I'm putting in a new thread for the Zach trade so it doesn't get shuffled in with the ongoing draft.
Here's the deal:
Zach, Dickau, and Fred Jones to New York for Channing Frye and Steve Francis.
I'll comment more after the draft.
FYI if you're thinking contract buyout, the official rule is that the team and player can negotiate a buyout. It's up to them how much it's for. The buyout amount agreed upon counts against the cap. If Francis is willing to take a lot less money then a buyout makes sense. Otherwise there's little difference between buying him out or having him on the team. Well...except for the locker room cancer thing.
PLease guys...there's GOT to be a part B to this trade, right????? Help me figure it out.
OK...upon reflection here's the peace I've come to with this. We're going to buy out Francis' contract. It won't save us much money but it will save us some. He'll never put on a Portland uniform. I haven't checked the cap ramifications two years down the road yet because I'm updating the draft continually. I'll look it up later. This has to be it, right?
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)