I’ve mentioned a few of the many trades that have gone down over the past few days, but I feel that I should also provide a list of the ones I never got around to. Here they are…
- LA Clippers trade Baron Davis and a first round pick to Cleveland for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon: Both Mo Williams and Baron Davis have two seasons left on their deals, although the Clipps will save a few million due to Baron’s deal being larger. The Cavs needed something to sweeten the package if they were going to take on the extra money, so they got a lottery pick out of it. I think this makes sense for Cleveland… I also think it makes sense for Donald Sterling… but I’m not sure it makes sense for the Clippers. First of all, I’m a little disappointed that Baron will no longer be tossing lobs to Blake Griffin. He’s been playing better lately and I like him over Mo Dub. Secondly, the Clipps are going to lose a damn good draft pick just to save some bucks. That’s why I say it works for Sterling but isn’t necessarilly a good move for the Clipps. Damn, Baron gets sent to Cleveland… ouch. I guess that’s his karma for getting paid and getting lazy.
- Memphis trades Hasheem Thabeet and a first round pick to Houston for Shane Battier and Ish Smith: Memphis picks up a player who can help them make a run at the playoffs this season and lose a guy who could find himself out of the league a few seasons from now. Thabeet has never shown me anything at all that indicates a mistake by Memphis here… I like it. As for Houston, I guess they’ve given up on this season and plan to take a chance on an athletic seven footer. Don’t get your hopes up, Rocket fans.
- Sacramento trades Carl Landry to New Orleans for Marcus Thornton and cash considerations: The Kings have a major logjam going on in the frontcourt and not much of anything going on at the SG/SF position, so that’s why they pulled the trigger. The Hornets, on the other hand, couldn’t find consistent minutes for Thornton, but could use a big who can contribute nightly. Dudes like Aaron Gray and Jason Smith are currently seeing too many minutes.
- Charlotte trades Gerald Wallace to Portland for Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham, and a pair of first round picks: I already gave my thoughts on this one before it was made official. Charlotte dumped some salary, but I think they could’ve gotten more. Portland robbed ‘em.
- Charlotte trades Nazr Mohammed to Oklahoma City for DJ White and Morris Peterson: Great move by the Thunder picking up some free size. Nazr has played pretty well for the Bobcats this year and will make a nice backup for Kendrick Perkins. I’m not really sure what the ‘Cats are doing… it must be some sort of salary dump, although I thought this was the final season of Nazr’s deal. Maybe they really like DJ White… I have no idea.
- Golden State trades Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric to New Jersey for Troy Murphy and a second round pick: Golden State will buy Murphy out, and the Nets get a young guy in Wright who could become something if they can find some minutes for him. I suppose this one makes sense for both squads.
- Chicago trades James Johnson to Toronto for Miami’s 2011 first round pick: The Raps will take a chance on a guy who Chicago has given up on. James has talent, but there have been questions about his work ethic and conditioning over his time with the Bulls.
- Phoenix trades Goran Dragic and a first round pick to Houston for Aaron Brooks: Brooks has fallen out of Houston’s rotation since getting injured early in the season, but it looks like the Suns were impressed by the numbers he was putting up beforehand. I thought they were pretty high on Goran Dragic, so this kind of surprises me. I guess Brooks is the more established player at this point… maybe that was the reasoning.
- Washington trades Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to Atlanta for Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans, and a first round pick: The Hawks get a point guard who can hit the threes like Bibby and also add some defense into the equation. The Wizards will probably buy Mike out to save some cash, and they also get a rookie and a pick out of it. This one makes sense for both teams.
