Teams Clamoring For McDyess

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Analysis, SDC COMMENTARY

We all already know that Antonio McDyess is technically a Denver Nugget; however, there is a problem – he doesn’t want to play for them. Why he doesn’t want to play for them is beyond me; after all, it isn’t like his previous team, the Detroit Pistons, traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers or Oklahoma City Thunder or something – but I digress.

McDyess no doubt would like to be dealt to a contender, and salary considerations factor in, as well. And Denver would probably ask McDyess to take a pay cut to facilitate a trade of his liking. But the current situation is what it is, and there are actually teams who are looking to sign McDyess. What teams have that opportunity? Let’s take a look:

- Cleveland. Lots of reasons to be dealt here. The Cavaliers have some big man depth issues, and McDyess can play both forward and center; he can also shoot, rebound and is a relatively strong shot-blocker and would provide that strong locker room presence. The possible downside would be that it would mean a reduction in playing time for rookie J.J. Hickson, but at the same time fill the role that waa vacated when Joe Smith was dealt. Monetarily, the Cavaliers have about $5.1 million left in their salary cap, which they could use in its entirety or partially. But it would be a costly transaction because of the Eric Snow situation.

- Boston. A possibility here. If anything else, should McDyess take a cut in salary to facilitate a trade, Boston could be a-callin’; one reason that automatically comes to mind is that for reasons similar to Cleveland, the Celtics could clear out some deadwood from their roster (Brian Scalabrine seems the most logical choice here). The problem here is the money Boston has available – which is around $2.4 million. And they have an entire roster full of guaranteed contracts, so obtaining McDyess would not be easy.

- San Antonio. While they only have just under $2.1 million, some masterful paring of their roster could make this possible. Some names to consider for extraction from the Spurs’ roster - Kurt Thomas, Matt Bonner and a perennial Spurs fans favorite Bruce Bowen. But their current situation makes this highly improbable.

- Detroit. It wouldn’t exactly set a precedent if McDyess returned to Detroit as there’s other players who have done this before. But like the above teams, there isn’t much money to play around with here – in the Pistons’ case, around $1.6 million (mid-level exception) or $1.9 million (bi-annual exception). Who on their roster would make the most sense to waive? That’s a tough call there because of salary structures, but I still think that Kwame Brown was a bad idea from Day One. Or even Walter Herrmann, for that matter.

One thing is certain, I think – and that is that McDyess won’t play a minute for Denver. The big question is not when he is dealt, but to whom; the season is still relatively young, yet this is a transaction that is necessary for Denver and whoever the second party may be.

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One Response to “Teams Clamoring For McDyess”

PistonsNationBlog.com » Blog Archive » Game #4: Team effort fends off Raps on November 6th, 2008 12:52 pm

[...] game (mlive) … The Pistons have taken 5 of the last 6 against the Raptors … Multiple teams clamoring for McDyess … Next up the Nets on Friday in NJ [...]

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