I love it when the Sonics are the lead story on Hoopshype.com.
It doesn't matter if today's headline is a Boston Globe ripoff from realgm.com poster "celticsthug" nor that it appears to be technically quite difficult. I love gossip, love this time of year, and appreciate the headlines.
Todays rumor incidentally has the Celtics targeting Sonics free agent forward Rashard Lewis. the technical difficulty would be in conducting a S&T deal with a draft pick. Players cannot be signed and traded until July.
It has been stated that this is virtually an impossibility, but I am not so certain of that fact. There are two mechanisms in place which I believe would allow a trade to be agreed upon now, and then finalized later. The first is simply holding the draft picks rights but not signing him, then making the trade in July. The problem there is that it takes some trust by both teams, not common in this league.
At this point it is my belief that the Sonics can negotiate with Rashard prior to the moritorium going into affect. While they cannot sign a contract, and do not yet know what the salary cap will be they can agree to terms for a contract so long as the salary cap is not a factor. In other words Rashard could agree to a contract in principle for say $11 million, they could go so far as to announce the agreement and have it approved by the league, but not finalized until July. The reason you don't see this often is that players do not frequently exercise their options out this early in the process. Rashard took a risk in opting out early as Frank Hughes pointed out in an earlier blog entry. He left $21 million on the table. What happens if he's in a car accident and breaks his leg.
I'm looking for confirmation on those two scenarios.
It is good to be in the news. It is an indication of how good a player Rashard is that all these rumors keep popping up and while there is likely nothing at all to them they are fun to talk about.
Here's my couple of random questions for the day.
First of all a complete speculation trade rumor. Would Houston, Seattle, and Sacramento agree to a three way deal in which Shane Battier goes to Seattle, Ron Artest to Houston, Chris Wilcox and Bonzi Wells go to the Kings? I think it is way more value than the Kings would expect for him. It hinges upon Houstons reported interest in Artest and likely how strong their desire to get Wells out of town is. I'll re-itterate that I trade Wilcox for Battier in a heartbeat.
Does Big Game Bob have a chance at the hall of fame? Robert Horry is a guy who was known as an underacheiver in his early days. Individually he has never been a huge star but if he gets a ring this year that makes 7 or 8. The guy has been incredibly clutch with one of the most impressive playoff dunks I have ever seen. Does he at least get a look for the hall of fame? If not should he? Why are we so obsessed with the flashy stars over the proven winners.