NBA Trade Deadline thread

The Game Room
1

Yeah, this was today. Here were the big moves:

-Dwight Howard decides to waive his opt-out and stay with the Magic through next season. Fine, enough already.

-The Warriors traded Monta Ellis and Kwame Brown earlier this week to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson, then turned around and dealt Jackson to the Spurs today for Richard Jefferson and a 1st round pick. The Warriors had been making noise about going after Howard, but now that that’s off the table they’re left with a hobbled Bogut and I guess Steph Curry picking up the scoring slack at guard.

-The Nuggets dealt Nene, who they had given a big contract to in the offseason, to Washington for Javale McGee and Ronny Turiaf. The Clippers were also involved and got Nick Young from Washington. Apparently the Nuggets wanted to free up cap space to give Wilson Chandler (who’s back from China) a long term deal. McGee is a bit of a headcase, but has real potential. I like that move for Denver, as well as for Washington. If only the Wizards could find some way of dumping Blatche; if I were the GM, I’d honestly consider amnestying him (since they decided to hold on to Rashard Lewis for some reason).

-Lakers get Ramon Sessions from the Cavs for Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, and a 1st round pick. Afterwards, they dealt Derek Fisher to the Rockets for Jordan Hill. Necessary pickup for the Lakers, and the Cavs stockpile another pick and get a couple of expiring contracts.

-The Blazers were busy. They dealt Gerald Wallace to the Nets for Memo Okur, Shawne Williams, and a 1st. They also dealt Marcus Camby to the Rockets for Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, and a future 2nd. They also fired their coach and cut Greg Oden. The Blazers are cleaning house. As for the Rockets, they could be a real dark horse come playoff time now that they have the center that David Stern denied them in the offseason.

-The Pacers grabbed Leandro Barbosa from the Raptors for a 2nd. That will give them a nice scoring option for their second unit, and make them arguably the deepest team in the East.

Busy day and hardly anyone’s paying attention.

2

And released Chris Johnson. I guess we can go ahead and conclude that the Blazers should maybe have taken Kevin Durant like every single person in the greater Portland area though they should have. Except Paul Allen.

3

Blazers can’t catch a break. They’ll probably never draft a big man again.

Slight correction to the above: Luke Walton’s deal doesn’t expire until 2013. Cavs are probably expecting Jamison to leave in the offseason and either Walton or Tristan Thompson to slide into the starting forward spot. More importantly, they now have 4 of the top 40 picks in the draft.

4

Thank you for explaining the rationale here. I had no idea what was up with this trade.

Yup. I’m not sure Fisher would be getting significant minutes on any team if he weren’t a longtime Laker and a friend of Kobe. I assume he’ll be backing up Kyrie Irving and playing a few minutes a game.

The more I think about this, the worse I feel for the Blazers and their fans. A few years ago they were a very promising young team. Then Brandon Roy’s knees crapped out, Oden couldn’t stay healthy, and this team quit on the coach, so they blew it up. Aldridge has become an outstanding player, but there’s almost nothing left.

5

A major factor in the trade was the recent play of Kenneth Faried, who is actually playing better than Nene. Nene is a guy who wows you with his size and athleticism, but when he gets on the court, he plays soft. Good player, but he could be so much more than he is. Put Faried’s motor and attitude in Nene’s body and you’s have a true beast.

6

Man the Blazers completely screwed the nets on that trade. That pick was a huge huge asset, and only getting it top three protected for Gerald freaking Wallace is a horrible trade. Anyone from 4-10 on the next draft can be a franchise player.

7

It really is fascinating how the little things can change the course of the league. There’s a very good chance Dwight Howard would be with the Nets now if Brook Lopez hadn’t broken his foot in the preseason. But that did happen and Howard is staying in Orlando, which means the Nets will probably lose Deron Williams to Dallas (or maybe somewhere else) in the offseason. I suppose it’s possible Williams will do what Howard did and decide not to opt out, but I assume he is gone. Which means the Nets will move to Brooklyn next season with no Williams, no Howard, and they’ll hope to somehow swing a deal to get someone to go with Lopez and MarShon Brooks.

8

I wasn’t especially crazy, by itself, about the Warriors’ first transaction. But now that I know that they were able to flip the annoyingly difficult Jackson for a more solid citizen in Jefferson and a first-round selection, I guess that I am somewhat satisfied.

9

As a Blazers’ fan, I’m not at all pleased by the team. But at least they recognize that this was unsustainable/disastrous and decided to blow it up. They could rebuild quickly if they get lucky with that pick.

10

I don’t see why Deron would stick around now. He doesn’t have the history with the Nets that Dwight had with Orlando, and that is basically what kept him here. If that pick turns out to be a star player, or even a decent starter, that just makes the front office look incompetent on top of everything else.

11

They’ll probably have a choice between a dynamic swingman and a solid inside guy with slight health question marks.

12

I don’t either. They can keep the good players they have, try to package the other stuff for something better, and see if their draft pick makes them enticing enough to get him to stick around for one more year. But probably he’s off to Dallas or someplace else.

13

McGee is the perfect example of a guy skating along on athletic ability alone. He has no real basketball IQ to speak of, and shown no interest in developing one. He’s the kind of player who’s only in it to get himself on Sportscenter, perfect demonstrated by his famous self-alley-oop while losing badly from this year. Worse still, he had no idea why that was bad.

He’s still young. Perhaps being in a different situation will help. Certainly not being expected to be a star and primary contributor will help a lot. I just don’t see him ever being a starter-quality player.

As for Young, he’s a pretty good offensive player, will provide a nice spark off the bench. Just make sure he’s not on the floor when you don’t have the ball, as defense is a completely alien concept to him.

14

12 points, 9 boards, and 2.5 blocks in 28 minutes per game is pretty solid for a center. And as I said, I think it will do him good to get away and get a fresh start elsewhere away from guys like Andray Blatche. McGee may have knucklehead tendencies, but he seems to give a crap about his game.

15

I think it’s possible that getting McGee out of the shitty situation in Washington and into the hands of a winning team and a coach like Karl could smarten him up. Then again, it’s a big bet.

16

Now we just need to send Free Throw Guy somewhere. Maybe trade him to Charlotte for Nelly.

17

Shit, imagine being a Blazers fan today. I’m not one but as a Lakers fan, I’ve always had kind of a rivalry with them. I occasionally check out what’s going on at The Oregonian’s online forums. Its a sad state. I loved Brandon Roy, his play, his professionalism, and he was seriously the #3 SG behind Kobe and Wade a couple years ago. Now he’s gone and so is their big man savior Oden, who should probably just hang it up before he gets so much surgeries he can’t even walk. I know the money’s tempting but he’s made tens of millions already for essentially no work. How many more attempts at a comeback is he going to try? Even Yao knew when to hang it up

But I just came here to say that as a Lakers fan, I really really really hate the Fisher deal. Yes, I will admit its entirely sentimental, but this is the guy who hit so many big shots, took charges, 0.4, and kept Kobe from shooting 30 times a night and was a leader in the locker room. I heard this was mainly a cost saving move, as Jordan Hill’s not really expected to do much. You’re telling me the Lakers couldn’t have just spent the $3.4m on Fisher this year and next and let him retire? I really dislike how Jim Buss is running his dad’s team. Even if the Lakers win a championship this year, and they did get a lot better on the court, the move to get rid of Fisher is total and utter crap

18

I understand the high sentimental value, but it made no sense to keep him. They just traded for Ramon Sessions, and they didn’t get him so he could back up Derek Fisher. Fisher seems like a good guy, but he’s a 37 year old point guard who is averaging 6 points and 3 assists a game. And they also have Steve Blake under contract for a couple more years. It makes no sense to pay Fisher $3.7 million next year to be a 38-year-old third-string backup.

Well, not this season. :wink:

19

Bah, you and your reasoning! $3.7m isn’t a lot of money compared to the $90m payroll. Fisher doesn’t have to be a starter, or if he was, he doesn’t have to play big minutes. I looked up Jordan Hill’s stats. For his career, he’s at 5.4ppg/4.2rpg/0.4apg. And we gave Houston a draft pick! You’re telling me Fisher’s 5.9ppg/2.1rpg/3.1apg wasn’t worth that guy and draft pick? Plus the enormous amount of knowledge he can teach Sessions and be a stabilizing force in the locker room and can be inserted at crunch time during the playoffs? I really don’t see it. And if we’re getting Hill to back up Pau and Bynum, he’s not really much better than Troy Murphy, who can at least hit an outside shot.

Kobe’s going to shoot even more now. And I miss Fish already :frowning:

20

What’s the right amount for a guy who’s hardly giving you anything and is about to become a third stringer? I’m not optimistic about the ownership of the Buss children either, since they seem intent on cutting payroll first and foremost, but the trade does make sense in basketball terms: the Lakers may not have much planned for Hill, but they need a backup center more than they need a backup point guard. As opposed to, say, the Odom deal.

Right… in which case, you need him why? I understand the experience and leadership angle, but the Lakers already have plenty of veteran players, and Sessions isn’t a young pup. This is his fourth full season.

The Lakers didn’t want a draft pick. It means guaranteed salary.

Sessions can score and Fisher couldn’t, so it’s possible he’ll be shooting a little less.