Darko deal almost done

[1Parker1]

Yep. Francis to New York makes Nelson the starter, and Arroyo the backup!

Francis to NY? Then they'd have Marbury and Francis sitting on the bench? That would mean a third team may be involved in that trade.

Although I wouldn't be suprised if Francis gets traded to NY...that team is built on over-inflated players with over-inflated salaries greater than their worth. He'd fit right in

[ploto]

Darko is going to develop into more of player than people think. He got drafted by the wrong team.

[timvp]

I wouldn't be shocked to see Dumars snag Earl Watson from Denver. They gave him a pretty decent sized contract because they thought Andre Miller was going to Boston. Now they have a ton of money stuck in 3 PGs. They may want to get rid of that contract, and essentially just erase that mistake. It could be something like Watson and Lenard (filler) for Cato and the T-Wolves pick.

That would give the Pistons a great bench trio of Watson, Delfino, and McDyess. Then throw in Hunter, Dale Davis, and Maurice Evans and that bench is looking pretty damn good. As it is I've always thought the bench was just a PG away from putting it all together.

Watson to Detroit? They are shedding money, not taking more on.

Plus, Denver has much better offers on the table.

[WalterBenitez]

And he must change his working ethics ass well.

One thing links to another, TP under Larry Brown's hands would have some difficult moments, instead of that POP decided to develop the kid and now he's an All Star.

Don't forget he was a teen ager, from Europe (I mean foreigner), selected #2 ... you expect to play, instead of that you live in a doghouse, treated of asshole in public, wow ...

Since Flip arrived, looks different, I think Flip don't trust in Darko's working ethic, that's too bad for Darko, but anyway Orlando will be a new begining

[Sec24Row7]

Actually darko is a euro

Detriot owes orlando a good deal after orlando traded them Wallace.

Dunno though, in the times I have seen Darko play, it looks like he doesn't have any desire to win at all.

I hope LB didn't ruin him.

[DarkReign]

With Steve Franchise being rumored to NY (with Orlando's potential glut of PGs), and rumor has it that Arroyo and Darko to Orlando...

I see a 3 team deal. I have no idea what would be returned to Detroit beyond Cato and a 1st pick. But it just seems too impossible that the amount of $$ moving between Orlando and NY wouldnt involve a 3rd team. Seeing as Detroit and Orlando are already in talks, seems obvious.

Pure speculation. A quick check of NYs roster bears no fruit for me either.

[Pistons < Spurs]

DARKO, ARROYO UPDATE...

The deal that will send Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic to Orlando for Kelvin Cato (and his expiring contract) and a first round draft pick is on the Magic right now. The Pistons have signed off on the deal, and are waiting to hear back from Orlando regarding the draft pick.

Detroit wants it to be a top-10 selection, while the Magic front office is deciding whether to give up this year's pick, or offer Detroit their 2007 first round pick.

If they offer the 2007 pick, that could blow up the entire deal. Detroit knows Orlando's pick in June will be a lottery pick, so that's the one they want. And considering they're giving up a former No. 2 pick and the backup point guard to the team with the league's best record, they want to make the draft pick as potentially high in the lottery as possible.

I spoke with a league official a few minutes ago who said the deal could be done as soon as today, but a lot right now depends on the Magic and how quickly (or willingly) their front office can reach a consensus on what to do.

This whole situation illustrates how Joe D. and company have it so much better than a lot of front office executives. Team owner Bill Davidson has an unbelievable amount of trust in Joe and his ability to make sound basketball decisions, and allows Joe to make these type of decisions without having to go through a lot of the red tape a lot of other GM-types have to do.

[ajh18]

With Steve Franchise being rumored to NY (with Orlando's potential glut of PGs), and rumor has it that Arroyo and Darko to Orlando...

I see a 3 team deal. I have no idea what would be returned to Detroit beyond Cato and a 1st pick. But it just seems too impossible that the amount of $$ moving between Orlando and NY wouldnt involve a 3rd team. Seeing as Detroit and Orlando are already in talks, seems obvious.

Pure speculation. A quick check of NYs roster bears no fruit for me either.

What about Francis for Malik and QRich? Let Orlando rebuild with Jameer Nelson at the point and with Arroyo as a backup, Hill, Richardson and Turkoglu platooning at the 2 and 3, and Howard, Darko, and Malik in the post. They'll struggle for a year or two, maybe pick up a good pick in the lottery after next year (since the Pistons look to be getting this year's), and benefit from the mentoring of Rose and Hill. Bring over Vazques and that's a good, young, athletic team to build on for the future.

[angel_luv]

I really like the idea of Malik in Orlando.

I've thought that for a few months now but didn't know if a trade to do that was possible.

[T Park]

Orlando wouldn't want another broken down diminishing skills forward in Malik.

Orlando would be smart if they traded Francis to New York, to ask for

Jamal Crawford, David Lee, and Jerome James.

[angel_luv]

Malik has heart and talent. I think he just needs to get situated in the right role on the right team.


Hedo is a great example of that. He did good here, but now that he's found his niche in Orlando, Hedo's playing awesome.

[ajh18]

The reason you do Malik instead of James is that his contract is 2 years shorter. It saves the Magic 13 million to take malik instead, and resigning Darko, Howard, etc is going to require that money down the road. Also, while Malik is no nba starter at this point, if we're honest, Jerome James isn't either. You don't want that contract on the books long-term, and his playing time is better served going to Darko and Howard. Build around those two and Vazques in the post.

Crawford vs Richardson is a tossup. I went with Richardson because he is more of a pure swingman, while Crawford is more a hybrid point/shooting guard. Hill has hinted at retiring, and I think QRich could fill that spot well down the road. That's just a personal preference though.

Oh, and I would MUCH rather have Malik's work ethic rub off on my young players than Jerome James'.

[T Park]

Yeah lets hope the Magic players could perfect the pulling the jersey over th ehead instead of getting back on defense move.

Malik has heart and talent

Heart yes.

Talent? No, never, and if he did, its gone now.

If he did, he wouldn't be a 8 million dollar 13th man in New York.

THAT SIMPLE.

[T Park]

BTW, doing James instead of Rose is a favor to the Knicks.

So you can get a talented big in David Lee, and a good SG/PG in Jamal Crawford.

Gotta take to get.

[FreshPrince22]

Watson to Detroit? They are shedding money, not taking more on.

Plus, Denver has much better offers on the table.

1st, the deal is for the pick. Shedding salary is secondary.
2nd, Shipping out Arroyo and Darko and getting Watson back still sheds Arroyo's 4 million per year deal.

[ABDENOUR POWER]

I already made a thread about this.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

DarkNooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Ok, don't really care about Darko, but what does JoeD have up his sleeve to replace Arroyo(is he still dribbling?)

Please don't be Spree. Please don't be Spree...

BTW, sources say the deal is done for Cato and a 2007 1st...

[angel_luv]

Poor Darko. The Finals this year won't be the same without our good ol victory cigar.


At least Darko and Carlos can start over together ( as opposed to getting shipped out alone.

I don't want the Spurs to have any package deals though- I want to keep everybody.

[CharlieMac]

I can't believe the Pistons are giving up on him. After all the talk about how he was as good as LeBron but just didn't get enough playing time, they trade him for Cato? Pretty damn funny.

Cato is pretty good at guarding Shaq and the Pistons get rid of Arroyo and his contract. So it's not all bad for the Pistons. But I remember a time Darko was supposed to be the white David Robinson.

God damn. Have you held on to him since I made you those offers at the beginning of the season?

[Pistons < Spurs]

Poor Darko. The Finals this year won't be the same without our good ol victory cigar.