Atlanta Hawks
2/29 Sign Jeremy Richardson to second 10-day contract
A great return to Atlanta for Richardson. He scored a point a minute for each of his first two games, shooting 3-4 in 8 minutes each game. The Hawks should keep him around for the rest of the season at this point and he’ll have enough buzz to be taken seriously by an NBA team next training camp.
Boston Celtics
2/27 Sign P.J. Brown
After seeing that he wasn’t going to get the easy bucks that Keith Van Horn got for the privilege of having his contract slot used in trade, Brown decided it was time to come back to the NBA. Brown’s skill-set at age-38 is pretty much the ability to offer a few minutes of tough defense and some rebounding. Can he help the Celts? They are 27th in the NBA in rebounding but are first in the NBA in preventing opponents, leading to a net rebounding edge of 2,279 to 2,182. Slicing it a little further, the Celts are average in defense rebounding but near the bottom in offensive boards. Part of this is because the Celts shoot pretty well (.475%, fourth in the NBA) but Brown could at least give them a little boost in that category and provide a bit of veteran leadership in the playoffs.
Chicago Bulls
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from Cleveland; Cleveland acquires Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick from Cleveland plus Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle; Seattle acquires Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago
This mish mosh of players flying around the country are hard to assess immediately but from Chicago’s perspective, the goal is clear: dump Ben Wallace. In terms of salary commitments, Chicago stays the same. They owe about $14 million in salary in 2008-09 and the same in 2009-10. Gooden and Hughes are no great shakes but it’s clear that Wallace has not been happy in Chicago from the start. We questioned the signing of Wallace at the time because we wondered why they needed another defensive player on Chicago but this has been an even worse marriage than we realized. Wallace has shot 39% this year and appeared pretty ambivalent on the court. Granted, some of this was the Bulls’ own making when they decided to confront Wallce on “Head Band Gate”, which was perhaps the dumbest team-player dispute in recent memory. But that set a terrible tone and Wallace obviously wasn’t happy.
Just getting rid of Wallace should help the squad. In terms of substantive return, getting Gooden but losing Joe Smith isn’t much of a change. Gooden is younger and scores a little more, so that’s an incremental improvement. As for Hughes, the Bulls will give him the shot to play that everyone else has and, perhaps, as a primary scorer he’ll recapture his value from the Washington years (he’s looked good so far in Chicago). No matter what happens with Hughes, he’s pretty immovable (two more years for $24 million) and this could mean good bye to Ben Gordon, as it would be a huge mistake to commit big money to two high volume shooting two guards. None of this is a huge improvement but it gives the Bulls a chance to re-spin this team and try again next year to return to the ranks of the competitive teams–without the headaches of 2007-08.
Cleveland Cavaliers
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Wallace, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick from Cleveland plus Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle; Chicago acquires Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from Cleveland; Seattle acquires Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago
2/22 Sign Kaniel Dickens and Billy Thomas
The Cavs actually took on a bit more salary than the Bulls in this big deal, notably Wally World’s $13 million contract for 2008-09. For the Cavs, this is tangible improvement. Szczerbiak fits the Cavs much better than Hughes because Wally can shoot, even if he doesn’t create. West represents an actual real point guard, so that helps too. Smith for Gooden is also a pretty even exchange. Thus, the only real question, from a quality perspective, is whether Wallace has anything left to give. If so, the Cavs are much improved. If not, the Cavs are still improved because they rebalanced their lineup to better suit a LeBron-centric squad.
As for whether Wallace can improve…I think he should be somewhat better in Cleveland. Just being happier has to help but we’re not going to see the Wallace of his Detroit heyday. Wallace’s block rate had been falling steadily since his peak season of 2001-02 (at age-27). This is a little odd since many of the great shot blockers retained their skills until the end. Granted, Wallace is different from a Mark Eaton, because Wallace is an undersized shot blocker who relies on quickness and not size. On the other hand, Marcus Camby is blocking better than ever now at age-33. Even so, Wallace’s numbers have clearly been on the down slope for years and it’s hard to see much evidence that things will change much now.
Dallas Mavericks
2/26 Sign Jamaal Magloire
Speaking of down slopes…Magloire’s premature slide from solid center to puke bad just continues to astound. The Mavs needed something to replace DeSagana Diop but I am not convinced that Magloire can help anyone anymore. Magloire can still rebound and block a little bit but he can’t shoot at all (even his free throws are down to 45% from a career mark of 66%) and his turnover rate and foul rate are career highs and strong indicators of how slow he has gotten. I have no idea what happened here. Magloire’s only major reported injury was a broken wrist in 2004-05 but there’s got to be a knee issue here or something. There’s no way that a 29-year old could lose it so quickly otherwise. So, it cost Dallas little to get Magloire as insurance for Erick Dampier but the return is unlikely to be more than a few fouls to give.
Denver Nuggets
2/21 Acquire Taurean Green from Portland in exchange for Von Wafer
The trade no one wants to talk about. Here, Denver gets a young player who might be develop for Wafer. But the real savings is the pro-rated difference in salaries. Green makes about $450,000 and Wafer $770,000. That’s $300,000 over a full season and about $120,000 or so for a few months plus an equal savings in luxury tax liability. That’s big money to you and me and a nice little save on a couple of per diems for Denver.
Detroit Pistons
2/21 Acquire Juan Dixon and cash considerations from Toronto in exchange for Primoz Brezec
2/22 Waive Flip Murray
Murray had been unhappy in Detroit since they first signed him last year and Detroit wasn’t too thrilled that he’s not a great shooter either. So, the Pistons ate the last few months of Flip’s contract and brought in Dixon, who can shoot but is not near the athlete. The whole deal was sort of the poor man’s version of the Hughes for Szczerbiak deal in Cleveland. The deal is on a very small scale but the Pistons were obviously quite happy with this roster tweak.
Houston Rockets
2/21 Acquire Gerald Green from Minnesota in exchange for Kirk Snyder, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash considerations
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a 2008 second-round pick from New Orleans as well as the rights to Sergei Lishouk from Memphis, New Orleans acquires Bonzi Wells and Mike James from Houston, and Memphis acquires Marcus Vinicius from New Orleans and the draft rights to Malick Badiane from Houston
2/26 Sign Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract and waive Adam Haluska
Again, a big trade in terms of volume, a lot of sound in fury, indicating….not exactly nothing but definitely not too much other than that the Rockets had given up on Bonzi Wells. The Rockets’ salary situation stays the same but they go forward with Jackson instead of Bonzi and the same $6 million salary commitment for 2008-09. Evaluating this deal really depends on whether you prefer Bonzi or Jackson (James was the third wheel that Houston didn’t need). Bonzi is still a better player than the older declining Jackson but the Rockets have struggled from three (.341%). Tracy McGrady has been the main culprit (61-101 for .319%) but Bonzi (8-38 for .211%) and James (24-74 for .324%) haven’t helped either. Jackson’s game has stripped to jump shooting but he can still stick the three (.367% so far this year).
As for Green, it’s always nice to take a shot on an athletic young player but he’s shown no improvement at all in three seasons. He’ll hope to get a moment or two to show a team what, if anything, he can offer an NBA team as a free agent this summer.
Los Angeles Clippers
2/27 Sign Nick Fazekas to 10-day contract
2/28 Waive Sam Cassell
Donald Sterling is nothing if not a shrewd money guy. I’m wondering whether he got a nicer discount on the buyout than most teams get. Here, Cassell is older and was desperate to play for a contender. The Clipps reportedly wanted him to forego the $2.1 million due under the contract to get his shot at the playoffs. We’ll see if the actual settlement number ever comes out. In the meantime, we all expect Cassell to head to Boston posthaste.
Memphis Grizzlies
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Marcus Vinicius from New Orleans and the draft rights to Malick Badiane from Houston, New Orleans acquires Bonzi Wells and Mike James from Houston, and Houston acquires Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a 2008 second-round pick from New Orleans as well as the rights to Sergei Lishouk from Memphis
2/23 Waive Marcus Vinicius
So what did Memphis get out of this deal? Pretty much nothing. I’m not sure the draft rights to Badiane mean a whole heck of a lot. The thin shot blocker has been Europe for years and probably isn’t ever coming over to the NBA.
Minnesota Timberwolves
2/21 Acquire Kirk Snyder, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash considerations from Houston for Gerald Green
2/29 Waive Theo Ratliff
As we mentioned, Green has regressed as a player for his three seasons in the NBA. Minnesota, a team with nothing to lose, did not like him so they took some cash to send him out. Snyder is actually not a terrible player but he won’t see much burn here either. Green leaves the Wolves with one of the more bizarre stat lines we’ve seen. Green was 15-39 for a respectable .385% from three. On two-pointers, however, Green shot 34-109 (.312% from two). I don’t think Green will keep up that disparity (his shooting numbers in Boston were pretty conventional) but I don’t think I’ve seen such a large inverted shooting split before.
New Jersey Nets
2/22 Waive Jamaal Magloire
As Dallas will see, Magloire’s utility has disappeared. The hope is that Magloire rights the ship but he couldn’t supplant Jason Collins, which pretty much tells you all you need to know.
New Orleans Hornets
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Bonzi Wells and Mike James from Houston, Houston acquires Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a 2008 second-round pick from New Orleans as well as the rights to Sergei Lishouk from Memphis and Memphis acquires Marcus Vinicius from New Orleans and the draft rights to Malick Badiane from Houston
The trade gives the Hornets a bit more depth in case anything happens in the frontcourt or to Jannero Pargo. Bonzi is arguably better offensively than Mo Peterson but Peterson is the better all-around player at this point. For the Hornets, this is more like shuffling the deck to see if they can catch some lightning in the bottle from pending free agent Wells (much like the Kings did with Bonzi in 2005-06). I don’t think it’ll happen but it’s not a crazy gamble.
Philadelphia 76ers
2/29 Waive Gordan Giricek
Giricek already did all he could for the Sixers by clearing Kyle Korver’s long term deal. Giricek’s reward was to be sent out of town at his earliest possible convenience. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Giricek could be headed to Phoenix.
Phoenix Suns
2/22 Sign Linton Johnson to a 10-day contract
Mr. Hustle has been out of the NBA most of the season but has gotten a shot for a few days in the desert. Given the Giricek news, it’s an open question how long Johnson will be in town.
Portland Trailblazers
2/21 Acquire Von Wafer from Denver for Taurean Green
Portland did Denver a favor by saving them a few hundred thousand dollars in exchange for Wafer, who actually played 32 minutes his first game in Portland but probably will be confined to the bench the rest of the season.
San Antonio Spurs
2/20 Acquire Kurt Thomas from Seattle in exchange for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry and a 2009 first round draft pick
Very nice pick up for the Spurs, who needed another big man pretty badly. Thomas is 35 but he’s played quite well this year and can still rebound and is a marked upgrade from the slumping Elson. Barry is hurt but may be coming back after Seattle cuts him. In the end, the only real value given up is the first rounder. You hate to give up first rounders but the Spurs haven’t really done much with the late pick over the last few years and Thomas could put the Spurs over the top, especially when you consider how dreadful Elson and Robert Horry have been.
Seattle SuperSonics
2/20 Acquire Francisco Elson, Brent Barry and a 2009 first round draft pick from San Antonio for Kurt Thomas
2/21 Waive Brent Barry
2/21 In a three-team trade, acquire Marshall and Ira Newble from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago; Cleveland acquires Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick from Cleveland plus Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle; Chicago acquires Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from Cleveland
2/29 Waive Ira Newble
Let’s see…cleared payroll? Check. Amassed some draft picks? Check. Still, it’s never too exciting to watch your bad team pare payroll as it prepares to bolt town.
Toronto Raptors
2/21 Acquire Primoz Brezec from Detroit for Juan Dixon and cash considerations
Brezec isn’t a good player but he’s not far removed from being useful. If anything happens to Rasho Nesterovic, Brezec could fill in without being awful. Of course, Brezec and Andrea Bargnani should never play together because that would be the softest front court in NBA history.
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