Three things: I love Microsoft! Mostly because of the Xbox, but I have now decided I love MSN Search as well. (I'm not listed nearly that high on Google, which makes no sense, considering Google owns Blogspot.)
Also, how about these cats, who say Vince Young will be outperformed by the immortal Brett Basanez?
And third, according to the Denver Post, the Nuggets have agreed to a three-team trade in which they
Give up:
Earl Watson
Bryon Russell
Voshon Lenard
A second-round pick
And collect:
Ruben Patterson
Charles Smith
Reggie Evans
First off, what we gave up. A second-round pick in the NBA, especially in our less-than-able hands, is essentially useless, so what the heck. Bryon Russell doesn't have a turnover all season in his three minutes of play. Voshon wasn't allowed to play, either, for whatever reason, so while we lose two shooters, we don't really lose anything. And Earl Watson is one of the most bizarre signings in recent memory, considering we acquired him, it seems, only to be in on the excitement of quickly trading him. Watson doesn't really do anything better than Andre Miller or Earl Boykins can, so I don't mind losing him, either, assuming we got anything of value in return.
So what did we get in return? ESPN has unkindly and accurately referred to Smith as a "salary-cap throw in", so let us forget about him.
Ruben Patterson. While I don't really want to get into why, let's just say it's safe to call him a "character risk". Oh, yeah, that's why-he was complaining about his playing time. That's it, move along, nothing else to see here.
The 30-year-old Patterson is also known for his defense and has given himself the title of "Kobe Stopper"-he's sort of a Ron Artest without the baggage, except with the baggage. It's rumored that he D'ed up Kobe so aggresively in practice when he was a Laker that he was traded because it was hurting the team, so he's a competitor. He's an occasional scorer, but no one to expect big numbers from consistently.
He's also a small forward, and we sort of have a guy there already. Of course, he and Carmelo can co-exist in stretches. Then again, we already have a defensive-minded swingman in Greg Buckner, though Patterson has a better chance against bigger forwards. So assuming his attitude is OK he's a all right pickup, but that assumption should not be made lightly, and I don't see him as a major difference-maker.
We also picked up a guy I like, Reggie Evans, who rebounds like a madman. By my math, he'd be averaging about 16.8 boards per 48 minutes, though NBA.com doesn't list him for some reason even though he's better than their leader. (I guess it could be because he doesn't play a whole ton, but then that defeats the whole purpose of having per-48-minute rankings, doesn't it?)
Of course, Charles Barkley said recently that per-48-minutes makes for the dumbest stats possible, since there's a reason the guy's not playing more. In Reggie's case, that reason is that he basically can't do anything but rebound. But he does provide froncourt depth, and considering the injuries to our big men, that is very worthwhile.
In the NBA, you basically have to give up something to get something back, and since we didn't trade away anything of value, we didn't get much in return. The Nuggets basically made a trade just to make a trade, I think, but it should work out decently enough, or maybe slightly in our favor.
4 comments:
All right, the deal details have changed somewhat, but it looks like what we've given up and received has stayed the same, so assuming it doesn't change again, I'm just going to keep it like this.
My thanks to ESPN for keeping the links the same; perhaps the Denver Post one will change, but whatever, no one comes here for breaking news anyway.
I like the trade, giving up Earl for a rebounder and wasn't Patterson in the dunk contest a couple of years ago? I am disappointed that Iverson wasn't even an option. Too bad we didn't do more to try and pick up Artest last month,TO's going to need friend-Astacio and Roy's near deportations would have looked like nothing.
mike, i'm with you on the msn search love. they hook a brother up.
unlike google.
Well, Vince was a question mark there for a while-if only because it's rumored he scored a 6 on the Wonderlic. Apparently it was graded incorrectly, though, so no harm, I guess. He's obviously smart enough to play football anyway-but a 6, that would have been rough.
I am fine not having Artest on the team, too-he's seen as this great team player, but I think he would have killed the offense in the halfcourt, and I think he and Carmelo play the same position. Sure, you could move them around, but going for Artest would not have been the best fit for our team.
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