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18th February, 2010 - 7:52 pm
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| Current Features |
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SCOOP DU JOUR: Western Conference Scoop For July 26th
All things Chris Paul, along with Sam Presti, Richard Jefferson, David Kahn, Shaquille O'Neal and more.
MOCK DRAFT: 2010 NBA Mock Draft, Version 5.0
An interesting week of prevalent deception is nearly over and the actual picks are hours away. Hundreds of hours have been spent watching the 60 players that 30 teams hope will improve their club in the coming years.
TEAM RANKINGS: Final NBA Power Rankings For 09-10
The Cavaliers were ranked first in the regular season for the second consecutive season. Following them in the top-five were the Magic, Jazz, Celtics and Spurs, while the Lakers were a surprising 11th.
PLAYER RANKINGS: 2009-10 Individual Awards
While the MVP, DPOY and ROY voting should be easy, the All-NBA teams and the other awards are more difficult to correctly determine.
LOCKER TALK: Nash, Cleveland, & Orlando
Steve Nash could draw trade interest this summer and Cleveland isn’t overlooking Orlando…
CLASSICS: Hakeem Vs. Ewing: Who Was The Better Center?
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
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By Andrew Perna
Flipping through a notebook of clichés on Thursday, my eyes settled on this one:
Sometimes the best deals are the ones that aren’t made.
OK, maybe it’s not the most famous of idioms, but it fits perfectly with the NBA’s trade deadline having passed this afternoon.
As always, more deals were rumored than genuinely discussed and even fewer were officially agreed upon. We saw a host of significant moves with Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Tracy McGrady and Kevin Martin trading places, but what if a number of the swaps that were floated out there actually happened?
Included with each deal is the grade it would have received had David Stern put the stamp of approval on the paperwork.
Pacers trade T.J. Ford and Brandon Rush to the Bobcats for D.J. Augustin, Nazr Mohammed and Gerald Henderson
There were rumors shortly before the deadline that Indiana and Charlotte were discussing this trade. Ford had been mentioned in talks simply because of his reduced role this season and I’m not so sure the Pacers were ready to give up on Rush being a part of their core. With that said, they are believed to really like Augustin.
Grading the Non-Deal: Indiana B, Charlotte C-
There wouldn’t have been any considerable salary cap savings for either team, though Larry Brown would have gotten rid of Augustin while adding to Charlotte’s backcourt depth. The deal, however, would have also made the team even thinner in the frontcourt. The addition of Tyrus Thomas is nice, but trading Mohammed without getting a big man back would have been foolish as they attempt to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
Celtics trade Ray Allen, Brian Scalabrine and J.R. Giddens to Wizards for Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison
I visited a chiropractor in Central Massachusetts a few hours after rumors of this possible deal broke last week. Suffice to say, my back was loosened more so than normal due to the doctor’s excitement over the potential acquisition of Butler and Jamison. If the Celtics were going to deal Allen, this was the best deal possible and perhaps the only one they should have really considered.
Grading the Non-Deal: Boston A-, Washington B+
While the Celtics would have become near favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, they would have been financially hamstrung over the next few years. I have a feeling, though, that Boston ownership would have paid to ensure legitimate title contention through 2011.
Washington had quite a few options regarding their two former All-Stars and this was just one of the many that allowed them to wipe a large amount of payroll off the books this summer.
Suns trade Amar’e Stoudemire to the Heat for Udonis Haslem, Quentin Richardson, Daequan Cook and a first-round pick
This deal would have worked under RealGM’s Trade Checker, but I’m of the belief that Phoenix wasn’t going to deal Stoudemire to Miami without getting Michael Beasley in return. I think this proposal would have been a no-brainer for the Heat, especially since they were unable to convince Dwyane Wade to re-sign this summer. Though the caveat to that thinking is that Miami is a few months away from having both Stoudemire and Beasley.
Grading the Non-Deal: Miami A-, Phoenix C+
Phoenix and Stoudemire have burned bridges both ways over the last year-plus, but you have to credit general manager Steve Kerr for not trading the All-Star simply because the relationship may have been strained. With that said, the Suns could be in a tough spot if Amar’e exercises the 2010-11 option in his contract. If he doesn’t, however, the Suns can enjoy the $17 million-plus in savings without taking a single contract back, or could use him in a sign-and-trade.
Bulls trade Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller and John Salmons to Kings, Rockets deal Tracy McGrady to Bulls and Kings send Kenny Thomas, Andres Nocioni, Beno Udrih and a protected first-round pick to Rockets
This rumored deal died when the Bulls dealt Salmons to the Bucks on Wednesday night. Chicago’s playoff chances would have died as well, but they would have opened up more cap space than they did in their two actual deals (Thomas to Charlotte). In hindsight, they did alright even without landing McGrady.
Grading the Non-Deal: Chicago B-, Houston D+, Sacramento A-
Houston would have gotten the worst end of this deal, taking on the oversized contracts of Udrih and Nocioni, both of which could run through the 2012-13 season. A first-round pick is nice, but they’d have been better off holding onto T-Mac than swinging this trade.
The Kings may not have jumped for joy in reacquiring Salmons and Miller one year after they dealt them to Chicago, but the trio they would have received from the Bulls included an expiring deal ($12.2M of Miller), an intriguing potential rental (Thomas) and a contract (Salmons) that is comparable and potentially two years shorter than that of either Nocioni or Udrih.
Warriors send Monta Ellis to Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo and cap filler
The Grizzlies would have had to include a pair of fillers, perhaps Steven Hunter (expiring) and Darrell Arthur. That scenario works under the CBA, per RealGM’s Trade Checker. The main part of the deal, however, is Ellis for Mayo.
Ellis is owed $11 million per season through 2013-14 (player option), while Mayo is owed a little more than $17 million over the three seasons immediately following this one.
Grading the Non-Deal: Golden State A-, Memphis C-
It’s doubtful that Memphis owner Michael Heisley would have agreed to take on such a lengthy salary commitment and I’m not sure it would have been smart to essentially breakup what has proven to be a promising young core.
Golden State would have gotten a starting two-guard at a much cheaper price and ended what has been a strange relationship with Mr. Ellis while handing things over to Stephen Curry.
Cavaliers trade Zydrunas Ilgauskas, J.J. Hickson and a first-round pick to the Pacers for Troy Murphy
The Cavaliers are believed to have had four trade options leading up to the deadline: Stoudemire, Jamison, Murphy and Corey Maggette. I list them in that order because I believe that was/should have been their preference. When they started to doubt their ability to land Amar’e, Antawn was the next-best option.
Grading the Non-Deal: Cleveland C+, Indiana A-
If this was Plan C for Cleveland, this was close to a perfect deal for Indiana in terms of both moving Murphy and keeping their plan for significant cap space in 2011 intact. Hickson is a young, cheap developing forward, Ilgauskas would have cleared close to $12 million off the books (perhaps even via buyout) and a future pick is valuable to the rebuilding Pacers.
Jazz trade Carlos Boozer to Heat for Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and cap filler
This trade would work with Dorell Wright as the filler and either Haslem or Quentin Richardson as the main contract headed to Utah. As far as the Heat are concerned, they could have even thrown in a future pick and still come out as the winner. The prevailing theme this deadline has been the ability of teams to keep their top tier free agents in town and Miami wasn’t able to make any type of improvement.
Grading the Non-Deal: Miami A, Utah C-
The Jazz would really only get Chalmers in this deal as both Haslem and Richardson have expiring deals. If Utah is looking for cap space, they were right to just hold onto Boozer and see how they fair in the postseason after being on a surge in 2010. That’s why Miami had to work overtime to try and land Boozer, and while the Jazz likely demanded Beasley just like Phoenix did.
76ers trade Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert to Suns for Amar’e Stoudemire
This swap was rumored for quite a while, but it doesn’t work under the rules of the CBA (unless Phoenix tossed a filler contract or two into the deal). Philadelphia general manager Ed Stefanski claimed that he was looking at basketball-specific deals, but it would have been a pretty significant salary dump given the contracts of Iggy and Dalembert and the unlikelihood of Stoudemire either opting-in or re-signing with the 76ers.
Grading the Non-Deal: Philadelphia C-, Phoenix D
Iguodala and Dalembert are nice pieces, note the use of the word ‘piece,’ but neither would replace Stoudemire and to take on Iguodala’s contract, despite his University of Arizona connection, would have been unwise. My guess is that there were a host of better options floated out there for Steve Kerr to consider.
Suns trade Amar’e Stoudemire to the Cavaliers for J.J. Hickson, Wally Szczerbiak and cap filler
This would have been one of those better options for the Suns, with cap relief coming in the form of Szczerbiak (or maybe Ilgauskas) and a young potential frontcourt replacement in Hickson. Perhaps a pick would have been involved as well, which would have only sweetened a pretty good deal for Phoenix.
Grading the Non-Deal: Phoenix B+, Cleveland C+
Despite all the rumors linking the Cavaliers to Stoudemire, I was never of the belief that he was a perfect fit in Ohio. Cleveland has the best record in the Eastern Conference for a reason and dealing for an easy-going guy like Jamison was a much safer move than adding S.T.A.T. Of course, if LeBron James and Co. don’t win a championship this June, Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert will be questioned for not getting the bigger impact Stoudemire.
There were a handful of teams that weren’t mentioned frequently in trade rumors this month, despite more action around the league than in recent memory.
The Nets: Why should they start entertaining their fans now after working so hard for cap space?
The Thunder: Sam Presti could have mortgaged a portion of the team’s future to bolster their playoff chances, but he stood pat. Oklahoma City’s payroll will drop by more than $10 million next season without any of their core players coming off the books, but extensions for Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are forthcoming this summer, meaning they need to either use or lose their cap space as Portland did last summer.
The Magic: Orlando general manager Otis Smith is confident in the team he built a season after making it to the NBA Finals. Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass might have been potential chips, but the Magic decided to preserve their depth.
The Hornets: It was hard for New Orleans to gauge potential trades with All-Star point guard Chris Paul out with a knee injury. Darren Collison is keeping them afloat and they lacked desirable contracts.
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. You can also follow Andrew on Twitter: APerna7 |
