Trade Drawer Feb 1 - Realistic Centers

Another month, another attempt to shore up the roster. KP has stated to no one's surprise that "big man" is the biggest need on this team right now if one should get addressed. A need for the rest of the season and especially to have a chance in the playoffs with both Greg and Joel out - and potentially as an alternative beyond that considering Greg's 1 for 3 healthy seasons so far and the uncertainty if Joel will come back to full form after an even more serious injury. Here are some that might work for both sides (and do work as the rosters are currently constructed under salary cap rules) in no order of preference. Cash, picks and draft rights might be added for some deals from either side to push a deal over the top.

1. Samuel Dalembert: Philadelphia trades Sam Dalembert and filler (e.g. Rodney Carney or Jason Smith because they have 14 players under contract) for Joel, Travis, Patty.

Why Portland does it: The Blazers get a legitimate 7-footer back who ranks in the top 20 among centers, can give you about 8 points and 8 to 9 rebounds in 25 minutes which is about what he could play even with a healthy Greg like Joel did now, is a strong shot blocker good for 1 to 2 per game, who also has some limited playoff experience and is a high character guy.

Why Philly does it: Philadelphia has been trying to get out from under Dalembert's deal for quite some time. He is clearly overpaid for what he does and is owed almost $13 million next season. They pay Elton Brand a boatload of money to be their go-to big man and know he is untradable with that deal. They have Marreese Speights as their 22 years old center in waiting, who already puts up better numbers than Dalembert in less minutes. And they won't make any noise in the playoffs even if they reach them. As for the players Portland sends out, Joel costs them half as much as Dalembert, Travis is expiring and until then they could use him as an additional wing off the bench once he gets healthy, and Patty is a nice filler with upside (they have Royal Ivey as the 3rd backup PG expiring, who has zero upside). And Philly instantly saves 2+ million this year.

Why it might not happen: Dalembert's contract expires after next season. They might think that since they now held onto him for so long, they might just as well ride it out with him and see if a team wants him at the next deadline as a trade chip.

2. Marcus Camby: This possibility has been rumored in the press. Camby's contract is expiring, so while he gets up there in years the Blazers might be interested in him as a stop-gap for the rest of the season and the Clippers might be interested to get a younger player out of him in return. Clippers and Blazers have a full roster, so both teams have to send the same number of players unless a third team gets involved.

Trade 1: Camby and filler (e.g. Steve Novak expiring) for Joel and Travis (expiring).

Trade 2: Camby and Brian Skinner (expiring) for Blake and Travis (both expiring).

Why Portland does it: Camby is a legitimate big man for the rest of the season who can play two positions if needed, is a very good weakside defender and shot blocker, and this seasons even has a higher PER than e.g. LaMarcus mostly thanks to his fantastic defensive rebounding rate (33%, 12 per game).

Why LA does it: They get younger players who they can try out, and the deal could be configured so that they lose nothing if it doesn't work out and just let them expire like they probably would with Camby.

Why it might not happen: Well, why really? Either because the Clippers like the depth Camby provides and still hope to make the playoffs (doubtful), or because the Blazers think they can make the playoffs without another big guy and/or are reluctant to give up anybody for a short-term solution.

3. Chris Kaman: This one sounds more out of left field, but Kaman might also be the player the Clippers want to send out. As said, Clippers and Blazers have a full roster, so both teams have to send the same number of players unless a third team gets involved.

Trade: Chris Kaman, Brian Skinner (expiring), Steve Novak (expiring) for Joel, Travis (expiring, maybe the Clippers would demand at least Martell instead), Jeff. The Blazers likely would also have to add other non-player assets here.

Why Portland does it: Kaman is putting up borderline All-Star numbers this season: 20, 9, 1. He's top 15 among centers in PER, he plays 36 minutes. He is 27. He would be a legitimate starter next to LaMarcus with Greg coming off the bench when returning from injury - or if anything goes wrong re Greg's future durability. If Greg is healthy, it could be considered the best low-post rotation in the league.

Why LA does it: Kaman's contract runs two more years, at $11.3 million and $12.2 million. That's quite a lot of money. More importantly, saving half of that if they only had to pay Joel would put the Clippers in an even better position to be a player for a true star in the free agency market this summer. Then they could have the room for a max player (they are at around $36 million in committed salary at this point for next year). They could also use a wing upgrade, with the wildly inconsistent and older than you would think Al Thornton (27) and rather-SGs Ricky Davis (blarg) and Rasual Butler currently as their best options there.

Why it might not happen: Kaman is good, so other teams could probably top such an offer from the Blazers. Since they have Eric Gordon, inserting a player like Rudy instead of a SF wouldn't really help to push this over the top. The Clippers depend on Kaman's production right now. So trading him would be an obvious signal to the fanbase that they are tanking the rest of the way this season.

4. Nazr Mohammed: The top center you have never heard about, or forgotten about since his time in Detroit. Well, he is very efficient this year (21.5 PER), although in limited minutes (avg. 16) but playing in 46 games so far.

Trade 1: Nazr Mohammed and D.J. Augustin (potentially Acie Law instead) for Travis, Steve, maybe Juwan OR Jeff (financially it would work without).

Trade 2: Nazr Mohammed and Derrick Brown (2011 unguaranteed) and maybe a draft pick for Steve, Juwan, Jeff.

Trade 3: Nazr Mohammed for Joel straight up. But that would make little sense especially financially for Charlotte.

Why Portland does it: Mohammed would be a solid addition to the rotation for the rest of the season. Like Joel, Mohammed has an Early Termination Option for the next season leaving $6.8 million on the table. And like Joel, he is unlikely to use it. That would make him a bit overpaid, but not grossly if he can sustain this performance in any shape or form, and he likely wouldn't complain about being only the 3rd option for one year once Greg and Joel could both return to action.

If the Blazers are lucky, they might even convince the Bobcats to give up one of their young backup PGs with D.J. Augustin or alternatively Acie Law. The former lottery picks seem to have fallen out of favor with their coaches and might benefit from a change of scenery. It not, their contracts soon run out (Law expiring, Augustin 1 year left with 2011/12 as a team option).

Why Charlotte does it: It is a cheap way for them to shed some salary (the owner is rumored to be looking for a buyer for quite a while). Charlotte is one of the few teams currently employing 4 centers (Chandler, Mohammed, Diop, Ajinca), with the addition of Boris Diaw being able to play it in a stretch like he did for Phoenix while Amare was out. Larry Brown likes veterans, similar to Nate I could see him really really like Steve Blake as part of his rotation. Weirder things have happened under Brown's tenure in Charlotte. Travis would give them a solid backup to both Wallace at 3 and Diaw at 4 for the rest of the season and potentially beyond.

Why it might not happen: Larry Brown wants to compete in the playoffs, and he's not completely in love with what Chandler has been bringing to the team. The Bobcats also might want to prefer giving up DeSagana Diop instead of Mohammed. That one is a no-go to me. Thanks to the "Mark Cuban big man retirement fund" he will roughly make $6.5, $6.9 and $7.4 million (player option) over the next 3 years of his contract. That's way too much for a player who has not scored more than 10 points in a game this season. Similarly I would not want to take on Alexis Ajinca. He once seemed to be a decent idea also as a companion to Nicolas and doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, but he turned out to not even make his d-league team better. The Bobcats so far were not ready to accept the "sunk costs" and picked up the next year of his rookie contract at $1.5 million, but that will likely be it unless he has a miraculous breakout.

4b) Another wrinkle could be Tyson Chandler (1 year left at $12.6 million if the does not opt out, which is likely) and Derrick Brown for Joel and Steve/Travis. But to this deal both sides could easily say no. Chandler is potentially much better than Mohammed, and 5 years younger, yet has been battling foot problems that made his performance drop. So currently he is overpaid for what he does right now.

5. Emeka Okafor: The man the Hornets swapped for Tyson Chandler with the Bobcats, which seemed like a pretty odd deal for both teams. Averaging 11, 10 and 1.7 this season (slightly below his career numbers).

Trade: Emeka Okafor and James Posey (or Mo Peterson) for Steve, Travis (alternatively Martell but not as financially attractive with the longer contract), Joel, Jeff.

Why Portland does it: Okafor can play both the 4 and 5 spots. He would be a long-term insurance for not only Greg but also LaMarcus. Having three legitimate big guys in or before their prime (Okafor is 27) would be a pretty potent rotation, a bit like what the Blazers tried by making the big contract offer to Millsap. While the discussion about drafting Okafor or Dwight Howard #1 seems a bit silly in retrospect the way things worked out, Okafor is by no means a bust but a strong defensive center who also brings more offensive firepower than Joel. Adding another veteran might be something Nate would like.

Why New Orleans does it: Okafor's contract is loooooong and expensive. He is owed about $53 million remaining after the current season until 2014. Shipping him out also would enable the Hornets to not have to offer David West for sale. Especially if they could bundle him with another pretty bad contract like Posey or Peterson. In this deal they would instantly save $2 million this season, and begin saving beaucoup bucks next season and ever since with the ability to bring back who they want out of those players.

Why it might not happen: Either team has reason to not do this deal. As long as both Greg and LaMarcus are healthy, having Okafor in addition could be considered overkill. And overpaying for a rotation that while strong is not really All-Star quality and with the potential for one player always being a bit disgruntled that he doesn't get as many minutes as he would like. For New Orleans, with Paul out and Okafor shipped out the season would pretty immediately go in the tank. Maybe not the signal they want to send to a fanbase that they are trying to keep fighting this year, and keep building for the future. In terms of saving money, they might be even more interested to bundle Okafor with Peja to save even more, and Portland can't do that. A team like Houston could by sending them T-Mac.

6. Brendan Haywood, DeShawn "LeBron stopper" Stevenson and Javaris "have gun, will travel but not play anymore in the NBA" Crittenton for Rudy, Nicolas and Joel Przy-filler to make the contracts match. Sure, Ernie Grunfeld, great to do business with you.

Why Portland does it: Haywood would be a nice addition for the rest of the season. And KP wanted to get slapped in a deal just to know how it feels. Sarge said it felt good launching into a shouting match with Andre just like in the old days, so he wants more of that.

Why Washington does it: Where do we sign? No, really, where?

Why it might not happen: Those minced oath Blazers and their fans overrating their young guys so much.