Dwight Howard's stock is on the rise. Say the Clipps see him work out and fall in love with him. If Orlando takes Okafor #1, the Clipps will no longer want to trade with the Hawks for Jason Terry and will take Howard. He is long, athletic and gives them an exciting 4 that will draw fans. Elton Brand then becomes expendable to find a point guard and/or cut cap. If I was the clipps, I would trade for Steve Francis and field a team of Francis, Q, Maggettie, Howard, and Kaman. How exciting would they be? However, Sterling may be too cheap.

What if the Knicks constructed a three way deal with the Bulls and the Clipps?

Knicks receive Brand, Eddie Robinson.

Clipps receive Jamal Crawford, Frank Williams, Tyrbanski, Mutombo, and Chris Jefferies

Bulls receive KT, Othella Harrington


Knicks do it because they get an allstar power foward in Brand who can block shots and is great in the post and on the boards. He is the definition of what we need. We take on a horrible contract while giving up all of our expiring ones and FW but somehow we get to retain Sweetney. He can learn under Brand and I would love to see them play side by side occassionaly against teams in the East with no real center.

Chicago does it because Crawford is not in their future plans. They get the tough KT who they've been looking for and cap relief (Othella) while unloading their worst contract and biggest headache Eddie Robinson.

Clipps do it because they get two promising young point guards in Frank Williams and Crawford. Crawford is a combo guard that would excite teams. They save a boatload of money by unlaoding Brand for these two cheap options plus the other expiring contracts. Howard steps in at the 4 with Wilcox behind him and they have a much more exciting team.

I think this deal could happen if we include a first round pick and 3 million in cash to the Clipps. However, realistically the Clipps could get much more for Band. The other problem is Crawford is a restricted free agent which would make a sign and trade necessary. His salary would rise and therefore the money wouldn't match. Say the clipps are willing to sign him to just above the MLE. We would need to then ship Trybanski to the Bulls instead of the Clipps and Jefferies would no longer be a part of the deal. The Clipps don't save as much money and at that point, Crawford isn't that much cheaper than Francis. Although this trade probably wont happen exactly, this is the sort of thing I would be looking at if I were Isiah. If we include Sweetney in that package I'm sure we could find a promising young point guard to send to the Clipps. We have an advantage because we can save Sterling money as well as finding them talent.

The Clippers will need to receive much more than that. They're basically getting Jamal Crawford plus a PG known around the league simply as a 4 PPG and 2 APG PG and garbage players. Throw in Eddy Curry and Sweetney and then the Clips will talk to you. The Bulls wouldn't give up Curry unless they were the ones getting Brand, though.

You have the right idea, though; a third team with bad contracts would need to be involved where we take back their bad contracts. But I don't see this happening. At a bare minimum the Knicks would need to give up Sweetney and Frank plus their expiring contracts in this type of deal.

Posted by BRIGGS:

we have nothing to get into this bracket.

bracket??

Posted by Bonn1997:

The Clippers will need to receive much more than that. They're basically getting Jamal Crawford plus a PG known around the league simply as a 4 PPG and 2 APG PG and garbage players. Throw in Eddy Curry and Sweetney and then the Clips will talk to you. The Bulls wouldn't give up Curry unless they were the ones getting Brand, though.

To characterize FrankWill as 4 PPG and 2 APG is kind of a low blow to Frank and a little short-sighted; I think GMs around the league recognize his potential. Stats don't point out that he is sitting behind Marb or that he missed a large portion of the season, nor do they spotlight the time of year he was starting. Point guards develop slowly. So, has he gotten better year-to-year?

I don't know if the Clips go for this trade but it does sound reasonable to me if you think of LA Clip owner as the tightest tightwad in town. They also solidify positions that they need.

Bulls get tougher and unload bad contract.

I like this trade.

Posted by BigSm00th:

Or they could just play Brand and Howard together and be a competitive team in the East.

Come on, I like the idea too but I think it's a bit farfetched. No way the Clips give up on Brand just b/c they have an 18 YO HSer.

Far fetched - of course. However, if they draft Howard I definitley think Brand will be somewhere else next season. Brand is way too small to play center in the west. With talent around him, he failed to bring the Clipps to the playoffs. He is a hardnosed guy but doesn't have the flare that puts people in seats. I really think a team like the Rockets could steal him for Francis and have the best frontcourt in the NBA with Yao and Brand.

If they don't take Howard at #2, it's a completely different story but Brand is not untouchable.

Olrando might take Howard ahead of Okafor. They are trying to get TMac to watch Howard workout with them thats how much they like him.