February 27, 2008 | 12:00am
Trades either make or break teams. Now that the smoke has cleared, let us analyze these transactions. We won’t be dealing on Phoenix, Dallas and the Lakers as much has already been said about their high profile deals.
By letting go of Mike Bibby and his rather large contract, Sacramento became more flexible in the salary cap room. The move will also give Beno Udrih more playing time and a chance for him to prove his worth with the Kings organization. In return for Bibby, Atlanta sent Sheldon Williams, Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright and the Hawks 2008 2nd-round draft pick to Sacramento. Atlanta will still be Atlanta, make some wins, lose plenty.
Detroit sent Nazr Mohammed to Charlotte for Walter Hermann and Primoz Brezec to Toronto for Juan Dixon. Mohammed makes life easier for Emeka Okafor in Charlotte but no matter how easy that life will be, the Bobcats still need to win. It’s the Pistons who got the better end of the deal as they got instant offense off the bench from Dixon. The Raptors gave up on Dixon as he and his managers made it clear that they wanted out of Toronto.
11 players were involved in a three-team deal between Chicago, Cleveland and Seattle. Ben Wallace and his headband, together with Joe Smith left Chicago to be with LeBron James. Likewise, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West bolted Seattle and become Cavaliers.
The Bulls, aside from Wallace and Smith also gave up Adrian Griffin and a 2009 2nd-round draft pick. Rookie Joakim Noah has become a solid performer with the departure of Wallace and his childish tantrums seems to be gone. Chicago also got Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Cedric Simmons from the Cavs. Hughes is a salary cap problem but Gooden will be a good fit and be the offensive threat that Bulls badly need.
Help has come to LeBron with his new supporting cast. Gooden’s loss will be compensated by the combination of Wallace and Smith. Szczerbiak and West will provide the outside shooting. Seattle got Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago.
Houston gave up Bonzi Wells, Mike James and Kirk Snyder for Bobby Jackson and Adam Haluska from New Orleans and Gerald Green from Minnesota. Wells became expendable when rookie Carl Landry suddenly decided he knows how to play. Jackson brings to the Rockets plenty of playoff experience from his days in Sacramento. As for Green, if there will be lighted candles in a cupcake to be blown while dunking, then he can lift off in Houston. Yao Ming is starting to dominate and with a healthy Tracy McGrady, they should get at least 50 wins this season.
New Jersey is rebuilding and they got a talented young player from the trade with Dallas in Devin Harris and first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2010.
San Antonio added Kurt Thomas from Seattle to their lineup. They finally realized that with Pau Gasol with the Lakers and Shaquille O’Neal with the Suns, the Spurs have become a small team. Thomas will give them added perimeter shooting and some serious defense. They unloaded Brent Barry and Francisco Elson. Barry, when healthy, was one of the Spurs’ best ballhandler and a legitimate three-point threat. Ime Udoka’s no-nonsense play was reason enough to send Elson packing out of San Antonio.
Kyle Korver has made a tremendous impact with Utah. Combining his sharpshooting with one of the league’s best pick-and-roll tandem in Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, the league’s most physical team has become more potent. Sending the disgruntled Gordan Giricek to Philadelphia for Korver was a nice move. Giricek was bound to go somewhere anyway considering his feud with Coach Jerry Sloan.
In a nutshell, the Eastern Conference will have Boston, Cleveland and Detroit battling it out for supremacy. It still is a wild and wooly race in the West. The Western Conference is so loaded it looks like the playoffs are already under way and the NBA calendar says it begins on April 19 yet.
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