Trade-mania grips the NBA
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, December 16
Updated: December 16
10:43 AM ET
Is the NBA in for the biggest in-season trading frenzy ever? The trade deadline isn't until Feb. 19, but in the space of three weeks we've had three major deals go down, two coaches fired and a lot more talk about player movement than I can ever remember at this stage in the season.
Six teams already have pulled the trigger on trades, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Two weeks ago we talked about why that is -- parity, luxury-tax concerns and an unusual amount of rebuilding jobs in the works. Even teams that are winning (Boston, Memphis) don't seem hesitant to make something happen.
Now that Dec. 15 has passed, teams will be much freer to make trades than they were before. Before Monday, free agents and first-round draft picks who had signed last summer were ineligible to be traded. That's more than 100 players in total. With those restrictions now lifted, the silly season can officially begin.
Today Insider sifts through the group of players who just became eligible to be traded and highlights a few guys who may end up being thrown onto the trading block.
Juwan Howard, F, Magic
Juwan Howard
Forward
Orlando Magic
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
24 14.9 6.9 1.9 .432 .843
Contract: 6 years, $37 million
The Skinny: The Magic signed Howard because they believed he would be the piece of the puzzle that made them a contender. The team is 4-20 now and has no chance at contending for an Eastern Conference title. Howard didn't fit in the front court with Drew Gooden the way GM John Gabriel and then-coach Doc Rivers had hoped, and there's no sense in keeping him around.
If the Magic are going to shake things up, Howard is one of their most valuable assets in a trade. His contract is pretty reasonable, and several teams -- including the Pistons, Timberwolves and Bulls -- showed a lot of interest in him this summer. If the Magic can get a point guard or a big man back, they'd have to pull the trigger.
What about a package of Howard, Andrew DeClerq, Tyronn Lue and Steven Hunter for Brent Barry and Jerome James? The move addresses both of the Magic's needs without taking on any long-term deals. It also gives the Sonics a veteran power forward to help anchor their front line.
Mike Sweetney, F, Knicks
Contract: 3 years, $5.9 million
The Skinny: So much for the Knicks' youth movement. Sweetney is sitting on the injured list, along with the team's two second-round draft choices, Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes. With so many front-line players -- Antonio McDyess, Kurt Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Othella Harrington and Clarence Weatherspoon -- Sweetney won't see the light of day this year, or next if the Knicks re-sign McDyess. Scott Layden has been working the phones diligently, and he might be able to improve his chances of making a deal if he sweetens it with Sweetney -- one of the more-coveted low-post players in last summer's draft.
James Posey, F, Grizzlies
James Posey
Guard-Forward
Memphis Grizzlies
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
23 9.5 3.8 1.3 .443 .844
Contract: 4 years, $22.6 million
The Skinny: The Grizzlies just signed him, but with the trade for Bonzi Wells, Posey becomes expendable. There's no rush to trade him, as he's still the team's best perimeter defender, but if including Posey in a larger deal gives Jerry West the all-star or big man he has been coveting, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
This may be blasphemy to Kings' fans, but a package of Posey, Stromile Swift and Jake Tsakalidis for Vlade Divac makes some sense for both teams. With the way Brad Miller is playing, this may be the Kings' best chance to restock on some talent while Divac is still under contract. Divac's expiring contract may be of some concern to the Grizz, but West really wants to make the playoffs this season, and adding Divac to the mix would probably guarantee it.
Zoran Planinic, PG, Nets
Contract: 3 years, $3.1 million
The Skinny: Planinic was supposed to come in and play a major role on the Nets this year, and his performance in the summer league and the preseason seemed to confirm that. But since then, he has had a falling out with coach Byron Scott and has played just seven minutes since Nov. 22. Scott has complained about Planinic's work ethic, but one source close to the situation claims Scott just doesn't like the rookie's game. The Nets need help in a lot of places, and Planinic is coveted by a number of teams. He may turn into the sweetener that helps the Nets pull off a bigger deal.
Michael Olowokandi, C, Timberwolves
Contract: 3 years, $16 million
The Skinny: Injuries have stalled Olowokandi's season once again, but there's enough frustration in Minnesota already over the Kandiman that the T-Wolves might be looking to deal. GM Kevin McHale feels an enormous amount of pressure to win this season after making a number of offseason deals. Could a Howard-for-Olowokandi swap satisfy both teams' needs?
The T-Wolves pursued Howard hard this summer, and the Magic were on the verge of getting Olowokandi before the league denied them their medical exception for Grant Hill. Howard helps Minnesota immediately. Olowokandi may turn out to be a wash for the season, but given the Magic's current state, that's not a big deal. Kandi is still young enough that they can afford to wait on a legit big man. The other team to watch for here is the Grizzlies, who also made a nice offer for Olowokandi this summer.
Cavs, Celtics fallout
Ricky Davis
Guard-Forward
Boston Celtics
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
22 15.3 5.5 5.0 .431 .680
Three for Paul Silas: The Cavs traded away Silas' mortal enemy, Ricky Davis, on Monday and in exchange got three players cut out of the Silas mold. Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown are tough and defensive minded and won't make waves in Cleveland. While none of them can score at anywhere near the clip Davis could, that wasn't the point.
Silas wanted to change the losing culture in Cleveland before it infected LeBron James too much, and this trade accomplished just that. GM Jim Paxson is under heavy fire in the Cleveland media today for getting so little in return for Davis and Mihm, but given the current state of the team, he had little choice.
Had he seen the writing on the wall the way the rest of us did this summer, Paxson could've gotten much more for Davis. But at this point in the season, and given the Cavs' needs, he probably got the best deal out there. Insider talked to several GMs Monday night who had discussed a Davis trade with Paxson. All of them claimed they wouldn't have given up any more for Davis than Danny Ainge did.
This trade doesn't mean, however, that the Cavs are done dealing. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Darius Miles and Ira Newble (who's being showcased right now) are all available, according to several GMs who have had trade discussions with the Cavs. With Battie, Williams and Brown in place, Silas would prefer to go all the way and toughen up this roster even more. Paxson is more hesitant -- he doesn't want to strip-mine the team too much -- and likely will wait and see what type of impact Williams and Battie have. The team is also crossing its fingers that a healthy Dajuan Wagner will fill the scoring void left by Davis. In other words, don't expect Paxson to give away Ilgauskas and Miles the way he did with Davis.
Internal disagreements: The Celtics may have gotten the second scorer in Ricky Davis that lost when they traded Antoine Walker, but that doesn't mean that Jim O'Brien and his coaching staff were happy about it. O'Brien told Ainge not to pull the trigger on the deal, but Ainge, largely on the advice of brain-typing guru Jonathan Niednagel and some encouragement from T-Wolves GM Kevin McHale, made the trade anyway.
O'Brien loved Eric Williams, because he was a natural locker-room leader and a tough, defensive minded player on the floor. Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown were essentially expendable, but losing Williams stung.
At the press conference, O'Brien waffled when asked about the trade and deferred to Ainge, claiming he had told Ainge what he thought but that Ainge had final authority to make a trade. O'Brien did add this, however, for those of you who weren't getting the signal: "We're losing three guys, two veterans in Eric Williams and Tony Battie, and it's very painful."
Could this be yet another chapter in what appears to be a straining relationship between Ainge and O'Brien. After ripping the team apart once, O'Brien found a way to put together a squad that had a chance to win (albeit not to compete for a title). Tearing apart a team that was averaging more than 100 points a game during a five-game winning streak under the theory that they couldn't score enough had to chafe O'Brien. So does Ainge's statements that he doesn't expect his team to win in the short term.
When asked whether he made the trade because of Raef LaFrentz's season ending injury, Ainge countered by saying, "Absolutely not. That would mean that I'm looking at short-term results. And I'm not."
That just can't be music to a coaches ears.
Paul Pierce
Shooting Guard
Boston Celtics
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
25 23.9 7.6 5.7 .423 .852
Pierce on board: There are still lots of questions about how well Paul Pierce and Davis will mesh together, but you can ignore suggestions that Pierce was unhappy with the trade. Davis left his agent, Dan Fegan and hired Pierce's agent, Jeff Schwartz, about a month ago. According to NBA sources, Schwartz was instrumental in getting Davis out of Cleveland and onto the Celtics and cleared the trade with Pierce before pursuing it with Ainge.
Shared history: One thing the Cavs and Celtics have in common is that they're both in their predicaments because of terrible drafts and bad trades in the past. Hindsight is 20-20, but it can be pretty damn frightening when you look back at how many times these two teams screwed up in the past few years. Ironically, there's a link between the two that goes even deeper than that.
The Celtics woes started when they traded a future first-rounder to the Cavs for Vitaly Potapenko. That first-rounder turned out to be Andre Miller -- a guy you have to believe would've been the answer to all the Celtics point-guard woes over the years.
The Cavs got it right when they drafted Miller at No. 8 in 1999, but they screwed it up when they passed on Corey Maggette and Ron Artest to take Trajan Langdon at No. 11. In 2000, they passed on Desmond Mason, Quentin Richardson and Jamaal Magloire to take Chris Mihm. In 2001 they drafted DeSagana Diop ahead of Vladimir Radmanovic, Richard Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Gilbert Arenas and Tony Parker. The run of bad decisions continued when they traded Miller for Darius Miles so they could turn the point guard job over to 2002 lottery pick Dajuan Wagner. While Miller had an off year with the Clippers last year, there's no question that had the Cavs kept Miller and drafted either Amare Stoudemire or Nene Hilario instead of Wagner, they'd be a playoff team right now -- with or without LeBron.
The Celtics compounded their problems by royally screwing up the 2001 draft. They had three picks that year and drafted Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte -- none of whom are still with the team. The Celtics gave up on Johnson during his rookie season and traded him, along with another first-rounder, for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers, who also are no longer with the team. Brown has never been able to make the jump from JUCO to the pros, and Forte already is out of the league. Had the Celtics taken Radmanovic, Randolph, Jefferson, Troy Murphy, Arenas and/or Parker with their three picks, Ainge never would have had to blow up the roster in the first place.
Around the league
Kurt Thomas
Forward-Center
New York Knicks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
24 11.3 9.7 2.1 .432 .778
Here's a shocker: Kurt Thomas is on the trading block for seemingly the 100th time in the past few seasons. With Antonio McDyess securing the starting power forward job, Thomas has been sent to the bench, and he's not happy about it.
The Knicks have refused to discuss an extension with Thomas or his agent, Jerry Hicks, and Thomas is threatening to opt out of his contract at the end of the season and explore the free-agent market.
Considering that the Knicks are running out of time to trade Charlie Ward before his contract becomes fully guaranteed this season, the pressure is going to be on Layden to move the two before Jan. 15 (when Ward's contract locks in).
Given the Cavs' desire to add more toughness and cap flexibility, maybe this is Layden's chance to pry Ilgauskas and Miles from the Cavs in return for Ward, Thomas, Othella Harrington and a pick.
One more item that may be fueling the recent trading frenzy. The league has quietly let teams know there's a good chance there won't be a luxury tax after the 2004-05 season because of increased revenue and falling contract prices on free agents. Without the luxury tax looming, some GMs and owners might be emboldened to start opening their wallets again. Couple that with the fact there's some talk the NBPA may be willing to reduce the number of years a contract can be guaranteed if the league is willing to drop the tax altogether (something most GMs support, because of how difficult it is to calculate) and the fiscal handcuffs that have created a lot of trade gridlock over the past few season may finally be coming off.
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, December 16
Updated: December 16
10:43 AM ET
Is the NBA in for the biggest in-season trading frenzy ever? The trade deadline isn't until Feb. 19, but in the space of three weeks we've had three major deals go down, two coaches fired and a lot more talk about player movement than I can ever remember at this stage in the season.
Six teams already have pulled the trigger on trades, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Two weeks ago we talked about why that is -- parity, luxury-tax concerns and an unusual amount of rebuilding jobs in the works. Even teams that are winning (Boston, Memphis) don't seem hesitant to make something happen.
Now that Dec. 15 has passed, teams will be much freer to make trades than they were before. Before Monday, free agents and first-round draft picks who had signed last summer were ineligible to be traded. That's more than 100 players in total. With those restrictions now lifted, the silly season can officially begin.
Today Insider sifts through the group of players who just became eligible to be traded and highlights a few guys who may end up being thrown onto the trading block.
Juwan Howard, F, Magic
Juwan Howard
Forward
Orlando Magic
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
24 14.9 6.9 1.9 .432 .843
Contract: 6 years, $37 million
The Skinny: The Magic signed Howard because they believed he would be the piece of the puzzle that made them a contender. The team is 4-20 now and has no chance at contending for an Eastern Conference title. Howard didn't fit in the front court with Drew Gooden the way GM John Gabriel and then-coach Doc Rivers had hoped, and there's no sense in keeping him around.
If the Magic are going to shake things up, Howard is one of their most valuable assets in a trade. His contract is pretty reasonable, and several teams -- including the Pistons, Timberwolves and Bulls -- showed a lot of interest in him this summer. If the Magic can get a point guard or a big man back, they'd have to pull the trigger.
What about a package of Howard, Andrew DeClerq, Tyronn Lue and Steven Hunter for Brent Barry and Jerome James? The move addresses both of the Magic's needs without taking on any long-term deals. It also gives the Sonics a veteran power forward to help anchor their front line.
Mike Sweetney, F, Knicks
Contract: 3 years, $5.9 million
The Skinny: So much for the Knicks' youth movement. Sweetney is sitting on the injured list, along with the team's two second-round draft choices, Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes. With so many front-line players -- Antonio McDyess, Kurt Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Othella Harrington and Clarence Weatherspoon -- Sweetney won't see the light of day this year, or next if the Knicks re-sign McDyess. Scott Layden has been working the phones diligently, and he might be able to improve his chances of making a deal if he sweetens it with Sweetney -- one of the more-coveted low-post players in last summer's draft.
James Posey, F, Grizzlies
James Posey
Guard-Forward
Memphis Grizzlies
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
23 9.5 3.8 1.3 .443 .844
Contract: 4 years, $22.6 million
The Skinny: The Grizzlies just signed him, but with the trade for Bonzi Wells, Posey becomes expendable. There's no rush to trade him, as he's still the team's best perimeter defender, but if including Posey in a larger deal gives Jerry West the all-star or big man he has been coveting, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
This may be blasphemy to Kings' fans, but a package of Posey, Stromile Swift and Jake Tsakalidis for Vlade Divac makes some sense for both teams. With the way Brad Miller is playing, this may be the Kings' best chance to restock on some talent while Divac is still under contract. Divac's expiring contract may be of some concern to the Grizz, but West really wants to make the playoffs this season, and adding Divac to the mix would probably guarantee it.
Zoran Planinic, PG, Nets
Contract: 3 years, $3.1 million
The Skinny: Planinic was supposed to come in and play a major role on the Nets this year, and his performance in the summer league and the preseason seemed to confirm that. But since then, he has had a falling out with coach Byron Scott and has played just seven minutes since Nov. 22. Scott has complained about Planinic's work ethic, but one source close to the situation claims Scott just doesn't like the rookie's game. The Nets need help in a lot of places, and Planinic is coveted by a number of teams. He may turn into the sweetener that helps the Nets pull off a bigger deal.
Michael Olowokandi, C, Timberwolves
Contract: 3 years, $16 million
The Skinny: Injuries have stalled Olowokandi's season once again, but there's enough frustration in Minnesota already over the Kandiman that the T-Wolves might be looking to deal. GM Kevin McHale feels an enormous amount of pressure to win this season after making a number of offseason deals. Could a Howard-for-Olowokandi swap satisfy both teams' needs?
The T-Wolves pursued Howard hard this summer, and the Magic were on the verge of getting Olowokandi before the league denied them their medical exception for Grant Hill. Howard helps Minnesota immediately. Olowokandi may turn out to be a wash for the season, but given the Magic's current state, that's not a big deal. Kandi is still young enough that they can afford to wait on a legit big man. The other team to watch for here is the Grizzlies, who also made a nice offer for Olowokandi this summer.
Cavs, Celtics fallout
Ricky Davis
Guard-Forward
Boston Celtics
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
22 15.3 5.5 5.0 .431 .680
Three for Paul Silas: The Cavs traded away Silas' mortal enemy, Ricky Davis, on Monday and in exchange got three players cut out of the Silas mold. Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown are tough and defensive minded and won't make waves in Cleveland. While none of them can score at anywhere near the clip Davis could, that wasn't the point.
Silas wanted to change the losing culture in Cleveland before it infected LeBron James too much, and this trade accomplished just that. GM Jim Paxson is under heavy fire in the Cleveland media today for getting so little in return for Davis and Mihm, but given the current state of the team, he had little choice.
Had he seen the writing on the wall the way the rest of us did this summer, Paxson could've gotten much more for Davis. But at this point in the season, and given the Cavs' needs, he probably got the best deal out there. Insider talked to several GMs Monday night who had discussed a Davis trade with Paxson. All of them claimed they wouldn't have given up any more for Davis than Danny Ainge did.
This trade doesn't mean, however, that the Cavs are done dealing. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Darius Miles and Ira Newble (who's being showcased right now) are all available, according to several GMs who have had trade discussions with the Cavs. With Battie, Williams and Brown in place, Silas would prefer to go all the way and toughen up this roster even more. Paxson is more hesitant -- he doesn't want to strip-mine the team too much -- and likely will wait and see what type of impact Williams and Battie have. The team is also crossing its fingers that a healthy Dajuan Wagner will fill the scoring void left by Davis. In other words, don't expect Paxson to give away Ilgauskas and Miles the way he did with Davis.
Internal disagreements: The Celtics may have gotten the second scorer in Ricky Davis that lost when they traded Antoine Walker, but that doesn't mean that Jim O'Brien and his coaching staff were happy about it. O'Brien told Ainge not to pull the trigger on the deal, but Ainge, largely on the advice of brain-typing guru Jonathan Niednagel and some encouragement from T-Wolves GM Kevin McHale, made the trade anyway.
O'Brien loved Eric Williams, because he was a natural locker-room leader and a tough, defensive minded player on the floor. Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown were essentially expendable, but losing Williams stung.
At the press conference, O'Brien waffled when asked about the trade and deferred to Ainge, claiming he had told Ainge what he thought but that Ainge had final authority to make a trade. O'Brien did add this, however, for those of you who weren't getting the signal: "We're losing three guys, two veterans in Eric Williams and Tony Battie, and it's very painful."
Could this be yet another chapter in what appears to be a straining relationship between Ainge and O'Brien. After ripping the team apart once, O'Brien found a way to put together a squad that had a chance to win (albeit not to compete for a title). Tearing apart a team that was averaging more than 100 points a game during a five-game winning streak under the theory that they couldn't score enough had to chafe O'Brien. So does Ainge's statements that he doesn't expect his team to win in the short term.
When asked whether he made the trade because of Raef LaFrentz's season ending injury, Ainge countered by saying, "Absolutely not. That would mean that I'm looking at short-term results. And I'm not."
That just can't be music to a coaches ears.
Paul Pierce
Shooting Guard
Boston Celtics
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
25 23.9 7.6 5.7 .423 .852
Pierce on board: There are still lots of questions about how well Paul Pierce and Davis will mesh together, but you can ignore suggestions that Pierce was unhappy with the trade. Davis left his agent, Dan Fegan and hired Pierce's agent, Jeff Schwartz, about a month ago. According to NBA sources, Schwartz was instrumental in getting Davis out of Cleveland and onto the Celtics and cleared the trade with Pierce before pursuing it with Ainge.
Shared history: One thing the Cavs and Celtics have in common is that they're both in their predicaments because of terrible drafts and bad trades in the past. Hindsight is 20-20, but it can be pretty damn frightening when you look back at how many times these two teams screwed up in the past few years. Ironically, there's a link between the two that goes even deeper than that.
The Celtics woes started when they traded a future first-rounder to the Cavs for Vitaly Potapenko. That first-rounder turned out to be Andre Miller -- a guy you have to believe would've been the answer to all the Celtics point-guard woes over the years.
The Cavs got it right when they drafted Miller at No. 8 in 1999, but they screwed it up when they passed on Corey Maggette and Ron Artest to take Trajan Langdon at No. 11. In 2000, they passed on Desmond Mason, Quentin Richardson and Jamaal Magloire to take Chris Mihm. In 2001 they drafted DeSagana Diop ahead of Vladimir Radmanovic, Richard Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Gilbert Arenas and Tony Parker. The run of bad decisions continued when they traded Miller for Darius Miles so they could turn the point guard job over to 2002 lottery pick Dajuan Wagner. While Miller had an off year with the Clippers last year, there's no question that had the Cavs kept Miller and drafted either Amare Stoudemire or Nene Hilario instead of Wagner, they'd be a playoff team right now -- with or without LeBron.
The Celtics compounded their problems by royally screwing up the 2001 draft. They had three picks that year and drafted Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte -- none of whom are still with the team. The Celtics gave up on Johnson during his rookie season and traded him, along with another first-rounder, for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers, who also are no longer with the team. Brown has never been able to make the jump from JUCO to the pros, and Forte already is out of the league. Had the Celtics taken Radmanovic, Randolph, Jefferson, Troy Murphy, Arenas and/or Parker with their three picks, Ainge never would have had to blow up the roster in the first place.
Around the league
Kurt Thomas
Forward-Center
New York Knicks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
24 11.3 9.7 2.1 .432 .778
Here's a shocker: Kurt Thomas is on the trading block for seemingly the 100th time in the past few seasons. With Antonio McDyess securing the starting power forward job, Thomas has been sent to the bench, and he's not happy about it.
The Knicks have refused to discuss an extension with Thomas or his agent, Jerry Hicks, and Thomas is threatening to opt out of his contract at the end of the season and explore the free-agent market.
Considering that the Knicks are running out of time to trade Charlie Ward before his contract becomes fully guaranteed this season, the pressure is going to be on Layden to move the two before Jan. 15 (when Ward's contract locks in).
Given the Cavs' desire to add more toughness and cap flexibility, maybe this is Layden's chance to pry Ilgauskas and Miles from the Cavs in return for Ward, Thomas, Othella Harrington and a pick.
One more item that may be fueling the recent trading frenzy. The league has quietly let teams know there's a good chance there won't be a luxury tax after the 2004-05 season because of increased revenue and falling contract prices on free agents. Without the luxury tax looming, some GMs and owners might be emboldened to start opening their wallets again. Couple that with the fact there's some talk the NBPA may be willing to reduce the number of years a contract can be guaranteed if the league is willing to drop the tax altogether (something most GMs support, because of how difficult it is to calculate) and the fiscal handcuffs that have created a lot of trade gridlock over the past few season may finally be coming off.
