We better decide soon. Bulls/Grizzlies are talking

[Admin]

Reading the Insider this morning Ford says that the Bulls and Grizzlies are talking about a swap of Bonzi/re-signed Swift for Eddy Curry and change. Apparently Paxson seems more than willing to make this trade and West loves Curry, so I could definitely see this go down.

We need to figure out whats going on with Damp very quickly and get this thing moving before we lose our chance at Swift if we lose Damp.

My feelings are that what is holding this thing up is that we arent looking to sign Damp straight out, but rather via SnT so that he doesnt take most of our cap room, which would allow us to pursue Swift as well. If we could potentially move Diaw/CC in the 3 way getting back Damp at slightly more than their salary which would allow us more than enough room to make a nice offer to Swift that Memphis would be hard pressed to match.

How sweet would this lineup be:

JT/Ivey/Do Smith

Childress/Hansen

Harrington/Jo Smith

Swift/Hendu

Dampier/Collier/Pryz

That would be a very exciting team that would definitely play defense and crash the boards and run the floor. Next year with Hendu clearing 8 mil for us plus our MLE we could add 1 more 3/4 max player and a couple of role players to fine tune the roster.

[Nicholasp27]

i don't like this for a few reasons

a) we give up Diaw when we could just outright sign Damp for a reasonable contract

b) to get Swift this year, we'll have to OVERPAY him...we don't need him making 10mil the next 6 years, eating up 1/4 of our cap space when we'll have to pay the developed joshes and harrington in 2 and 3 years

c) it eats up our cap space next summer when there are better free agents out there

also, i don't think Mullin would do this, as the owners would have to spend a lot more money this year until CC's contract comes off...they would get a prospect in Diaw tho...

if we trade DIAW, we'd better get something GOOD in return, not just a player who we could sign outright anyway

[Traceman]

room to make that deal happen. I'd PREFER to move Hansen instead but if it took Diaw, I'd still do it.

That Curry/filler for Swift/Wells rumor sounds like a real possibility to me and makes a LOT of sense for both teams, particularly with the recent reports that Curry is like 35 lbs over his desired playing weight right now. Hope we can get something going before they pull the trigger on that deal!

[Nicholasp27]

that deal doesn't even work!

damp: 9mil

jt: 7mil

al: 6mil

Hendu:8mil

Collier:1.5mil

rookies/second years: 6mil

that's 37.5mil

now we couldn't even offer Swift enough to overpay him so West doesn't match...

not to mention we'd be mortgaging the farm for damp/swift...both of which are question marks...and we already have harrington for pf...what do we do when smooth develops? we can't play smooth/harrington/swift/damp at the same time...

and we can't just trade damp and move swift to center...we need a true center in the future when smooth has developed more than we need an overpaid swift at pf right now

we need to give up the swift AND dampier scenarios...we're only gonna get one, if either...and we only need one

the only way we'd need both is if we had a trade of damp for a good true point guard lined up for this season...but even then we'd have to eventually trade swift or harrington when smooth develops

[Admin]

Right now we have 10.2 million left to spend and thats not even going into the MLE that we can use after our cash is gone.

Trading Diaw/CC (4.3 mil) together and getting back Dampier for what he is probably worth on a 3-4 year deal (8 mil) that still leaves us with 6.5 million to work with to go out and sign Swift. Sure there is a chance that the Grizz would match that offer for him, but with the money they just shelled out on Cardinal at PF I would be shocked. I honestly think they are bluffing and are wanting to use him in a SnT. If we sign him to an offer sheet they can no longer SnT him to anyone so they would be stuck with 2 somewhat large contracts at PF and they would be over the cap and minus a true C to allow them to move Gasol to the 4.

[Nicholasp27]

6.5 for swift is a tradeable contract

they'd sign him for that

however, i wouldn't mind making them sign swift for 6.5, as it'd give us a much better chance at Gasol next summer

but not giving up Diaw...and giving up part of our cap space next summer

AND

we WILL benefit this season if we go into it with cap space

we WILL be part of deadline trades that WILL send us young talents and draft picks in exchange for using some of our cap space

we DEFINITELY WANT to have at least a few mil in leftover cap space during this season

see Utah's 3432432 picks last year for reference

[Plainview1981]

Don't want Curry at all in any deal though. That guy is

the next Stanley Roberts/Pervis Ellison.

[Traceman]

They might also decide that a 6 yr/$48.75M deal (starting at $6.5M) is more than they are willing to spend to keep Swift. Remember, they have to deal with Gasol next year as well and they STILL need a true Center. I'm not 100% convinced that they would match a big offer to Swift. Even if they did, worse case scenario, we lose Diaw but clear an additional $6.5M in capspace. That capspace could be used to sign a player like Jamaal Crawford now or it could be combined with Hendu's expiring contract ($8.5M) to go after a max FA next off season.

[Admin]

I honestly have to believe that we are going to get Damp in a SnT or possibly Wells and Swift. I dont believe that we will sign him outright unless its the 3 year 24 million dollar deal that was talked about. I think we have to get a talented front court player this offseason and anything else would be nice. I am still holding out hope that Billy the Brain can figure out a way to get us Damp and Swift, thereby cementing our athletic, hustling, defensive front court for several years.

[Nicholasp27]

i don't want to give up Diaw because Memphis MIGHT not match 6.5mil for Swift

that'd be a LAC move...ie how they just gave the Bobcats a talented big man because Kobe MIGHT sign with them...

[Traceman]

they didn't match. If we offered the Philly 1st, they might agree not to match. I'd definitely give up Diaw, CC and the Philly 1st if it meant we could sign Swift AND Damp to reasonable contracts this offseason.

Damp/Collier

Swift/Hendu

AH/Smooth/D. Smith

Chill/Hansen

JT/Ivey/vet FA

I'd be THRILLED with that team.

[AHF]

Couldn't we sign Swift first and then do the sign and trade for Damp?

[danny23]

The Knicks really like Dampier but have no way to get him. The Hawks should be the enabler, grabbing Sweetney, Kurt and Frank Williams in return. Sweetney has as much potential as Swift while Kurt will make this a tough interior team. Adding them to the athletic, perimeter players already on board would make this a competitive team. A pure PG like Williams would be nice to have too.

Kurt's contract is a bit steep but Isiah won't let both Sweetney and Williams go otherwise. Those two would mesh much better with the young Hawks than Dampier would.

[Admin]

Thats not a bad idea, but I dont see it happening. I think the combined salaries of the 3 would be a little too much, plus we couldnt make this deal until December at the earliest. Also, I am not sure that Sweetney has the length that BK would want from his PF of the future. I do really like Sweetney though and I think he is going to blow up when he gets the chance.