NBA Deadline Deals
So the deadline wasn't as crazy as expected but there were some major deals that really shake up the NBA landscape. The Lakers remain the team to beat but damn if the Cavs aren't pushing hard to keep Lebron by winning one this year.
Let me start with the Cleveland - Washington - LA Clippers trade
So Cleveland gets:
Antawn Jamison
Sebastian Telfair (forgot he was alive)
Washington gets:
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (aka 11 million in cap relief)
Al Thornton
2010 Draft pick from Cleveland (likely worthless)
Rights to Cleveland's 2nd round pick from last year (Emir Preldzic)
LA Clippers get:
Drew Gooden (WTF)
So let me start with the Cavaliers. This allows Shaq to play at center with someone who is the ultimate chameleon. Jamison is the consumate professional and he can fit any role. He will give them the shooting that Ilgauskas gave plus consistent defense and rebounding. And he is going to be a leader in the locker room for a relatively young team. The biggest coup is that the Cavaliers keep young forward JJ Hickson, who will give them some energy off the bench, and when Shaq needs a rest they can go smaller with Jamison and Hickson on the floor. This is a coup for the Cavs, who basically got tons better overnight. They better win this year though because Jamison has 2 years and $28 million left on his contract. Their 2010 pick and 2nd round pick from last year are essentially garbage.
Washington continues their firesale and essentially got rid of Jamison for cap relief, and upgraded Drew Gooden to the athletic Al Thornton. Given Washington's desire to rebuild, Thornton is a nice piece to have either to build with or to trade for other pieces. Not a bad trade in the post-Arenas era.
LA just traded one of their more promising younger players for Drew Gooden. This is a team that shipped off Camby to Portland for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. I supposed Outlaw and Thornton are somewhat redundant but you can play them both at the same time. This is a boneheaded move for a boneheaded franchise that is going nowhere fast.
Might as well bring that trade up:
Portland gets:
Marcus Camby
LA Clippers get:
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
So Portland is the big winner here. Camby is on the last year of his contract. Blake serves a redundant role in a team with Andre Miller and a rising Jeryd Bayless. And Roy dominates the ball many plays anyway. Finally, Outlaw is somewhat redundant with Martell Webster healthy. THe real story is that they needed a big man in a bad way. And Oden is about as injury prone as they get. This is an excellent move for Portland. They were barely in the playoff hunt and this brings them the talent they needed to push forward into the middle of the pack and do some damage in the playoffs.
For LA? This makes less sense. Granted, all 3 players have expiring contracts, so they can make a big push for a superstar in the coming summer. But if they don't get who they want, this is a sinking ship. Plus they get to waive Ricky Davis, which is a plus no matter how you cut it.
Might as well get the other blockbusters out. Next is the Dallas-Washington deal
So Dallas gets:
Caron Butler (wow)
Brendan Haywood
DeShawn Stevenson
Washington gets:
Josh Howard (ugh)
Drew Gooden (traded for Al Thornton)
James Singleton
Quinton Ross
So Dallas desperately needed this. Howard was worthless as a 2nd fiddle to Nowitzki and now they get a bonafide leader, defender, and a proven veteran scorer in Butler as well as some big man help in Brendan Haywood. This shoots the Mavs into second in the West purely on a talent basis. They get some help in the middle, since Ericka Dampier is hurt again, and they get an average SG out of the deal in DeShawn Stevenson. Overall, this is a huge win for Dallas as they get a major upgrade in their starting 5 and shore up the middle spot.
For Washington... Howard becomes the best active player on a team that went from 3 superstars to none over the course of a couple months. Sucks to be a Wizard fan right now. This team is dumping contracts as fast as possible. The Gilbert Arenas era is officially over.
And finally, the most IMPORTANT trade! Rockets-Kings-Knicks
So Rockets get:
Kevin Martin (wow)
Hilton Armstrong
Jordan Hill
Jared Jeffries
Swap picks with NY in 2011, and rights to pick in 2012 (lottery protection TBD)
Kings get:
Carl Landry (T_T)
Joey Dorsey
Larry Hughes
Knicks get:
Tracy McGrady (whew)
Sergio Rodriguez
So let me start with the Rockets. It is becoming increasingly clear that the superstars don't necessarily want to come to Houston despite an excellent waiting supporting cast so letting T-Mac go without any proven compensation is dangerous. Trading him became a priority. Kevin Martin is a top flight SG but he has injury problems as well, and so given our past history with injuries I have to remain skeptical. But he instantly becomes a go-to scorer and playmaker, something Ariza struggled to do. This creates a bit of a logjam with our talent at SF (now Ariza and Battier will have far fewer minutes) but Martin is a huge talent. Ariza is much better for it too because he no longer has to be a playmaker and he moves so well without the ball that he can go back to being a spot up shooter and slasher, something he excels at. But all three guards are starting caliber; Ariza may be the odd one out and come off the bench. This does make us thin in the frontcourt though. Losing Landry is huge; he has All-Star potential, but who knows what Adelman can make of Jordan Hill. Jared Jeffries is worthless so I won't mention him. Scola is the better fit and more reliable player in the system anyway. Hilton Armstrong provides a warm body to play at center but he is nothing special either. Losing Landry is tough to swallow but it was becoming clear that scrappy play no longer meant a winning tradition and the Rockets had to mix things up. This year is still a wash without Yao; our odds of making the playoffs with Camby going to the Blazers and a rising Thunder team are low.
For the Kings, this allows them Tyreke Evans to dominate the ball. Evans and Martin never really shared much time together so it wasn't clear that the two couldn't work together; they would have been arguably the most talented backcourt in the league. Landry is a good pickup for a team with no frontcourt talent. And it moves salary as well. Dorsey and Hughes are warm bodies and little more. How far Larry Hughes has fallen.
Knicks get a washed up T-Mac, aka cap relief, to allow them to pursue one of the coveted 2010 free agent superstars. They lose very little in the deal in terms of talent (Jordan Hill, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries) but do lose two picks which may be worth less than advertised if the Knicks make big pickups and do well enough to make the playoffs. This is a big win for the Knicks as well in terms of preparing for the summer. Get this, this is the first time they will have been under the cap in a decade.
So lesser trades:
Probably the most important is the Knicks sending Nate Robinson for Eddie House, JR Giddens, and Bill Walker. Essentially from a talent standpoint the Celtics win by getting a feisty scorer in Robinson who can attack the basket much better than House and is still a fair 3 point shooter (though House is the deadlier outside scorer). Gives them a talented piece to counter the Cavs getting Jamison. Probably not enough to catapult them as title favorites, but definitely an improvement. For the Knicks... cap relief, and sending a player out that had fallen out of favor with the coach. This I never understood - he's an atypical player but he is very talented when used appropriately. What can you do? At least we know KryptoNate looks good in green.
Bulls send John Salmons to Bucks for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander. This gives the Bucks a decent scorer (but nowhere near what a healthy Redd could do), and it gives the Bulls, uh... cap room. Does nothing for Chicago now, but allows them to make a splash in the summer. Could push the Bucks into the playoffs.
Knicks trade Darko for Brian Cardinal and promptly waive him. Gives the Knicks cap room, doesn't do much for either team otherwise. Maybe Milicic will make some impact on the Wolves. Probably not.
Bulls send Ty Thomas to the Bobcats for Flip Murray, Acie Law, and a pick. Gives Bulls cap room and a pick. Ty Thomas could benefit from a new coach and new system. Bobcats had pushed hard to get Brandon Rush and TJ Ford for Augustin, Gerald Henderson, and a couple others. This gives them a little talent to work with for minimal cost other than contract length.
Jazz trade Ronnie Brewer to the Grizz for a pick. Jazz starting to unload talent in preparation for Booze's departure. The Grizz stock up more talent for a potential playoff run (in which they will do little damage). Brewer could be a quality player on an off year and the Grizz may be perennial lowbie playoff contenders so the pick may be worthless, so this is a win for the Grizz. People thought Brewer could be an All-Star; he may have fallen out of favor with Sloan, so maybe this is what he needed to rejuvenate himself.
Bucks trade Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson to the Sixers for Primoz Brezec, Royal Ivey, and a 2nd rounder. Nobody cares. Not sure how this affects anybody. Doesn't necessarily make the Bucks any better.
I love the trade deadline. Its like a gigantic chess match. The Cavs and Mavs got better. The Knicks and Bulls are clearing cap room. The Wizards are starting from square one. And the Rockets get a very talented player, but unfortunately one with injury problems. This summer should be very intriguing!
Let me start with the Cleveland - Washington - LA Clippers trade
So Cleveland gets:
Antawn Jamison
Sebastian Telfair (forgot he was alive)
Washington gets:
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (aka 11 million in cap relief)
Al Thornton
2010 Draft pick from Cleveland (likely worthless)
Rights to Cleveland's 2nd round pick from last year (Emir Preldzic)
LA Clippers get:
Drew Gooden (WTF)
So let me start with the Cavaliers. This allows Shaq to play at center with someone who is the ultimate chameleon. Jamison is the consumate professional and he can fit any role. He will give them the shooting that Ilgauskas gave plus consistent defense and rebounding. And he is going to be a leader in the locker room for a relatively young team. The biggest coup is that the Cavaliers keep young forward JJ Hickson, who will give them some energy off the bench, and when Shaq needs a rest they can go smaller with Jamison and Hickson on the floor. This is a coup for the Cavs, who basically got tons better overnight. They better win this year though because Jamison has 2 years and $28 million left on his contract. Their 2010 pick and 2nd round pick from last year are essentially garbage.
Washington continues their firesale and essentially got rid of Jamison for cap relief, and upgraded Drew Gooden to the athletic Al Thornton. Given Washington's desire to rebuild, Thornton is a nice piece to have either to build with or to trade for other pieces. Not a bad trade in the post-Arenas era.
LA just traded one of their more promising younger players for Drew Gooden. This is a team that shipped off Camby to Portland for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. I supposed Outlaw and Thornton are somewhat redundant but you can play them both at the same time. This is a boneheaded move for a boneheaded franchise that is going nowhere fast.
Might as well bring that trade up:
Portland gets:
Marcus Camby
LA Clippers get:
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
So Portland is the big winner here. Camby is on the last year of his contract. Blake serves a redundant role in a team with Andre Miller and a rising Jeryd Bayless. And Roy dominates the ball many plays anyway. Finally, Outlaw is somewhat redundant with Martell Webster healthy. THe real story is that they needed a big man in a bad way. And Oden is about as injury prone as they get. This is an excellent move for Portland. They were barely in the playoff hunt and this brings them the talent they needed to push forward into the middle of the pack and do some damage in the playoffs.
For LA? This makes less sense. Granted, all 3 players have expiring contracts, so they can make a big push for a superstar in the coming summer. But if they don't get who they want, this is a sinking ship. Plus they get to waive Ricky Davis, which is a plus no matter how you cut it.
Might as well get the other blockbusters out. Next is the Dallas-Washington deal
So Dallas gets:
Caron Butler (wow)
Brendan Haywood
DeShawn Stevenson
Washington gets:
Josh Howard (ugh)
Drew Gooden (traded for Al Thornton)
James Singleton
Quinton Ross
So Dallas desperately needed this. Howard was worthless as a 2nd fiddle to Nowitzki and now they get a bonafide leader, defender, and a proven veteran scorer in Butler as well as some big man help in Brendan Haywood. This shoots the Mavs into second in the West purely on a talent basis. They get some help in the middle, since Ericka Dampier is hurt again, and they get an average SG out of the deal in DeShawn Stevenson. Overall, this is a huge win for Dallas as they get a major upgrade in their starting 5 and shore up the middle spot.
For Washington... Howard becomes the best active player on a team that went from 3 superstars to none over the course of a couple months. Sucks to be a Wizard fan right now. This team is dumping contracts as fast as possible. The Gilbert Arenas era is officially over.
And finally, the most IMPORTANT trade! Rockets-Kings-Knicks
So Rockets get:
Kevin Martin (wow)
Hilton Armstrong
Jordan Hill
Jared Jeffries
Swap picks with NY in 2011, and rights to pick in 2012 (lottery protection TBD)
Kings get:
Carl Landry (T_T)
Joey Dorsey
Larry Hughes
Knicks get:
Tracy McGrady (whew)
Sergio Rodriguez
So let me start with the Rockets. It is becoming increasingly clear that the superstars don't necessarily want to come to Houston despite an excellent waiting supporting cast so letting T-Mac go without any proven compensation is dangerous. Trading him became a priority. Kevin Martin is a top flight SG but he has injury problems as well, and so given our past history with injuries I have to remain skeptical. But he instantly becomes a go-to scorer and playmaker, something Ariza struggled to do. This creates a bit of a logjam with our talent at SF (now Ariza and Battier will have far fewer minutes) but Martin is a huge talent. Ariza is much better for it too because he no longer has to be a playmaker and he moves so well without the ball that he can go back to being a spot up shooter and slasher, something he excels at. But all three guards are starting caliber; Ariza may be the odd one out and come off the bench. This does make us thin in the frontcourt though. Losing Landry is huge; he has All-Star potential, but who knows what Adelman can make of Jordan Hill. Jared Jeffries is worthless so I won't mention him. Scola is the better fit and more reliable player in the system anyway. Hilton Armstrong provides a warm body to play at center but he is nothing special either. Losing Landry is tough to swallow but it was becoming clear that scrappy play no longer meant a winning tradition and the Rockets had to mix things up. This year is still a wash without Yao; our odds of making the playoffs with Camby going to the Blazers and a rising Thunder team are low.
For the Kings, this allows them Tyreke Evans to dominate the ball. Evans and Martin never really shared much time together so it wasn't clear that the two couldn't work together; they would have been arguably the most talented backcourt in the league. Landry is a good pickup for a team with no frontcourt talent. And it moves salary as well. Dorsey and Hughes are warm bodies and little more. How far Larry Hughes has fallen.
Knicks get a washed up T-Mac, aka cap relief, to allow them to pursue one of the coveted 2010 free agent superstars. They lose very little in the deal in terms of talent (Jordan Hill, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries) but do lose two picks which may be worth less than advertised if the Knicks make big pickups and do well enough to make the playoffs. This is a big win for the Knicks as well in terms of preparing for the summer. Get this, this is the first time they will have been under the cap in a decade.
So lesser trades:
Probably the most important is the Knicks sending Nate Robinson for Eddie House, JR Giddens, and Bill Walker. Essentially from a talent standpoint the Celtics win by getting a feisty scorer in Robinson who can attack the basket much better than House and is still a fair 3 point shooter (though House is the deadlier outside scorer). Gives them a talented piece to counter the Cavs getting Jamison. Probably not enough to catapult them as title favorites, but definitely an improvement. For the Knicks... cap relief, and sending a player out that had fallen out of favor with the coach. This I never understood - he's an atypical player but he is very talented when used appropriately. What can you do? At least we know KryptoNate looks good in green.
Bulls send John Salmons to Bucks for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander. This gives the Bucks a decent scorer (but nowhere near what a healthy Redd could do), and it gives the Bulls, uh... cap room. Does nothing for Chicago now, but allows them to make a splash in the summer. Could push the Bucks into the playoffs.
Knicks trade Darko for Brian Cardinal and promptly waive him. Gives the Knicks cap room, doesn't do much for either team otherwise. Maybe Milicic will make some impact on the Wolves. Probably not.
Bulls send Ty Thomas to the Bobcats for Flip Murray, Acie Law, and a pick. Gives Bulls cap room and a pick. Ty Thomas could benefit from a new coach and new system. Bobcats had pushed hard to get Brandon Rush and TJ Ford for Augustin, Gerald Henderson, and a couple others. This gives them a little talent to work with for minimal cost other than contract length.
Jazz trade Ronnie Brewer to the Grizz for a pick. Jazz starting to unload talent in preparation for Booze's departure. The Grizz stock up more talent for a potential playoff run (in which they will do little damage). Brewer could be a quality player on an off year and the Grizz may be perennial lowbie playoff contenders so the pick may be worthless, so this is a win for the Grizz. People thought Brewer could be an All-Star; he may have fallen out of favor with Sloan, so maybe this is what he needed to rejuvenate himself.
Bucks trade Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson to the Sixers for Primoz Brezec, Royal Ivey, and a 2nd rounder. Nobody cares. Not sure how this affects anybody. Doesn't necessarily make the Bucks any better.
I love the trade deadline. Its like a gigantic chess match. The Cavs and Mavs got better. The Knicks and Bulls are clearing cap room. The Wizards are starting from square one. And the Rockets get a very talented player, but unfortunately one with injury problems. This summer should be very intriguing!