More NBA Trade Deadline News
Warriors get: Baron Davis
Hornets get: Speedy Claxton, Dale Davis
Whut. They gave up Speedy. That pisses me off.
Okay, as far as positives, Baron Davis is a damn good player when he’s healthy. Teamed up with Richardson, they’ll be a dynamic backcourt with insane scoring ability and entertainment value. I just have a tough time with his contract and the fact that he’s never healthy. And the fact he’s got a big mouth.
Celtics get: Antoine Walker
Hawks get: Gary Payton, Michael Stewart, Tom Gugliotta
Tom Gugliotta was my favorite player in high school. I met him once at a Radiohead concert and told him, “You were my favorite player in high school.” And he said, “Was?” And I was embarrassed but in hindsight, c’mon. You haven’t been good since you married that hot athlete wife of yours.
Antoine Walker gets traded back to Boston where he and Paul Pierce were once a potent duo. He’ll probably have to accept a role that’ll be smaller than the one he had during his last tour of duty, due to the emergence of the young players and the focus that management has on them. He’s no longer the man he was on the J.V. Hawks. My guess is that Al Jefferson in company are going to have increased rebound numbers as they run around collecting all of Toine’s misses.
Hawks get Gary Payton. I’m sure he’ll be a great locker-room influence on the young guys. I take this as a signal that they want Antoine to chew up less of the minutes and shots so that they can develop the two Joshes and company.
Spurs get: Nazr Mohammed, Jamison Brewer
Knicks get: Malik Rose
I have no idea how Nazr’s going to do or what his role and minutes will be in San Antonio. He started out the season strong but then faded, and now that he’s playing with the NBA’s premiere monster in the paint, I don’t know how much there will be for him to do, other than holding Timmy’s jock strap. Who knows though. Nazr is a decent center though who came cheap. This may be what it takes to allow Michael Sweetney to emerge. Nazr’s presence moved Kurt Thomas to the 4-spot, cutting into Sweetney’s minutes. This trade will allow Kurt to work as an undersized center again, with Sweetney and Malik playing PF. Sweetney’s a darling of management. I wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do with this shake-up.
Knicks get: Maurice Taylor
Rockets get: Vin Baker, Moochie Norris
Mo was doing pretty well in his supporting role in Houston. There’s a minor logjam now in New York with Mo Taylor, Michael Sweetney and Malik Rose basically playing the same position, along with Kurt Thomas being undersized for the center position. The Knicks will probably experiment with some big and small line-ups, moving Rose to the 5 and Taylor to the 3 if it comes down to that. But it really doesn’t matter since the Knicks have the best point guard in the league and all…
Warriors get: Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Rodney White
Nuggets get: Eduardo Najera
I could kill someone.