Quote:
Originally Posted by yamaneko
Thats what Im talking about. We have the same things. Theres brand who at worst would be out next year, at best, he opts out, and they can work a sign and trade, thus giving them a lot better chance at using cap space (does anyone think with kwames expiring deal, a big name FA will be interested in signing in memphis?) Then theres maggette who also is expiring deal they could have had, very similar to kwames deal. Cassell as well. All as good if not better (due to sign and trade potential) for the memphis cap situation. Not sure how you cant see that.
Confront all you want, but its the only logical step to get us to a championship caliber team. Brand is not a superstar, cant carrry a team on his back, cant take nor hit late game shots, and is going to be asking for a superstar extenstion that will cap us out for years. I 100% guarantee that with brand at a max or anywhere near max deal, we will never win a championship, and wed be dang lucky to get to the WCF even . Its not just a guess, its a deduction based on brands entire career.
This is not a popularity or humanitarian contest. In that regards, we should give brand MORE than the max contract. The NBA is about winning a championship. And bottom line is youre not going to get there if you give superstar contracts to non superstar players. Even gasol is more of a star than brand...and is even cheaper than brand.
I also predict that we will miss out with 1 or more superstars b4 the trade deadline that we could have offered better deals to, namely, jason kidd, perhaps others.
Meanwhile, lakers all of a sudden are a championship team again, and probably will be for the next 3 years.
Bynum/Gasol/Odom/Kobe/Any PG
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Apparently, you either don't understand what I said or you simply don't bother to read my posts entirely. The point for Memphis was not to get talent in return, it was to cut payroll - that's it. They wouldn't want impact players like Maggette, Cassell or Brand because they might actually help the team win games, which is NOT what they want. They were already a lottery team with Gasol, moving him was a way of:
A) cutting payroll for the future and
B) improving their chances of a higher draft pick next summer. What would be the point of trading for impact players who will improve your team when you have no intention of re-signing them in the offseason?
As far as Brand goes, I'm not talking at all about his personality or demeanor. I'm simply referring to the solid, consistent production he's given this team since he got here in 2001. You must be as short-sighted as all those fans and coaches who have consistently snubbed him over the years in terms of all-star consideration. All he has done is average 20 pts, 10 rebs, 2.5 ast, 2 blks and 1 steal per game over the course of his career. Not to mention his MVP caliber season, the year HE led the Clippers to the brink of the WCF! But I guess you think they would've been there with or without him, right? Just because he's hurt this year, don't completely write the guy off! I don't know if you're just assuming that his production will drop off because of the injury, or if you're just not paying attention to how good he actually is, but there aren't many players in this league who have done what he has over the last 8 seasons. This franchise was nowhere before Brand got here and you think they're going to be championship contenders with him gone? By the way, if you're seriously expecting a championship anytime soon, you've got a lot of disappointment coming. This team has never seriously contended for a title (oh yeah, besides the year Elton almost got them there) and they probably won't in the next couple of seasons. But without a player like Elton Brand to anchor the frontcourt and run the offense through, they're going to be in terrible shape. Even Donald Sterling knows that much!