Danny Ferry had an unspoken ultimatum from LeBron James to accomplish something by the trade deadline.
Thursday?s 11-player trade was certainly not what anyone was expecting, but it is actually imaginative enough to work because each of the four players acquired will find pivotal slots in Cleveland?s rotation.
Ben Wallace is nowhere near the rebounder or shotblocker he once was with Detroit, nor is he even as effective offensively which makes the trade as much about the other three players picked up by Cleveland as it is about him.
Wallace?s rebound and block rates have slipped substantially in Chicago but expect at least a modest revival in Cleveland.
The notion of Wallace out on the floor beside Anderson Varejao is frightening so he should be strictly paired with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is having a very fine season with his 15.6 per 40 FIC.
Ilgauskas will allow Wallace to become more of an off-ball defender as he was beside Rasheed Wallace, something he couldn't really be in Chicago this season.
Some of Wallace?s poor play has unquestionably resulted from apathy which shouldn?t be a problem now that he joins a team that is less than a season removed from the Finals.
His FG% is down to .373 this season, down from his career mark of .474, but many of those shots were mindlessly ill-advised shots out of the post due to a lack of other options for the Bulls. He will reel that in and only look to score put-backs and wide open layups and dunks.
Nobody expects him to be as good as he was in Detroit, but even 75% of that will give Cleveland something they didn?t have last season, and there is a certain swagger-factor of being battle tested and unflappable that the Cavaliers need up front, particularly against Boston and Detroit.
Joe Smith is a decided upgrade over Drew Gooden offensively. Smith isn?t of the same caliber as a rebounder, but the consistency of his game overall in comparison to Gooden makes him more useful. Gooden has been given enough chances to develop into the player Memphis believed he would be with the 4th overall pick in 2002, and it simply did not happen.
Smith has a per 40 FIC of 12.9 which beats power forwards such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Horford, Antonio McDyess, and most importantly Gooden. Speaking of McDyess, Smith will be Cleveland?s version of him although his minutes won?t match those of the former Alabama four man.
Gooden?s eFG% has dropped significantly in comparison to the 03-04 and 04-05 seasons, his best in the NBA.
Szczerbiak has been relatively healthy this season, appearing in 50 games for the Sonics and posting a per 40 FIC of 11.1, which is still above the NBA?s median. He?s shooting 43% from 3-point territory, which is 12th in the NBA. Between Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson (almost 48% 3-point shooter), the Cavaliers will really be able to stretch the floor and create space for LeBron and Ilgauskas.
The most intriguing part of the deal for me is West. He was highly coveted by Philadelphia in the Allen Iverson trade talks and was a 30 minute per night player during his final two seasons in Boston. He can play both guard positions, is a good defender, and can shoot the ball fairly well. His field goal and free throw percentages have dropped this season, but he definitely fares better when he sees consistent run and also happens to be playing for a contract. He plays well with or without the ball and could conceivably be in Cleveland for the next decade; he has the potential to fit in that well.
Nobody in Cleveland would say that this is their idea of a dream deal, but something had to be done and by acquiring four quality players, two or more of them will surely make an impact sizeable enough to enhance their postseason chances. If it doesn?t improve their actual floor production, it is, at the very least, a morale booster and a demonstration that Ferry?s will to win matches the will of the NBA?s best player.
LeBron James has become the unquestioned most dominant player in the game so the question begets if this supporting cast is just good enough for the Cavaliers to win it all.
Grade for Cleveland: B+
It is difficult for Bulls? fans to see Tyson Chandler thriving in New Orleans and wonder what might have been if they had left well enough alone and never used their cap room to sign Wallace. But Chandler is not this good without Chris Paul, and the Wallace signing would look far better had the Bulls been closer to being the true contender many believed them to be. Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni are fine players, but they really don?t compare at all to the core Wallace played with in Detroit.
With so many young bigs in tow with skill sets that match or possibly even eclipse Wallace?s, dealing his problematic contract away for the problematic contract of a big guard clearly made sense.
While in Cleveland, Hughes has dealt with the loss of his brother Justin during the 2006 playoffs, a series of injuries, and the weight of having such a hefty contract and not fitting in beside LeBron.
Hughes does many of the things LeBron does and is better when he has the ball in his hands, and it was never his fault that Michael Redd, Cleveland?s top free agent choice in 2005, re-signed in Milwaukee. Ferry was in a use it or lose it situation with his cap room and therefore overpaid for Hughes.
This season, Hughes has a per 40 FIC of 8.4 and a dreadful Reina Value of -70. But he just turned 29, and even though he has two years remaining on his current contract at $12.8 million and $13.6 million, he gives Chicago an attractive short term alternative of signing Ben Gordon to an extension should they manage to find a sign-and-trade partner this summer. The partnership of Hinrich and Hughes may be less talented than Hinrich and Gordon, but they should complement each other better because of less overlap.
While Wallace's departure will allow Thomas and Noah to see more floor time, Hughes' presence could hinder the development of Thabo Sefolosha.
Like Wallace in Cleveland, Hughes will never be the player he was in 2004, but he could improve back to a diet version of that instead of the completely ineffective player he has been recently.
Gooden was a player Chicago coveted during the summer of 2006. His usage rate will go up with the Bulls and could blossom into a fringe double-double man. His contract is just about appropriate, and if the expectations are tepid, then he will be a decent addition as he is more of an offensive bruiser than Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.
Meanwhile, Simmons and Brown will be two young players the Bulls can take a no-risk chance on. Simmons and Brown both have dreadful per 40 FIC's of 5.0 and 4.3 this season respectively in very limited time although an extended run could see some talent emerge even if it is unlikely.
The Bulls shopped Wallace nearly everywhere imaginable so to flip him into two younger pieces that could actually make the team better overall allows the trade to be categorized as a lateral move as its worst-case scenario.
Grade for Chicago: B-
Plain and simple, this was a salary dump for Sam Presti.
Marshall has one season at $5.95 million remaining, but Newble and Griffin will come off the books at the end of this year.
With a whole slew of draft picks on the way over the next three seasons to go with their cap space, the Sonics have a great thing going even if Kevin Durant and Jeff Green have played below expectations.
This is yet another move by Presti that shows how clear and measured his long-term planning seems to be.
Grade for Seattle: A-
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of The Reina Value.