February 6, 2008 at 8:57 am · Filed under NBA
In part two of our unexpected series, Deadline Deals: What Were They Thinking?, Daily Basketball takes a look at the pending Shaquille O’Neal trade. Before the trade is finalized, The Big Diesel must pass a physical, so there’s no guarantee this deal will happen, but we begin questioning Steve Kerr now anyway.
Phoenix Suns get: Shaquille O’Neal
Miami Heat get: Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks
The Miami Heat have struggled all season to win with their Shaq-Dwyane Wade duo. Injuries have certainly played a role, but the team needed to make a move. Shaquille O’Neal was kind of a surprising name to see moved, but more surprising is the fact that somebody still wanted him.
The deal comes just a few days after the NBA announced that Shaquille O’Neal will not be playing on the 2008 All-Star team. O’Neal has averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game this season, and his current fantasy status according to NBA.com is Injured.
So why did the fastbreaking Phoenix Suns take on the next two years and $40 million of a man who spends a monthly $12,775 for food?
Shaquille O’Neal means that the Suns will need to slow down their trademark fast-tempo, and expect to see less of the semi-fastbreak as Steve Nash looks to get the ball into O’Neal in a half court set? Steve Nash and his amazing playmaking skills could revitalize Shaquille O’Neal’s career. More likely, Nash wears down O’Neal’s back and knees as he pushes the ball up the court.
Steve Kerr either thought the Suns would improve by adding Shaq, or that the Suns would implode if they didn’t trade disgruntled, multitalented Shawn Marion. Miami should feel guilty manipulating a GM like this; the Heat should have offered their next first-round pick (between #1 and #4) to make this deal look like less of a hoax.
Meanwhile, the Heat benefit from this trade, securing either Shawn Marion or $17,000,000 in cap relief if he decides not to re-sign. Marcus Banks will be a nonfactor, although he could step in and contribute unexpectedly.
February 2, 2008 at 5:27 pm · Filed under NBA
After allowing the Memphis Grizzles a day to announce that they had let a seven-year old Los Angeles Lakers fan run the team after an horrible publicity promotion, it’s apparent that the Pau Gasol trade wasn’t a joke. After all, how many other trade rumors reported on the blogosphere never happen?
The deal is clearly an advantage to the Lakers. The team was red-hot until Andrew Bynum
went down, and with the addition of SuperPau, expect a revitalization from Kobe and the Lakers. Many anaylsts see the Lakers near the very top of the Western Conference, and remain only six games out even after going 5-5 in their last 10.
Lakers get: Pau Gasol, 2010 second round draft pick
Grizzlies get: Kwame Brown, player/coach Aaron McKie, Javaris Crittenton, the rights to Marc Gasol, and first round picks in 2008 (top-three protected) and 2010 (top-six protected)
While the Lakers become a contender after this deal, the Memphis Grizzlies made this deal for financial reasons, and financial only. The team already let go of Damon Stoudamire, now they’ve got ridden of Pau Gasol and Stromile Swift. Aiming either to get sold or win the lottery, the Grizzlies won’t get much positive attention unless Rudy Gay wins the dunk contest. The Grizzlies were already 13-33, before they watered down their roster.
Juan Carlos Navarro is a free agent after this season. One reason, a really BIG reason, the Grizzlies won out, is because of Spaniard teammate Gasol. You might as well consider Crittenton-for-Navarro a secondary trade, because Navarro has been playing solid and may very well follow Gasol this offseason.
The trade with the Lakers has some sense for the Grizzlies: two first-rounders and two promising players along with a creaky old shooting guard and a bust. But the Stromile Swift trade is what’s really confusing. The team wants cap room, so they trade a $6,000,000 expiring contract for Jason Collins?
On the bright side, in the entertainment category, Swift could finally fill in the Kenyon Martin roll in the alley-oop department.
Unless I’m missing something, the Grizzlies get very little immediate flexibility for this upcoming offseason, especially with Collins coming in. In a few years, the team will benefit from dumping Gasol’s contract and having a couple more first-rounders, but none of the three deals (Stoudamire, Swift, and Gasol) put the team in a spot to sign Gilbert Arenas or Allen Iverson this offseason.
So who won out on the trade? Okay, better question, what justifies the Grizzlies trying to clear cap space, and then acquiring Jason Collins? Don’t they realize these two Lakers picks are now in the mid-20s?
