New Jersey Ready to Move Vince Carter

After officially trading Jason Kidd yesterday, it appears Rod Thorn's next move would be to trade Vince Carter. This will be difficult for them to do because he has another three years on his contract after this season for almost fifty million dollars. So who would be willing to trade for Carter? Isiah and the Knicks, of course.

New Jersey Gets:
*Jason Williams
Salary: $8,937,500 Years Remaining: 1
*Ricky Davis
Salary: $6,819,000 Years Remaining: 1

New York Gets:
*Dorell Wright
Salary: $2,040,746 Years Remaining: 1
*Vince Carter
Salary: $13,325,000 Years Remaining: 5
*Smush Parker
Salary: $2,250,000 Years Remaining: 1

Miami Gets:
*Randolph Morris
Salary: $810,000 Years Remaining: 1
*Nate Robinson
Salary: $1,268,160 Years Remaining: 2
*Eddy Curry
Salary: $8,947,543 Years Remaining: 3
*Fred Jones
Salary: $3,300,000 Years Remaining: 1

In this trade, the Nets are able to dump Vince Carter's long-term, expensive contract for two 2008 expiring contracts. It would allow the Nets to have cap room, while still maintaining a core of Richard Jefferson, Devin Harris, Nenad Krstic, Sean Williams, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone. Perhaps, the Nets would also get another future draft pick in the trade on top of the one's they will receive from Dallas.

The Knicks would be receiving a legitimate perimeter scorer to pair with Jamal Crawford. A likely lineup would be Crawford, Carter, Jeffries, Lee, and Randolph. The Knicks would be in position to draft a point guard in this year's draft. Wright is also an intriguing player who becomes a restricted free agent after this season.

The Heat would pull in two rotation players and two expiring contracts. Robinson would be a spark off the bench for Miami and Curry would be the inside threat that would be missing. Coach Pat Riley has had success with big men in the past, and Miami would be a good fit for Curry. A lineup of Marcus Banks, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, and Eddy Curry with Daequan Cook, Nate Robinson, and Mark Blount off the bench would be strong. A point guard such as Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, or Darren Collison would be targeted.

Taking a Look Back to Draft Night

After seeing Zach Randolph score 22 points and pull down 17 rebounds in a Knicks win over the Nuggets on Tuesday night, it certainly got me thinking. Perhaps after this awful start, John Paxson regrets not pulling the trigger to acquire Randolph on draft night this past summer.

At only 26, Randolph could have been the Bulls answer for a post man for the next ten years. Although he clearly has had some off the court issues previously, the Bulls today have a team with no players of questionable character. Maybe in a different situation and environment, Randolph would have been different.

During his last four seasons in Portland, Randolph averaged between 17-24 points per game, 8-11 rebounds per game, and around 2 assists per game. These type of numbers that Randolph has put up in the past is certainly consistency in the post that the Bulls have not had in a very long time. In fact, the Bulls have not gotten more than 20 points per game in a season from the power forward spot since 1985-86 from Orlando Woolridge.

The Knicks acquired Randolph in a package along with Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and the draft right to Demetris Nichols. In the trade, New York gave Steve Francis, Chaning Frye, and a 2008 secound round draft pick to Portland. Without giving it much thought, I would think the Bulls could have swung together a package more attractive than what New York gave up. With the rights to P.J. Brown, the rights to the ninth pick in the draft, Chris Duhon, and several other trading pieces, you would think the opportunity to acquire Randolph would have been there.

Instead, Paxson and the Bulls wonder how a lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Zach Randolph, and Ben Wallace would have fared.