A possible trade at the deadline....

[rusty_b]

Hey guys. I was just thinking about possible trades we could make at the deadline or just before it, to improve the team without committing to too much salary and/or long term contracts and I came up with this...

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=591~829~2211~3016&teams=30~30~17~17&te=&cash=

New Jersey receives: Matt Carroll and Adam Morrison
Charlotte receives: Stromile Swift and Eduardo Najera

Why New Jersey does it
They manage to solve the balance problem with their roster by shipping out two bigs in exchange for a combo-guard and a swingman. In Carroll, they also get that third string PG that they desperately need (even though, admittedly, he's more of a natural two). Morrison and Carroll would provide the Nets with one of their biggest needs - firepower off the bench.

Why Charlotte does it
They also manage to solve a glaring roster problem - by adding two guys that can help a desperately weak front-court division. Najera provides added defense and toughness at the three and four spots, while Swift provides a tremendous amount of athleticism - but more importantly - a $6.2m expiring contract.

Thoughts? What trades would appeal to you?

[rag-time4]

Do you think that Najera provides more defense and toughness than Swift?

Najera has a career blocks per game average of 0.4, while Swift has a 1.3 average. This trade would be a steal for Charlotte. Swift and Okafor could be a very effective duo in the frontcourt.

[Preludepunk27]

^^^^ How do you back up defensive toughness...with block stats only? Najera has made a career out of his hustle and work ethic, especially annoying the hell out of big men on defense. Based on your argument, Stro is flat out a better defensive player in his worst year than Twin ever was, even in his best year even though, arguably, Twin was one of the best man-to-man defensive front court players in the league when he was in his prime.

Also, Stro wouldn't take the starting spot from Diaw. I know you can make an argument that Diaw can play 15 different positions, but from most of the Bobcat games I've watched since the trade, he has BARELY played the SF. Gerald is not consistent enough from the outside to merit moving him to the 2 and sliding Diaw to the 3. Yes, Stro will probably get more playing time in Charlotte, but it's won't like rejuvenate his career.

Back to the question at hand. I wouldn't do this trade in a million years. To me, Ammo is completely worthless and always will be worthless. Only reason he looks somewhat like a NBA-worthy role player is because he's on the Bobcats. I live in NC, I see plenty of Bobcat games, I don't want Ammo in a Nets jersey at all. I don't even want him wearing a suit on our bench.

As far as Matt Carroll goes, I love the kid. He's nothing more than a role player that is lights out from outside when he gets hot, but I enjoy watching him. With that said, he is NOT a PG no matter how you cut it. Again, I like that kid, but he really doesn't help us in any place we need immediate help.

[rag-time4]

^^^^ How do you back up defensive toughness...with block stats only? Najera has made a career out of his hustle and work ethic, especially annoying the hell out of big men on defense. Based on your argument, Stro is flat out a better defensive player in his worst year than Twin ever was, even in his best year even though, arguably, Twin was one of the best man-to-man defensive front court players in the league when he was in his prime.

Also, Stro wouldn't take the starting spot from Diaw. I know you can make an argument that Diaw can play 15 different positions, but from most of the Bobcat games I've watched since the trade, he has BARELY played the SF. Gerald is not consistent enough from the outside to merit moving him to the 2 and sliding Diaw to the 3. Yes, Stro will probably get more playing time in Charlotte, but it's won't like rejuvenate his career.

Back to the question at hand. I wouldn't do this trade in a million years. To me, Ammo is completely worthless and always will be worthless. Only reason he looks somewhat like a NBA-worthy role player is because he's on the Bobcats. I live in NC, I see plenty of Bobcat games, I don't want Ammo in a Nets jersey at all. I don't even want him wearing a suit on our bench.

As far as Matt Carroll goes, I love the kid. He's nothing more than a role player that is lights out from outside when he gets hot, but I enjoy watching him. With that said, he is NOT a PG no matter how you cut it. Again, I like that kid, but he really doesn't help us in any place we need immediate help.

Najera has never been a good defensive player. Every team he's ever been on has sucked defensively and he's a big part of that.

This is contrasted with Stromile Swift, whose second unit with the Grizzlies was known for being better defensively than the first unit.

Here is a quote from Amare Stoudemire after a game against the Griz: "They came in and played hard defense," Stoudemire said. "Coach Brown wasn't happy with the defense of the first unit and the second unit came in behind them playing stronger defense."

Here's another quote mentioning Swift's group: He'll fit in with the hard-nosed style of the team's second unit but will also provide a needed scoring boost.

The 03/04 Grizzlies were first in the NBA in steals and second in blocks Only the NBA champion Detroit Pistons had more blocks that season.

Also, noticed how you disrespectfully said 'back to the question at hand' as though Swift isn't part of the discussion. The original poster suggested a trade for Swift and made some comments. How Swift fits in to the Bobcats picture is very much a part of the 'question at hand'

[Preludepunk27]

^^^^ How do you back up defensive toughness...with block stats only? Najera has made a career out of his hustle and work ethic, especially annoying the hell out of big men on defense. Based on your argument, Stro is flat out a better defensive player in his worst year than Twin ever was, even in his best year even though, arguably, Twin was one of the best man-to-man defensive front court players in the league when he was in his prime.

Also, Stro wouldn't take the starting spot from Diaw. I know you can make an argument that Diaw can play 15 different positions, but from most of the Bobcat games I've watched since the trade, he has BARELY played the SF. Gerald is not consistent enough from the outside to merit moving him to the 2 and sliding Diaw to the 3. Yes, Stro will probably get more playing time in Charlotte, but it's won't like rejuvenate his career.

Back to the question at hand. I wouldn't do this trade in a million years. To me, Ammo is completely worthless and always will be worthless. Only reason he looks somewhat like a NBA-worthy role player is because he's on the Bobcats. I live in NC, I see plenty of Bobcat games, I don't want Ammo in a Nets jersey at all. I don't even want him wearing a suit on our bench.

As far as Matt Carroll goes, I love the kid. He's nothing more than a role player that is lights out from outside when he gets hot, but I enjoy watching him. With that said, he is NOT a PG no matter how you cut it. Again, I like that kid, but he really doesn't help us in any place we need immediate help.

Najera has never been a good defensive player. Every team he's ever been on has sucked defensively and he's a big part of that.

This is contrasted with Stromile Swift, whose second unit with the Grizzlies was known for being better defensively than the first unit.

Here is a quote from Amare Stoudemire after a game against the Griz: "They came in and played hard defense," Stoudemire said. "Coach Brown wasn't happy with the defense of the first unit and the second unit came in behind them playing stronger defense."

Here's another quote mentioning Swift's group: He'll fit in with the hard-nosed style of the team's second unit but will also provide a needed scoring boost.

The 03/04 Grizzlies were first in the NBA in steals and second in blocks Only the NBA champion Detroit Pistons had more blocks that season.

Also, noticed how you disrespectfully said 'back to the question at hand' as though Swift isn't part of the discussion. The original poster suggested a trade for Swift and made some comments. How Swift fits in to the Bobcats picture is very much a part of the 'question at hand'

Haha have you heard of Eduardo Najera before we signed him? His defense is the ONLY thing he's known for. He's an unathletic, undersized 4 with no range outside of 12'. Their has to be ONE reason why he's been in the league for this long? It's his defense.

Way to just bring back stats from almost half a decade ago. I was just pointing out that in your original post this was your conclusion:

Ability to block shots means that you're clearly a better defender than someone who can't block shots.

The reason I said "back to the question at hand" was because I went off on a tangent to discuss a comment you said. Yes your comment did have something to do with a player in the 1st post, but I was talking about the generalization you made and using Stro/Twin as an example. I said "back to the question at hand" to address my thoughts on the trade that was posted and my thoughts on why I didn't want the players coming in. There was no disrespect in that half of my post whatsoever.

You just get way too emotional as soon as someone mentions Stro in a post. I admit, I get that way when someone bashes Chad Pennington, but you take it to a whole new level, pulling out articles from 1957 and stuff. Just gotta relax man. We get it. You love Stro. I honestly don't think anyone on this board genuinely "hates" him, but you actually do more bad than good sometimes in helping his cause. I learned how to play it cool with Chad, play it cool with Stro dog.

[NetsForce]

Hi I'm Matt Carroll's contract:

2008-2009: $5,050,000
2009-2010: $4,700,000
2010-2011: $4,300,000
2011-2012: $3,900,000
2012-2013: $3,500,000

Want to be my friend?

[Preludepunk27]

Hi I'm Matt Carroll's contract:

2008-2009: $5,050,000
2009-2010: $4,700,000
2010-2011: $4,300,000
2011-2012: $3,900,000
2012-2013: $3,500,000

Want to be my friend?

Would you tell me you love me and buy me pretty things?

[G_MoNeY]

Hi I'm Matt Carroll's contract:

2008-2009: $5,050,000
2009-2010: $4,700,000
2010-2011: $4,300,000
2011-2012: $3,900,000
2012-2013: $3,500,000

Want to be my friend?

[G_MoNeY]

On a serious note, it's not "that" bad of a contract. It's front loaded, $4M a year for a pretty deadly shooter is really a bargain. I think he'd play good with our roster and VC/Harris creating shots for him.

[vincecarter4pres]

2 white guys for the price of one?! Sign me up!

[rag-time4]

Haha have you heard of Eduardo Najera before we signed him? His defense is the ONLY thing he's known for. He's an unathletic, undersized 4 with no range outside of 12'. Their has to be ONE reason why he's been in the league for this long? It's his defense.

Way to just bring back stats from almost half a decade ago. I was just pointing out that in your original post this was your conclusion:

Ability to block shots means that you're clearly a better defender than someone who can't block shots.

The reason I said "back to the question at hand" was because I went off on a tangent to discuss a comment you said. Yes your comment did have something to do with a player in the 1st post, but I was talking about the generalization you made and using Stro/Twin as an example. I said "back to the question at hand" to address my thoughts on the trade that was posted and my thoughts on why I didn't want the players coming in. There was no disrespect in that half of my post whatsoever.

You just get way too emotional as soon as someone mentions Stro in a post. I admit, I get that way when someone bashes Chad Pennington, but you take it to a whole new level, pulling out articles from 1957 and stuff. Just gotta relax man. We get it. You love Stro. I honestly don't think anyone on this board genuinely "hates" him, but you actually do more bad than good sometimes in helping his cause. I learned how to play it cool with Chad, play it cool with Stro dog.

Well, sorry if I got offended too easily, but I've been getting hounded about bringing up Stromile, and he is clearly a part of this thread from the first post. However, I disagree with you if you think that a discussion of the possible contributions to the Bobcats by Swift and Najera are not part of the question at hand. The OP said that the Bobcats could use Najera for his defense and toughness, but the only contribution he listed for Swift was athleticism and an expiring contract. I very much disagree with that view. If there is a player who is going to improve the Bobcats defense, it's Swift, not Najera.

I don't think Najera is a very good defensive player, nor has he ever been. He contributes some steals, which he can pick up mostly by stripping opposing big men of the ball (like Brian Cardinal) but those tend to be rare. Swift provides a consistent defensive shot blocking presence. Watching him play over his career, I have seen that when Swift is in the game, opposing teams often attack in completely different ways.

for example, with Steve Nash and his Suns or even back in his Mav days... Nash likes to dribble into the paint and pull up for little jumpers against many teams. Against Swift, he doesn't do that, he instead keeps the ball and dribbles through the paint, because of Swift's defensive presence. That presence isn't even reflected in stats, so Swift's true contributions aren't even measured statistically. But Najera's 0.4 blocks per game average compared to Swift.s 1.3 is quite telling. Swift often doesn't even get tested defensively as opponents attempt shots elsewhere. Najera gets tested more because he's a weaker defender and he produces less.

Sorry I had to bring up old stats with Swift, but sometimes that happens when you're discussing a veteran player, which is something you couldn't do if you were discussing, say, Anderson, Yi, or Lopez of the Nets. Coach Frank has said this season that 03/04 was Swift's best year, and it was the last season he had where he actually got along reasonably well with his coach and accepted his role.

Which is the real reason Najera has survived. He's a yes man - a coaches player. He's willing to accept a limited role, shut up, and collect his paycheck. Stromile, on the other hand, wants the opportunity to develop into a great all around player (he has said that he respected Chris Webber's ability to be a well-rounded big man). I don't think that Swift will ever be happy being placed in a dummy role. He's got a much wider skill set than Eduardo Najera or Josh Boone so why should he have to accept the same role?

[deviljets7]

How much of Najera's 2010/11 salary is guaranteed?

Nothing against Carroll, but personally I have a hard time endorsing a trade that jeopardizes max cap room in 2010 for a backup SG.

[NetsForce]

Supposedly each of the last 2 years only $500,000 of Najera's contract is guaranteed.