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.
