Update... RJ talks Stalled, Vince deal dead...

[nadroj117]

POSTED: Feb. 18 -- 8:58 p.m. ET



Carter
Chris Broussard: It looks like it's Portland or bust for Vince Carter, according to a person with knowledge of the trade talks surrounding New Jersey's star forward.

"It's looking like it's going to be head-to-head between Carter and Richard Jefferson," the person said. "I think Jefferson's going to be the one who goes to Portland."


While Carter may be the better player, Portland's concerned with Carter's age (he turned 32 last month) and the three years, $51 million left on his contract (though only $4 million of the $18 million in his final season is guaranteed).

The Nets have their own concerns about Carter's contract and that's why they've been shopping him. They've spoken with San Antonio, Houston and Dallas but nothing has come of those talks.

Discussions with San Antonio have broken down because the Spurs, while willing to part with Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto, are not willing to include Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill in the deal.

Houston would have traded Tracy McGrady for Carter, but McGrady's announcement that he'll have season-ending microfracture surgery killed those chances.

"There will be no Vince deal," another source close to the situation said, referring to the Rockets.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who since training camp have regretted signing Baron Davis to a five-year, $65 million deal, have tried to get involved, proposing a three-team move that would send Davis to Houston, McGrady to New Jersey and Carter to LA. But no one but the Clippers liked that deal.

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

As for Milwaukee's Jefferson, it's far from a done deal that he'll join the Blazers. The Bucks would love to send Jefferson to Portland in a deal that would bring back Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract, but another executive close to the talks said, "It's not dead but there's nothing happening right now."

The Bucks' talks with San Antonio about Jefferson have stalled as well.

Portland's telling teams it has 15 different players it can get for LaFrentz. But many executives around the league are skeptical, saying the Blazers like to talk about deals but are always hesitant to pull the trigger on anything significant.

[MarHill]

POSTED: Feb. 18 -- 8:58 p.m. ET



Carter
Chris Broussard: It looks like it's Portland or bust for Vince Carter, according to a person with knowledge of the trade talks surrounding New Jersey's star forward.

"It's looking like it's going to be head-to-head between Carter and Richard Jefferson," the person said. "I think Jefferson's going to be the one who goes to Portland."


While Carter may be the better player, Portland's concerned with Carter's age (he turned 32 last month) and the three years, $51 million left on his contract (though only $4 million of the $18 million in his final season is guaranteed).

The Nets have their own concerns about Carter's contract and that's why they've been shopping him. They've spoken with San Antonio, Houston and Dallas but nothing has come of those talks.

Discussions with San Antonio have broken down because the Spurs, while willing to part with Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto, are not willing to include Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill in the deal.

Houston would have traded Tracy McGrady for Carter, but McGrady's announcement that he'll have season-ending microfracture surgery killed those chances.

"There will be no Vince deal," another source close to the situation said, referring to the Rockets.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who since training camp have regretted signing Baron Davis to a five-year, $65 million deal, have tried to get involved, proposing a three-team move that would send Davis to Houston, McGrady to New Jersey and Carter to LA. But no one but the Clippers liked that deal.

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

As for Milwaukee's Jefferson, it's far from a done deal that he'll join the Blazers. The Bucks would love to send Jefferson to Portland in a deal that would bring back Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract, but another executive close to the talks said, "It's not dead but there's nothing happening right now."

The Bucks' talks with San Antonio about Jefferson have stalled as well.

Portland's telling teams it has 15 different players it can get for LaFrentz. But many executives around the league are skeptical, saying the Blazers like to talk about deals but are always hesitant to pull the trigger on anything significant.

I figured that NJ would want Mason and Hill because those are most attractive pieces the Spurs have outside the Big 3 and the Spurs don't want to give those players up.

[crc21209]

Hmmmm ok so lets say RJ goes to Portland....then since the Spurs do not wanna include Mason or Hill in the deal, offer NJ scraps AT THE DEADLINE, and end up getting VC for scraps. Not impossible, but improbable.

[crc21209]

If the Nets desperately wanna get rid of Carter, and Portland pulls the trigger on Jefferson, then the Spurs can possibly steal VC away with our scraps maybe, just maybe.

[xtremesteven33]

I just know that big time trades/signings are usually the ones that are never talked about.

Think about the Pau Gasol trade, the Corey Maggette signing, etc.

[MarHill]

If the Nets desperately wanna get rid of Carter, and Portland pulls the trigger on Jefferson, then the Spurs can possibly steal VC away with our scraps maybe, just maybe.

That would be a early, very early Christmas present!!

[holcs50]

Nothing is going to go down. The only one that interested me much anyways is if somehow we could've gotten sheed because he definitely could've put the spurs over the hump. Like the article said, teams want mason and hill and spurs aren't going to give them up so yea nothings gonna happen.

[crc21209]

You never know nowadays.....from the article:

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

So maybe the Spurs can pull off something consisting of Bowen, Oberto, and whatever else matches up salary wise to get VC. Anybody have any ideas of what we could offer along with Bowen and Oberto?

[Duncan2177]

Nothing is going to go down. The only one that interested me much anyways is if somehow we could've gotten sheed because he definitely could've put the spurs over the hump. Like the article said, teams want mason and hill and spurs aren't going to give them up so yea nothings gonna happen.

Well then the spurs are not going to win a championship plain and en simple, I hate to say it but its the truth.

[King]

Still a lot of time until the deadline. I'm sure teams are playing hardball. Things change in crunchtime.

[MarHill]

You never know nowadays.....from the article:

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

So maybe the Spurs can pull off something consisting of Bowen, Oberto, and whatever else matches up salary wise to get VC. Anybody have any ideas of what we could offer along with Bowen and Oberto?

Only Udoka, Vaughn, and the trade rights to Splitter...I think!

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

The Bucks got some more momentum in their quest to find some salary relief for Richard Jefferson Wednesday evening.

Sources say that the Bucks had discussions with the Cavs about a possible Jefferson for Wally Szczerbiak swap. The Cavs have gotten much more active over the past 48 hours making pitches to Washington for Antawn Jamison and the Clippers for Marcus Camby. However, the Wizards and Clippers have both given the Cavs the stiff arm.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...Roundup-090218

[Russ]

What about a big, though? Maybe one that wouldn't cost so much in return.

Keep your eye on the ball, Spurs.

[SouthTexasRancher]

You never know nowadays.....from the article:

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

So maybe the Spurs can pull off something consisting of Bowen, Oberto, and whatever else matches up salary wise to get VC. Anybody have any ideas of what we could offer along with Bowen and Oberto?

Could it be that Pop, RC & Holt are going after a trade with someone like

Tayshuan Prince who is just 28 years old? $9.5 mil/ 3 yr contract

13.7 ppg - 6.5 rpg - 3.3 apg and plays defense!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...?playerId=1724

OR

Richard 'Rip' Hamilton who is 31 years old. $10.8 mil/ 5 yr contract

17.5 ppg - 2.9 rpg - 3.6 apg

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...e?playerId=294

and not even have to give up Mason or Manu.

We give up Udoka, Vaughn, Finley, Bowen and either Oberto or Thomas and since the Pistons are several $ million above the limit and they could release one or more of the Spurs if Detroit is intent on clearing cap space and wanting to go younger. We'd get a guy who would easily fit into Pop's system and we'd hardly miss a beat by playoff time.

Course Detroit would most likely nix this trade in a heartbeat unless we give them Mason or possibly Hill. Finley might ok it since he is from that neck of the woods (around the bend in Melrose Park, Il.). Udoka is young. Vaughn could be a 12th man/player coach or use him as an assistant coach to clear more cap room. I doubt at Bowen's, KT's and Oberto's age they'd want to keep any or all, especially since each are in the $4mil. range, so we might get one of them back for one more playoff run.

One thing for sure is if Manu is gone for the season Pop & RC have to do some kind of trade unless they plan to tank the season and go for the Lottery, which I highly doubt.

According to ESPN's Trade Machine either trade would work.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine

On the other hand to get either Sheed or Vince Carter, we will have to give up too many players including Mason or Manu depending on which of the above trades we tried (Mason in the Sheed deal and Manu in the VC deal )which would be stupid at this point. But, if we stick with our present lineup, minus Manu, then we'll be up a creek without a paddle come playoff time. This team, even with a healthy Manu will have a difficult enough time when we go up against the Lakers. We would have to be totally healthy, playing at the top of our game and hope like we don't get refs like Joey 'The head' Crawford, which rest assured that Dip Stern will make sure Crawford officiates as many Spurs games as possible.

Then again knowing Pop keeps secrets as tight as Osama bin Laden keeps his present location from the rest of the world outside of the Taliban and al Qaeda, then we will likely see no trade at all or something off the wall like bringing DRob, Sean, Avery, The Iceman and Horry out of retirement and sending guys like Udoka to a new 'Z' League in Siberia.

[Duncan2177]

Nick Collison? Jeff Foster? Chris Kaman? Marcus Camby?

[crc21209]

If the Blazers get RJ, then that leaves VC to the Spurs if they wanna pull the trigger and counter the Nets with an offer without Mason and Hill, NJ desperately wants to get rid of him, why not?

[Holt's Cat]

So the commitment to Carter would be $37 mil? That's not that bad.

Mason was a great pickup and Hill's a nice prospect...but that doesn't strike me as the best reason to nix the deal. What are we waiting for? The future is now, unless TD plans to play until he's 40.

[MarHill]

If the Blazers get RJ, then that leaves VC to the Spurs if they wanna pull the trigger and counter the Nets with an offer without Mason and Hill, NJ desperately wants to get rid of him, why not?

Like I posted earlier...if the Spurs can get VC without giving up Mason and Hill that will be a very early Christmas present!!

[crc21209]

Heres the whole article:

POSTED: Feb. 18 -- 9:14 p.m. ET

Chad Ford: The Bucks got some more momentum in their quest to find some salary relief for Richard Jefferson Wednesday evening.

Sources say that the Bucks had discussions with the Cavs about a possible Jefferson for Wally Szczerbiak swap. The Cavs have gotten much more active over the past 48 hours making pitches to Washington for Antawn Jamison and the Clippers for Marcus Camby. However, the Wizards and Clippers have both given the Cavs the stiff arm.

Another source also confirmed that the Blazers did make a call to the Bucks to renew discussions of a possible Jefferson for Raef LaFrentz swap. The two teams had spoken on and off about a deal for several weeks but the Bucks hadn't heard from them in recent days.

The Blazers, as of this evening, were also still trying to find a way to put together a better package for Gerald Wallace after the Bobcats turned down an preliminary LaFrentz for Wallace offer earlier in the day. The Bobcats would still like the Blazers to take back Nazr Mohammed or to throw Nicolas Batum into a deal.

With so many parts, it looks like any Jefferson deal will likely go down to the trade deadline tomorrow.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...Roundup-090218

[MarHill]

So the commitment to Carter would be $37 mil? That's not that bad.

Mason was a great pickup and Hill's a nice prospect...but that doesn't strike me as the best reason to nix the deal. What are we waiting for? The future is now, unless TD plans to play until he's 40.

Mason fits well into the Spurs system..even better than expected and Hill has been the back-up PG they've been looking for since Speedy Claxton.

I can see why the Spurs FO don't want to give up those guys and lose some depth in the back court especially after last season.

[ploto]

Nick Collison? Jeff Foster? Chris Kaman? Marcus Camby?

Jeff's hurt. His back is acting up again.

[crc21209]

Well BOTH VC and RJ are playing tonight for their respective teams, does that mean they dont get traded, or does the night before the deadline not matter?

[Manufan909]

VC justs costs too much for RC to ok that. Come on, Camby!!!

[SenorSpur]

While Carter may be the better player, Portland's concerned with Carter's age (he turned 32 last month) and the three years, $51 million left on his contract (though only $4 million of the $18 million in his final season is guaranteed).

With current age of the Spurs roster, his age is something THEY should be concerned about too.

The Nets have their own concerns about Carter's contract and that's why they've been shopping him. They've spoken with San Antonio, Houston and Dallas but nothing has come of those talks.

Discussions with San Antonio have broken down because the Spurs, while willing to part with Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto, are not willing to include Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill in the deal.

That's a big relief.

If Carter doesn't go to Portland, will the Nets send him wherever they can?

"I'd be surprised if they did a straight salary dump, but at the end of the day that might be best for their organization," said one source.

I believe so. Personally, I believe the Nets to be a very desparate seller. Remember, the Nets are vying to be a big player in the supposed LeBron 2010 sweepstakes. (he's not leaving Cleveland, but I digress.). They absolutely MUST clear cap space. All the Spurs need to do is wait them out until the deadline. Maybe they can get one of those types of Xmas gifts that the Fakers got from Memphis last year and that the Thunder received from the Hornets on Tuesday.

The Bucks' talks with San Antonio about Jefferson have stalled as well..

Spurs should wait them out too. Milwaukee wants to dump salary very badly. Unless Portland or Cleveland gets them before the Spurs, the Spurs should be ble to squeeze them as the deadline approaches.

Portland's telling teams it has 15 different players it can get for LaFrentz. But many executives around the league are skeptical, saying the Blazers like to talk about deals but are always hesitant to pull the trigger on anything significant.

With Pritchard's inflated ego, it should come as no surprise that the Blazers are mostly talk.

I still believe all this chatter is a big ol' smokescreen. CIA Pop and the Spurs will spring another "surprise" trade from under the table.

[crc21209]

Man I hope the Spurs pull off something without giving away any important pieces....VC or Jefferson for scraps would be a dream.