Toronto trade involving Finley

[kg_veteran]

Courtesy of sKen over at LMF:

I've been over this repeatedly and just can't fathom the thought of cutting Fin and still improving the team.



With that in mind I tried to find the pieces that fit what Dallas is said to be looking for in trade for Fin (expiring contract and a useful player). The issue is that there just are not many of those combinations up for dealing right now. However, IF Dallas were to relax that stance just a bit and take back a combination of players AND a large salary while giving up Fin and a useful player something could make a lot of sense.



Dallas Trades:

Micheal Finley and Jerry Stackhouse

($23.438 million)



to





Toronto:

Jalen Rose, Lamond Murray, and Aaron Williams

($24.32 million)



Here is the catch:

Rose comes off a year earlier than Mike which saves 18.6 million in the 3rd year of the deal. Murray and Williams come off a year ahead of Stack which saves 8 million in year 2. Combined that saves 26.6 off the cap and 53.2 million off the combined TAX. This is a better financial deal than cutting Finley. Toronto wins in the talent dept, BUT Dallas gets a backup C in Williams, which prevents the Hunter chase from being a front running issue (saving even more money up front); Rose lessens the need for a 3rd PG and can run with Daniels or a Christie should that need arise.



Toronto might want Daniels instead of Stack which actually helps the long term financial gains (after year 3) and still represents near 6 million in savings for 06-07. That would cause me a bit of hesitation, but probably would not change my mind that this is a trade that we should pursue.



The good news for Toronto is that they can point to this trade as the 2nd half of the Vince Carter deal where they trade Vince and Jalen and come away with Fin and Stack.

My comments:

I have no idea what Toronto's long-term plan is, so it's tough for me to comment on whether they'd do the deal or not, but I certainly like the trade for Dallas.

From a talent standpoint, I think Rose is at least a lateral move compared to Stackhouse, and his skill set might fit better here than Stackhouse's does. Rose is a bad defender, but Stackhouse isn't exactly great in that department. On offense, Rose has better ballhandling, penetrating and playmaking ability and can shoot the ball from the perimeter. I think that fits better with an offense built around Dirk than what Stackhouse brings. So, I guess what I'm saying is, I'd probably trade Stackhouse for Rose if it were financially possible as a standalone deal, much less doing it in combination with a Finley move.

Finley for Aaron Williams (Murray would surely be waived) has to be considered a good trade for Dallas. You get the backup center you want without delving into the MLE and you get the financial savings to boot.

Use the amnesty provision on Bradley and buy out TAW. Add Doug Christie and a 3rd PG.

Dampier - Williams - M'Benga - Pavel
Nowitzki - KVH - Powell
Howard - Daniels
Rose - Christie - Marshall
Terry - Harris - 3rd PG

I'd feel pretty good about that team.