The deal is done. The details are here. Basically, Cavs get Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and a second-round draft pick for Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, Shannon Brown, and Cedric Simmons. Pretty crazy. And, I think, qualifies as the blockbuster. In full disclosure, the deal I was talking about last night was Hughes for Wallace and then the Cavs would be able to move Gooden for a shooting guard. It obviously got a lot more complex today.
Here is the instant reaction, one of the things being talked about within the Cavs front office over the last few days was the need to get someone in here to deal with potential matchups with the Celtics in the playoffs. Wallace could be that guy. He also gives them an edge in dealing with the Pistons as well. Szczerbiak is guy who is the type of player that works well with LeBron, he’s a shooter, although he’s had injury problems. Cavs are taking on some huge salary here, but they are not really extending their commitments. Wallace is signed for two more years (like Hughes) and Smith and Szczerbiak will have expiring contracts next season. West will be a restricted free agent.
To me the key here is just what Wallace brings. He’s not the player he was in Detroit, I think most people agree with that. But can he be a major defensive presence, especially come the playoffs. To me that will define this deal. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. Lots of people are down on him and he’s not having a good year. He is the key in my mind.
Still much, much more to come down the line. Cavs have a press conference at 5:30.
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szerbiak is a low risk, his contract comes off the books next season and at the worst becomes a trade asset next season. wallace toughens us up and im glad for delonte west, i like him over chris duhon.
Yes!!
I like both moves. I’m actually really surprised Ferry was able to get these done.
they are taking on hughe contracts, but only for two years, just like drew and larry, it works out well awesome trade, just hope wally can stay healthy check this out, west, lebron, wally, ben, and z, now that is a nice line up, off the bench smith, sasha, andy, gibson, comon can any one say east conf finals. ican, good trade, larry has been playing good lately but i love the trade.
Ric Bucher was reporting was reporting on ESPN that this trade was the Cavs fall back trade and they had another deal they preferred that included Hughes. Any idea what that deal was?
I think this is a great trade. I hate to lose Gooden, but I love the defense that Big Ben will bring. Also, Delonte is a good defender at the point with his size. Wally can shoot, and those two will do more than Donyell, Shannon, Ira combined. I’m not sure how Joe Smith will fit in, but he’ll be fine.
BW — nice work! With your clues yesterday, I guessed Duhon and Wallace and thought we would get an outside shooter, but not Wally — Smith is a huge throw-in — great trade and great work by you!
Bogart smells bad.
and I was one of Hughes’ biggest supporters — great trade
and I was one of Hughes’ biggest supporters — great trade!
Thank the lord, CAVS fans rejoice!
smith is actually much more productive this season than i thought. over 11 a night, 5 boards, shoots 80+% from the line. a clear upgrade over marshall in the post, IMO
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I really kind of like this trade. I can’t believe Ben Wallace is a Cav and I’m not jumping off a bridge. I need some time to digest this but we didn’t really kill any cap flexibility, we got a brand new backcourt, and I never have to look at the terrible guys we traded ever again.
I can’t believe this. I like it.
Great trade. I can’t believe these morons who are posting negative stuff about it after carping that Ferry couldn’t/wouldn’t upgrade the lineup.
yo I gotta change my name.
That’s a lotta money but I like it. Bring it on Delonte, you are now following a long line of amazing Cleveland PG’s. Too bad we could’t throw Jones or Snow in… I liked Gooden and Hughes but it was time for a change for all. I’m pretty happy though and now we will see what’s up!
I like it. The Sonics give us a new starting backcourt, the Bulls give us size and depth defensively.
Delonte, Wally, Lebron, Wallace and Z start.
Andy and Boobie continue to get big minutes.
DJ, Sasha, Devin Brown, and Joe Smith fight for the scraps.
FINALLY!!!!! Ferry pulls the trigger and shakes things up. Hopefully, Wallace will have new life and Wally will be healthy.
Great call on this… tell all the haters on you throughout the day to apoligize. Great work!
we get a shooter in wally, a defender in big ben, a quality young pg in delonte west, and someone just as good as gooden in joe smith. ok, maybe not just as good, but solid and not an idiot. we also still have expiring contracts next year in eric snow and damon jones that equal about 10 mil combined, so they can still make a deal next year for more pieces. and then the next year, wally and big ben will be the biggest expiring contracts out there so we can make yet another move if we want in lebrons contact year. or we can wait and sign free agents. this is a move that works for the present and the future. also, the first round pick we get could be a top 10 pick. in one of the best drafts in recent memory. o yes. o yessss
check that, might not be a first, but still
I am not getting it… Wallace is not the defensive player he was two years ago, and that’s not adding in the fact that he was never even an average offensive player. Joe Smith is okay as a backup… not losing much since Donyell Marshall was rarely effective. Getting rid of Larry Hughes is fantastic, but for Wally? Man is he overrated. Delonte West has been awful this year and is not the solution to our point guard problem. LeBron needed a Pau Gasol type of guy to have a shot at the championship… Wally/Wallace/West and the rest are not going to cut it.
Not bad, not bad at all. I echo the positive impressions of many of you, but am worried about Wally’s defense. I live in Seattle and do catch the occasional Sonics game and Wally is an atrocious defender. Absolute statue on the perimeter.
who the hell is gonna score? will lebron end up taking 40 shots per night? does delonte west remember when lebron posterized him? what about wally’s back? does anyone know what is on delonte west’s lip? how will this affect anderson varejao wig night?
not too big on this trade , it’s a wait and see approach for me . in wally , you’re getting another often injured player who can’t play a lick of D and has the speed of a crippled snail , and this is your 2 guard ? on a positive , he can knock down the open jumper and he has a short contract which could be an asset next season . where do i get started on ben wallace ? horrible contract , is on a rapid decline , no offense from more than 1 foot away from basket , and he’s chris dudley and shaq rolled into one at the free throw line . bottom line , don’t expect much offense out of him and maybe just a couple of rebounds more than drew .delonte west is clearly the most intruiging player for me in this deal , is he the point guard that the cavs and their fans been clamoring for for years ?this is his 3rd team in less than 2 years and he’s a young guy , does he have what it takes to be a starter in the nba ? in his defense , this is the 1st team he’s playing on that is playoff bound , and he’s playing with one of the best players in the nba now . we will see if he’s nothing more than a career back-up or is he a servicable point guard who can knock down some open shots and facilitate the offense and play some good D .
joe smith is the dark horse in this trade, he can score off the bench better off the bench then anyone we had at pf or sf, this is an awesome trade cannot wait to hear what ALAN TUCKER HAS TO SAY.
I like this trade for a lot of reasons, Joe Smith being one of them. I thought he was over the hill going into this year, but he’s played well enough that Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah couldn’t take that many minutes from him. He’ll be a good low-post scorer for the second team.
Look what this trade does for our bench. We could have a second unit of Gibson, Pavlovic, Smith, Varejao and Devin Brown, with Damon Jones still in reserve. Great depth.
Adios, Osama bin Gooden!
This is a good thing for the Cavs because it gets rid of Hughes! He didn’t fit well here.. that in itself is addition by subtraction.
As for the actual players.. Wallace isnt going to hurt us and can really only help. If he can bring a defensive toughness downlow who can play great help defense and block shots then that is what we need. We basically just swapped contracts but i think Wallace has the potential to help the team a lot more than Hughes was.
If Wally can stay healthy he’s a very good player who can shoot.. cant argue with that.
And all ive been hearing is that West is a good little player so i like that.
Plus we got Chicago’s best player in Joe Smith lol. I think all of these are upgrades from what we had.
How long until we hear the complaint that “Boatshoes” Ferry sits on his hands and never does anything?
Perhaps a change of scenery will do well for Wallace, ala Randy Moss. Regardless, this is a move for the better, how much is yet to be scene.
Thanks for the scoop, Brian. I like the trade.
I am standing by to see how much Alan Tucker hates this trade. He cannot stand Ferry and will never give him credit for pulling this off.
Standing by…
I like the trade. Cavs receive 4 veterans by moving 6 expendable players. I agree that ownership takes on salary, but isn’t extended too far out. The 2nd round pick means the team will have 2 picks in the top 40 of this years draft. Plus, they can still sign a Maurice Baker, Dahntay Jones, Nick Fazekas or 1-2 other waived young players and see if one of them turns into the next Kelenna Azuibuike. Nice job Danny! Now start preparing for the NBA draft.
Wally gets hurt more than Hughes. Not crazy about this deal. Ben Wallets is overrated.
Wow!
Better fitting pieces around Lebron.
Starters: West, Sasha, Lebron, Wallace, Z
2nd Team: Boobie, Wally, Brown, Smith, Varejao
(Heck, some NBA teams would like to have that unit as starters)
Nice job by Ferry to complete these trades.
With the thought of expiring contracts worth $20M for next year at this time! Again, WOW!!!
Check out the poll, just went up! Weigh in on the trade.
http://cleveland3up3down.blogspot.com/
until alan t. chimes in, this is not a done deal.
alan, drop some knowledge on us!!! your fans demand it!!!
Its not Artest but maybe better. Wallace is the enforcer
I have been crying for. And a real point guard in Delonte
West! Congratulations to boat shoes. This works it seems.
Is Wally hurt? Alan Tucker your thoughts please.
This just in. As part of the trade, Austin Carr, Campy Russel, and Joe Tate have agreed to suit up and play limited minutes off the bench.
Brian – Can we expect the new guys to play on Friday against Washington?
I’m happily eating crow because I never thought Ferry could get rid of Hughes. He, Marshall and Gooden were maddening to watch.
It’s quite a makeover for this time of year. I’d like to see Szczerbiak come off the bench and a quick backcourt with Gibson and West, if he can handle starting.
If Ferry can unload Pavlovic this summer, there won’t be too many flakes left.
I’m in. I like it. I’m going to swing by Target on the way home to see if I can buy a pair of boatshoes on sale.
On another note, I just watched five talking heads on ESPN say Lebron is running third in the MVP race. Just unbelievable. Apparently Chris Paul is the clear cut leader with Kobe lurking and Lebron an afterthought.
Look at the depth on the front line: Varejao, Wallace, Smith, and Z. Plenty of shooters to surround the best player in the world. We even have a pure PG now……. Let’s go win a title!
I am not completely sold yet. I think we are somewhat improved defensively down low, but that wasn’t a weak spot. Big Ben will however be a huge asset against Garnet, Rasheed, or Howard. He will also add some serious “bad-assness” that this team surely needs. We are now much weaker on D at the perimeter, which will be a problem against Detroit and the west. Say what you want about Larry, he was a great perimeter defender, and Newble was descent and versatile. I just don’t know enough about D. West to say if he helps us or not on defense. Can he guard Ray Allen, Rip, Billups (let alone Kobe, Paul, D. Williams or Parker)? We would now have to be the best rebounding team in the East, maybe even the entire NBA w/ James, Z, Varajao, Smith, and Wallace.
I think the offense has taken a hit w/ the departure of Gooden and Hughes. An offense that was mediocre to begin with. Wallace doesn’t replace any of that loss. This trade could be huge though if Sasha can get back and really contribute on O, that’s a big if or course. LJ may have to start thinking about taking a lot more shots.
I think this group should gel really quickly, as Wallace, Smith and Wally are all vets.
But if what BW reports is true, and the Cavs were looking to match the Celts, Pistons and Orlando, maybe the trade makes good sense. I see this new group struggling a lot on offense, unless Szczerbiak can really open things up, which I am simply not sold on.
Should be interesting.
At least this trade gives us a legit shot in the playoffs, if healthy. I just didn’t see us making the Finals again by standing pat. Gutsy trade! Go for it!
one more side note , the cavs got older with the addition of wallace , joe smith , and wally. this can’t be a long term solution
DO LEBRON LIKE THE TRADE, THAT IS WHAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW, ALTHOUGH THEY COULD STILL DO OTHER THINGS NEXT YEAR, DO THIS TRADE PUT THEM AT THE TOP OF THE EAST AS FAR AS LEBRON IS CONCERN.. I THINK HE SHOULD LOVE THIS TRADE, WE WILL BE AVG. DOUBLE DIGITS IN ASSIST EVERY GAME WITH THE SHOOTERS HE JUST AQUIRED.
charley rosen’s thoughts on the trade (i agree with him)
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7825038/For-Cavaliers,-changes-may-not-be-for-the-better
My thoughts on the deal:
It figures we deal Hughes when he’s finally on a roll. Whne he he hit the big shot at the end of the game last night. There were hugs and smiles all around. All I could think is that he must be gone! This is certainly the moment in his Cavs career when he has the most value, so it makes sense that you deal him when you can. He asked to be traded earlier in the season, and now he got his wish. I’m not sure how he fits with the Bulls, other than salary-wise.
Szczerbiak should be a very good fit at shooting guard. He has the same injury concerns as Hughes. Looking at his numbers this year, it’s obvious he still shoots at a high level, and higher than the Cavs have ever started with Lebron. If he stays healthy, he may hit a lot of shots. He also comes with some playoff experience.
Ben Wallace is an interesting move. It seems like everyone on the Bulls this year has been down. If he produces even at last year’s level, I think the Cavs are satisfied. He gives the Mike Brown great offense/defense options with true centers that he’s never had before. His contract isn’t so much worse than Hughes that I think it really matters. He also comes with a ring and loads of playoff experience.
Delonte West was okay as a young starting point guard for a couple bad Celtics teams. He is a decent shooter, with range (.370 career 3pt%). Last year as a starter, his numbers are about the same as Hughes, but with a higher fg% and apg. He plays solid defense. Throwing out the last half dozen games from Hughes’ Cavs career, and this is an upgrade on it’s own.
If Joe Smith had been the 10th pick in the draft instead of first overall, people would talk about what a nice career he’s had instead of being a disappoinment. He isn’t the rebounder that Gooden is, but he’s not bad, and is an equal scorer. He’s not a three point threat, but he is a huge upgrade over Donyell Marshall.
I’ll miss Gooden’s beard, and his quirky personality. I won’t miss his hands of stone – how many times did I see some phenominal pass from Lebron skip off his hands? He really is a very good rebounder at both ends, and a good post scorer with a decent spot up jump shot. At the same time, he has a tendency to disappear at time, especially on defense. I never got the feeling that Brown or Lebron were ever completely comfortable with him, and he was on the bench at the end of most games.
Newble and Marhsall were the only other players the Cavs gave up that were part of the rotation, but neither were important outside of a team chemistry standpoint.
From a talent standpoint, I think it’s easy to see this trade as a big upgrade.
you doom sayers are crazy, this is a good trade.
As a Bulls season ticket holder and long long time Bulls fan, you will be very happy with Joe Smith. His 15-18 foot jump shot has been on all year. His rebounding has been great,
he is juts a great 15-20 minute guy for a team.
Wallace is terrible and you will see why he was traded.
Where is Alan T? Is he out celebrating this trade, or did he collapse after reading about it?