Snap trade judgement
Posted January 17th, 2007 by Brian Windhorst
Portland, Ore. — I’ve been asked by a reader for my take on the big Warriors-Pacers trade that just went down. There were eight players dealt, the principals being Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy. So here it is.
These are two teams that are sort of back in the pack trying to make a move up with a shake up. I don’t see either as having "won" the trade at this point. The Pacers got two guys who have been under-performing with massive contracts. Although Ike Diogu has lots of upside and a year ago was considered untouchable in Golden State. It has been interesting that Don Nelson has been ripping Dunleavy and Murphy recently, which goes against NBA 101, which is you don’t publicly devalue your assets. The Warriors were getting better play from younger and cheaper guys, so it made sense they’d try to figure a way to move the expensive ones. I’m sure Harrington and Jackson are somewhat happy because it is fun to play the way they play at Golden State, I’ll get a first-hand look on Saturday night.
For the Pacers, I think this deal hurts their athleticism a bit. Murphy is a quality big man and those are tough to find. His contract isn’t crazy out of whack, but it is longer than Harrington’s. I believe the Pacers probably knew when they were signing Harrington they were buying an asset just as much as a player. They had that trade exception they stole from the Hornets, which everybody in the league feels was a favor to the Pacers owners from Hornets owner George Shinn for future help when he tries to extract his team from New Orleans, and he was the best player they could get for it. That’s why they were pleased when they got him to sign a three-year deal, it made him more tradeable. Although I don’t think they thought they’d do it this soon. They also wanted to be rid of Jackson ever since he went Yosemite Sam in the preseason. The problem, as I see it, is that Dunleavy is probably going to be their starting shooting guard unless they are going with average Marquis Daniels.
Two years ago I picked the Pacers to reach the NBA Finals before the melee in Detroit, when they were about to get a huge early statement victory in the Palace, if you remember. Now, they’ve pretty much dumped the whole team save for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley.
As for the Cavs, I would say it is a challenge to them that the Central teams are trying to improve themselves around them. I’m on the record saying I will not consider them a serious contender until they get a offensive point guard. Now, I’m getting questions about Saraunas Jasikevicius, who was just moved to the Warriors. Is he the guy? I’m not sure, but he’d probably help and he’d be an upgrade. We know that Danny Ferry likes him and he fits the profile of what they want, an experienced character guy. But he’s questionable on defense and he’s aging, I’m not sure if he makes a huge impact. What I am sure of is his regret over picking the Pacers over the Cavs two summers ago.
I will have to evaluate the Warriors roster and maybe see them play for a little bit before I can decide whether there’s a trade that would make sense. The exceptions won’t get it done, although the Warriors may be looking to dump salary. It is possible, especially in a few weeks time if he’s not able to stay in Nelson’s rotation.
I am all for not making a move just to make a move, but I believe the Cavs will be under pressure to do something before the trading deadline.
January 17th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
The first thing I thought of when I heard about this trade was how much does Jasikevicius regret his decision to go to the Pacers.
Didn’t he say, at the time, that he felt they were more of a contender than the Cavs were?
January 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
The last thing the Cavs need is an aging character guy to join the slow-footed duo of Snow and Illgauskus. It might hurt in the short term but LeBron needs to lead some young athletes who aren’t confused about who they are following.
Ferry is starting to remind me of Eric Wedge, who seems to prefer players that don’t give him trouble to players who are more talented than he was. It’s all about ego.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
sorry, larry, can’t agree with you here as i think jasikevicius would help this team as he’s still quicker than snow and jones and is also a near-great shooter.
i also don’t buy than ferry’s ego is running roughshod here. rather, it is that we are, hello, san antonio east! san antonio develops talent, doesn’t make many big trades and likes character guys. now, it worked for them and for good or ill, ferry is trying to replicate it here. unfortunately for him, he’s got the sword of LBJ’s leaving hanging over his head. of course, san antonio had duncan making noises about going to orlando a few years ago but LBJ is by far the bigger star…
January 17th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
jeebus, eric snow CANNOT GUARD ANY POINT GUARDS! dan dickau is blowing by him! DAN DICKAU!
how do the snow-lovers defend him? one good game in 4 AIN’T GETTIN’ IT DONE!
January 18th, 2007 at 4:27 am
You’re right about Snow KJ but San Antonio has stability because they have four very dependable, all-star caliber starters and a Hall of Fame-type coach. There has been a revolving door at center since David Robinson left because they haven’t found a dependable, productive player there yet. They keep trying.
The Cavs have maybe three dependable starters but don’t seem to be on much of a lookout to find two more. One player is possibly the least productive starter in the league.
What Ferry claims is the team’s strong suit–chemistry–seems off to me as the Cavs are very uneven in their level of effort and intensity, as the coach pointed out after last night’s fiasco.
Yet, from what I read, Ferry always seems pretty satisfied with himself and the roster. He’ll hang Coach Brown out to dry from time to time but other than that I don’t know how he handles criticism because I’ve never seen any in the local papers.
January 18th, 2007 at 5:00 am
All I know is that you need to stop tempting Joe Tait with your “goodies” - you’re affecting his play by play
January 18th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Ok, everyone here who thought adding Marcus Banks at the Point this Summer would make the team better, stand up. The fact is, adding players that “might” be better than Snow is a little like adding a center that’s better than Z. A team that has a quality point guard isn’t about to let him go. So you have to settle for guys like Jasikevicius or Banks or Chucky Atkins. And if Chucky Atkins is the answer, I don’t want to know the question.
The Cavs tried to add an offensive PG in Damon Jones, and look how that turned out. A PG that doesn’t play defense isn’t going to start on Mike Brown’s team.
And speaking of Brown, the offense still needs a lot of work. I’m not sure it’s a great system to begin with, and someone really needs to teach LeBron how to run it. I love LBJ, but he might be the worst in the league at coming of screens; he doesn’t stay close enough to the screener to rub off the defender. The team isn’t making the cuts tight enough, they’re not making the passes, and as a result, the offense as it’s set up now is ineffective.
And finally, to anyone who says that Ferry shouldn’t worry about bringing in character guys, I have two words for you: Jeff McGinnis. It takes a certain kind of player to be a distributing point guard who knows his role and is happy in it. If you can’t get that player, then you’re better off rolling the dice with Snow. At least LeBron isn’t guarding the other team’s best player, and has the energy to be the team’s entire offense when the offense stagnates.
GO Cavs!
January 18th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
well, mike, i for one, was NOT for bringing banks in. and as for sarunas, well, considering the cavs were right in the mix down to the wire in trying to sign him, i would say i’m not beimg too crazy to suggest they try to get him now that he is trade bait…
and yes, damon isn’t the best defender in the world (though he has improved this year) but damon is NOT the problem. his shooting has won games for us this year and last.
the problem is that snow CANNOT play defense on PG’S either!!! he can guard some 2’s like desmond mason and rashard lewis but it a goddamned myth that snow is some kind of first-team all-league defender! when will people see and admit this?? i know he does some intangible things on the floor but they are NOT enough to offset his worsening skills in almost EVERY other area.
btw, LBJ does guard the other teams best player during periods of the game. check out how nice a job he did, along with hughes, on ray allen the other day…
January 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Get Brevin Knight to feed the big three in Cleveland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!