I think the Kings may not be able to dump Thomas & Artest and get Wright in return.

I think the key quote is here...

...particularly if he could get the Bibby/Artest deals pulled off beforehand. It would make dumping Miller very easy.

If Artest & Bibby are shipped out, I also think it would be easier to trade Miller without getting "talent" back (i.e. in a salary dump).

As I've said before, just getting out from under Miller's contract doesn't excite me, but I'd be ok with it.

The Spurs would prefer a useable big (K-9, actually), over Shreefs ended season/career, as they'd need that extra big.

Otherwise, that works very well for them.

San Antonio is taking this deal. Why would they want Salmons? Remember, he's doesn't want to come off the bench because he averaged 20 points for the first seven games of the season. The guys you have them giving up play vital roles (you might remember a certain 3-ball by Barry?), although they definitely need to improve on Vaughn.

Of course, maybe you can pass some of your glue over to the Spurs brass and then they'll see it your way.

This is not a legitimate trade.

I'd do that. Without thinking twice.

Thats a good deal for the magic.

Only trouble might arise is that this would force SVG to play JJ Redick more, which he has clearly said he doesn't prefer. I personally think the kid will do well.

Another thing to consider is that the Magic are looking for another distributor, what with SVG saying that Hedo is the "only one who creates shots for other guys" [not actual quote, couldn't find source - it was definitely on ESPN at some point].

Same deal I proposed a couple days ago. Exactly. Bad idea then, though, as I recall.

But if they kept Martin & Hawes, 2-3 impact free agents could make this team a legitimate contender in a couple of years.

As they're built now . . . they're just not.

Don't spend your time criticizing me when you don't read the things I write. I already wrote why those players would be acquired. I wrote why. I wrote what the plan could be if you did that. If you don't like it fine, but don't sit here & say that the Kings didn't acquire All-Stars in the deals I came up with. They don't have that kind of talent to do so. I don't care if you don't agree. You don't need to point it out to begin with. I already understand it. I just don't agree. And nothing you're going to say will make me agree. Don't you have glue to sniff or crack to burn?

This isn't the "wish" list of players in the Free Agency Market I would like. The NBA isn't that simple, or that cut & dry, or that easy to pull off, or any number of metaphor's/cliche's/idea's you come up with.

...if money was no object?

PG - Calderon
SG - Arenas
SF - Marion
PF - Brand
C - ?

I don't know off-hand who the best FA center will be, but the above 4 are pretty impressive.  I suppose you could move Brand to the 5 and have Artest & Marion play the forward positions.

And I know you like Ron-Ron.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused here - at this point I'm completely lost as to what you're using these facts as evidence for in your arguments. I'm not trying to attack this, I'm just asking... why did you bring it up?

This may be a result of my misinterpretation of the overall point your making.

I was under the assumption that you were trying to make a point about there not being any high-level talent available in Free Agency, so I took your bait and listed the "2008 Free Agent All-Stars".

I don't see the Kings getting any of those guys (even if they had the cap room), because none of them would probably even WANT to come to Sacramento at this point.

I've stated this before, I agree that we need to dump as much of the salary bloat as possible (even Miller, although I wouldn't be excited if he was the only salary we dumped).

Your comments about giving the team a chance at the playoffs this year at the expense of possibly getting value for Artest/Bibby (mostly Artest), and your pendulum swing to even dumping KEVIN MARTIN(!) of all people is what makes it hard to know where you stand at any given point.

There is probably 30 or so worthwhile comments. That is to be commended. And thanx.

Actually I'm not alone in thinking you're inconsistent. Iashwash, who said nothing about you personally, said the same thing.

Well you are a big reason for that. You didn't help it with the disjointed way you post things. Most other people, even if they don't know how to use HTML, have figured out quickly to hit "reply to this". That's one of the many advantages of the SBN format Coolcat. You yourself know how to use it. You just didn't always choose to use it. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks at others.

So it's playoffs or bust until the right timeframe comes and goes? Sir your academics are divisive and polemic. I frankly find it boring. I just wish you didn't say one thing like "make the playoffs" then dump every young player to sign stars in the off-season.

Dude, whose really against winning rings? You gotta make the playoffs first don't you? And since when has a team been able to sign stars galore in the current salary cap age (post 99)? Dude you don't know what you're talking about. I'll prove it.

Okay first off you clearly know little about the salary cap. In the NBA, not in fantasy land, you have to deal WITH the salary cap. It's the way it is. Kevin Martin is a Poison Pill Provision (PPP) player which means that his trade value is averaged against the balance of his future contract and his this season (4 million dollars or there about--maybe 4.5 actually). He becomes a Base Year Compensation (BYC) which takes half of your contract value as your trade worth. In other words the player that the franchise inked to a 55 million dollar extension has a trade value of 4-5 million dollars this season & next. Not exactly the best time to trade him.

Great I got an idea. Let's sign us Gilbert Arenas (even though we have Kevin and as a guard is a great scorer despite lowish usage rates) because the fans need to be involved again. Let's sign Elton Brand, with his career playoff participation numbering one (and counting--although he can't blamed for this season) and 2 teams over 500 in his entire career (sorry Clipper Steve--I'm not a big Brand guy), and let's keep blank Center here, oh wait he's not worth keeping. Let's just get rid of everybody for every reason. Let's forget the fact that Shawes didn't have a training camp, and makes less than 2.5 million dollars, and Garcia in his 3rd season makes less than 2 million, as does Martin in his 4th season making less than 2 million. Coolcat most of the roster is young and cheap already. What you have is a very inflated group of veteran worth that needs to be dumped. That is what this diary was partly about.

For somebody who clearly said he read what I wrote you don't really seem to show much inclination for reading comprehension. That is only PARTLY what I said. Partly what I said is that the team needs is cap space to re-sign Beno, or pursue Calderon if that even exists, and create room for Kevin's extension because he's all for intents & purposes un-tradeable (not a bad thing). You don't trade rising all stars who are cheap. That is one definition of stupid. (And another defintion of being eligible to be fired on the spot.)

I came up with this diary because I think Reggie needs a chance to coach young players & mold them. Salmons was terrific on 2 ends of the court, and TZ mentioned this in his preview of the Sonics-Kings game the other night, but Miller had little effect on Salmons & Garcia's games (another amazing thing about his Roland rating being high this season). I think this team needs a chance to evaluate all pieces of young talent this year & beyond. I agree that untouchable is too often used about every player on the roster. I just don't see where the point is about moving Hawes before knowing what he can do. That's true of Douby, and Garcia & Salmons to the extent they get consistent time to succeed in what they do best, along with giving Reggie the roster he knows he's going to finish the season with. I also touched on it briefly, but I think it would give a great opportunity for Petrie to shut the Maloof's out of the evaluation process as he knows infinitely more about the evaluation process. (Side Note: Otis this is why I give alot of crap to the Maloof's. I wasn't always able to succinctly communicate it, but I think the one area that hasn't suffered over the last few years is in young player talent evaluation; an area the Maloof's have no way of entering. It's everywhere else that has suffered. My feeling is that if you shed many of these vet's like Artest & Bibby & Thomas you see a portion of their basketball decision power cut off at the knees. Or that's my hope anyway. Side note over.)

Coolcat the most frustrating thing is that you criticize others in their less than perfect moments, but continue with the premise of yours as if there is some big difference. Frankly you proceed as if the salary cap is as simple as dumping players. If it was that simple Kevin McHale could have brought a championship to Minnesota with KG retiring there. McHale can evaluate talent. He just can't work around the salary cap very well.

Let's talk about the Spurs for a moment. Iashwash had a great link in his diary about cap space. I think there is a great point about how you acquire all-stars. Half of them are DRAFTED or you trade for them. But when you trade for them it costs you more.

Let's look at how the Spurs acquired their core:

Duncan: 1st overall pick of the 97 draft (and everyone had said every year in the previous 2 he would have been the 1st overall pick including the hellaciously incredible 96 draft)
Parker: 28th overall pick in 2001
Ginobili: 57th overall pick in 1999

Hmmm that seems to me that the Spurs managed to acquire players by signing them to big contracts by getting so far under the cap. (Actually what the Spurs did was sign Ginobili before Parker's extension kicked in so they could fit his contract under the cap by keeping enough salary reserve space at that time, which is something Golden State didn't do with Arenas, so they could sign Manu. There isn't a franchise more adept at getting total value out of a player than the Spurs in any league. Maybe the Patriots, but it's close.) I don't really get it and I mean that. The evidence supports trading (at worst) or drafting all-stars. Not signing them with cap room.

Coolcat stop with this contradictory nonsense. It's really tiresome. You don't need to spark conversation here. There are plenty of people who do that already (leaving myself out of the equation--I don't always--some of my better things I feel get ignored because of the length of the posts). I don't mind a soapbox every now & again, but I do mind when people such as yourself become inappropriate. Keep it in mind in the future please.