Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TMS:

i don't see how it's in the best financial interest to buyout a player that has 3 years left on his big money contract... better to get some production out of the money you're spending on him already & try to add some complementary pieces around him if that's the only other option... i'd love to be able to trade Jamal, Curry, Q Rich, Jefferies & Turd if i could also for shorter term deals... if we can unload at least 2 of the big longterm contracts on our books that extends past 2010 (Zach, Curry, Jamal, Jefferies), then we'll be in much better shape going into the big free agency sweepstakes that year.

If the production you're getting out of him is negative, it's better to buy him out. What would you rather do if you owned a bank: Pay a bank robber $10 to agree to never show up at your bank again (like a buyout) or have him rob $100 from you every day?

And just to make the analogy concrete again, how would the team be doing if at the start of this season Zach had been bought out and Lee and Curry were in the starting lineup? I'd say the record would be no worse (maybe better but that's another issue) and Lee and Eddy would each be doing better and have more value.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 03-06-2008 8:29 PM]

a better analogy is you spend $60 million in a company that isn't netting you a profit, do you just give the shares away for nothing or do you hold onto them & hope that you can somehow net some positive returns on your huge investment sometime down the road... giving away money is never a good idea, in business or in the NBA... buying out players should always be the last resort move to consider.

Posted by bitty41:

Posted by Bonn1997:

People are gonna have to wake up. The only feasible plans are to buyout Zach or take back a contract worse than Zach's or give up lottery picks to entice a team to take him. The first option is the only one that makes sense.

Awww look at little Bon Bon playing GM.

Posted by TMS:

first of all Oasis, you may be the only person on Earth who would put T-Mac up on the same level as Lebron or Kobe, no offense... he's not on their level, not even close... he's more like 1 of those 2nd or 3rd tier players like Rashard Lewis, Antawn Jamison or Gilbert Arenas if u ask me... definitely not a franchise calibre guy.

secondly, the guy is making a ton of money & he's had his share of injuries... HOU was rumored to be looking to trade him at the Allstar break... i'll concede to you that the deal is lopsided in our favor in terms of the cap, but in terms of talent i have to highly disagree with you... i think the Knicks' package brings back just as much if not more talent in return... Zach for all his faults is still a very talented player, as is Jamal & Nate, & Balk has yet to show his full potential either... i think he can be a good player in this league w/regular minutes.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by OasisBU:

Posted by TMS:

first of all Oasis, you may be the only person on Earth who would put T-Mac up on the same level as Lebron or Kobe, no offense... he's not on their level, not even close... he's more like 1 of those 2nd or 3rd tier players like Rashard Lewis, Antawn Jamison or Gilbert Arenas if u ask me... definitely not a franchise calibre guy.

secondly, the guy is making a ton of money & he's had his share of injuries... HOU was rumored to be looking to trade him at the Allstar break... i'll concede to you that the deal is lopsided in our favor in terms of the cap, but in terms of talent i have to highly disagree with you... i think the Knicks' package brings back just as much if not more talent in return... Zach for all his faults is still a very talented player, as is Jamal & Nate, & Balk has yet to show his full potential either... i think he can be a good player in this league w/regular minutes.

Maybe you haven't been watching the Rockets play since Yao went out - he may not be as consistent as Kobe or Lebron but when he is on fire he is up there with them, when has Antawn Jameson shown flashes of greatness like that? I hardly think the second/third tier comparison is fair. All I am saying is the trade is ridiculous. Houston can get a lot more then salary dump and players who have proven nothing since they got to NY.

You may have picked poor examples when stating Kobe and Lebron but your point is right on the mark. I cannot think of one reason why Houston would prefer Zach or Jamal over T-Mac unless we threw in about five unprotected 1st round picks.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by OasisBU:

Posted by TMS:

first of all Oasis, you may be the only person on Earth who would put T-Mac up on the same level as Lebron or Kobe, no offense... he's not on their level, not even close... he's more like 1 of those 2nd or 3rd tier players like Rashard Lewis, Antawn Jamison or Gilbert Arenas if u ask me... definitely not a franchise calibre guy.

secondly, the guy is making a ton of money & he's had his share of injuries... HOU was rumored to be looking to trade him at the Allstar break... i'll concede to you that the deal is lopsided in our favor in terms of the cap, but in terms of talent i have to highly disagree with you... i think the Knicks' package brings back just as much if not more talent in return... Zach for all his faults is still a very talented player, as is Jamal & Nate, & Balk has yet to show his full potential either... i think he can be a good player in this league w/regular minutes.

Maybe you haven't been watching the Rockets play since Yao went out - he may not be as consistent as Kobe or Lebron but when he is on fire he is up there with them, when has Antawn Jameson shown flashes of greatness like that? I hardly think the second/third tier comparison is fair. All I am saying is the trade is ridiculous. Houston can get a lot more then salary dump and players who have proven nothing since they got to NY.

You may have picked poor examples when stating Kobe and Lebron but your point is right on the mark. I cannot think of one reason why Houston would prefer Zach or Jamal over T-Mac unless we threw in about five unprotected 1st round picks.

so u consider T-Mac to be a franchise level player now i suppose? this coming from the guy who said guys like Chris Paul & Yao weren't franchise calibre talent. ok.

Posted by TMS:

Kidd is in the upper tier... he's a sure fire HOFer who's been at the top of his position almost his entire career... Brand & Billups if healthy are a notch above as well if u ask me... i'll agree w/ur other choices & consider Antawn Jamison & Rashard Lewis to be on the same level as well.

anyway, this is all semantics... i don't have a problem if u think the trade is unrealistic... i even admitted it's a stretch to think we could get any shorter term contracts in exchange for Zach at this point... but in my view it's an even bigger stretch to think some team would have been willing to give up expirings & 1st round picks for his contract that has 3 years & $47 million left on it after this season.

[Edited by - TMS on 03-08-2008 7:27 PM]

All fine and dandy but to note Zach was rumored(discussions actually took place) for BUM players on shorter deals than him. I wouldn't consider T-Mac a BUM player at this point, considering he dropped 40+ pts, 9ast, 5reb on the Hornets tonight as the Rockets head to 18 straight wins and 6 in a row without Yao. There's a clear reason anyone would want T-Mac over Zach and Jamal, including the ROCKETS!

Zach was traded to us with 4yrs $60Mil on his contract, another unimaginable happening.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-08-2008 9:39 PM]

Posted by TrueBlue:

Zach was traded to us with 4yrs $60Mil on his contract, another unimaginable happening.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by GKFv2:

No they would not do it because Isiah does not run the Rockets.

+Infinity

It simply makes no sense for them to do it. The trade itself is doable in Playstation format, on paper, and numbers match up.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-05-2008 10:33 PM]

Posted by TMS:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Zach was traded to us with 4yrs $60Mil on his contract, another unimaginable happening.

ur reasoning for HOU not doing the deal i proposed is because Isiah isn't running the Rockets... & yet u think there are teams out there that would give up expirings & 1st round picks to acquire Zach's contract, a move that would even outdo Isiah's idiocy in acquiring Zach to begin with.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by GKFv2:

No they would not do it because Isiah does not run the Rockets.

+Infinity

It simply makes no sense for them to do it. The trade itself is doable in Playstation format, on paper, and numbers match up.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-05-2008 10:33 PM]

Because he'll have less yrs plus I was adding Nate to the deal and possibly Balkman.