Author: John Paulsen (Page 735 of 937)

Yao Ming has a stress fracture in his foot and will miss the rest of the season.

This is devastating news for the Rockets, who will find it difficult to hold on to a playoff spot without their franchise center. Teams like Utah, New Orleans, Golden State and Denver are probably breathing a little easier knowing he’s out. There was talk of a 50+ win team missing the playoffs for the first time in league history, and Houston just has to win 13 of its remaining 25 games to reach that mark, so it still could happen.

More importantly (for Houston), are the Rockets going to reconsider building around an injury-prone player? Is Yao Ming injury-prone? He played in all 82 games in each of his first three seasons, but in the last three, he has only played in 57, 48, and 55 games, respectively. He is only 27, so conventional thinking would say that he has four or five years left in his prime, but at 7’6″, one has to wonder if his body will be able to hold up that long. Right now, it’s not looking too good.

Let’s take a look at how the big-name players involved in all those pre-deadline trades are doing for their new teams. This is the way to read the line: Pau Gasol, who is 9-1 in games played for the Lakers, has averaged 22.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 blocks per game since the trade.

Pau Gasol (Lakers): 9-1, 22.0p, 7.1r, 2.9a, 1.5b
Jason Kidd (Mavs): 3-1, 8.3p, 6.8r, 11.3a, 3.8s
Shaquille O’Neal (Suns): 1-2, 8.7p, 11.3r, 1.7a, 1.3b,
Shawn Marion (Heat): 0-5, 16.6p, 11.0r, 3.0a, 2.8s
Mike Bibby (Hawks): 1-4, 11.8p, 5.4a, 2.0r
Ben Wallace (Cavs): 1-0. 12.0p, 10.0r, 1.0b, 2.0s
Wally Szczerbiak (Cavs): 1-0, 10.0p, 1.0r
Drew Gooden (Bulls): 0-2, 14.5p, 8.0r, 0.5b
Larry Hughes (Bulls): 0-2, 13.5p, 3.5r, 2.5a

The Gasol trade is obviously working out for the Lakers, but it’s too early to tell how these other trades are going to affect each team’s record. I’ll update Tradewatch every two weeks through the end of the season, so be sure to check back.

After a flurry of deals that led up to the NBA’s Feb. 21 trade deadline, it’s a good time to take a deep breath and reexamine the playoff contenders and pretenders. In my latest column, I discuss what the top 10 teams have to do to win a ring this postseason.

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.