Is GP too respectful of other GMs?

Then I thought “And the Grizzlies weren’t the ones getting fleeced?”

I’m worried about going outside now for fear of the sky falling

The Suns/Sonics deal was different. The Sonics took Kurt Thomas and his 8 mil + salary plus the 2008/2010 protected 1st rounders in exchange for all of his salary.

That is not the same as what Denver did.

What this is similar to is the deal that Denver made with OKC last year to get their 2nd round pick (that included getting under the luxury tax).

Clearly this deal is about saving money, and getting a lower pick that won’t cost Denver the same amount of money. It’s a decent deal for both sides, although I’m not really convinced as to why Memphis did it honestly. But, that’s me.

Has this great point about why the Nuggets probably traded Hunter:

Even though Hunter was trying to work his way back from his latest knee surgery with the intent to play in 2009-10, it has always been clear that George Karl never trusted him. If this trade is indeed a straight salary dump as it appears there can be a basketball component. If the player who fills Hunter’s vacant roster spot is a player that Karl does trust and can play even a little bit, that will be a plus.

(Note: He does say it is a bit frustrating giving up another 1st round pick, but given that you can only sell 1st round picks for 3 million, he thinks the money saved by giving up Hunter’s salary, and the luxury tax, is a good reason.)

By the way, 2 issues of note here: 1st is that the Nuggets gave up a protected pick meaning that anything where they get a quality pick in 2010, they will keep it. Also, they sent cash to Memphis as well (which is probably the most important part of this deal) which is why Heisley agreed to do the deal.

I think their goal is to save money. If they can do that without selling off talent like Heisley did with Gasol then I am happy.

But it is a slippery slope when other organizations with extra cash are willing to pay you here and now for your top talents and the Maloofs are in ‘save or move’ mode. A heart-wrenching trade could reasonably happen within the next couple years. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

But if it does, let’s not point fingers at Petrie, or any other GMs. Heisley is the one who forced the Gasol trade. The Grizzlies organization is not as interested in basketball as it is cash considerations. Just pray the Maloofs don’t learn how to do the Heisley trade/laundering thing.

I see this as not wanting to pay $3.6 million to move up a dozen slots in the draft. Think about it – Denver’s pick stands to be in the mid-twenties, while our 2nd round pick stands to be in the mid 30’s. Sometimes these deals look a lot better than they really are.

And I would say the Richmond for Webber deal was pretty heavily weighted in our favor, as was Williams for Bibby.

For the parenthetical slice of wit.