2011 Toronto Raptors/NBA/Labour Negotiations Spectacular

[#1PilarFan]

It's rumour time again, brought to you by your friendly neighbourhood Pilar fan.

Raps and Lakers neck and neck in trying to sign John Lucas III.

Exciting, I know.

 

[Kin]

The battle of the super teams seems to have taken another small step and perhaps a huge one. The Lakers came to terms with Antawn Jamison on a one year deal. Also, there are reports that the Cavaliers may facilitate a three way deal that would land Dwight Howard in LA, Bynum in Cleveland and cap space and draft picks in Orlando.

 

[hockeyfan1]

NBA approves some advertising on uniforms (new changes), including allowing video replay...

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2012/07/19/nba_approves_changes_in_uniform_replay/

 

[Kin]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8206783/dwight-howard-agent-dan-fegan-confirms-david-stern-accusation

The Dwight Howard saga is taking some very silly turns.

But there is something worth mentioning. I've heard a lot of people talking about how sick they are of the Dwight Howard saga or how they think this is another case of a player dictating where he plays and how bad that is for the sport.

But really, is any of that Howard's fault? Orlando is free to trade Dwight Howard at any point to any team. The only thing Howard controls is whether or not he signs an extension with anyone. That's the problem. Orlando wants to trade him with the value of being signed to a multi-year extension but it's not fair to expect Howard to forgo his ability to choose who he signs with so Orlando can maximize his value in a trade.

Howard has always been upfront about who he'll sign with. He's a pending UFA and Orlando should deal him accordingly.

 

[Kin]

To Philadelphia: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson
To Denver: Andrew Iguodala
To Orlando: Aaron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vuvecic, Moe Harkless, 3 first round picks(one from each other team)
To LA:  Dwight Howard

I'm pretty amazed. After all that the Lakers add Howard, don't give up Gasol and the Magic don't get anything in the way of an impact player or likely top 5 pick and only shed one problematic contract in Richardson. They get some good pieces so it's not a total loss but...man, you have to think that deal could have gotten done a month or two ago.

 

[Erndog]

Yeah, I don't know what to make of it from the Magic's standpoint.  3 first round picks sure but none of them are going to be high enough to "guarantee" an impact player. 

I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of it and digest it from the other teams' standpoint.

The Lakers essentially trade Bynum and a 1st for Howard so I really like it from their end.  Nuggets give away a bunch of depth pieces for an impact player so it looks good too.  Philly takes on a big salary bench player in JRich and really change the look of their lineup by swapping Bynum and Andre.  Not sure how I think that's a clear win/lose yet.

Certainly an interesting deal though.

 

[Kin]

The Lakers essentially trade Bynum and a 1st for Howard so I really like it from their end.  Nuggets give away a bunch of depth pieces for an impact player so it looks good too.  Philly takes on a big salary bench player in JRich and really change the look of their lineup by swapping Bynum and Andre.  Not sure how I think that's a clear win/lose yet.

I think it's pretty good for Philly although they do seem to be giving up quite a bit in Iggy, Vucevic, Harkless and the first. They have a pretty good collection of wings without Iggy in Turner, Wright, Nick Young and now Richardson(whose at...what, 6 million a year? That's more than I'd give him but that's not a terrible contract). Getting Bynum basically addresses their biggest weakness by giving them a big physical post presence they can play with Hawes.

 

[Erndog]

The Lakers essentially trade Bynum and a 1st for Howard so I really like it from their end.  Nuggets give away a bunch of depth pieces for an impact player so it looks good too.  Philly takes on a big salary bench player in JRich and really change the look of their lineup by swapping Bynum and Andre.  Not sure how I think that's a clear win/lose yet.

I think it's pretty good for Philly although they do seem to be giving up quite a bit in Iggy, Vucevic, Harkless and the first. They have a pretty good collection of wings without Iggy in Turner, Wright, Nick Young and now Richardson(whose at...what, 6 million a year? That's more than I'd give him but that's not a terrible contract). Getting Bynum basically addresses their biggest weakness by giving them a big physical post presence they can play with Hawes.

Will Bynum re-sign long-term in Philly?  He grew up close to Philly correct?  I read they are really taking a chance on him re-signing.

For that matter, will DH?

 

[Kin]

Will Bynum re-sign long-term in Philly?  He grew up close to Philly correct?  I read they are really taking a chance on him re-signing.

For that matter, will DH?

Yeah, you never know. I think it's a good gamble from both perspectives.

 

[Kin]

So the details have been firmed up a little and the trade isn't quite as bad for Orlando as I had it earlier but it's not much better. In addition to Harkless, Afflalo, Vucevic and the first round picks they also get Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenge and two second round picks and they get rid of Earl Clark and Chris Duhon, both going to the Lakers. 

On the other hand, all three picks are protected and in part because of the Steve Nash trade the first rounder from the Lakers isn't until 2017.

 

[#1PilarFan]

Will Bynum re-sign long-term in Philly?  He grew up close to Philly correct?  I read they are really taking a chance on him re-signing.

That's apparently why Orlando didn't want Bynum. With that said, Bynum will probably demand a trade/sign with the Knicks to build yet another stacked team.

For that matter, will DH?

I'd laugh long and hard if Howard forced his way out or Orlando to LA and then didn't re-sign. I imagine they must be very confident that he will.

 

[#1PilarFan]

Haven't seen it anywhere else, so...

Harden and roster fodder to the Rockets for Lamb, Martin and 2 firsts (TO and DAL).

I imagine this is a bit of a disappointing scenario for all involved. For OKC, I'm sure they would have liked to keep that trio of Durant, Westbrook and Harden together, but Harden wanted more than they could offer. For Houston, it's a little funny to gear up all off-season for a huge move, and this is it? Don't get me wrong, Harden's a very good player and was excellent in his role with OKC, but he's inconsistent and possibly unwilling to accept the responsibilities of being the #1 guy. Not quite the same franchise changer as landing a guy like Howard. 

Simmons wrote a great article on Harden's situation shortly before he was dealt. The Harden Dilemma

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

Can't pretend I know a lot about basketball, but I was surprised at the return for Harden.

Martin looks at the very least like the best pure scorer in the trade (best PPG any way). Add in 2 firsts and I'm surprised that OKC did so well (not even counting Lamb).

Wasn't Doug Christie up for 6th man of the year in 97-98 with similar type numbers to Harden? Anyway I'm very surprised at the return. Thought Houston could get a better player for what they paid.

 

[Kin]

Can't pretend I know a lot about basketball, but I was surprised at the return for Harden.

Martin looks at the very least like the best pure scorer in the trade (best PPG any way). Add in 2 firsts and I'm surprised that OKC did so well (not even counting Lamb).

Wasn't Doug Christie up for 6th man of the year in 97-98 with similar type numbers to Harden? Anyway I'm very surprised at the return. Thought Houston could get a better player for what they paid.

A couple of things:

1. Harden is a significantly better all-around player than Martin. He's better defensively and can run an offense as opposed to Martin he's really almost exclusively a scorer.
2. For many of Harden's minutes he was his offense's third option, behind Durant and Westbrook. So while both players scored at nearly identical rates(19.4 points per 36 minutes for Martin, 19.3 points per 36 minutes for Harden) Harden scored those points while taking only 11.4 shots per 36 minutes while Martin took 15.3
3. Harden is 23, Martin is going to turn 30 in February
4. Martin is a UFA after this season.

Lamb is a good prospect but the firsts are likely to be mid-first rounders which have significantly less value in basketball than they do in hockey. It was a pretty good return but I'd rather have Harden, all in all.

edit: It's also worth mentioning that the pieces dealt with Harden have some value. All three of them are young-ish and all three were also first round picks. Aldrich, 24 and the 11th overall pick two years ago, might very well prove useful with more playing time.