Thursday, February 21, 2008

Streets Are On Fire



So the annual trade deadline for the previously-known-as No Balls Association has passed, just like the appropriation of that title.

Although it failed to live up to the excitement of past years, where big names like Baron Davis and Ray Allen were exchanged in the 11th hour, this year's trading fiasco (no Lupe) was definitely interesting.

Let's look at each deal (at least the important ones; nobody cares about Von Wafer for Taurean Green) and see how each team fared (especially my Rockets, who kept busy today.

Cleveland gets Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago and Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle; Chicago gets Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from Cleveland; Seattle gets Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago.

Cavs - It looks like Danny Ferry came out on top in this deal, at least on the court. They got two big rebounders to make up for Gooden's inconsistent production in Medium Ben and Smith, who provides the low-post offense Wallace and Andy Vareajo are utterly incapable of. The only sucky part is that they take on Ben's horrible contract, which still has 3 years left on it.

The Cavs also receive a proven playoff shooter/scorer in Wally, who should play well off LeBron, and a young guard in Delonte West. Plus the added bonus that Wally's $12 million deal expires next summer.

Bulls - The Bulls get a relatively young forward in Gooden while getting rid of Wallace's horrendous contract, which opens up playing time for young guns Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. The only problem? They take back Larry Hughes' slightly less horrible contract. Hughes could assume the scoring load for this Bulls team which has lacked a go-to scorer since....well you know who (if you don't count Elton Brand and Jalen Rose's brief hoorahs in the Windy City). Shannon Brown may or not be a player in the future and Simmons is...just...cap fodder.

Sonics - This was all just a salary dump for the Sonics. Nuff said.

Houston gets Bobby Jackson and Adam Huluska from the Hornets and a second round pick and the draft rights to Sergei Lishouk from the Grizzlies; New Orleans gets Bonzi Wells and Mike James from the Rockets; Memphis gets the draft rights to Malick Badiane from the Rockets and the draft rights to Marcus Vinicius from the Hornets.

Rockets - I've grown to like this deal. The Rockets get an established veteran point guard in Jackson, who has been playing well as of late for the division-rival Hornets. Of course, like every other Houstonian, I hate losing Bonzi to said division rivals. James, not so much. I thought this deal was a pre-cursor to a big deal later on in the day (like Battier and Snyder for Artest, but Snyder ending going elsewhere. More on that later.) This deal works for us because Jackson's deal expires next summer, giving us a big trade chip this summer or next season. Plus we don't have to pay Mike "Who" James $12 mil over the next two.

Hornets - New Orleans comes out of this deal looking real nice (except for the paying James $12 mil thing). Coach Byron Scott wanted to shore up his bench, and shore up his bench he did. Bonzi is a big guard with tremendous low-post scoring ability and maybe James can get off the bench in the Big Easy. N.O. is already number one in the West, and this trade gives them a better chance to stay in the home-court advantage range. If the home-court even works for them.

Memphis - See Seattle. Or Gasol trade.

Houston trades Kirk Snyder to Minnesota for Gerald Green.

Welcome home, young fella. We get hometown product Green, a former 18th pick overall, for basically nothing (sorry, Kirk). This gives us an unprecendented young core of Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Carl Landry and Gerald Green to go along with the veteran core of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady (who may not be here if we don't get out of the first round), and Shane Battier (who I would have exchanged for Artest in a heartbeat). Good job, Daryl Morey.

The big news today: Isiah Thomas did not further ruin his cap by trading for the corpses formerly known as Vince Carter or Jermaine O'Neal. So that's pretty good.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i agree with most of your trade analysis... i hope the Cleveland trade helps jump-start the east.

the Lakers and Rockets are teams to watch out west. the Lakers were my dark horse pick, but now they're the flavor of the month, so i switch it to houston.

but anybody who claims to know how the west will turn out is either lying to you, to himself, or pro'lly both.

i think Dallas did get better, but then i don't think much of Harris. the other guys they lost are scrubs, and i'd probably cut George outta spite.

Don said...

lol @ more Isiah Thomas jokes.

I actually think Chicago won in the Cleveland trade. Gooden is a much better rebounder than Ben Wallace. And can score. Hughes brings an offensive element that the Bulls lack. Plus this move gives Noah & Tyrus Thomas the minutes they truly need.

Did you hear about Yao Ming bein out for the year? I tell you the truth; the Knicks and Rockets will be the death of us.

Don said...

Wally Z was desperately needed in Cleveland though. Especially with their perimeter injuries.

Trey Jones said...

I hate life