You knew this was coming, just thought I'd jump the gun on it. Let me preface it by saying a couple things. First off, the feasibility of this trade rests entirely on two assumptions: 1. Toronto continues to implode this year and misses the playoffs, causing Bosh to publicly say something about being traded or leaving in 2010, and 2. LMA manages to explode over the rest of the season, getting his number up to something like 20 and 8 (so he'll be more valuable to Toronto). Anything less than those two happening would make this pretty one-sided.
And now, the trade:
Portland gives:
LMA
Trout
Rudy
Pryzbila
Portland Receives:
Chris Bosh (obviously)
This trade would works under the salaries right now, but really only makes sense in the offseason. If need be, we could take back Kapono's salary as well with the cap space from RLEC and let Toronto cut off an overpaid guy.
So why would Toronto do it? If they miss the playoffs with this roster and there's a decent chance that Bosh could leave for nothing, they'd at least owe it to their fanbase to get something out of him. The dude is a top 2 or 3 PF in the league right now and a guaranteed 20/10. We saw how Orlando immediately went from title contender to mediocre after losing Shaq in FA, so this would allow them to at least get something out of him.
As far as the players concerned, if LMA does get his averages up there, he'd probably be considered just about at Al Jefferson's level of value when you factor in that he plays defense once in a while. He has a similar game to Bosh's, so Colangelo would probably be able to fit him into the system and he's a little younger and a whole lot cheaper after Bosh receives his next max extension.
Rudy would fill a gaping hole at SG for them (Parker's okay, but come on), plus he would probably be a little more valuable to them than most other teams since Calderon is at the point, kinda like we have with Sergio and Rudy now.
Trout gives them an athletic swing man who can play some offense, which they don't really have right now (Bargnani is kind of a mess and Moon is really just a hustle guy), and Joel gives them a legit center since they'd have a big man rotation of LMA, Bargnani and O'Neal at that point. Plus, if Kapono(or whoever) got added to the deal, they'd get cap space and a nice little trade exception similar to what we used to get James Jones.
From our end, really a no brainer. Bosh is only 24 and could not have a game more perfect to complement Oden. We'd be a little light up front, but that could be solved by either resigning Channing/Ike (we'd probably have to renounce their rights to begin with the make the trade, though), or finding a guy in the draft. Serviceable backup PFs are a dime a dozen near the end of the first and in the second where we'll probably be drafting, so we'd probably be looking at a guy like Hansbrough or James from Texas). Bosh showed in the Olympics that he can play some center, too, so that would mitigate losing Greg's main backup, and a combo of Bayless, Sergio, Blake and Batum/Webs would take over Rudy's minutes (fewer minutes of Roy playing the 1 or 3 and more of him just at the 2).
I know it's a ridiculous idea, but a guy can dream, and man, that would be a dominant lineup:
Blake/Sergio
Roy
Webster/Batum
Bosh
Oden


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