Blockbuster, C-Web & Team USA

- The first blockbuster deal of the NBA season went down on 1/17, and not a moment too soon. Let’s hope this is just the initial salvo in what turns out to be a very busy trading season league wide.

Golden State Gets: Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius & Josh Powell

Indiana Gets: Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Ike Diogu & Keith McLeod

For the Warriors…

I’ll admit, my initial knee-jerk reaction to this trade was, “Why on earth did they dump Diogu after 1.5 seasons (86 games total)?” Then I got to thinking about it, and realized that GS Vice President Chris Mullin dumped four guys that basically were not playing, for three that are going to step right in and play big minutes. Mully also managed to unload two more of the four terrible contracts (Murphy & Dunleavy) he doled out in his first summer on the job (2004).

(He already dealt Derek Fisher this past summer. So if he can somehow manage to find a taker for Adonal Foyle’s $26.8 million over the next three years, the purge will be complete!)

Harrington – He figures to step right in and start along side Mickael Pietrus and Andris Biedrins to give the Warriors an extremely athletic and young front court. Look for Al to excel offensively in coach Don Nelson’s system.

Jackson – This one is a little more dicey in my estimation. Calling S Jax a loose cannon is being kind. I’m sure he’ll be all smiles gunning away while Jason Richardson is out with broken right hand, but what happens when J-Rich gets back? Unless Nellie plans on moving Pietrus to the bench, I’m not sure Jack will accept the role of sixth man willingly. Stay tuned.

Jasikevicius – GS needed a legit PG to back up the injury prone Baron Davis. I like Monta Ellis, but he doesn’t have the make up or game to run a team. Enter Sarunas. He never really was a fit in Indiana after starting in the Euroleague and winning three straight championships (FC Barcelona in 2003 & Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 & 2005). Jasikevicius’ game should be a perfect fit with the Warriors, and if he can’t make it work under Nellie, he never will.

Powell – Theoretically his game is well suited to GS’ style, and since Nellie usually gives everyone on his roster at least one shot, Josh will get his. He could work his way into the rotation if plays well. However, if he bombs he could be looking for work within two weeks.

For the Pacers…

CEO Donnie Walsh was willing to take on $33 more million in long term salary to improve his club’s overall chemistry. Of course it doesn’t hurt that he also received what could turn out to be the best player in the entire deal (Ike).

Murphy – Troy has been hampered all season by a sore left Achilles’ tendon, but when healthy, I think he is a much better fit with Jermaine O’Neal (when Indy goes small with JO at center) then Harrington was. Realistically though, Murphy is probably no more then a third big man on a good team. Don’t get me wrong here, because his combo of toughness, outside shooting and rebounding make him a very valuable bench player.

Dunleavy Jr. – He is the prototypical “guy that needed a change of scenery.” The fans turned on him this season after Nelson ripped him in the press and Mullin backed Nellie up. But c’mon already, how much do we need to see of this guy before we’re ready to admit that he can’t play? I, for one, am ready right now. Mike is a nice role player that can do a little bit of everything, but he does absolutely nothing at an NBA level. Look for Junior to be the starting SG for the Pacers.

Diogu – To me, his inclusion is what got this deal done. I know he’s hardly played, but in 17 games this season he was putting up 22.2 points per 40 minutes and 11.4 rebounds per 40 minutes with a true shooting percentage of 60.1%. His defense is brutal, but playing with JO can hide some of that. He’s a nice fourth big man right now, and if he develops as I suspect, he gives Indy the flexibility to trade JO further on down the line.

McLeod – The Pacers moved Jasikevicius in part because they wanted to give more minutes to second year man Orien Greene as backup PG. And with veteran Darrell Armstrong still on Indy’s roster as the third PG, don’t look for McLeod to be around very long.

Overall…

GS gets more athletic players that are a better fit for Nellie’s system. An underrated facet of this trade for the Warriors is that Harrington and Jackson are the two best defenders out of the eight players involved in the deal too. On the flip side, I worry about Jackson’s long term affect on the locker room. And while it’s nice to see a GM getting players that fit his coach’s style, giving up on the 9th pick overall from a year ago could come back to haunt them.

Indy also got players that are more suited to coach Rick Carlisle’s slow down control the tempo approach. But the main thing the Pacers accomplished was improving their chemistry. Both Al and Stephen have had run-ins with Carlisle already this season, and Jackson was a pariah in that community for many reasons. I hesitate to call it addition by subtraction though because the Diogu acquisition reminds me a lot of how Walsh fleeced Portland for JO in the summer of 2000.

And the winner is…

I think this trade helps both squads. It actually reminds me a lot of the Boston–Minnesota swap from last year, in that a lot of players were moved, but the teams really aren’t that much better off.

I know, get off the fence Sura.

I’ll take the Warriors in the short term because this deal may be just enough for them to break their 12 year playoff drought. Long term though, I gotta go Pacers. Not only because of the flexibility this move gives them to make future trades, but also because I like the potential of the Ike-Danny Granger forward tandem.

- On 1/16 the Detroit Pistons signed Chris Webber off the scrap heap. Unlike most media pundits, I don’t view this as a landscape changing transaction in the East. Nor do I necessarily think this move makes the Pistons that much better.

Let’s discuss…

The plan in Detroit is to eventually make Webber the starting center. Ok, that makes sense because manning the middle can at least hide some of his lack of mobility. It also gives the Pistons a scoring threat at every position on the court, which is something new for them. The passing ability and unselfishness of their first five should rival that of any team in the league.

That said...

What I don’t get about this move is what was *big* free agent signing Nazr Mohammed doing wrong? His scoring, rebounding and block numbers are all right on his career averages. Nazr’s defense in the middle has been above average as well. Why he was only playing 18.9 minutes per game, I don’t know. I mean, the guy was delivering exactly what should have been expected of him.

So Detroit is replacing a defensive specialist with a defensive liability, and that’s supposed to make them better?

Huh?

Oh, I see, Webber’s offense is going to make up for his defensive shortcomings.

Uh, what?

Have President Joe Dumars and coach Flip Saunders been watching the same games I have? Sure, C-Web will make his share of stand still mid-range jumpers, but the guy was shooting 38.7% with the Sixers this season. He also has no game to speak of anymore besides the afore mentioned mid-range J.

Look, Webber can still play in the NBA, but as a 17-22 minute role player off the bench. He’s not a starter anymore on a quality club, and it really is that cut and dry.

What separated the Pistons from the rest of the East was their ability to defend as a unit. Now, all of a sudden, they are modeling themselves after the offensive style that the Wizards, Nets, Bucks, and Raptors employ. Rather then the defense first mentality of the Bulls, Magic and Pacers.

Well, they better have enough offense to pull that off because when Webber is on the court the opposition is going to use his man as the screener on the pick & roll and force him to move ad nauseam. Get ready for it Detroit fans, because any coach worth his salt is going pick & roll him to death.

Which brings me to my final point.

The chemistry in Motown has been less then stellar with Rasheed Wallace in an ongoing feud with Saunders and Nazr already asking to be traded. So what happens when Flip realizes that Chris can’t be on the court in crunch time, and subsequently benches him every night down the stretch?

Can I have some gasoline to pour on my dynamite please!

(I have to end with this quote by C-Web: “This is the best I've felt in three years.” Oh yeah? Then why did you miss 17 of 35 games in Philadelphia? What a punk a** biatch!)

- It has been rumored that USA Basketball is going to invite both Jason Kidd and Carlos Boozer to the tryouts prior to the Tournament of the America’s (the qualifier for the 2008 Olympics).

Great move by Jerry Colangelo says me.

As much as I like Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich, I’d much rather see Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd running the National Team.

As for Boozer, he’s probably the best high post player in the NBA right now. So his addition should really be a no brainer. With Booz up high and Elton Brand, Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire down low, our big men should dominate the competition.