Pelicans finalizing trade for Asik

[Rafa Brazil]

Looking at the big picture, we've done a lot with a little, Asik by himself is a wonderful get. I also believe that keeping what worked out for us is as important as adding new pieces to the team. Hope Morrow is still in our plans.

[Tin_Food]

Thought TD meant the triple-doubles he had hahaha

I thought it meant Tim Duncan, and then there were 3 or 4 and I was like why are there so many Tim Duncans? What is going on.

[UNO Gracias]

I suspected Parsons would get a max deal back in April, and I had a feeling Gortat would get a lot of cash, but the Hayward thing is more a head scratcher, and and proof that you don't have to be a business mind to be a gm. Some of these contracts (Jodie Meeks, Frye, Collison, I believe the worst is yet to come when Swaggy P signs) are just as bad as the Hayward one, just on smaller scales, and those GM's wont be around longer than the players they signed.

[NMThreeMVP]

I don't think everyone will be satisfied and I don't think everyone will feel comfortable with all our needs being settled. I will be, but that is mostly because I think the Asik addition is huge.

If we had never heard anything except Patric Young and Russ Smith, this trade would have blown people out of the water and got people hyped. But people already have come to terms with Asik, so now all they are thinking about is what we are losing and/or the SF's we are not getting.

It's the way our minds work, I get it. But if people some how were able to forget we agreed to trade for Asik, they would be blown away on Sunday. But now, people will just nit pick and totally forget that we got a close to ideal guy for this defense.

I completely agree.

We started Aminu at SF to help with defense and rebounding last season. I think bringing in Asik allows us to need something completely different from our SF. Darius Miller could be our starting SF now if he can make the other team at least respect his ability to score and leave a SF on him. Anyone slightly better or more proven than Darius Miller to start at SF would make this offseason a solid "A", especially considering what our expectations should have been, armed with no draft pick and very little cap flexibility (in a market with excess cap space available). A James Jones type would be suitable. Fransisco Garcia might be ideal. Just a stop gap until we figure out what to do with Gordon in the next 12 months.

...and FWIW, I've disagreed w/ a few of MM's basketball opinions. But usually not on Pelicans stuff. And I've never questioned his "info" or the work he puts into formulating his opinion. I'd never do that. I love to write, but I wouldn't put nearly the work into research that MM does.
That being said... and I think I've said this in a PM to him... any writer should know that unless you're very very good at it, intent, tone, and meaning can be grossly misinterpreted by whoever the reader is. I think sometimes that's what happens on twitter and certainly on message boards. If it's any solace, take a look at the stuff Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, Dan Lebatard, Bomani Jones, Chris Broussard, et al encounter on twitter. If your twitter followers are trolls, I think it means you've made it to the big leagues!

[RekeHavoc]

Mason posted this on twitter "@MasonGinsberg: Keep an eye on the #Grizzlies, #Raptors, & #Wizards as teams near/at the cap w/ trade exceptions that the #Pelicans could involve in a S&T." US Senator? Washington Wizards...

[TheDawg26]

I don't think everyone will be satisfied and I don't think everyone will feel comfortable with all our needs being settled. I will be, but that is mostly because I think the Asik addition is huge.

If we had never heard anything except Patric Young and Russ Smith, this trade would have blown people out of the water and got people hyped. But people already have come to terms with Asik, so now all they are thinking about is what we are losing and/or the SF's we are not getting.

It's the way our minds work, I get it. But if people some how were able to forget we agreed to trade for Asik, they would be blown away on Sunday. But now, people will just nit pick and totally forget that we got a close to ideal guy for this defense.

Yeah I see what your saying. It solves a major need (and is an ideal player), but you always get everything in one move. Gotcha!

[UNO Gracias]

Mason posted this on twitter "@MasonGinsberg: Keep an eye on the #Grizzlies, #Raptors, & #Wizards as teams near/at the cap w/ trade exceptions that the #Pelicans could involve in a S&T." US Senator? Washington Wizards...

One would keep an eye on them, but with stuff like this happening

Meanwhile, GSW didn't do anything with the $9.8M traded player exception from the Richard Jefferson deal to Utah. Expired at 9 p.m. Pacific.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 11, 2014

Outside of the Grizz, I don't think they are capable of understanding the value of the trade exception.

[Rafa Brazil]

Is Webster possible? I think his salary would be way too much for us to take, wouldn't it?

[cki3915]

Alright, the guesses were fun, but they are WAY off. I feel like if it keeps going this way that people will be disappointed when their "decoding" doesn't happen.

Two things:

1. I don't know the exact specifics of the trade, just most of it
2. In the initial message, I said it will make sense on MONDAY. Remember, the trade will go down Sunday

Please don't continue if it just gets you worked up and mad and will take it out on me. Just have fun with it. It will make sense on Monday, but it is not as intricate as some of you are guessing.

Just want to clarify.. are your sources saying that regardless of whether Houston knows what it's doing with Bosh and Parsons, that the Asik trade finalizes Sunday, or are your sources confident that those 2 cogs will have been decided by then so that's why they are saying Sunday?

[RaisingTheBar]

Mason posted this on twitter "@MasonGinsberg: Keep an eye on the #Grizzlies, #Raptors, & #Wizards as teams near/at the cap w/ trade exceptions that the #Pelicans could involve in a S&T." US Senator? Washington Wizards...

Only one that makes sense is Grizzlies since they have been interested in Roberts. Not sure Raptors or Wizards would want Miller, Smith or AFA.

[Schmide234]

Mason posted this on twitter "@MasonGinsberg: Keep an eye on the #Grizzlies, #Raptors, & #Wizards as teams near/at the cap w/ trade exceptions that the #Pelicans could involve in a S&T." US Senator? Washington Wizards...

Lol s&t for Ariza right? Has to be! I hope not...

Good catch though on the zards. What would they have that we want?

[Eman5805]

Trade with the Wizards? Huh.

[UNO Gracias]

Trade with the Wizards? Huh.

Brad Beal, come on down and form the ultimate glut of sg's the league has ever seen.

[Kurgan]

Andy Pipkin, come on down!

[MichaelMcNamara]

I completely agree.

We started Aminu at SF to help with defense and rebounding last season. I think bringing in Asik allows us to need something completely different from our SF. Darius Miller could be our starting SF now if he can make the other team at least respect his ability to score and leave a SF on him. Anyone slightly better or more proven than Darius Miller to start at SF would make this offseason a solid "A", especially considering what our expectations should have been, armed with no draft pick and very little cap flexibility (in a market with excess cap space available). A James Jones type would be suitable. Fransisco Garcia might be ideal. Just a stop gap until we figure out what to do with Gordon in the next 12 months.

...and FWIW, I've disagreed w/ a few of MM's basketball opinions. But usually not on Pelicans stuff. And I've never questioned his "info" or the work he puts into formulating his opinion. I'd never do that. I love to write, but I wouldn't put nearly the work into research that MM does.
That being said... and I think I've said this in a PM to him... any writer should know that unless you're very very good at it, intent, tone, and meaning can be grossly misinterpreted by whoever the reader is. I think sometimes that's what happens on twitter and certainly on message boards. If it's any solace, take a look at the stuff Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, Dan Lebatard, Bomani Jones, Chris Broussard, et al encounter on twitter. If your twitter followers are trolls, I think it means you've made it to the big leagues!

I agree with everything you said here. The only difference is that I never wanted to 'make it.' This is the biggest misconception about me in my opinion. If I wanted to be a paid basketball writer or a professional 'something else' in basketball, I could be. I have no desire to do that and no desire to make a name for myself. This might sound like I am on a high horse here (something I am often accused of), but 4 years ago I was shocked by how little knowledge the average fan had when it came to the game, the CBA, rules, etc. I came to this message board and it was bad. Like, real bad.

I got an opportunity to write for Hornets247, and my only goal was to build that knowledge up and as a site we have sought out writers who could help with this objective. I am not going to give the site all the credit or even most, but Pelicans fans are a hundred times more educated than 4 years ago. If you get a chance, check out posts from 4, 5 years ago on this board. You would be shocked.

We have one of the smartest fan bases now, and that's all I ever wanted. Now I have to look after myself and I would say 85% of the stresses in my life come from people trying to get a rise out of me online. Not worth it. Especially when my main goal has been accomplished.

[RaisingTheBar]

Is Webster possible? I think his salary would be way too much for us to take, wouldn't it?

It would. Only way would be if we traded Ryno or Gordon.

[Mythrol]

Alright, the guesses were fun, but they are WAY off. I feel like if it keeps going this way that people will be disappointed when their "decoding" doesn't happen.

Two things:

1. I don't know the exact specifics of the trade, just most of it
2. In the initial message, I said it will make sense on MONDAY. Remember, the trade will go down Sunday

Please don't continue if it just gets you worked up and mad and will take it out on me. Just have fun with it. It will make sense on Monday, but it is not as intricate as some of you are guessing.

Nice distraction to try and get people to not notice that I NAILED the trade!

Question though, can you say if it will be a small scale trade where we just move the pieces to keep Asik or if it's bigger than that?

Also,
1. Makes total sense and I won't be upset.
2. OBVIOUSLY MY DREAM IS COMING TRUE, Gordon trade/stretch happens on Monday which allows the trade on Sunday to make sense. Which means I'm totally excited and will pitchfork MM if this doesn't happen. Lol.

[Tin_Food]

I mean, think about the price tags we have seen in FA - 15 mil + for Hayward and Parsons. 60 mil total for Gortat. If you would have seen the contracts somehow before FA started and knew we couldn't trade or stretch Gordon, you would have likely thought the chances of making a significant upgrade were slim to none with less than 7 mil in cap room.

But instead, we are going to walk out of the summer with one of the top 5-8 players to switch teams and some new, young blood to boot.

It's all based on your perspective. If you already think of Asik as a part of the team and now are just nit picking the edges, you might be disappointed, but if you can step back and look at it as a whole, I don't know how you can be.

I'm just hoping that we get to keep Ryno as well, so we can see what this amazing front court would look like, even if it is only for a season. I was ecstatic when I heard about the Asik trade as well, especially when we initially weren't getting rid of any core players. Was yelling at station platform to be precise. Honestly don't care at all about the pick, if we had given it away without protection I wouldn't have cared.

Oh, and so we can further confuse everyone with pronouncing names, Omer Asik is pronounced:

O (closest sound I can think of is the oo in moon)
mer (mare like the horse)

A (the A part in Ark)
sik (closest sound I can get is schick like the razor brand)

[Mount Zion]

I mean, think about the price tags we have seen in FA - 15 mil + for Hayward and Parsons. 60 mil total for Gortat. If you would have seen the contracts somehow before FA started and knew we couldn't trade or stretch Gordon, you would have likely thought the chances of making a significant upgrade were slim to none with less than 7 mil in cap room.

But instead, we are going to walk out of the summer with one of the top 5-8 players to switch teams and some new, young blood to boot.

It's all based on your perspective. If you already think of Asik as a part of the team and now are just nit picking the edges, you might be disappointed, but if you can step back and look at it as a whole, I don't know how you can be.

Going into the offseason, I wanted to keep the core of Davis, Anderson, Holliday and Evans together, plus add a quality small forward and a strong rebounding/defensive center. As long as that core four players were retained, I really didn't care how the rest was achieved. Getting Asik was exactly what I wanted in a skill set for a center, since whatever scoring he provides is lagniappe IMHO. If Demps is able to pull this trade off and somehow adds a quality small forward without losing any of that core, then I'd consider this a very successful offseason. The additions of Young and Smith are just icing on the cake.

[Kurgan]

I agree with everything you said here. The only difference is that I never wanted to 'make it.' This is the biggest misconception about me in my opinion. If I wanted to be a paid basketball writer or a professional 'something else' in basketball, I could be. I have no desire to do that and no desire to make a name for myself. This might sound like I am on a high horse here (something I am often accused of), but 4 years ago I was shocked by how little knowledge the average fan had when it came to the game, the CBA, rules, etc. I came to this message board and it was bad. Like, real bad.

I got an opportunity to write for Hornets247, and my only goal was to build that knowledge up and as a site we have sought out writers who could help with this objective. I am not going to give the site all the credit or even most, but Pelicans fans are a hundred times more educated than 4 years ago. If you get a chance, check out posts from 4, 5 years ago on this board. You would be shocked.

We have one of the smartest fan bases now, and that's all I ever wanted. Now I have to look after myself and I would say 85% of the stresses in my life come from people trying to get a rise out of me online. Not worth it. Especially when my main goal has been accomplished.

Must be why i didn't stand you at all when you were cp3&11others and i appreciate you much more now granted, i was insufferable myself back then.

Still hope you'll be as often as possible online on this board. I mean, delete twitter or threaten idiots with a big club, you'd be sorely missed if you stopped coming here altogether (speaking for myself, but i think there's a good number of people who think the same way. Hell, you had one lurker register on this board just to ask you to stay!)

[NMThreeMVP]

We have one of the smartest fan bases now, and that's all I ever wanted. Now I have to look after myself and I would say 85% of the stresses in my life come from people trying to get a rise out of me online. Not worth it. Especially when my main goal has been accomplished.

I enjoy intelligent debate, but certainly understand "Mission Accomplished", and appreciate the pure joy that comes from eliminating things that cause stress!!

Stress Kills.

Best of luck to you on your sabbatical or retirement!

[MichaelMcNamara]

Must be why i didn't stand you at all when you were cp3&11others and i appreciate you much more now granted, i was insufferable myself back then.

Still hope you'll be as often as possible online on this board. I mean, delete twitter or threaten idiots with a big club, you'd be sorely missed if you stopped coming here altogether (speaking for myself, but i think there's a good number of people who think the same way. Hell, you had one lurker register on this board just to ask you to stay!)

Yeah, I had never been to a message board. Not any. I just assumed that every basketball fan was like the guys I talked to regularly about it - which was dumb, seeing that it is what most of them do for a living. I was {edited - veiled cursing} blown away. I mean, there are disagreements on this board now, but almost everybody is incredibly knowledgeable. I mean, basic comprehension was missing back then. I couldn't believe it. It would have been like going to a country that had no clue about the concept of math. Like, how would you even start that process of educating them? IMO, it was that bad.

[Mount Zion]

Must be why i didn't stand you at all when you were cp3&11others and i appreciate you much more now granted, i was insufferable myself back then.

Don't sell yourself short, man, you're insufferable now.

[Eman5805]

It's hard to put in context who I was back then. Besides I didn't get along very well with the older HR members.

Live and learn and grow.

[Mythrol]

I enjoy intelligent debate, but certainly understand "Mission Accomplished", and appreciate the pure joy that comes from eliminating things that cause stress!!

Stress Kills.

Best of luck to you on your sabbatical or retirement!

Nah. It's in his blood now. As much as he hates it, after a week he will be lurking again if not full posting. Someone will say something that's just so off the wall that he won't be able to stand it and will have to post.

You don't go cold turkey after 5,000 posts deep. Especially as a teacher when his summer is WIDE OPEN. He'd have to write a book or go camping for a month to stay away.