Offseason Moves
June 25, 2008 by Evil E
Does this blockbuster equation make sense to you?
The NBA offseason is officially underway.
Thursday’s draft was loaded with big-time prospects and blockbuster trades, and we’ve only just begun.
Plenty more trades will go down and key free agent decisions will be made over the summer.
For now, let’s take a look at the trades that have already transpired.
The most recent one wasn’t completed until the draft was over, but it’s a blockbuster of epic proportions.
Kevin Love + Mike Miller + Brian Cardinal + Jason Collins for
OJ Mayo + Marko Jaric + Antoine Walker + Greg Buckner
WOW!
My initial reaction is that Minnesota made a sweet deal and Memphis got fleeced once again. Kevin McHale gets the power forward that he coveted to team up with Al Jefferson (Love studied tapes of McHale growing up, so there’s a nice connection there). The T-Wolves also get rid of Marko Jaric’s contract (3 years, $21.3 million remaining) and get to replace him with Mike Miller.
I’m shocked that Miller is being mentioned as a mere afterthought in this deal. The last time I checked, he was one of the top shooters in the league and an extremely versatile offensive weapon. I’m still not sold on Randy Foye, but a starting five of Foye, Miller, Corey Brewer, Love, and Big Al is pretty solid. Telfair, Snyder, and Gomes are all restricted free agents, but if retained, could form with McCants to give Minnesota a decent bench. Collins’ contract expires in 1 year and Cardinal’s ($13.05 million left) expires in 2.
Is this really the best Memphis could get in return for Love & Miller? I realize that they need a player with star power to sell some tickets, but I’m not convinced that OJ Mayo is going to be a guaranteed superstar like some people think. Remember, Mayo had (arguably) more talent around him at USC, but Beasley’s Kansas St. squad beat them soundly in Round 1 of the tournament. Memphis really needed a talented big man, but they must have figured that Love was expendable when they traded for Darrell Arthur.
Jaric is a decent player, but I certainly wouldn’t want to owe him $21 million over 3 years. Walker’s contract expires after this season (he might get bought out), but according to Hoopshype, Buckner has 3 years and $12.06 million remaining if he exercises a player option. The Grizzlies have a lot of talent in their backcourt now (Mayo, Conley, Lowry, Crittenton), but none of those guys are proven. Rudy Gay is a stud, but he really needed some help up front. I don’t like this trade for Memphis, but there are rumors that Mayo could be traded once again. We shall see…
Loading ...
Richard Jefferson
for
Yi Jianlian + Bobby Simmons
The Nets clear up some cap space to go after LeBron in 2010. I like Yi’s potential, but now it seems like they have a bunch of mediocre young big men (they just drafted Brook Lopez & Ryan Anderson to go along with Yi, Sean Williams, and Josh Boone). Can Bobby Simmons return to his LA Clipper form?
Redd + R-Jeff seems like a pretty crazy 1-2 scoring punch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucks still try to trade Redd (I’m not really sure what to make of Milwaukee right now).
Loading ...
T.J. Ford + Nesterovic + Roy Hibbert + Maceo Baston
for
Jermaine O’Neal + Nathan Jawai
Toronto & Indiana agreed to the first trade of the summer on Wednesday, and it makes sense for both teams.
Toronto makes Jose Calderon happy by clearing way to give him the big minutes that he deserves, while teaming Chris Bosh up with a proven big man who can help out on both sides of the floor.
Indiana finally gets rid of O’Neal, an injury-ridden player whom they’ve wanted to move for awhile now (Jamaal Tinsley, Jeff Foster, and David Harrison are the only players remaining from the ‘04-05 “brawl” squad). In return, they get a super quick and talented PG to run their team, a serviceable veteran center, and another 1st round pick (they now have #11 and #17) in Thursday’s draft.
If O’Neal can stay healthy, he’ll provide the Raptors with a big boost in the middle. Bosh must surely be excited, but I like this trade even more for the Pacers.
T.J. Ford has his own injury concerns, but he’s going to be much more reliable than Tinsley (who’s missed 165 games over the past 5 years) and Travis Diener. Ford will really be able to push the tempo for Indiana, and at 25 years old, is about to enter his prime (O’Neal turns a brittle 30 in October). Nesterovic is a definite downgrade from JON, but he’s a proven veteran who can block and make shots. The #17 pick in Thursday’s draft is just icing on the cake, because there will be plenty of center prospects available at that spot.
With Rasho’s length, Foster’s rebounding prowess, Murphy’s outside shooting, Diogu’s low-post game, and the potential of the their 1st round picks, the Pacers’ big men could still hold their own in ‘08-09.
Loading ...No related posts.
Rose – Beasley – Mayo as most people expected. Now things get interesting. Jay Bilas keeps insisting that Brook Lopez is the best player available, but I’m not convinced.
Seattle takes PG Russell Westbrook at #4. He’s considered a superb defender out of UCLA with an inconsistent outside shot… Isn’t that what Earl Watson is? (2 years, $12.8 million left).
Question: Why must the draft be held in NY every year? Hearing the same New Yorkers boo year after year about players they don’t know about got old a long time ago. Anyway, forget Gallinari. Where is David Lee going to be traded? And could Marbury actually be D’Antoni’s starting PG on opening night?
Eric Gordon to the Clippers at #7. This guy is going to put mad points on the board from the get-go. Cat Mobley turns 33 in September and Livingston’s health is a major question mark, so this pick makes a lot of sense.
Jerryd Bayless to Indiana at #11 one day after trading for TJ Ford.
Brandon Rush to Portland at #13. I really like this dude, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get traded.
Warriors are coming up…. please no Kosta Koufos!
Anthony Randolph to the Warriors after picking Brandan Wright last year. Another long, skinny forward? They needed some beef! Unless they make a trade or land Richard Hendrix in round 2 (the next Millsap/ Landry), I’m going to be disappointed.
New proposed trade:
Indiana gets: Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts & Brandon Rush
Portland gets: Ike Diogu & Jerryd Bayless
Yep, that makes a little more sense now…
Darrell Arthur has a bad kidney???
Supposedly. I like Arthur and hope he does well in Portland.
Grizzlies just picked up Donte Greene at #28, a guy who was pegged to go in the top 20. With Marc Gasol also coming over next year, Memphis just got a nice boost of frontcourt talent.
Booyah! The Warriors picked up Richard Hendrix in the 2nd round!!! I’ve been following him closely and am convinced he’ll make a solid impact.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Richard-Hendrix-229/
Another late pick I like is James Gist going to the Spurs at #57. As evidenced in my “Dunk leaders” article, the Spurs could use some athleticism and Gist is chock full of that.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/James-Gist-597/
Watch out for my fantasy article on impact rookies coming soon…
I have no idea how much Chris Wallace is paid but I know for sure he doesn’t deserve a penny … Many people agree he is the worst GM in NBA but I still can’t believe that people are paid to make deals like this… after his awful tenure in Boston it was extremely bizarre that Michael Heisley hired him… he made the legendary Gasol trade and now he is giving away Mike Miller?!?! … what they are getting – OJ Mayo, Mr. Adriana Lima and Toine – that is ridiculous!!!… I am really happy not being a Grizzlies’ fan…
What’s crazy is that if you read these comments by Memphis fans, most people seemed to hate the Love pick and were ecstatic when the trade went down.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jun/26/grizzlies-still-search-draft-day-deal/?feedback=1#comments
I can’t blame them tho. Their team sucks and they’re looking for a savior… and they think OJ Mayo is that man. But like I said, I’m not convinced that Mayo is the next Gary Payton or Dwyane Wade or Chauncey Billups or whoever people seem to think he’s going to be.
This trade reminds me of the 93 draft, when the Warriors traded away the #3 pick (Penny Hardaway) and 3 future 1st rounders for the #1 pick (Chris Webber). I liked it at the time, because I was certain that Webber was the Warriors’ savior. Of course, things didn’t turn out so great.
Like Webber, Mayo was a highly touted prospect at a very young age who almost certainly accepted illegal money. First of all, that’s bad karma (I guarantee you Tim Duncan didn’t do that). That’s also a lot of added pressure and expectations on your shoulders. C-Webb never lived up to his expectations, and I don’t think Mayo will either. And oh yeah, Webber was 6-10 and led his college team to the NCAA title game as a freshman. Mayo is 6-4 and his team got bounced in round 1.
But don’t tell Memphis fans all of this… They’ll have to learn the hard way.
yeah…. time will show… but with this roster I can easily bet they will be one of the bottom three NBA teams next year…
with all these young guards I suspect they will make another trade tho… they don’t need Lowry, Crittenton, Conley and their “savior” OJ at the same time…
I really like Jason Thompson! I hope Beasley does not turn into a Marcus Fizer! I don’t understand why DeAndre Jordan went so low in the draft!
I know Chris Wallace is getting a lot of heat, but don’t forget Marc Gasol will play for Memphis!
Yeah, they’re gonna need Marc Gasol to step up big time (no more Stro Show!), but I dunno about that dude. To me, Pau is successful in the NBA because of his length and overall nimbleness (quick feet, agile body, clever moves, etc.). If PAU wasn’t so nimble, he would be a 12th man at best I believe, because he lacks the raw strength, toughness, and intimidation factor compared to other big men in the league.
As for Marc, he has a lot more meat on him and it seems like he’s just as long as Pau, but can his 265+ pound power match other dudes as big as him? And while I haven’t seen much of Marc, I’m tempted to deduce that his superior bulk over his bro will mean that his nimbleness is inferior. Like I said, PAU thrives on his nimbleness.
Maybe Marc has it too. If so, and IF he can match the strength of other centers down low, he could be good. Real good. But those are big ifs I’m thinking… and if he doesn’t have either, and if Sir Darko stops believing in himself (perhaps that’s happened before?), the Grizzlies are going to be in for a long, long season.
Hey Jeeves-
Why do you like Jason Thompson so much? There aren’t many clips of him up on utube, but I thought he kinda looked like a sucka in this one. He’s just messin around but something about it rubs me the wrong way.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NNiIGU4hIAs
The Kings NEED a 4 tho, so he’ll get his chances.
I mean, if I were to hit up the rest of their power forward crew on the phone, I’d say…
Abdur-Rahim:
I loved you at Cal homey, and you’ve always had slick low post moves, but you’ve never won in the NBA. Wassup with that? You’ve got $12.8 million coming your way over the next 2 years, but I question whether you can still hang. I’d love to see you prove me and all the haters wrong, but I’d guesstimate that there’s only a 1.8% chance of that happening.
Kenny Thomas:
Hey Kenny, I’ve always liked your game and thought you were underrated. At 6-7, 245, you found your way to get boards and bang with bigger dudes, so I respect that. You got that looong quick first step too. But I dunno man, your body is kinda old and achy now. My homey Roland gave you a rating of -16.3 last year, which was even worse than ‘Reef’s! Don’t let this rookie Thompson kid come in and show you up, aight?
Mikki Moore:
Whatup Mikki. I like the way you roll bro. You got the sick dreads and I’ve seen you throw down a bunch of nasty dunks. I dig your passion for the game and the way you don’t back down from fools (can I roll into a club with you and Artest sometime?). And that time you led the league in FG% was sweet (I guess we should thank Jason too). But you led the league in personal fouls last year, so you gotta work on that homey. Yeah man, well lemme know if you’re going to have a pool party with some scantily clad bi-otches over the summer, cuz I can roll up to Sactown no problem. PEACE.
(Almost forgot about) Shelden Williams:
Oh, hey Shelden. How’s it goin? Oh no, naww, I didn’t forget about you dawg. How, how do you like the NBA? Yeah? Umm you seem really strong man, I heard you can bench press 185 pounds 25 times. That’s pretty deece. I think I maxed out at 7 in college. Well, I’ll see ya later.
CLICK.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Ohhh shit, I was just talking to Shelden Williams. That guy scares the shit outta me. He’s got like a donkey kong upper body and a fish head, with gigantic eyes spread apart real far… it trips me out. Yeah, that guy has horrible hands and looks lost out there most of the time. He’s like a Poor Man’s Adonal Foyle, but no one told Billy Knight that. Oops, sorry Billy. No kidding, I can’t believe Candace Parker is his girl either. She’s a cutie who can ball. Wow, I guess that donkey kong/ fish look works for some people).
There’s no hype behind him! It’s wack when people on ESPN bring attention to sucka ass players! Darko was projected to be like Dirk, but he stinks! Sometimes you can get a player from a small school, because most of the media caters to division one schools!