Alonzo Mourning has stated to the Nets that he'd like to attempt a comeback again this year, but the Nets have told him that his services are no longer necessary, & would rather have his contract come off the books if he retired instead...knowing the type of proud player Zo was, i don't think there's any chance he would retire that way unless he decided to do so himself.

so how about the Knicks trade Othella & Trybanski for Zo & 1 of their future 1st round picks?

yes it's a risk, but the Knicks are capped out regardless if they take on Zo's contract or not, & the 1st round pick would be the key to that deal for me, & would replace the 1 that Isiah gave up in the Stephon Marbury trade.

you just know Zo would love to be a Knick & follow in his mentor's footsteps, & he would be able to be close to his treatment center as well for his kidney ailment...& the Nets would be assured of being freed of his contract from their payroll.

then you make the Crawford trade & give CHI Deke instead of Moochie like they want.

if Zo's comeback were successful, you would have a pretty nice team that, IF HEALTHY, would very closely resemble some of the good ol' teams of years past & could take on a nice character of their own next season:

C - Zo / Nazr / Baker
PF - KT / Sweetney
SF - TT / Penny / DerMarr
SG - Houston / Crawford
PG - Marbury / Moochie
IR - Ariza / Barrett

& if Zo's comeback weren't successful, then what do you really lose? 1 ending contract, but you've gained a future 1st round pick...it's a gamble i'd be willing to take.

thoughts?

I'd be wary of giving up trade assets for a guy who may never play again. Othella's deal will have some value as a throw in for any potenital Craw, Damp, Walker or Carter deals.

With the Nets pinching pennies as they have been, maybe Moochie + 3mm for Zo could work. Nets owe Zo 17 mm over the next 3 years. They would owe Mooch 5 mm over 2 years (8 mm salary of which we would pay 3). That's a 12 mm savings for Ratner.

If, however, every other trade proposal falls through, or we can make a deal with just Deke's expiring deal this summer and still have harrington around as training camp approcahes, they'd have to consider it. Othella has requested a trade and probably will get his wish. Who knows, it may work. Even Zo at 25-30% effectivness is better than Nazr. Worst case he ends up on IR.

I wouldn't give up any assets to get him. One option is to approach him and tell him that I am willing to sign him for the LLE if he works with NJ to have his contract bought out (and if the doctors think he can play). I don't think any other team would give him more than the LLE

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 07/30/2004 15:12:32]

the whole point was to trade expiring deals to get the 1st round pick we lost in the Marbury deal...if Zo worked out well, that's a bonus, but i'd be willing to take on his contract to get the pick.

btw, alot of you were crazy about the idea of trading KT for Malik Rose & a 1st rounder...how is that a better deal than this one?

KT is a better player than Othella or Trybanski...in both deals, the 1st round pick is what makes the deal for me...whatever you got from the players you're taking on is a bonus as far as i'm concerned...but whatever.