Tyson Chandler and Emeka Okafor Trade
Over the last few days I've been seriously trying to conjure up a serious opinion about Tyson Chandler going to the Bobcats and Emeka Okafor going to New Orleans, but a strong opinion has yet to hit me. The only real opinion that has come to me is that the Hornets traded Chandler so things would stop being awkward. There would be no more of those awkward practice facility interactions with Chandler that stemmed from trying to dump Chandler to Oklahoma City, OKC having second thoughts, and then paying the team doctor to say that Chandler isn't healthy enough to play for the Thunder. The attempted Chandler trade to OKC was to save George Shinn money, but this Okafor trade doesn't save the Hornets money anyway you swing it. In fact, it looks like the Hornets actually invested in Okafor due to him having a deal that lasts until the summer of 2014. No other Hornet has a guaranteed contract, at this point, besides Okafor. Chandler has a deal that expires at the end of this season, but has a player option for the summer of 2010 for 12.7 million. That makes sense for the Bobcats. They got to shed off Okafor's huge long term deal, pick up Chandler who will hopefully not pick up the player option at the end of the season and just leave Charlotte. That would free up Charlotte to maybe go after their first franchise player in their young history in the summer of 2010, but attracting a big name player are slim (so don't get your hopes up Bobcat fans). Anyway, those are the finances of the deal that we would have to analyze first.
In terms of a basketball standpoint, the deal is going to have a more noticeable impact at New Orleans. Okafor is as injury prone as Tyson Chandler, but Okafur just finished a full season. Okafor has a bad back and Chandler has a bad toe. Who can win with these two centers? This season, Okafor posted 13ppg and 10rebs a game. Think about that for a second. Okafor put up a low double double with a solid point guard in Raymond Felton, and occasionally the former Texas star DJ Augustin running Brown's offense. Throwing Okafor into the mix with the best point guard in the league in Chris Paul seems like we can expect Okafor's numbers to go up 3 in each category. Okafor is a solid defender, but not as long as Chandler. Okafor is bigger than Chandler and can body up better to centers in the league. Okafor still managed to average 1.66 blks this season which will still give them a presence inside. It might be a defensive downgrade when you take all things considered, but there is no doubt that the Hornets got an offensive upgrade with Okafor at the center position which is becoming very rare in the NBA these days. It was an overall very solid move for the the Hornets on the basketball court, and as far as long-term investments go, the Hornets are hoping that Okafor will be more like the asset Chandler should have been, and less like the liability that Chandler turned out to be. I'm hoping Okafor will stay healthy, but that's pretty unlikely. After you get through the injury-proneness (made up my own word), and sift through what is actually here, the Hornets came out on top.
Hornets: B
I don't have much to say about the Bobcats. They made a downgrade in the position. I'm not sold on Chandler being able to stay healthy the entire season. Chandler only played 45 games this season and averaged 8.8ppg and 8.7rebs. A very unimpressive season for Chandler relative to his paycheck. I'm thinking that this was a strategic move by the Bobcats, and one that I'm sure Michael Jordan pushed for because we all know how high Jordan has always been on Chandler. Chandler was an important part of the Hornets in the playoffs in 2008, but he just doesn't seem to have what it takes to give teams the edge they need to be successful. He is a rare player in terms of size and potential, but I don't seem him being worth more than 5-7 wins this season whereas Okafor was worth 15-20 wins for the 'Cats. If they had Chris Paul managing Chandler's production last year, what makes them think that Felton (a poor man's CP3) will be able to get anything better out of him? I know that Larry Brown has made his career on getting the most out of his team, which is what any good coach does, but asking him to take a team with two very young underdeveloped guards (Augustin and Felton), Gerald Wallace, and Tyson Chandler to the playoffs is a very tall order. They finished 9th in the playoff race last season, but I think this move actually takes them back a step. I think finishing 10th in the East is about the best they are going to get. This is dire news for a team that is struggling to find an identity and launch themselves into relevancy, but something tells me this wasn't a basketball decision.
Bobcats: C-
In terms of a basketball standpoint, the deal is going to have a more noticeable impact at New Orleans. Okafor is as injury prone as Tyson Chandler, but Okafur just finished a full season. Okafor has a bad back and Chandler has a bad toe. Who can win with these two centers? This season, Okafor posted 13ppg and 10rebs a game. Think about that for a second. Okafor put up a low double double with a solid point guard in Raymond Felton, and occasionally the former Texas star DJ Augustin running Brown's offense. Throwing Okafor into the mix with the best point guard in the league in Chris Paul seems like we can expect Okafor's numbers to go up 3 in each category. Okafor is a solid defender, but not as long as Chandler. Okafor is bigger than Chandler and can body up better to centers in the league. Okafor still managed to average 1.66 blks this season which will still give them a presence inside. It might be a defensive downgrade when you take all things considered, but there is no doubt that the Hornets got an offensive upgrade with Okafor at the center position which is becoming very rare in the NBA these days. It was an overall very solid move for the the Hornets on the basketball court, and as far as long-term investments go, the Hornets are hoping that Okafor will be more like the asset Chandler should have been, and less like the liability that Chandler turned out to be. I'm hoping Okafor will stay healthy, but that's pretty unlikely. After you get through the injury-proneness (made up my own word), and sift through what is actually here, the Hornets came out on top.
Hornets: B
I don't have much to say about the Bobcats. They made a downgrade in the position. I'm not sold on Chandler being able to stay healthy the entire season. Chandler only played 45 games this season and averaged 8.8ppg and 8.7rebs. A very unimpressive season for Chandler relative to his paycheck. I'm thinking that this was a strategic move by the Bobcats, and one that I'm sure Michael Jordan pushed for because we all know how high Jordan has always been on Chandler. Chandler was an important part of the Hornets in the playoffs in 2008, but he just doesn't seem to have what it takes to give teams the edge they need to be successful. He is a rare player in terms of size and potential, but I don't seem him being worth more than 5-7 wins this season whereas Okafor was worth 15-20 wins for the 'Cats. If they had Chris Paul managing Chandler's production last year, what makes them think that Felton (a poor man's CP3) will be able to get anything better out of him? I know that Larry Brown has made his career on getting the most out of his team, which is what any good coach does, but asking him to take a team with two very young underdeveloped guards (Augustin and Felton), Gerald Wallace, and Tyson Chandler to the playoffs is a very tall order. They finished 9th in the playoff race last season, but I think this move actually takes them back a step. I think finishing 10th in the East is about the best they are going to get. This is dire news for a team that is struggling to find an identity and launch themselves into relevancy, but something tells me this wasn't a basketball decision.
Bobcats: C-
Drew Gooden to Dallas
Drew Gooden is leaving San Antonio and going up the road to Dallas. This was an overall solid signing for the Mavs who have made good use of Mark Cuban's bottomless wallet this offseason. Well, most of this money came from the money they got back from Gortat's offer from the Mavs being matched by the Magic which meant that Dallas had that money lying around. I think that Gooden was actually an upgrade over what Gortat could have brought to the table. Yes, Gortat is an excellent rebounder and by the numbers, is one of the more productive players in the league. I'm going to give the preference to Gooden due to his potential. Don't be fooled by Gooden's stats over in San Antonio because he was splitting minutes with Tim Duncan, Kurt Thomas, and Matt Bonner. Gooden averaged 9.8ppg and 4.4 rebs for the 16.8 minutes he averaged this season. Those are some solid numbers for the limited amount of playing time he had.
In Dallas, we can likely expect that he will play the center position and get a significant amount of playing time. I'm expecting Gooden to log in more than his career average of about 28minutes per game and get into the mid 30minute range this season. He will help Dallas' size and toughness which has been the main weakness for Dallas in the recent past. Gooden is also going to add a different dimension to their defense. Gooden has never been much of a shot blocker throughout his career, in fact, I'd even say he is not even a factor in terms of shot blocking, but Gooden adds the size that is needed for Dallas to be successful in the West. Gooden will be able to lend himself to assist in guarding Gasol, Duncan, Tyson Chandler, and Nene in the West. Of lesser importance, Gooden will be a big body guarding Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. What I think Rick Carlisle is getting at in the acquisition of Gooden is trying to compensate for Dirk Nowitski's lack of defensive ability. Having Gooden on the team is going to allow Dirk to be vindicated of certain defensive matchups and focus more on the offensive end. Having the ability to throw Gooden on power forwards like Gasol, KG, and Duncan is going to conserve Dirk and probably translate into a lot more production from the Mavs offense. Just a thought.
Gooden has an incentive to play tough because he is on a 1 year deal that is worth about 5 million dollars after incentives are factored in, but he is only 27 years old. Gooden has about 1 more big contract left in him. He has proven that he is a very valuable NBA player and he has the capability of getting a long term deal. Teams just want to see what he is capable of. Dallas took a good, low-rish chance on the former Jayhawk and I think that Gooden views this as an opportunity. Gooden might not be the focal point of the offense, and he understands that. That has never been his role in the NBA. Gooden might even take a hit in offensive production due to swingmen like Josh Howard and Jason Terry taking the leftover shots from Dirk, but with a playmaker like Jason Kidd bringing the ball up court, we will know that Gooden will be the recepient of a few low post feeds and easy baskets. Outside of that, Gooden will get a lot of garbage buckets and that is what the Mavericks need. Both Gooden and the Mavs will look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity for Gooden to get a long term deal next summer (a good complement to any of the free agents next summer) and also for the Mavs to improve their weak spots and keep up with the Lakers and Spurs. Lets hope that Gooden can stay healthy. Due to his recent sports hernia, I'll reserve the grade of "A". Nonetheless, stellar pick up by the Mavs.
A-
In Dallas, we can likely expect that he will play the center position and get a significant amount of playing time. I'm expecting Gooden to log in more than his career average of about 28minutes per game and get into the mid 30minute range this season. He will help Dallas' size and toughness which has been the main weakness for Dallas in the recent past. Gooden is also going to add a different dimension to their defense. Gooden has never been much of a shot blocker throughout his career, in fact, I'd even say he is not even a factor in terms of shot blocking, but Gooden adds the size that is needed for Dallas to be successful in the West. Gooden will be able to lend himself to assist in guarding Gasol, Duncan, Tyson Chandler, and Nene in the West. Of lesser importance, Gooden will be a big body guarding Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. What I think Rick Carlisle is getting at in the acquisition of Gooden is trying to compensate for Dirk Nowitski's lack of defensive ability. Having Gooden on the team is going to allow Dirk to be vindicated of certain defensive matchups and focus more on the offensive end. Having the ability to throw Gooden on power forwards like Gasol, KG, and Duncan is going to conserve Dirk and probably translate into a lot more production from the Mavs offense. Just a thought.
Gooden has an incentive to play tough because he is on a 1 year deal that is worth about 5 million dollars after incentives are factored in, but he is only 27 years old. Gooden has about 1 more big contract left in him. He has proven that he is a very valuable NBA player and he has the capability of getting a long term deal. Teams just want to see what he is capable of. Dallas took a good, low-rish chance on the former Jayhawk and I think that Gooden views this as an opportunity. Gooden might not be the focal point of the offense, and he understands that. That has never been his role in the NBA. Gooden might even take a hit in offensive production due to swingmen like Josh Howard and Jason Terry taking the leftover shots from Dirk, but with a playmaker like Jason Kidd bringing the ball up court, we will know that Gooden will be the recepient of a few low post feeds and easy baskets. Outside of that, Gooden will get a lot of garbage buckets and that is what the Mavericks need. Both Gooden and the Mavs will look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity for Gooden to get a long term deal next summer (a good complement to any of the free agents next summer) and also for the Mavs to improve their weak spots and keep up with the Lakers and Spurs. Lets hope that Gooden can stay healthy. Due to his recent sports hernia, I'll reserve the grade of "A". Nonetheless, stellar pick up by the Mavs.
A-
Quentin Richardson for 3 Minnesota Players
The Clippers have agreed to trade Quentin Richardson to the Timberwolves for Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen and Craig Smith. RealGM Update: The Clippers formally announced the trade Monday afternoon.
Via ESPN
A trade not worth mentioning other then the fact that this is Q Rich's 3rd trade this offseason. None the less it's exciting because it is the first trade we are covering.
Clippers:
I'm not exactly sure why this trade was done on the Clippers end, other then to add some frontcourt depth. Richardson was not going to get any playing time with Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, and Ricky Davis there but I'm sure they could have found a better deal for Richardson's valuable expiring contract. Smith and Madsen also are expiring deals but Telfair has a player option for next season he'll likely accept.
Sebastian Telfair will compete with Mardy Collins for backup minutes, and the starting spot once Baron Davis gets injured but that and Mark Madsen aren't really adding anything of significant value to this team. The motivation behind the trade was to obtain Craig Smith, because he is an efficient bench player and becomes the only power forward on the team not named Blake Griffin. Smith is an efficient scorer having averaged 9 points in 18 minutes over his career on 55% shooting. He's a solid backup but I think the Clippers could have acquired or signed a better backup power forward.
Grade: D+
Timberwolves:
The T-Wolves had 14 players under contract before the trade, an unsigned Ricky Rubio, and solid free agent bench player Rodney Carney who the team is probably considering resigning. With this alone it was clear the T-Wolves needed to jettison some players and this was exactly the right trade to do it. Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith were both expendable with the drafting of Rubio and Flynn, and aquisition of Darius Songalia and Etan Thomas respectively. As well, Mark Madsen's cheerleading will probably be missed more then his six minutes a game.
Richardon is a little bit of an anemic player with career shooting averages of 39% FG% and 35% 3P% in his 9 seasons, but he should be a capable scorer to fill in as a starter on this roster (only because Wayne Ellington and Corey Brewer are the only other two guards on the team). Quentin Richardson is most valuable because of his $8 million dollar contract, which will save the team money by expiring at the end of this year, or provide something even better by being traded again.
Grade: B
Via ESPN
A trade not worth mentioning other then the fact that this is Q Rich's 3rd trade this offseason. None the less it's exciting because it is the first trade we are covering.
Clippers:
I'm not exactly sure why this trade was done on the Clippers end, other then to add some frontcourt depth. Richardson was not going to get any playing time with Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, and Ricky Davis there but I'm sure they could have found a better deal for Richardson's valuable expiring contract. Smith and Madsen also are expiring deals but Telfair has a player option for next season he'll likely accept.
Sebastian Telfair will compete with Mardy Collins for backup minutes, and the starting spot once Baron Davis gets injured but that and Mark Madsen aren't really adding anything of significant value to this team. The motivation behind the trade was to obtain Craig Smith, because he is an efficient bench player and becomes the only power forward on the team not named Blake Griffin. Smith is an efficient scorer having averaged 9 points in 18 minutes over his career on 55% shooting. He's a solid backup but I think the Clippers could have acquired or signed a better backup power forward.
Grade: D+
Timberwolves:
The T-Wolves had 14 players under contract before the trade, an unsigned Ricky Rubio, and solid free agent bench player Rodney Carney who the team is probably considering resigning. With this alone it was clear the T-Wolves needed to jettison some players and this was exactly the right trade to do it. Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith were both expendable with the drafting of Rubio and Flynn, and aquisition of Darius Songalia and Etan Thomas respectively. As well, Mark Madsen's cheerleading will probably be missed more then his six minutes a game.
Richardon is a little bit of an anemic player with career shooting averages of 39% FG% and 35% 3P% in his 9 seasons, but he should be a capable scorer to fill in as a starter on this roster (only because Wayne Ellington and Corey Brewer are the only other two guards on the team). Quentin Richardson is most valuable because of his $8 million dollar contract, which will save the team money by expiring at the end of this year, or provide something even better by being traded again.
Grade: B