<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dachen33:</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe they can trade Nick to Houston Rockets for Jim Jackson and Eric Patokishy (sp).
Blazers needs shooters.</div>
"A player cannot be traded until three months after signing a contract or December 15th of that season, whichever is later. If the player is playing under a one-year contract and will have Larry Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the contract, he can't be traded at all. "
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#79
If you guys haven't gotten the low down on NVE, I can give it to you.
The good:
Despite anything you might hear from the media, Nick is a great teammate and a solid locker room presence. His knees may be shot, but the main reason he missed so many games last year is because he kept trying to come back before he was ready.
The bad:
As a Warrior fan, the thing I was looking forward to the most when the Warriors got him was finally having a clutch scorer. Unfortunately, Nick missed A LOT more key shots than he made. In general, I was very disappointed with his play. And like I said above, his knees are pretty much shot right now. But, I expect he was never fully healthy when he played, so hopefully he's healthier now and will return to his old form.
The ugly:
I think his main value right now is the massive amount of cap space he can create for a team. But you guys have so many expiring contracts, there isn't really much that's special about Nick. I'd expect you to trade at least a few of them before the February trading deadline. Between NVE, SAR, and Stoudemire, you guys should be able to acquire at least one big salary while still being free to pay Randolph and Ratliff whatever they want.
You guys definately have the talent to get back into the playoffs. But since I don't expect most of the guys on this year's roster to be on the team next year, I think it will be very interesting to see how this team comes together.
Good luck next year, hopefully we'll see you guys in the playoffs.