Month: February 2008 (Page 9 of 30)

Here’s the deal:

The Cavs get Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Joe Smith, and a future second round pick from Chicago.

The Bulls get Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.

The Sonics get the expiring contracts of Ira Newble and Adrian Griffin along with Donyell Marshall, who has one year remaining on his contract.

Whew!

I like Delonte West a lot; he and Szczerbiak will give the Cavs two more good shooters to spread defenses. It looks like the Cavs are gambling that Ben Wallace just needs a fresh start. If he can give them a season or two of the defense and rebounding he was known for in Detroit, this should be a worthwhile trade. Larry Hughes never really fit in with the Cavs, so it’s probably a good idea to try something different. He is more of a playmaker, and he didn’t get an opportunity to shine since LeBron handles the ball so much. By making the trade, the Cavs aren’t sacrificing much of the projected salary cap flexibility that they should have in the summer of 2010. They can try this new core for a year or two and see how things go.

In Gooden, the Bulls finally get a decent post scorer and they are rid of Wallace, who has a pretty awful contract. At first glance, it doesn’t look like Hughes is a very good fit, but it was probably a requirement that they take on his contract in order to unload Wallace.

By essentially giving away Szczerbiak, Seattle earns even more salary cap flexibility this summer.

Even without Andrew Bynum, the Lakers were able to beat the new-look Suns in Phoenix, 130-124, to spoil Shaquille O’Neal’s debut.

Kobe stuffed the box score with 41 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, while Pau Gasol chipped in with 29. Shaq had 15 points and nine boards, but his presence certainly helped Amare Stoudemire, who posted 37 points and 15 rebounds.

Kobe’s outburst underscores the loss of Shawn Marion, who provided good perimeter and interior defense. Phoenix was already bad defensively and without Marion they’re worse.

According to Marc Stein, the Cavs and Bulls were talking before the trade deadine about making a major deal.

Two of my most plugged-in sources say that the big trade Cleveland is pursuing, as our good friend Brian Windhorst warned us about in his Akron Beacon Journal blog, is a multiplayer exchange that would bring Ben Wallace to the Cavs.

We have not been apprised that any deal is close nor have we received a reliable read on the Bulls’ level of interest, but we have been assured that it is being discussed: Wallace and teammates Chris Duhon and Joe Smith heading to Cleveland in exchange for a package headlined by Drew Gooden … and Larry Hughes.

It also could be done with several other Cavs in Hughes’ place, so we’ll have to see if the Bulls simply pass, push for an alternative scenario or accept Hughes and allow Cleveland to proceed to Part 2.

Cleveland’s other 11th-hour trade target to hearten LeBron James, after Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby landed elsewhere, is Seattle’s Wally Szczerbiak, who holds appeal for LeBron’s Cavs as a deadeye shooter and as a college-ball legend in Ohio.

It appears that the Cavs’ preference is scoring Wallace first and then trying to add Szczerbiak. But the Cavs’ usual obstacle — they have only three expiring contracts (Ira Newble, Devin Brown and Shannon Brown) totaling not even half of the $13.3 million owed Wally next season to package with Donyell Marshall — makes a successful play for Wally difficult even if the Wallace stuff doesn’t go any farther.

We haven’t heard anything yet, but it’s possible that a trade is indeed complete. It takes time for the league to approve the deal and for the news to break.

If the trade with Chicago went through as described – Wallace, Duhon and Smith for Gooden and Hughes – it would be close to a wash salary wise. Both Wallace and Hughes have bad contracts that expire in two more years. In Duhon, the Cavs would get a solid point guard who can shoot the long ball. Still, I don’t like this trade for the Cavs. Gooden is a capable inside scorer while Wallace’s productiion has dipped; he’s posting 5.1 points and 8.8 rebounds, while shooting a dreadful 37.3% from the field. He is 33 and it appears that he has hit a wall. The trade doesn’t provide any salary cap relief, either.

The Szczerbiak deal is a little more interesting, though he and LeBron play essentially the same position. When he feels like it, LeBron is capable of guarding a shooting guard, so he and Wally could see court time together. With Szczerbiak and Gibson spacing the court, defenses would be hard pressed to double LeBron.

Memphis GM Chris Wallace is a strange cat.

Wallace wouldn’t talk specifically about trades the team was considering but cautioned that he isn’t in a fire-sale mode of operation. Teams have routinely approached the Griz with below-value offers with the notion that players can be had strictly for draft picks and expiring contracts.

While Wallace admits that he’s never fielded so many phone calls at this time of year, many of them he’s deemed unnecessary.

“Contrary to popular opinion, we’re not trying to strip the thing down to bargain-basement financially,” Wallace said. “We’re not looking to shed money. There has to be a basketball element to these deals.”

Okay, Chris, explain the “basketball element” to giving Pau Gasol to a conference foe for an unproven rookie and a late first round draft pick. Why would anyone think your team is in fire sale mode?