Thunder Pushing Watson

by Chris Alvino on January 16th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Tommy wrote over a week ago that there was a rumor involving Earl Watson and Malik Rose.  Well, HoopsWorld.com is saying that the Thunder are aggressively pushing Watson and his $6.6 million obligation for next year.  According to HoopsWorld,

Multiple NBA sources have confirmed to HOOPSWORLD that the Thunder are aggressively shopping Earl Waston and are willing to part with a first round pick in the process.

As I have written before, I am a strong believer in acquiring assets such as draft picks because you never know when they will either turn into a premier player or be a valuable trade chip.  It is no secret that the Knicks need a backup point guard and a starting shooting guard.  To acquire a 1st rounder in either this upcoming draft or in 2010, I would strongly consider using Malik’s expiring deal in order to take on Watson.  The Thunder have 5 first round picks over the next two years, in large part because of the Kurt Thomas trade in which the Sonics received Thomas and 2 first round picks from the Suns in exchange for a conditional 2nd round pick.

Perhaps the Knicks can deal Malik and Anthony Roberson for Watson and Damien Wilkins while receiving two first rounders (one this summer and one in 2010) and sending a 2010 second rounder.  That would clear close to $10 million more off the Thunder’s books for this summer’s free agent class.  Couple a potential #1 pick (Blake Griffin) with a big free agent acquisition or trade (perhaps a premier shooting guard such as Michael Redd if he is on the block), and the Thunder will explode, much like the Hornets did a couple of years ago.

For the Knicks, they can receive stop gap guards to play for the next year and a half and receive draft picks to replenish the young talent on the team.  Rebuilding teams build through young talent.  In this case, Watson and Wilkins have the ability to provide the depth and back court help to make a playoff push this year and next.  Both of their contracts come off the books before the summer of 2010.

Thoughts?

About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • BiggieSmalls

    Smart

  • damercede

    If Donnie can get a first round pick out of Malik Rose and Anthony Roberson without adding on a contract past 2010 it is an absolutely outstanding deal for the short and long term. Ideally that draft pick would be in 2009 to make NY a little more attractive to Lebron, Bosh, ect. for the 2010 season. If there is no 1st round pick included the deal doesn’t make too much sense to me.

  • Mucha

    That would be great but 1. Rose’s a good influence for the other players from what I heard so Jerome James could be a better option 2. maybe OKC wouldn’t like to give up first rounders like that but who knows.

    I like your proposition, getting a pair of first rounders would be great. But we should try to move Jerome James instead.

    Regarding your last paragraph, what do you think of my suggestion regarding Anthony Randolph & Utah’s protected pick (see your last thread) ? I would try to make that happen because it’s realistic and we would get alot better from a mid-to-long-term perspective, and getting picks from Oklahoma could actually give us more assets to make that trade happen.

  • BiggieSmalls

    How could any responsible team take Jerome James with another year left on his conrtact and 4 games played in the last two years?

    Lets be realistic here.. One pick coming back for Malik’s expiring is a fair deal.

  • Mucha

    My bad I thought he only had this year left on his contract.

  • Chris Alvino

    Mucha- I have noticed the Anthony Randolph deal you have mentioned. The only way that happens is if Lee gets dealt. The question goes back to whether or not you really want to deal him.

    Double double players are not abundant in this league. Lee is almost a lock for one every single game. And he is always near the top of the league in terms of FG %. Walsh might be able to do better than Randolph and a first round pick that will end up in the bottom half of the round.

  • Chris Alvino

    And OKC wants to unload salary. By taking on James, they will essentially be making a salary wash for Watson. They would never do that.

    Two bottom half of the first round picks for a second rounder and 10 million more dollars of cap space seems fair for a team trying to unload salary to get under the cap. Remember, the Thunder have 5 first rounders to play with.

    If they were to deal us a first and a second round pick (without the Knicks giving up a second rounder), I would sign for that as well.

    You would be surprised to see what teams would do to get their beloved cap space. Look at Donnie Walsh, dumping a player averaging 21 and 11 for Tim Thomas.

  • JR

    find somewhay to trade any of starbury, james, curry, rose, roberson, jeffries, robinson, and if necessary lee, duhon, basically anybody not named wilson chandler and danillo gallinari for as many draft picks as possible…then trade up so we can draft griffin and one of the fake steve nash and jeff teague…then wait one year an sign lebron an be a dominant team…not a horrible team that at best may be able to sneak into the playoffs in the east

  • http://www.theknicksblog.com/2009/01/17/walsh-trying-to-land-2010-first-rounder/ The Knicks Blog » Walsh trying to land 2010 first rounder

    [...] Thunder Pushing Watson [...]

  • DanL

    Agree

  • Chris Alvino

    Obviously this depends on who gets the pick, but it would take a VERY LARGE BOUNTY before I traded the right to draft Blake Griffin. He looks like he is going to be a special player in the league. Even if they get a couple of picks, I cannot see the Knicks having enough to trade up for him. The only other pieces would be Gallo or Chandler.

  • Mucha

    Chris – That’s what I’m talking about, but the question is how much money are we willing to offer Lee? We have to sign him before the deadline but how much is he asking for ?

    I’d like to keep him for 8 mills, or 9 maybe, per year, but if we can’t do that before the deadline, then it’s better to trade him because Detroit, Cleveland, LA & Miami will have enough money to sign him if Boozer signs eslewhere. We won’t be able to match any offer this summer because these teams will be in a position to put 11 or 12 mills on the table.

    If we can’t sign him before the deadline for the right amount of money, then we got to make a trade that’d make sense for the future. And getting Anthony Randolph plus Utah’s unprotected pick would be the better deal because, a. very few teams are willing to part with talented young players (and GS could trade Randolph) b. it’s hard to find three-way deals where Lee would be happy and willing to sign a contract this summer.

    So my suggestion really makes sense in my opinion.

  • http://www.knicksfan.net/?p=430 A Knicks / Thunder Deal Could Make Sense | The Knicks FanBlog

    [...] are pushing Earl Watson hard right now, in an attempt to get far under the cap this off-season. Chris Alvino points out that the Thunder have 5(!) first rounders over the next two [...]