Today's Fake Trade of the Day

I trust Bill Plaschke as much as I trust anyone when it comes to the NBA. When it comes to picking up chicks at work... Not so much. But Bill said today on The Herd that the consensus is that the Lakers need to flip Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard if they want to seriously contend for a championship.

And then I was talking to my boy John about the Sixers, and we think that it's time for Philly to move on from Andre Iguodala. He makes too much money and he doesn't seem worth it - especially with rebounder/defender/jumpshooter/layup-maker extraordinaire Mo Harkless behind him.

And so I rolled those two trades into one giant #tradeoftheday:

In terms of money/salary cap/trade rules, it works.

LA turns Bynum and Gasol (The "Second Round of the Playoffs Boys") into Howard and Iguodala (and bolster their defense significantly - and keep in mind that just having Steve Nash on the floor bolsters their offense). They'd also be cutting $2 million off their cap.

Orlando gets Bynum (assuming he signs a long-term deal or this trade makes no sense for the Magic) and a pick that LA didn't send to Phoenix (which I can't show on the draft machine).

Philly gets an offensive centerpiece and a supremely talented power forward. Pau makes $2 million more than Elton Brand was scheduled to make. Worth it? Yes. And the Vucevic to the Nets trade is only included for salary cap reasons - the Sixers don't have a lot of guys signed now (because they can't sign until July 11). I think they should hold on to the Big Switzerlander. But they'd have to trade away around $2 million in salary to make up the difference between Iguodala and Pau.

PS - Not really sure why, but $2 million seems to be the trend in this post. Weird