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ESPNnews just reported this -

Cavs get- Ben Wallace, Wally Szerbiak, Joe Smith, and Delonte West

Bulls get- Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and Cedric Simmons

Sonics get- Chris Duhon, Ira Newble, and Donyell Marshall

Well, it looks like Cleveland got about the same contractually, but improved tremendously in talent. Those 4 guys could all potentially start for Cleveland with LeBron in the middle. Or, Joe Smith should come off the bench to spell either Ilgauskas or Ben Wallace. Either way, that's a pretty good deal for guys who made little impact on that team.

I'm not really sure I see why Chicago did it though. Where does Hughes and Gooden exactly fit on that roster?

IMO SEA is the big winner of this deal. Lets be real, this trade doesn't suddenly make CLE a real contender. Yea, they are a contender for the East, but not for the title. SEA/OK City will now be in prime position to build this team over the next few years.

But it doesn't really change their contractual status too awful much. They clear about half of Wally's contract this off-season instead of next at the cost of Delonte West, but those financials could lessen if they keep Chris Duhon in the off-season.

It only clears about half of Wally's contract, but it also makes SEA twice more likely to get a better pick in the lottery cause we all know they are officially tanking the season now probably to get DeAndre Jordan.

Eh, Wally wasn't keeping them from a quality draft pick either way.


But, new details came out and Duhon isn't going to Seattle. Adrian Griffin is instead, meaning that Seattle will not re-sign either Griffin or Newble and essentially is guaranteed to have cut about $7.3 million. I guess it makes more sense now.

Wally won them a few games they could have lost, but yes, they are cutting money and moving, as teams in their position should do.

We didn't do anything. I am thoroughly depressed.

Cleveland really improved itself with this trade. They got two really good shooters in Wally World and Delonte West, and Ben Wallace will give them a blue-collar interior presence to pair with the finesse big man in Ilgauskas.

Ilgauskas
B. Wallace
LeBron
Wally World
Gibson/D. West

That's a pretty good lineup.

Add in they've still got guys off the bench like Eric Snow, Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Damon Jones, and Devin Brown.

They might be lacking an extra big man right now, but I think Cleveland ultimately improved quite a bit in this deal.

Scoot McGroot wrote:Add in they've still got guys off the bench like Eric Snow, Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Damon Jones, and Devin Brown.

They might be lacking an extra big man right now, but I think Cleveland ultimately improved quite a bit in this deal.

big Z, varejao, wallace, joe smith, dwayne jones ... what are they lacking in the frontcourt exactly?

Forgot about Joe Smith arriving in the deal. Makes a big difference. Dwayne Jones isn't exactly the big minute eater there, nor the effective player everyone hoped he would be.


However, that's one injury away from being an extremely weak frontline.

I'm interested to see how this works out for Cleveland. They've now got three very good outside shooters to play off of LeBron, and an interesting big-man rotation with a couple of active rebounders/defenders in Varejao and Wallace (if he gets hooked up to the Juvenation Machine) and a couple of skilled halfcourt guys in Ilgauskas and Joe Smith. If the chemistry works out, that sounds like a pretty dangerous team, a real threat to Boston and Detroit.

Seattle's motives are pretty obvious, they're looking to win in 2011 or so. Maybe they will move to St. Louis.

Chicago has me scratching my head. Isn't Drew Gooden kinda redundant for them? And why do they want to pay Larry Hughes? They must've really hated Ben Wallace. That roster is turning into one of the biggest hodge-podges in the NBA.

Gooden at least a serviceable low post game which none of their others bigs really have: Noah, T. Thomas, A. Gray. Hughes gives them a 2 that can actually defend bigger guards although Thabo was coming along nicely. I think it was more of a move to get Big Ben out of the town though more than anything.

I really dont know that this is a slam dunk deal for anyone outside of Seattle. We all know what they are up to, stockpiling picks and expiring contracts in the hopes of competing for a playoff spot when teams like Dallas, Phoenix, and San Antonio begin to fade with their older core players. So yeah, likely 2010 at the earliest. The Cavs HAD to make a move to appease LeBron. The Bulls have been sitting on their hands for over a year and missed their window to compete in the East. It seems like a lateral move for both the Cavs and Bulls. The Bulls obviously want to free up their frontcourt minutes so that Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah can flourish. I have no problems with that. I dont know how Hughes fits in, but you get the impression that the Bulls are bracing themselves to lose Ben Gordon this offseason. They dont seem to want to pay him the $10 million he is commanding, and I cant say that I blame them.

The trade from Cleveland's aspect is kind of strange. Are they going to start Wallace AND Ilgauskas? Do they start Ilgauskas and Smith? Wallace and Smith? Due to the offensive deficiencies, you cant play Wallace alongside Varejao for any extended minutes. Wally gives them a more superior shooter than anyone else LeBron has had, but he has been bouncing around from team to team the past few years and I just cant think of him as a difference maker at this point. I actually think Delonte West is the X factor of the deal. I like him. He wont set the world on fire, and he is quite possibly the ugliest human being in the free world, but he is solid, can knock down the 3, and do other little things that people like Eric Snow cant do. All in all, I think the Cavs improve, but not majorly. I do think they are still a contender in the East though. LeBron alone is enough to do that.

The word "blockbuster" sure is being thrown around lightly these days.

harding156 wrote:The word "blockbuster" sure is being thrown around lightly these days.

No, no, no...you misunderstood.

The deal was sponsored by Blockbuster.

That makes more sense.

count55 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



No, no, no...you misunderstood.

You mean..."misremembered"?

or misunderestimated.

I was going for more of a Roger Clemens quote...