With the Bucks in dire need of a scorer and the Nuggets recent acquisition of Allen Iverson, the Nuggets-Bucks trade ? that sent Earl Boykins and Julius Hodge to Milwaukee for the Bucks? Steve Blake, makes a decent amount of sense. Both teams were in a rush to make the move, for a variety of reasons.
The Bucks have experienced a rash of injuries as of late, and the addition of Boykins should right the ship. Boykins, who has the option of becoming a free agent at the end of the season, will have the opportunity to showcase his talents in the less competitive Eastern Conference. The deal also allowed Denver to save some money towards the league?s salary cap. The trade exception used, which was created by Bobby Simmons? season-ending foot and ankle injuries, was set to expire on Friday.
Grade for Denver: C-
Upon first glance, it seems obvious why the Nuggets made this deal. Boykins became slightly expendable when they traded for Allen Iverson last month. However, Boykins has played extremely well as of late and has lessened the scoring blow Denver has suffered during Carmelo Anthony?s suspension. Boykins averaged over seventeen points per game in December, and was scoring over twenty a night this month.
Sure the Nuggets will enjoy slight cap benefit from the deal, because of Milwaukee?s trade exception, but they get the raw end of this deal. Giving up Julius Hodge, who barely plays, isn?t the problem. Boykins is. While Iverson can handle more minutes than Andre Miller did at point, Boykins is still an above-average back-up. Should something happen to Iverson the Nuggets really have no one, other than new guard Steve Blake, to handle the ball. That?s why I give them a relatively low grade.
Grade for Milwaukee: A-
Often times when teams are forced into making a deal because of injuries they are able to get decent short-team help, but hurt themselves in the long-run. The Bucks pulled off a terrific saving-grace deal with the Nuggets today, which will allow them to be better-than-ever when they return to full health.
They get Boykins, who will move in and start at point while Mo Williams recovers from injury. He may even, once Williams heals, remain the starter and share time with the longer-tenured Buck. In exchange all they had to give up was Blake, a decent player, but one who is below the caliber of Boykins. As was mentioned above, Earl is averaging over twenty points per game this month, and will provide a huge offensive spark for the injury-depleted Bucks.
Milwaukee was able to get great value for Blake and a trade exception that would have gone for naught in just a few hours. They also got a young talent in Hodge, who may even be a step up from some of their bench. With all the injures the Bucks have, Hodge might even be given a much larger role than he had in Denver. Which is something I?m pretty excited about. We may finally get to see true flashes of what he is capable of in the NBA.
What do you think of Andrew?s assessment? Let him know: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com