thardawayfan wrote:This is a horrible trade. Don't know if I'm saying anything new, but Billups is old. Its okay to be a 32 year old center or PF, but when you're a point guard, you better have some legs. I love Baron Davis, sure he's breaking down, but he's still a stronger player than Billups--and only has 1 year on his contract while Billups has 3.
Billups won't help us in the win column. Sure he can hit a tough shot, but over the course of 48 minutes, he's gonna be a defensive liability against quick athletic pgs here out west--Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, come to mind. Billups won't be able to get into the paint either.
Rasheed is over the hill and not the low post presence we would need. He's a taller Al Harrington. Maybe he rebounds better, but at his age, he's gonna be a guy who chooses his spots when to give effort--not a guy who's gonna bring energy.
Anyone who thinks that Maxiell will be better than anyone at 14 is just being lazy. Maxiell is a great energy guy off the bench and has a developing J, but he's only an opportunistic player and one knee injury away from being very mediocre. I'd take Speights, Rush, or Arthur over Maxiell.
Trading for aging stars like Billups and Wallace who have high media profiles is like buying stocks when they're starting to come down from their all time highs. Whats worse is that Billups and Wallace's values are probably even more inflated because they play for a well known team. Do any of you real Warrior fans remember when we signed BJ Armstrong to a big deal fresh off of his 3 championships with the Bulls? Everyone overvalued his ability just b/c he started for the Bulls and was voted into the All-Star game because of his high profile opportunity. Guess what, he SUCKED as a Warrior. Same exact deal happened again with D Fish a few years back. D Fish didn't earn his $6M a year. Do we really want to buy high and sell low yet again with Billups and Wallace?
So long story short--we would trade for equal-to-inferior players who have longer contracts. Billups is one of the most overrated players in the NBA. He's good when playing with the right players and the right system, but I guarantee you he's gonna be the exact same player as today's Sam Cassell by the time Billups would finish his Warrior tenure. And we would be stuck with crap contracts for 3 more years. Sounds lovely--I'm really looking forward to renewing my season tickets.
Billups although a few years older is probably more sturdy with Baron's injury problems and beside we probably aren't planning on keeping him anyway. Plus Billups salary is almost $7 Million less. Yes, I take a healthy Baron over Billups but not by very much and there's no guarntees you'll have a healthy Baron. Taking all the into consideration, and the fact that Rasheed expires next season, and we may not have to go into luxury tax even this year (all salaries balance out so we won't necessarily have to pay it) I'd have to go along with this one. Next year we'll be in a solid position and should be a playoff team both this year and many years to come. Billups has been one of the "iron men" in this league for a while now, is an established leader and a playoff veteran who with a young team of Monta, Beans, Jackson, Wright (and Rasheed for a year) leading the way. He won't have to put out as much (in the scoring department) as he's been used to with the high octane scoring machine as well as the style of basketball we play.