Some Early Season Player Movement
While I normally hesitate to comment too much on teams and/or players until the ‘Quarter Pole Review’, there were a few moves made early this season that need to be addressed.
Miami Gets: Ricky Davis & Mark Blount
Minnesota Gets: Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien, a 1st round pick & cash
For the Heat…
President/coach Pat Riley made this move out of desperation more than anything else. Sure he and Toine were at odds over conditioning, but deep down Riles knew his squad needed an infusion of talent. So Miami gave up only one rotation player (Walker) in exchange for two guys who should contribute nightly.
Davis will step right in and start at SF for the Heat, while Blount will back up Udonis Haslem at PF. The reason I mentioned Riley was desperate is that neither Ricky nor Mark are his type of player. Davis likes to freelance and gun away on offense then hit “da club” at night. On the other hand Blount is well known for his laziness in practice and inability to produce consistently. I know the talk is all fine and dandy now, but come February we’ll see.
Overall Ricky is a slight upgrade over Toine and Mark’s mid-range jumper fits well with Shaquille O’Neal’s low post game. However I question whether Davis will be satisfied as the third option on a good team. I also wonder how long before Blount is a permanent member of Pat’s dog house.
Another under the radar angle to this trade is that two of Miami’s youngsters (Dorell Wright & Alexander Johnson) basically lost their minutes when Ricky and Mark arrived. While that might be fine for this year, it’s counterproductive long term. All of these combined factors are why I saw no reason to adjust the Heat’s place in my pre-season predictions.
For the Timberwolves…
This move was all about shaving money off the payroll so Minny can rebuild quicker. Walker’s contract runs one less year than Blount’s does and Doleac is up after the season. Simien was released by the Wolves before he even had a chance to pack his things and board a plane. The first round pick VP Kevin McHale received is lottery protected in 2008, top ten protected in 2009 and top six protected in 2010.
On the court neither guy should play much as Minny goes with their youth movement. But if they do get some burn Doleac is still a serviceable bruiser with a soft touch from the outside. Whereas Toine should be in hog heaven jacking up crazy shots from anywhere in the building on a bad club.
Winner – Heat
> On 10/30 the Dallas Mavericks signed veteran big man Juwan Howard to a one year contract after he was bought out by Minnesota. Kudos to President Donnie Nelson for yet another extremely savvy move.
When I evaluated Dallas before the season I thought their one glaring weakness was depth behind Dirk Nowitzki (my apologies to Brandon Bass). So even though Juwan’s best days are behind him, he gives the Mavs another quality big man defender to check Tim Duncan or Carlos Boozer come playoff time.
> The Sacramento Kings signed PG Beno Udrih to a one year contract on 11/1 after he was waived by Minnesota. The Timberwolves had acquired him in a trade from San Antonio on 10/29. The move was a salary dump by the Spurs and they will never see the 2nd round pick Minny sent their way.
Anyway, Udrih is a nice pickup for the Kings who needed an experienced PG badly after Mike Bibby went down. This is a golden opportunity for Beno to resurrect his once promising career because Sacto has nothing at the point besides Orien Greene. Udrih broke his left index finger in training camp, but is expected back as soon as 11/9.
> On 10/29 the Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie Demetris Nichols after he was waived by New York four days prior. Nichols (53rd pick) came to the Knicks as part of the Zach Randolph trade. I can’t pretend to know what kind of player Demetris is, but he’s supposed to be a shooter, which is something the Cavs desperately need. Plus if Isiah Thomas drafted him, I’m guessing he can play.
Miami Gets: Ricky Davis & Mark Blount
Minnesota Gets: Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien, a 1st round pick & cash
For the Heat…
President/coach Pat Riley made this move out of desperation more than anything else. Sure he and Toine were at odds over conditioning, but deep down Riles knew his squad needed an infusion of talent. So Miami gave up only one rotation player (Walker) in exchange for two guys who should contribute nightly.
Davis will step right in and start at SF for the Heat, while Blount will back up Udonis Haslem at PF. The reason I mentioned Riley was desperate is that neither Ricky nor Mark are his type of player. Davis likes to freelance and gun away on offense then hit “da club” at night. On the other hand Blount is well known for his laziness in practice and inability to produce consistently. I know the talk is all fine and dandy now, but come February we’ll see.
Overall Ricky is a slight upgrade over Toine and Mark’s mid-range jumper fits well with Shaquille O’Neal’s low post game. However I question whether Davis will be satisfied as the third option on a good team. I also wonder how long before Blount is a permanent member of Pat’s dog house.
Another under the radar angle to this trade is that two of Miami’s youngsters (Dorell Wright & Alexander Johnson) basically lost their minutes when Ricky and Mark arrived. While that might be fine for this year, it’s counterproductive long term. All of these combined factors are why I saw no reason to adjust the Heat’s place in my pre-season predictions.
For the Timberwolves…
This move was all about shaving money off the payroll so Minny can rebuild quicker. Walker’s contract runs one less year than Blount’s does and Doleac is up after the season. Simien was released by the Wolves before he even had a chance to pack his things and board a plane. The first round pick VP Kevin McHale received is lottery protected in 2008, top ten protected in 2009 and top six protected in 2010.
On the court neither guy should play much as Minny goes with their youth movement. But if they do get some burn Doleac is still a serviceable bruiser with a soft touch from the outside. Whereas Toine should be in hog heaven jacking up crazy shots from anywhere in the building on a bad club.
Winner – Heat
> On 10/30 the Dallas Mavericks signed veteran big man Juwan Howard to a one year contract after he was bought out by Minnesota. Kudos to President Donnie Nelson for yet another extremely savvy move.
When I evaluated Dallas before the season I thought their one glaring weakness was depth behind Dirk Nowitzki (my apologies to Brandon Bass). So even though Juwan’s best days are behind him, he gives the Mavs another quality big man defender to check Tim Duncan or Carlos Boozer come playoff time.
> The Sacramento Kings signed PG Beno Udrih to a one year contract on 11/1 after he was waived by Minnesota. The Timberwolves had acquired him in a trade from San Antonio on 10/29. The move was a salary dump by the Spurs and they will never see the 2nd round pick Minny sent their way.
Anyway, Udrih is a nice pickup for the Kings who needed an experienced PG badly after Mike Bibby went down. This is a golden opportunity for Beno to resurrect his once promising career because Sacto has nothing at the point besides Orien Greene. Udrih broke his left index finger in training camp, but is expected back as soon as 11/9.
> On 10/29 the Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie Demetris Nichols after he was waived by New York four days prior. Nichols (53rd pick) came to the Knicks as part of the Zach Randolph trade. I can’t pretend to know what kind of player Demetris is, but he’s supposed to be a shooter, which is something the Cavs desperately need. Plus if Isiah Thomas drafted him, I’m guessing he can play.
posted by D$ at 9:38 PM
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