BEEZ

I dont, I think they are going after Kidd this offseason, or Arenas

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I have no clue!

SkywalkerAC

looks good for the sonics to me. ollie can finish out the rest of the season as a starting pg. one of the weaker ones in the L but he'll do ok and shouldn't have overwhelming responsibilities with all of the scorers on his plate. at times we may see BB, ray, lewis, vlad, and predrag on the court- which would be the best shooting lineup in the L, IMO.

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AC

FeloniusThunk

I just saw the news on tv here in Seattle. Wow! There's going to be a press conference "within the hour". Good deal for the Sonics, frankly, as GP was probably going elsewhere next year anyway and Ray Allen is an upgrade from Desmond Mason (I like Des, but facts is facts). For the Bucks, I guess this means rebuilding time. Michael Redd made Ray Allen a little redundant, but I doubt if GP will stick there. Unless they can get a pf/c for Cassell in the next few minutes, I don't see them really being that much improved the rest of this season: still no post player (other than GP, now).

Sonics still need a pg. Barry or one of the backup centers for someone like McInnis?

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loyalty4life

You guys have to listen to this:

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/ja...k_022003.frame

Kevin announced the trade on my behalf to everyone! Skip to about 80-85% of the broadcast, and you'll hear the conversation.

Good stuff!

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Storyteller

No way they get Kidd. With both Payton and Anderson coming off the books, they had cap room to pursue him. Now they just have Campbell's $8 million coming off the books - they'll be at about $32-33 million in team salary.

That leaves room for an offer of $7-8 million for Arenas, but no room to offer Kidd the MAX deal that he'll get from others.

RipCityJB

I think it is a great deal if the alternative was losing Payton for nothing over the summer. As for the point guard question....I think that the Blazers are proof that you can go with a non-traditional point guard and succeed (playing Pippen at the point). We'll see what Nate McM comes up with. Very interesting!

Storyteller

Maybe Nate will play PG himself...

tlong

The Bucks already have Thomas, Redd, Kukoc, and to some extent Cassell to act as spot up shooters. They could afford to deal Allen. What they needed was a distributor (Payton) and a slasher (Mason). The Sonics are going to suck BIG TIME now. I think they are going for lottery positioning. Maybe they will get lucky and get the ping pong ball with LeBron James' name on it.

loyalty4life

It look likes Milwaukee might be tring to send Cassell to New York for Sprewell.

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/6201274

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Dan

I know they're the hated Sonics, but I think it would be cool if the Sonics got LeBron

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tlong

That would make sense. I think the Bucks will be much-improved if they can pull this off.

mook

Man, if Payton walks this summer the Bucks just gave up their all-star for Desmond Mason. What a weird deal.

I think Payton could actually do quite well as a shooting guard. He's got the size, skills and range to handle it quite well. A back court of Cassel and Payton has got to be the best passing back court in the league.

At least until this summer.

brewmaster

It could prove to be a terrible trade for the Bucks if Payton goes somewhere else this summer.

I'm sure George Karl and the Bucks will do everything in their power (i.e., money) to keep him. But the trade has some risk for the Bucks.

Dabears

What's Milwakee going to do with both Cassell and Payton. I think it's a good deal for each team, but it's kind of confusing. Milwakee trades a star SG for a veteran PG, which they already have. Seattle gets Allen, but trades their veteran back-up PG for a old center who doesn't see much action anymore. Each team got good players, but it leaves Milwakee with too many point guards, and Seattle with none?!

Masbee

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

This takes the chances of Portland landing Payton with the mid-level this summer from unlikely to very, very, very unlikely.

The Bucks didn't trade for Gary if they didn't plan on offering him an extension that a) they can live with, b) they think or know Gary can live with, and c) is plenty more than what teams armed with only the mid-level can offer.

Who knew that the Sonics would be able to get as much young talent as Ray Allen in exchange for a 34 year old Payton?

For the Bucks, the loss of Allen is significantly mitigated by the emergence of Michael Redd, an outstanding shooter making a whole lot less than Allen. The addition of a slasher like Desmond is good for a team that needed one. They do have 2 PGs now, with Gary and Sam, but that will get sorted out in the summer. For the rest of this season, look for Sam and Gary to finish games on the floor together, both of whom play either guard position very well.

For the Sonics, they are currently a mess. They have traded their 2 good PGs, and will be hard pressed to find quality replacements in the Free Agent market. They will have to rely on Brent Barry and Ray Allen for the PG duties. Elden Campbell is the 5th Center on the roster. Losing Desmond Mason wasn't much of a problem as they already have Radmonivic and Lewis as small forwards. The Sonics only have 4 good players: Allen, Barry, Radmonovic & Lewis. That's 2 SGs & 2 SFs. In addition they have 5 Cs - all of backup quality. Maybe they will start Campbell at PF. Somehow they need to turn all this duplication of talent and whatever cap space they have into a good PG and a starting quality Big man, PF or C. Expect a lot more moves from them this summer.