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Friday, May 27, 2005
Silk From A Sow's Ear

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. - Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption)

One of last season's priorities was to resign Mark Blount. How ironic that one of this season's priorities is to get rid of him. His value is at an altime low and he's got that pesky trade kicker that makes him even less attractive to potential trade partners, but I'm not giving up hope just yet.

The new CBA coming up that will likely see a reduced term for new player salaries. So I'm not even holding out hope that we'll be able to get a short deal in return for Mark, I don't think any other GM is really that dumb. Well, if anyone is that dumb its Isaiah. In which case, I like the Bill Simmons idea to sign and trade Walker and Blount to New York for Penny Hardaway's tasty expiring max contract. However, short of that, we'll likely have to take back an equally appauling contract.

Here are some players that I found that make similar numbers to Mark and might be a better fit than him:

Eric Snow (Cleveland): He's got virtually the same contract as Mark. With Silas gone, there's no telling where Eric stands in the eyes of the new regieme. However, if Big Z walks, there will be a hole in the middle that is not going to be filled by Diop. Maybe they'll trade small for big and see what happens. From our side, Eric steps right in to solve our veteran PG issue.
Probability: Low - Maybe a second rounder would help make Cleveland bite.

Derek Fisher (Golden St): Fisher signed basically the same contract as Blount this offseason then they turned around and traded for Baron Davis. Don't know why they would want to sink that much money into the PG position, so maybe they could be convinced to take our center. Hey, if they gave that money to underachieving Adonal Foyle, maybe they'd take Blount's contract too. Then again, once bitten, twice shy.
Probability: Low - Again, a second rounder might help.

Austin Croshere (Indiana): He's got only 2 years left on his contract, and is earning 8.9M next year, so its not an even match contract-wise. However, we could use our trade exception to make the salaries match in a trade. The rationale is that Dale Davis can't stick around forever and they'll need a center to play defense next to O'Neal. When properly motivated, Blount can do that. The catch? I don't think Indy would take all those extra years on his deal without something more than a 2nd rounder to sweeten the pot.
Probability: Really Low - I'm not in favor of giving up more than a 2nd rounder just to dump Blount for junk.

Calvin Booth (Milwaukee): Like Croshere, he's only got 2 years left, and its close enough to work out with trade exceptions. This idea actually came from Bucks fans who are looking to dump Calvin just like we are with Mark. Perhaps a change of scenery will do both of them some good. However, the same issues that Indy would have with Mark's contract length would also apply here. I think they'd want a young gun or draft pick to pull the trigger (and that's not happening).
Probability: Really Low - See above.

More ideas are welcome and I mostly focused on straight up deals here. I'm sure there are countless posibilities with package deals. He could be a throw-in to make salaries match on a max-type contract (if you are into that sort of thing). I just refuse to believe that it is impossible to move him.

Last I checked, he's still seven feet tall, and like a southpaw pitcher, that means he'll always have a job (well, that and his contract). He can play defense, he can average 10 points or more if given enough minutes, and he might even find that spark that earned him his payday at the end of the prior season. Nobody knows if he ever will, but its nice to know that he can. If you can find a GM to gamble on him, great. I just don't think he'll ever do those things again here in Boston. He's not motivated to perform in any way, shape or form. Get rid of him.

# posted by Jeff @ 5/27/2005 12:33:00 PM

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