The Unbalanced Trade - Gerald Wallace thread got me thinking about some things if we want to make a move now. It seemed we had to give up our young talent to make the numbers work. But what if we didn't? How could it be done?

This is an exercise in how the Blazers could use their cap space now instead of waiting for the trade deadline. Some numbers are so tight that a change in the salary cap figure even by .5 million could sink it.

I went for players that this board (for the most part) agrees might be available (hence no Chris Paul or LeBron). I also excluded Battier from Houston (except for McGrady, they have pretty reasonable contracts), and Harris from NJ (they are already well under the cap for 2010, why would they move a top-flight PG?)  I'm not advocating either of the scenarios below, this is just an exercise. However, this is also realistic way of how to manipulate the cap (and its rules) to our benefit.

A tip of the cap to Storyteller's excellent site for the numbers!

Here we go...

Scenario One (Portland – Charlotte, Portland – Chicago)

Step 1:

The cap is set at 57 million.

The Blazers renounce the Euros.

This puts them 8.7 million under the cap.

Step 2:

Travis Outlaw ($3.6 million)

Steve Blake ($4 million)

$3 million in cash

Unprotected 1st round pick 2010 + 2nd round pick 2010

for

Gerald Wallace ($9.5 million)

DeSagana Diop ($6 million)

Dontell Jefferson ($.735 miilion)

Sean Singletary (.166 million)

Analysis: Charlotte gets a ton of cap relief, cash, picks, and two cheap vets with expiring contracts. This leaves the Blazers 100,000 over the cap, which is the maximum allowable for a team under the cap making a trade.

Step 3:

Wait 2 months.

Step 4:

Joel Pryzbilla ($6.85 million)

Dontell Jefferson ($.735 million)

Sean Singletary ($.166 million)

The rights to Victor Claver

for

Kirk Hinrich (9.5 million)

Because both teams are over the cap, the salaries must be within 125% (they are). Analysis: Chicago gets a great center to backup and mentor Noah plus the rights to a top Euro prospect (I believe we were drafting for Chicago all along). Portland can now sign Roy and LMA to extensions as well as its 2nd round picks.

Out: Blake, Outlaw, Pryz

In: Hinrich, Wallace, Diop

Scenario Two: (Portland – Charlotte)

Step 1:

The cap is set at 57 million.

The Blazers do not renounce the Euros.

This puts them 7 million under the cap.

Step 2:

Sign Ramone Sessions as an RFA for $6/$6.5/$8 million over 3 years. This is probably the best offer he’ll get that’s higher than mid-level, and high enough that Milwaukee won’t match it. Portland is $1 million under the cap.

Step 3:

Sign Pendergraph for $1.5 million. Portland goes over the cap.

Step 4:

Travis Outlaw ($3.6 million)

Steve Blake ($4 million)

Joel Pryzbilla ($6.85 million)

$3 million in cash

Unprotected 1st round pick 2010 + 2nd round pick 2010

For

Gerald Wallace ($9.5 million)

DeSagana Diop ($6 million)

Because both teams are over the cap, the salaries must be within 125% (they are). Analysis: Charlotte gets a ton of cap relief, cash, picks, and two cheap vets with expiring contracts. Joel has a player option for next year but his salary isn’t much more than Diop’s and is much shorter in length. Portland can now sign Roy and LMA to extensions as well as its 2nd round picks.

Out: Blake, Outlaw, Pryz

In: Sessions, Wallace, Diop

I'm afraid it's either the young ones (Batum, Bayless, Rudy) or Pryz (as the biggest salary) that are the key to making things work. Choose your poison. These are just a couple of ways we can use our cap space. Again, I'm not advocating these; however, waiting until the trade deadline, when teams know KP is desperate to "use it or lose it" might not be the best option. On the other hand, bad financials (and a team in the tank) 6 months from now may force a move and with open cap space Portland would be the best partner.

We've talked about how it's not likely NO would take LMA for Paul, but what about Oden? The actual deal would be Chandler and Paul for Oden, Outlaw, Blake, and Bayless. Despite Paul's poison pill contract, the salaries match up pretty well and would have little impact on this year's cap space. They might want Rudy or Batum instead of Bayless though. NO could save money by cutting Blake and Outlaw, or could keep them. All the players going to them are young (except Blake) with cheap contracts.

You'd have to make the following assumptions:

1. NO is in cost-cutting mode.

2. Greg Oden is still a highly sought-after commodity.

3. Pryz and Chandler could co-exist without fist fights.

4. You still have cap space to sign 1 backup PG & Patty Mills.

5. NO would still be able to draw fans using Oden's name instead of Paul's.

That's a lot of assumptions, and it likely has no chance. But would you do it if NO was willing?

What if instead you send Chandler to Minnesota, Rubio-Blake-Outlaw-Rudy to NO, and Paul and bad Minnesota contract & future first rounder to us? We keep Oden, & NO gets Rubio & Rudy as their marketing stars. Minnesota gets a true center & gets a bad contract off the books for a redundant PG (Flynn is their guy) & a future pick. If you could get the numbers to work, would you do that?

While everyone is stressing out over Miller, Hinrich, Kidd, Sessions, Blake, etc., why not solve our PG problem by sliding Roy over to point and signing Kobe?

What do we look for in a PG? Penetration and drawing fouls - Roy can do that. Outside shooting? Yep, he can do that too. Defense? Well, that's not his calling card but he isn't worse than Blake. Assists? He already does that as a SG!

Kobe is likely to opt out of his contract. Would he take $12 million/year to play for the Blazers? Doubtful, but I thought I read somewhere that Portland can get further under the cap by renouncing Blake and Outlaw's team options.

There are some things in Portland's favor:

1. A good, young team that could challenge for a ring if Kobe signs. Think about it - the biggest hurdle in the WC is the L*kers, and they've just lost the heart of their team if Kobe goes to the Blazers.

2. Phil is just about ready to hang it up. If not this year, then next. What does Kobe do after that? Will Rambis or Shaw take the L*kers to the championship? If he signs a long-term deal with the L*kers, he has no control over his future. Right now is the only control he has.

3. Kobe has a lot of respect for Nate and has praised him on multiple occasions. He might like playing for him.

You don't have to worry about Roy carrying the scoring load anymore, either.

A lot of people don't like Kobe.  I get that. I dislike the L*kers more.  It would be so cool to take them down a notch by  stealing their best player. They would hate us forever! What an awesome rivalry  that would be!

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/57216/20090213/kerr_to_replace_porter_as_head_coach/#

"Meanwhile, according to a Phoenix source, Porter will be replaced by Kerr, who recently completed a crash correspondence coaching course taught by McHale and Tony DiLeo."

It's Vescey, so take it with a grain of salt.

Still, if it's true, how sad for TP. Just one bad situation after another.

Maybe they aren't trading Amar'e after all. Reports were that he was not a fan of Porter's system. Instead of having a fire sale, they might have decided to keep him around...

The Kings have been playing so-so lately, losing to Memphis but coming up with a victory at New Orleans (we know how that turned out for us). Spenser Hawes has been getting some run and Quincy Douby has not, while John Salmons is playing out of his mind. Theus and the Maloofs have traded barbs in public...

Here some articles you may want to check out to educate yourself on what's going on with the Kings...

What has made the Kings successful so far

Maloofs Rip Theus

Theus responds

Quincy Douby: no Brandon Roy-like Heroics

Hollinger: Hawes higher than Rudy as early season surprise

Kevin Martin's agent now King's Assistant GM

Sac Bee: Kings are hurting, Blazers are good

RealGM Kings vs Blazers thread (Kings PoV)

I'll post more updates as the day progresses.

Tom Ziller is one the top bloggers in the Milky Way. Enjoy!

Welcome to the first Sacramento Kings Ambassador Report, just in time for tonight's pre-season throwdown. Dave's previews haven't hit the Western Conference yet, so I'll steal a little bit of his thunder and bottle some of his lightning to give you a peek at the Kings.

First let's start with some background. The Kings recorded their second straight losing season after making the playoffs back in 2005-06. They charged hard at the end of last season and finished 1 spot behind the Blazers at 38-44. The Kings were lead by rising star Kevin Martin, who averaged team highs of 23.7 point/game (on 45.6% shooting) and 36.3 minutes/game, and the workhorse Brad Miller, who averaged 9.5 rebounds and 1.03 blocks/game. The Kings made a big mid-season trade, sending Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Sheldon Williams, Anthony Johnson, and Lorenzon Wright.

It was a busy off-season for the Kings. Ron Artest flirted with opting out, then chose to stay, then immediately regretted it, while letting the whole world know as the drama unfolded. Artest was finally dealt to the Rockets for youth and expiring contracts. Beno Udrih was courted by Golden State, but ended up staying with the Kings. SAR retired, and Francisco Gargia was given a contract extension. Fan favorite Bobby Jackson returned to the team. During the draft, the Sactown Royalty site imploded when the Kings, instead of making a move for a young PG, seemingly reached by drafting Jason Thompson, although some experts were ok with the pick. Lately the attention has been on the Spencer Hawes show.

Despite the off-season turmoil, the mindset at Sactown Royalty is now cautiously optomistic, flying in the face of most expert predictions that they will be, well, not very good. Considering they finished last season with 38 wins, without Bibby and Artest (for most of the season), you can see why they might be optimistic. They have talented guards, Miller at center, and a serviceable SF in John Salmons. However, their PF and bench are big question marks, and they are one Kevin Martin injury away from serious trouble.

According to Sactown Royalty, Martin and Miller will not play tonight (and possibly Quincy Douby as well), so don't read too much into a win if it happens. So far, no gameday preview or open game thread yet (I'll update if they post something), and their fanposts have been pretty quiet for the last month, compared to the explosion we've had here at Blazers Edge.

Thanks for reading my first ambassador post!

Update:  Ziller's take on tonight's game...

2nd Update:  Sacramento Bee on Portland and Sacramento rebuilding efforts...

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/121574310374440.xml&coll=7

"There was style, substance and intrigue during the opening practices of the Trail Blazers' summer league team on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Style was provided by lottery pick Jerryd Bayless who had Blazers veteran Travis Outlaw and the rest of the gym buzzing after he drove through traffic and dunked high and hard, then followed it up with a delicate teardrop shot in the lane.

"Dang! Did you see how high he got?" Outlaw squealed from the sideline after Bayless dunked. Moments later, after the high-arcing shot in the lane, Outlaw remained impressed. "And he's got the touch, too."

The substance was provided by first-round pick Nicolas Batum, the 19-year-old small forward from France. A noted defender, Batum raised the eyebrows of Blazers coaches and management with his offensive game during the first two practices.

"If I was going to say there was a guy who kind of opened our eyes the first two days, it's Batum," general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "He's making shots and making plays for other people. We know what he can do defensively -- he's going to be a good defender. But he looks comfortable out there already."

Good Stuff!

So it's draft day and the Blazers are drafting #13, right about the middle of the pack (let's ignore the #27 for the moment). We really should have just a few things to talk about - I mean we're not in the top 5 or even top 10. But look at the buzz on BE!

I was looking around SB Nation for other team's info and noticed a trend. Let's look at the 25 latest fan posts on other SB Nation blogs:

Green Bandwagon: 24/25 fanposts 6+ days old, most # of comments=7

Blog-a-bull (#1 pick!): 16/25 fanposts 2+ days old, most # of comments=229

Mavs Moneyball: 23/25 fanposts 6+ days old, most # of comments=32

Golden State of Mind: 12/25 fanposts 2+ days old, most # of comments=44

Indy Cornrows: 18/25 fanposts 3+ days old, most # of comments=22

Clips Nation: 23/25 fanposts 3+ days old, most # of comments=33

Brew Hoop: 25/25 fanposts 8+ days old, most # of comments=19

Canis Hoopus: 24/25 fanposts 2+ days old, most # of comments=12

At the Hive: 1 fanpost

Posting and Toasting: 24/25 fanposts 5+ days old, most # of comments=13

Third Quarter Collapse: 24/25 fanposts 7+ days old, most # of comments=22

Bright Side of the Sun: 22/25 fanposts 2+ days old, most # of comments=31

Sactown Royalty: 18/25 fanposts 2+ days old, most # of comments=33

Pounding the Rock: 24?25 fanposts 6+ days old, most # of comments=36

SLC Dunk: 11/12 fanposts 6+ days old, most # of comments=21

Bullets Forever: 21/25 fanposts 6+ days old, most # of comments=77

And now Blazer's Edge: 39 posts within the last 2 days, most # of comments=117

No other site is talking about the draft like we are, although Chicago comes close. While Dave might argue that it is better to be talking about playoffs instead of drafts (and I agree), you still have to realize that we are picking 13. It's not like the Blazers have an early lottery pick...

We'd probably have more comments on posts if they stayed longer on the front page and there wern't so many rumours floating around.

For a team drafting in the middle of the pack, once again KP has this place buzzing. It's very likely that we are also the best fans in the NBA...