amare or Dirk.