While the 05-06 body's still warm...the NBA offseason trades and shit thread

Where will AI and Jermaine O'Neal play next year?

I like the Telfair trade for Boston.

I don't see why not. He's probably not going to be a scoring champ, but he has a nose for the ball and he knows how to play under the rim.

Granted, I only saw him play in the NCAA tourney (where he underperformed like a madman), but isn't he undersized or a tweener or somehing?

He had 14 points and 12 boards against a really tough NC State team. He didn't blow anyone away, but he was doubled and tripled all game.

I SUPPOSE THAT THE DAY IS NOT OVER.

Fred Jones would actually be a really nice pickup for the Blazers... he could be a solid 5th or 6th guy in the right situation. Not really sold on Luke Jackson at all.

(How the hell has he been employed by three separate franchises?)

so what PF could they have picked up that would make them better than with wallace? it's not like ben is the old-model lumbering ogre center---he's more athletic and nimble than a lot of PFs. i think they should've gotten someone with more offensive skills, but simply by getting rid of chandler, the offense got better. deng and nocioni will hopefully continue to get exponential better offensively, and sweetney---very proficient in the post---will only have to be at his default john kruk-level of fitness in order to play the number of minutes he'll be limited to.

also Spanish Chocolate will play in Rookie League, then back to Spain, then probably back to NBA this year oh yeah

How about a sign-and-trade of Chandler for Al Harrington? I'm sure there are plenty of other guys as well. But beyond that, Ty Thomas and Chandler very well could have been a good, athletic 4/5. But instead you have a cap killing contract that could very well make it difficult to sign Thomas when his extension comes up, especially since there are a bunch of other extensions on the table between here and there... Nocioni, Deng, etc.

it's not like ben is the old-model lumbering ogre center---he's more athletic and nimble than a lot of PFs.

Except when he has a ball in his hands.

but simply by getting rid of chandler, the offense got better.

And then in getting Wallace, the offense got worse.

An expiring contract.

i mean, he's not completely made of money, but the mavs will never go under the cap so long as they're in contention. i get what you're saying but i were cuban, after getting close in the finals, i would be popping for one more free agent rental or swinging just one good trade (not daniels-for-croshere, which is fine but basically wheel-spinning) to improve the team that last bit.

al harrington (al HARRINGTON?!?) isn't the kind of player skiles and paxson want, whereas ben is exactly it. they are "stuck" with a huge $60 mil contract, but they got rid of one, too.
who knows, it could wind up being a move they regret, but i don't think it's at all clear that it is now, before wallace has played one sec in a bulls uniform.

John Hollinger

Let's start with the winners, or rather The Winner. Actually, there are two other teams that qualify as winners, but the Chicago Bulls are the runaway winner from early July on my scorecard.

I have them in that spot not only because of the signing of Ben Wallace, but for the ancillary moves they've made (and are still making) that has them positioned to be a major player in the East for years to come.

The story begins with Wallace, though, since he's the main piece around which the others will revolve.

The Bulls have become a pretty decent team even without an All-Star caliber player -- they won 41 games in 2005-06 and took Miami to six games in the first round. If they were able to do that with a frontcourt in which Malik Allen, Mike Sweetney, Darius Songaila and Othella Harrington played major roles (starting 94 games between them), one has to think their odds of joining the 50-win elite in the East improve significantly with Big Ben in the middle.

Moreover, they didn't overpay as grossly as some might fear. They gave Wallace some serious wampum at $15 million a year, but for an All-Star center that's not horribly extravagant. A year earlier, for instance, Zydrunas Ilgauskas got five years and $55 million from the Cavs, and his health concerns were more serious than those for Wallace.

I won't even talk about what Erick Dampier, Samuel Dalembert, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler got in the last two offseasons. Even Wallace's former team, who presumably would be able to gauge his value the best, offered an average of $13 million a year. Chicago overpaid, but it wasn't by a lot.

Additionally, the Bulls gave Wallace a four-year deal, not the standard five or six-year fare, which means if he turns out to be a bust they won't spend the next five years trying to dump his contract.

That may seem like a minor point now, but it's an important consideration when you look at some of the recent big free-agent contracts.

Over the past two years, 34 different players signed free-agent deals worth at least $35 million. Of those, by my count, there are at least 15 whose teams would gladly give them away if they could. I mean literally give them away, just to be rid of the contract.

(Those lucky souls would be Dampier, Dalembert, Chandler, Darius Miles, Kenyon Martin, Brian Cardinal, Marquis Daniels, Adonal Foyle, Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson, Mark Blount, Quentin Richardson, Etan Thomas and Derek Fisher, whom in fact the Warriors did just hand over to the Jazz.)

Beyond those, there are at least another five whose teams deeply regret signing them (or should) -- Curry, Carlos Boozer, Larry Hughes, Stephen Jackson, and Bobby Simmons.

So basically, out of 34 players, at least 20 have worked out absolutely terribly for the team that signed them. Even that list leaves out a few deals that don't seem so fragrant now and could eventually make the list (Cuttino Mobley in L.A., for instance, or Dan Gadzuric in Milwaukee).

Twenty busts out of 34 contracts. Isn't that amazing, considering these teams are the supposed "winners" of free agency? And shouldn't that be a huge signal that teams ought to be more careful in taking risks like this in the free agent market?

Thus, teams need to factor in the possibility of needing to dump the contract at some point, and the risk of being stuck with a cap-killer like K-Mart's deal in Denver. By limiting the years on Wallace's deal, Chicago did that. Yes, they still overpaid, but in this market you have to. The Bulls at least limited their risk as much as they could.

Additionally, the fit couldn't be more perfect. The Bulls are hardcore about defense, so Wallace should be right at home at that end of the floor. He'll take over the role previously filled by Tyson Chandler, only he'll do it much, much more effectively. And because the Bulls like to push the pace offensively, he should be able to benefit from more easy transition baskets than he got in Detroit's plodding system.

But I like the Bulls' moves for more than just the Wallace signing. As I mentioned above, they've done yeoman work in getting the proper surrounding pieces in place. Most notable is the deal the Bulls have made that will send Chandler to the Hornets for forward P.J. Brown and guard J.R. Smith.

If and when this trade is consummated on July 12, as expected, it will be a huge win for the Bulls on several levels.

In terms of the talent acquired, it's exactly what Chicago needs. Smith is a 6-6 shooting guard with massive potential as a scorer, and the two things the Bulls need most desperately are scoring and big guards. And in terms of the talent departed, it's exactly what the Bulls don't need -- in Wallace, they already have a center who defends and rebounds but can't score, and he's better than Chandler.

Second, there's the salary angle. Brown's contract expires after the season, while Chandler still has five years left on his deal. This is hugely important for the Bulls because it will pull them far enough away from the luxury tax that they can keep adding to their core next year -- even after they extend the contracts of Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni, who are both eligible for deals this fall.

Finally, there's the big fish they're still trying to catch. The one thing the Bulls lack is a genuine superstar, and there's a certain fellow in Minnesota who has Chicago roots and could fill that niche nicely. Even if they can't obtain Kevin Garnett this summer, the Chandler deal keeps the Bulls in position to make a run at him in the next 12 months by adding an enticing young trade pawn in Smith and maintaining enough luxury-tax room to absorb Garnett's behemoth salary.

Besides, it's tough not to like Paxson's trades when he chooses his partners so well. His trading strategy of the past few years can neatly be summarized as "find the biggest sucker at the table and take all his chips before everyone else does."

Just look at what happened when Isiah Thomas took over in New York. Right away, there was Pax-man on the phone, happily dishing out a Jamal Crawford appetizer before serving up the Curry main course.

In the 2006 draft, Paxson expanded his trading universe only slightly, keeping his dealings limited to the lost-at-sea, GM-less Blazers and the Sixers' embattled Billy King and ending up with high-flying forward Tyrus Thomas and Swiss swingman Thabo Sefolosha.

So now I have to wonder -- is the Hornets' Jeff Bower Paxson's next target? Bower hasn't seemed a fool in his brief stewardship, but perhaps Paxson knows something we don't. Certainly the Hornets' moves this summer leave a lot to be desired as I discuss in my rundown of July's losers.

Regardless, it's hard not to like these revamped Bulls. It's not just that they added a cornerstone in Big Ben, it's that they did it while keeping their risk somewhat limited and staying in position to strike if Kevin Garnett becomes available. They seem ready to make the leap to the Eastern Conference's elite, and for that reason I'm crowning them the big winner of the first week of free agency.

oh forget it

TROY MUST GO.

multiple flips!

Hard to see how this helps the Blazers, who have already committed to Przybilla and drafted LaMarcus Aldridge superhigh, and it's not like Przy or Mags can play any other position than center, so I kind of expect them...actually, I don't know what is going on here. Some reports say they might move Darius Miles plus Aldridge somewhere else, because no one will take Miles without Aldridge or Brandon Roy, and they ain't trading Roy.

It's hard loving two teams.

Also I agree that the Bucks look very nice. I bet they use Villanueva as their sixth man for some instant o-fense. Wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks finish around the 3 or 4 seed.

Austin Croshere + Devean George = one hella weak off-season. Maybe they should re-sign Keith Van Horn while they're at it.

MULLIN, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE.

The kid they drafted is pretty nice.

The recent Jamaal Magloire-to-Portland trade is really about the future. He gives the Blazers a valuable asset come the trade deadline. Teams that feel they are one player away from contending are always willing to deal assets or draft picks for players like Magloire in February. He's big and has a pulse. The Blazers will get a lot more back for him than Steve Blake in a few months.

Makes sense considering Blake and Magliore both have expiring contracts.

Jesus, this offseason is depressing.

of course he's more mature and better now and playing him at PF, shifting jermaine to center and generally going smaller will probably help them fit better with the post-detroit world, but really, indiana's moves are probably going to just keep them on the playoff bubble.

Also, I don't see Carlisle adjusting to the new reality of the Razzle-Dazzle O-Fense-minded NBA. I could see him getting the boot after this season.

So you're saying I should be watching The Closer.