A Quiet Storm of Trades
By Matt Kolsky posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 @ 5:40 PM - (General)
Leading up to this year's NBA trade deadline (which just passed, for those of you who aren't sports fans… which does bring to mind the question of why you'd bother to read this blog about sports if you don't even like sports in the first place. I mean, hell, the thing says sports right at the top of the page and everything – it's not like… oh god, I just realized I'm still in parentheses. I'll see you on the outside…)
I'm going to have to start that sentence again after derailing into my own parentheses… Leading up to this year's NBA trade deadline, we heard a LOT of rumors about some big names: everyone on Phoenix is available – Shaq, Amare, Nash, even the recently acquired Jason Richardson… Chris Bosh is on the move in a three-way deal… Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are on the move…
Well, none of that happened. But despite the lack of major players changing locales, today (and the last couple of days) turned out to be one of the most active trade deadlines in recent memory, with a flurry of deals featuring mid-level players and expiring contracts flying back and forth across the country.
I don't want to get too deep into any of this crap, to be honest with you, because grading trades before the principals play a single game or the future financial relief is utilized tends to be a fool's errand. Especially in a year where a lot of moves were made for purely financial reasons (Thabo Sefolosha and Chris Mihm each being traded for a conditional draft pick, to name two).
All that said, I would be remiss if I did not at least take a cursory glance at some of the bigger moves we saw go down in the last week…
Let's begin with the beginning – specifically the Miami-Toronto deal that sent Shawn Marion to the frozen tundra and Jermaine O'Neal to the beach (with Marcus Banks and Jamario Moon also changing places). This trade, finalized just before the All-Star Break, strikes me as a coup for Miami.
Not only do they pick up a center in O'Neal who is a clear All-Star when healthy (and replaces a platoon including the likes of no-name Joel Anthony and dud Jamaal Magloire) but they lose very little. Marion was never a very good fit in Miami, and getting Jamario Moon back gives you a similarly athletic 3-4 who is equally willing and unable to shoot the three; plus, assuming Moon is relegated to more of a backup role than Marion was, it opens up more playing time for #2 overall pick Michael Beasley, who has played better and better as the year has progressed.
Next we come to the trade that was but will never will be, the Hornets' swap of Tyson Chandler for Oklahoma City's Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. This was ostensibly a financial move for one team (New Orleans) and a talent move for the other… The only problem is that the supposed talent (Tyson Chandler – who, for the record, would not have looked nearly as good with Russell Westbrook as his PG) is hurt.
But here's what perplexes me – Tyson is, has been, and will always be an injury risk. He's 7'2" and frail, and his lack of real basketball skills requires him to use his athleticism to fly and bang around in order to get anything done. His body can't handle the pounding… but we KNEW that already. If you're the Thunder, a nicked up toe shouldn't cause you to reconsider – either you think Tyson helps you despite his deficiencies or you don't. In other words, this smells like buyer's remorse to me, with the failed physical as nothing more than an excuse.
The next two big trades were made by my hometown Chicago Bulls – first yesterday, sending Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden to Sacramento for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I love this deal for the Bulls – for the Kings… eh. Chicago picks up a legitimate NBA center in Miller, something they have sorely missed since… well, since the last time Miller was in town. Salmons is a defensively strong swingman who has come into his own this year as a shooter and scorer and should be a nice fit alongside Derrick Rose.
The Kings obvious benefit comes from Gooden, whose contract expires at the end of the year and will help Sacramento financially. But Nocioni has a long-running and relatively unfriendly deal and has shown over the course of his career that he is most effective as an agitator and occasional outside shooter. In other words, he's far more valuable to a good team than to a terrible one (and Sacto is definitely the latter) and he's not going to save them any money. In fact, both Salmons and Millers deals will expire before Nocioni's does. Go figure…
The second Bulls trade leaves me (as a fan) far more ambivalent. They shipped malcontent Larry Hughes out east to the Knicks, in exchange for Tim Thomas (another former Bull), Jerome James and Anthony Roberson. Essentially this comes down to Hughes for Thomas, because Roberson is a big nobody and James is even bigger and considerably worse at basketball. There is some buzz that he may end up qualifying under some sort of medical retirement, which would be nice for the Bulls, but in all likelihood he will be a $6 million albatross…
Then remember that Tim Thomas left Chicago last time in a huff after failing to coexist with Scott Skiles, and it appears to be a curious deal for the Bulls. Then again, getting rid of Hughes was a priority since he's been a healthy scratch for weeks now and clearly doesn't fit with the team. Thomas, for all the acrimony of his last stint with the team, should fill a role as a 4 with some outside shooting ability, and apparently has a good relationship with current coach Vinny Del Negro, who he worked with in Phoenix and played with in Milwaukee.
From the Knicks perspective, they are able to shed James (already acknowledged as useless) and pick up Hughes, who for some reason continues to be seen by teams as a useful player. To his credit, he should fit well philosophically as a 2-guard for a team that doesn't have one (besides the 5'8" Nate Robinson) and a guy who can run for a coach that demands it. On the other hand, he's another jerk in a roomful of jerks in New York, and it's hard to see how adding another selfish malcontent will really help things for the Knicks.
Finally, we have the most buzzer-beating of the deadline day deals, wherein the Magic acquired much-needed point guard help in Rafer Alston from the Rockets while essentially giving up only Brian Cook and a first-round pick (likely to be in the mid-to-high 20's); meanwhile the Grizzlies get that pick and send young PG Kyle Lowry back to the Rockets.
This one actually strikes me as a no-brainer for everyone involved… The Grizzlies were inordinately deep at the point and seem to be going with Mike Conley as their PG of the future, so why not get some value for Lowry while you can, even if it's just a late-first round draft pick. The Rockets have been forced to accept this year as lost now that Tracy McGrady is likely done for the season, they seem to like Aaron Brooks enough to hand him the reigns and they now have another prospect at the position in Lowry.
Perhaps most importantly, the Magic keep themselves in the hunt as an Eastern Conference Championship Contender by picking up a real point to replace the injured Jameer Nelson. They put a band-aid on the situation by acquiring Tyronn Lue right after Nelson went down, but Alston is a significant upgrade from Lue – he provides some scoring ability and will be able to push the pace and find Dwight Howard in the right positions. Basically he can approximate Nelson's performance for the next few months, which is really all that Orlando will ask from him.
-------------------
So there you have it – my NBA trade deadline breakdown. Hope you've enjoyed it… and if you didn't, as always I expect you to leave me some comments and tell me why exactly you hated it so much. And don't forget to tune into Sports Overnight America with Chris Townsend (Monday thru Thursday nights from 10p to 1a PT) for more NBA thoughts and other ruminations from me, not to mention the solid gold opinions of Mr. Townsend himself. But for now…
I'm Kolsky, and I've said enough.
I'm going to have to start that sentence again after derailing into my own parentheses… Leading up to this year's NBA trade deadline, we heard a LOT of rumors about some big names: everyone on Phoenix is available – Shaq, Amare, Nash, even the recently acquired Jason Richardson… Chris Bosh is on the move in a three-way deal… Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are on the move…
Well, none of that happened. But despite the lack of major players changing locales, today (and the last couple of days) turned out to be one of the most active trade deadlines in recent memory, with a flurry of deals featuring mid-level players and expiring contracts flying back and forth across the country.
I don't want to get too deep into any of this crap, to be honest with you, because grading trades before the principals play a single game or the future financial relief is utilized tends to be a fool's errand. Especially in a year where a lot of moves were made for purely financial reasons (Thabo Sefolosha and Chris Mihm each being traded for a conditional draft pick, to name two).
All that said, I would be remiss if I did not at least take a cursory glance at some of the bigger moves we saw go down in the last week…
Let's begin with the beginning – specifically the Miami-Toronto deal that sent Shawn Marion to the frozen tundra and Jermaine O'Neal to the beach (with Marcus Banks and Jamario Moon also changing places). This trade, finalized just before the All-Star Break, strikes me as a coup for Miami.
Not only do they pick up a center in O'Neal who is a clear All-Star when healthy (and replaces a platoon including the likes of no-name Joel Anthony and dud Jamaal Magloire) but they lose very little. Marion was never a very good fit in Miami, and getting Jamario Moon back gives you a similarly athletic 3-4 who is equally willing and unable to shoot the three; plus, assuming Moon is relegated to more of a backup role than Marion was, it opens up more playing time for #2 overall pick Michael Beasley, who has played better and better as the year has progressed.
Next we come to the trade that was but will never will be, the Hornets' swap of Tyson Chandler for Oklahoma City's Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. This was ostensibly a financial move for one team (New Orleans) and a talent move for the other… The only problem is that the supposed talent (Tyson Chandler – who, for the record, would not have looked nearly as good with Russell Westbrook as his PG) is hurt.
But here's what perplexes me – Tyson is, has been, and will always be an injury risk. He's 7'2" and frail, and his lack of real basketball skills requires him to use his athleticism to fly and bang around in order to get anything done. His body can't handle the pounding… but we KNEW that already. If you're the Thunder, a nicked up toe shouldn't cause you to reconsider – either you think Tyson helps you despite his deficiencies or you don't. In other words, this smells like buyer's remorse to me, with the failed physical as nothing more than an excuse.
The next two big trades were made by my hometown Chicago Bulls – first yesterday, sending Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden to Sacramento for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I love this deal for the Bulls – for the Kings… eh. Chicago picks up a legitimate NBA center in Miller, something they have sorely missed since… well, since the last time Miller was in town. Salmons is a defensively strong swingman who has come into his own this year as a shooter and scorer and should be a nice fit alongside Derrick Rose.
The Kings obvious benefit comes from Gooden, whose contract expires at the end of the year and will help Sacramento financially. But Nocioni has a long-running and relatively unfriendly deal and has shown over the course of his career that he is most effective as an agitator and occasional outside shooter. In other words, he's far more valuable to a good team than to a terrible one (and Sacto is definitely the latter) and he's not going to save them any money. In fact, both Salmons and Millers deals will expire before Nocioni's does. Go figure…
The second Bulls trade leaves me (as a fan) far more ambivalent. They shipped malcontent Larry Hughes out east to the Knicks, in exchange for Tim Thomas (another former Bull), Jerome James and Anthony Roberson. Essentially this comes down to Hughes for Thomas, because Roberson is a big nobody and James is even bigger and considerably worse at basketball. There is some buzz that he may end up qualifying under some sort of medical retirement, which would be nice for the Bulls, but in all likelihood he will be a $6 million albatross…
Then remember that Tim Thomas left Chicago last time in a huff after failing to coexist with Scott Skiles, and it appears to be a curious deal for the Bulls. Then again, getting rid of Hughes was a priority since he's been a healthy scratch for weeks now and clearly doesn't fit with the team. Thomas, for all the acrimony of his last stint with the team, should fill a role as a 4 with some outside shooting ability, and apparently has a good relationship with current coach Vinny Del Negro, who he worked with in Phoenix and played with in Milwaukee.
From the Knicks perspective, they are able to shed James (already acknowledged as useless) and pick up Hughes, who for some reason continues to be seen by teams as a useful player. To his credit, he should fit well philosophically as a 2-guard for a team that doesn't have one (besides the 5'8" Nate Robinson) and a guy who can run for a coach that demands it. On the other hand, he's another jerk in a roomful of jerks in New York, and it's hard to see how adding another selfish malcontent will really help things for the Knicks.
Finally, we have the most buzzer-beating of the deadline day deals, wherein the Magic acquired much-needed point guard help in Rafer Alston from the Rockets while essentially giving up only Brian Cook and a first-round pick (likely to be in the mid-to-high 20's); meanwhile the Grizzlies get that pick and send young PG Kyle Lowry back to the Rockets.
This one actually strikes me as a no-brainer for everyone involved… The Grizzlies were inordinately deep at the point and seem to be going with Mike Conley as their PG of the future, so why not get some value for Lowry while you can, even if it's just a late-first round draft pick. The Rockets have been forced to accept this year as lost now that Tracy McGrady is likely done for the season, they seem to like Aaron Brooks enough to hand him the reigns and they now have another prospect at the position in Lowry.
Perhaps most importantly, the Magic keep themselves in the hunt as an Eastern Conference Championship Contender by picking up a real point to replace the injured Jameer Nelson. They put a band-aid on the situation by acquiring Tyronn Lue right after Nelson went down, but Alston is a significant upgrade from Lue – he provides some scoring ability and will be able to push the pace and find Dwight Howard in the right positions. Basically he can approximate Nelson's performance for the next few months, which is really all that Orlando will ask from him.
-------------------
So there you have it – my NBA trade deadline breakdown. Hope you've enjoyed it… and if you didn't, as always I expect you to leave me some comments and tell me why exactly you hated it so much. And don't forget to tune into Sports Overnight America with Chris Townsend (Monday thru Thursday nights from 10p to 1a PT) for more NBA thoughts and other ruminations from me, not to mention the solid gold opinions of Mr. Townsend himself. But for now…
I'm Kolsky, and I've said enough.
