[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lwdlw9z 

Houston

Houston trades away Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik

Houston receives Josh Smith, Jose Calderon, and Wayne Ellington

Why? I know that Houston has big dreams of pulling in Melo or Love this off-season, but it seems like the packages they can offer are not as sweet as the packages other teams can offer. This can be plan B.

Everyone has jumped off the Josh Smith bandwagon and his stock is at an all-time low. It is true that Smith’s athleticism is probably going to start to give out over the next few seasons and that his game probably won’t age well, but there are a few things to note about him: 1) Last season was his worst statistical season of his career, allowing for MPG 2) Smith is still one of the top ten most versatile and athletic forward in the league 3) Smith makes impact plays on the defensive side of the ball 4) Last season, his worst statistical season, was the first season when Smith played a large majority of his minutes at small forward, which means it is reasonable to believe that he might come back to form if he plays his more natural position of power forward 5) Smith is one of the few players in the NBA who can match up with Lebron and Durant athletically. 

The fact that Smith and Howard are rumored to be good friends also really bodes well for the potential chemistry, with at least one of their stars. Smith would also fit nicely next to Parsons because he can take the defensive load off of Parsons for long stretches of the game. 

But the other two players in this deal are not throw away players. Jose Calderon has been one of the top three point shooters in the game for several years and is very comfortable playing off-ball to a ball-dominant guard. The Houston offense relies heavily on three point shooting, and Calderon would help space the floor for Howard and Smith inside. Ellington also shot above 40% from three point range last year and could play valuable minutes for the Rockets. 

Lineup 

Howard-Smith-Parsons-Harden-Calderon

Beverly-Ellington-Daniels-Jones-Montiejunas

Mavs

Mavs trade away Samuel Dalenbert, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, and Shane Larkin

Mavs receive Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin

Why? Its no secret that Dallas needs a defensive-minded big man to pair with Dirk and cover his weaknesses. Asik is on the market and seems like a perfect fit as a rebounder and rim protector.

Cuban is known for his business acumen. Lin provides an opportunity for an increased market share for the Mavs. Carlisle is second only to Popivich as a coach in my opinion. I think that under Carlisle’s coaching Lin would become a very efficient point guard. 

If this trade happens, the Mavs would have 27.6 million in cap space to resign Dirk and go after Melo or, if he is not interested, second tier players like Lance Stephenson, Eric Bledsoe, Gordon Hayward, and Kyle Lowry. They could also fill in with third tier players like Luol Deng or Trevor Ariza. Combine a key free agent with a few key resignings, and suddenly the Mavs have retooled and become better defensively, more explosive offensively, and younger. 

And probably most importantly, they also become players in the loaded 2015 free agent class. If they want to, they could choose not to resign Asik and Lin, which would open about 17 million in cap space.

Lineup 

Asik-Nowizki-Deng(or maybe Stephenson)-Ellis-Lin

Harris-Wright-Marion-Blair-Crowder

Detroit

Detroit trades away Josh Smith

Detroit receives Samuel Dalenbert, Shane Larkin, and Fransisco Garcia

Reset button. I know that SVG is playing it cool, but he has a great basketball mind and has to know that Smith does not fit on that roster. His attitude, his play style, his inability to fit in a scheme, and the bad habits he might pass on to the younger players all demand for a trade. This is a reset trade, pure and simple. I know they may want a first round pick out of it, but I don’t think they would get it, unless is was a conditional and heavily-guarded first round pick. 

Dalenbert has never liked coming off the bench, but maybe he could take a year to teach Drummond some of the finer points of defense. If not, the Pistons should buy out his contract to avoid any hinderance to the development of Drummond. Garcia is known as a good lockerroom influence, which could be important in the culture change that is about to happen in Detroit. 

The prize of this trade is Larkin, who struggled in his rookie season. If SVG can make Jameer Nelson into an All-star, I’m sure he can make Larkin into a solid player. Imagine if Larkin and Drummond developed a connection in the pick-and-roll. 

I toyed with the Pistons also sending away Jennings to either the Mavs or the Rockets. One team already experiemented with a Monte Ellis-Brandon Jennings backcourt, and it didn’t work out too well. I think Carlisle could help him fit into a system, but I’m not sure they would want him. I also don’t think that the Rockets would want both Jennings and Smith in their starting lineup.

If the Pistons made this trade, they would have four point guards on their roster. I really think they would need to address Brandon Jennings at some point, but maybe SVG already has a plan for him. 

Lineup

Drummond-Monroe-Singler-KCP-Jennings

Larkin-Dalenbert-Garcia-Jerebko-Bynum

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mixtape2003Participant]

Great trade, everybody wins IMO, I would be suprised if Dallas let Larkin go though he is going to be a good players once he get some minutes.

[mixtape2003Participant]

Great trade, everybody wins IMO, I would be suprised if Dallas let Larkin go though he is going to be a good players once he get some minutes.

[ShwiggydogParticipant]

I agree, everyone seems to win in this trade. Detroit getting pretty much any sort of cap relief in return for Smith is a win for them. Houston gets a power forward who can play some D, and much needed floor spacers in Calderon & Ellington. Dallas gets a rim protector and opportunities for cap space in the future. 

I actually really like this theoretical trade, but it’s a shame because most theoretical trades, regardless of how reasonable they are and potentially helpful they could be, usually do not come to fruition. I think this is a fair swap for all three teams, though- that’s some good thinking OP. 

 

[ShwiggydogParticipant]

I agree, everyone seems to win in this trade. Detroit getting pretty much any sort of cap relief in return for Smith is a win for them. Houston gets a power forward who can play some D, and much needed floor spacers in Calderon & Ellington. Dallas gets a rim protector and opportunities for cap space in the future. 

I actually really like this theoretical trade, but it’s a shame because most theoretical trades, regardless of how reasonable they are and potentially helpful they could be, usually do not come to fruition. I think this is a fair swap for all three teams, though- that’s some good thinking OP. 

 

[Sharp ShooterParticipant]

 Terrible trade for Detroit. So basically Detroit get a journey man big man who is past his prime (Dalembert), ANOTHER undersized PG (Larkin) which we still have Bynum, Billups and Jennings, all built the same and Garcia (is a bench player) when we already have singler. Thanks but, no thanks on that trade. Eventhough Josh Smith will be hard to trade, Detroit can do better.

[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

I gotta level with you. I think your valuation of Smith is related to your user icon. 

I like Smith and I think that, on the right team, he could be a piece that makes a team a contender. But if you expect them to get anything other than a young prospect, a couple of rotation players, and a protected draft pick, I think you are fooling yourself. A few reasons: 1) Everyone around the league knows that Smith is going to get traded, which means everyone will drive the price for him way low 2) At the end of his contract, he will be 32 (i think), and I also think that his game will regress similarly, although not to the same extent, as Gerald Wallace. 3) He is a versatile player, but he is pretty well stuck into the power forward position. In a league that is moving more and more to having ‘stretch 4s,’ Smith doesn’t fit 4) He has never been a great scheme or team fit on offense or defense, even if he makes great individual plays 5) He has had lockerroom issues/chemistry issues 6) He has the desire to be ‘the guy’ on offense, even if his skills don’t fit

I like Detroit. I think that with SVG and without Josh Smith, they will be a 40 win team next year, but Josh Smith will only hold the young players back from developing. Sometimes, the best you can do is addition by subtraction. 

 

 

 

[Detroit FanaddictParticipant]

As a Pistons fan I’ll keep this simple. This is a good trade IF we resign Greg Monroe.

[Detroit FanaddictParticipant]

As a Pistons fan I’ll keep this simple. This is a good trade IF we resign Greg Monroe.

[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

I gotta level with you. I think your valuation of Smith is related to your user icon. 

I like Smith and I think that, on the right team, he could be a piece that makes a team a contender. But if you expect them to get anything other than a young prospect, a couple of rotation players, and a protected draft pick, I think you are fooling yourself. A few reasons: 1) Everyone around the league knows that Smith is going to get traded, which means everyone will drive the price for him way low 2) At the end of his contract, he will be 32 (i think), and I also think that his game will regress similarly, although not to the same extent, as Gerald Wallace. 3) He is a versatile player, but he is pretty well stuck into the power forward position. In a league that is moving more and more to having ‘stretch 4s,’ Smith doesn’t fit 4) He has never been a great scheme or team fit on offense or defense, even if he makes great individual plays 5) He has had lockerroom issues/chemistry issues 6) He has the desire to be ‘the guy’ on offense, even if his skills don’t fit

I like Detroit. I think that with SVG and without Josh Smith, they will be a 40 win team next year, but Josh Smith will only hold the young players back from developing. Sometimes, the best you can do is addition by subtraction. 

 

 

 

[r377Participant]

Josh Smith is cancer or like having gangrene in your foot.  Rather than having your foot amputated (keeping smith) this would be like keeping your foot but maybe not all your toes. You can always hope for the best (keeping your foot and all your toes/getting good value back for trading smith) but having a foot with maybe 3 or 4 toes is still better than having lost your foot altogether….

[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

I’m not so sure about that comparison. He isn’t a perfect player, but he was pretty good for a lot of years with Hawks. And there’s plenty of blame to go around for Detroit’s bad season: Dumars, Cheeks, Jennings, and Smith are probably all chief culprats. But then you have Stuckey and Villanueva playing for a contract, Billups on floor even though he had no right to be, and Monroe and Drummonds trying to figure out their games and how they can coexist. 

Smith isn’t cancer. He is part of the blame and that is a reason he needs to be traded, but let’s not go overboard. It could be argued that Jennings was more of a cancer than Smith this season. 

 

[treytalkssports.comParticipant]

I’m not so sure about that comparison. He isn’t a perfect player, but he was pretty good for a lot of years with Hawks. And there’s plenty of blame to go around for Detroit’s bad season: Dumars, Cheeks, Jennings, and Smith are probably all chief culprats. But then you have Stuckey and Villanueva playing for a contract, Billups on floor even though he had no right to be, and Monroe and Drummonds trying to figure out their games and how they can coexist. 

Smith isn’t cancer. He is part of the blame and that is a reason he needs to be traded, but let’s not go overboard. It could be argued that Jennings was more of a cancer than Smith this season. 

 

[r377Participant]

Josh Smith is cancer or like having gangrene in your foot.  Rather than having your foot amputated (keeping smith) this would be like keeping your foot but maybe not all your toes. You can always hope for the best (keeping your foot and all your toes/getting good value back for trading smith) but having a foot with maybe 3 or 4 toes is still better than having lost your foot altogether….

[Sharp ShooterParticipant]

 Terrible trade for Detroit. So basically Detroit get a journey man big man who is past his prime (Dalembert), ANOTHER undersized PG (Larkin) which we still have Bynum, Billups and Jennings, all built the same and Garcia (is a bench player) when we already have singler. Thanks but, no thanks on that trade. Eventhough Josh Smith will be hard to trade, Detroit can do better.

[ExumInfernoParticipant]

 A very interesting trade idea, and there are reasons why it does work for all teams.

One reason why it may not work for Dallas, or they will want something extra, Asik and Lin will be paid $30,000,000 next season by their NBA team.  The Rockets would get away from paying all that money in one year and Dallas would be stuck with it.

Calderon and his shooting would be geat for Houston, Josh Smith and Howard together would be bad for free throw percentage but good for defense.  With Harden, Parson and Calderon shooting from outside it could be a good balance.  

Detroit, this would be about saving money, so it could help them if they keep Monroe with a big and long contract.  Larkin is an interesting prospect, but maybe Detroit would want T Jones from Houston as he can hit an outside shot and could be the backup power forward there.

Dallas, that is the tricky part, they do have a lot of room in their salary cap now.  Dirk will take a big pay cut and stay, Marion and Carter are free agents.  Calderon might be better than Lin, Asik would be paid four times the amount they could keep Dalembert around for.  Dallas might be the team that is reluctant to do the trade, especially for the money to be paid next season, but maybe those Rockets would be a good fit with Dallas depending on the free agent star they also sign.

 

 

 

 

[ExumInfernoParticipant]

 A very interesting trade idea, and there are reasons why it does work for all teams.

One reason why it may not work for Dallas, or they will want something extra, Asik and Lin will be paid $30,000,000 next season by their NBA team.  The Rockets would get away from paying all that money in one year and Dallas would be stuck with it.

Calderon and his shooting would be geat for Houston, Josh Smith and Howard together would be bad for free throw percentage but good for defense.  With Harden, Parson and Calderon shooting from outside it could be a good balance.  

Detroit, this would be about saving money, so it could help them if they keep Monroe with a big and long contract.  Larkin is an interesting prospect, but maybe Detroit would want T Jones from Houston as he can hit an outside shot and could be the backup power forward there.

Dallas, that is the tricky part, they do have a lot of room in their salary cap now.  Dirk will take a big pay cut and stay, Marion and Carter are free agents.  Calderon might be better than Lin, Asik would be paid four times the amount they could keep Dalembert around for.  Dallas might be the team that is reluctant to do the trade, especially for the money to be paid next season, but maybe those Rockets would be a good fit with Dallas depending on the free agent star they also sign.

 

 

 

 

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