NBA Trade Talk: Chris Bosh, Andrew Bynum, Tracy McGrady and more!

Adam Sedie — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:09:05 +0000

We are now only weeks away from the NBA trade deadline. Rumors are circulating, and the buzzing trade chatter is heavily amassing.

Some teams will be mortgaging young talent in order to take on expiring contracts in hopes of clearing cap space for the free agency fiasco in 2010.

Other teams will be looking to capitalize, and claim talent while dumping salaries. Other teams, realizing that their season is all but lost, will break up rosters that have not been able to achieve what management had originally envisioned.

Here are the teams with the most to lose/gain from the fiasco.

Portland Trail Blazers

Who can fill in for Oden/Pryzbilla for Portland? (Credit:picapp.com)

The Trail Blazers obviously need help in the paint. They have had the fortune of Brandon Roy willing his team to wins, but it is unlikely he can carry them all year. Juwan Howard’s body, at age 37, will likely not be able to secure the center position for the rest of the year before wear and tear takes its toll. The saying “You can’t teach height” must be racing through Kevin Pritchard’s head as he diligently investigates potential acquisitions to help the Blazers in the middle.

The Blazers have a wealth of depth in the backcourt, and a plethora of athletic, defensive-minded young forwards. The issue is Joel Pryzbilla and Greg Oden have contracts running past next season, so the Blazers brass must consider the adverse effects of another long term contract vs. salary cap space.

Sacramento Kings

Will Martin mesh with Tyreke? (Credit: picapp.com)

Kevin Martin might return to the floor as early as Friday after missing the last 32 games after suffering a fractured left wrist. He has been practicing, and now coach Paul Westphal has a blessing of a dilemma in discovering if Martin and super rookie Tyreke Evans will be able to coexist in the backcourt.

There is zero chance Tyreke Evans is dealt anywhere. If there are any hiccups between the two stars having any negative impact upon team chemistry, look for Martin to be shipped out immediately. Look for Martin to be sought after by teams with inadequacies at the shooting guard position. Phoenix and Dallas immediately come to mind. Both teams are looking for a chance at contention this season, and would be willing to trade prospects and draft picks in order to land Martin’s scoring skills.

Toronto Raptors

I hear the weather is always nice in Los Angeles. (Credit:picapp.com)

Chris Bosh rumors are surfacing aplenty, with recent chatter mentioning Bosh heading to Los Angeles in exchange for Andrew Bynum. This deal would be a huge gamble for the Lakers, but Bosh puts L.A. over the top in the Western Conference.

It is hard to imagine Bosh signing elsewhere after winning an NBA Championship and tasting the Los Angeles lifestyle. He might even put his All Star promotional video production skills to use and land himself work during the off season.

Bynum would find himself in Toronto as a focal point of a rebuilding franchise with Hedo Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani, and Jose Calderon. Bosh is a weak interior defender, so adding Bynum would give the Raptors a long-term defensive solution. Bynum tends to disappear when Pau Gasol is playing, so in terms of his career thriving, this could be a dream come true.

Chicago Bulls

Does anyone want Hinrich? (Credit: picapp.com)

You would have to be living under a rock to not know the Bulls are trying to unload Kirk Hinrich. Everyone and anyone knows this, to the point of detriment to his trade value. Hinrich is a solid defender, outside shooter, and an all around decent NBA player. The problem is Hinrich has 2 years remaining on his contract after this season, worth $17 million.

Also not boding well on his value is the fact that he is shooting a career-low 37% from the field and 71% from the line this season. When your specialty is shooting, and you are not shooting well, it is hard to retain trade value. The Bulls have indicated that everyone on the roster except Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to be available, as long as Hinrich’s name is included potential deals.

Houston Rockets

Iggy could do this for the Rockets, instead of against them. (Credit: picapp.com)

The Tracy McGrady saga is difficult as he has the largest contract in the league ($23,239,561). This is the ultimate situation for teams looking to dump contracts and create salary cap space for the free agency fiasco of July 2010.

The teams falling into this category are: the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Chicago Bulls. Of these teams, Philadelphia has the best package to offer Houston in terms of immediate roster help.

Philadelphia could package Andre Iguodala with Samuel Dalembert in exchange for McGrady. This is the most logical deal for the Rockets who are without Yao Ming for the season (if not longer) and in need of a center who can rebound and block shots.

Iguodala is an immediate impact player for the Rockets. This deal could put the Rockets into contention this season. The Rockets can assign Ariza, Battier, or Iggy on any teams top offensive threat. Adding Iggy to the offensive attack of Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry will make life hell for opponents during the 4^th quarter.

The Philadelphia Youthful “Brand” of Basketball

Adam Sedie — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:06:44 +0000

The Philadelphia 76ers leave many questions prior to the start of 2009-10.

First off, their moves in free agency are quite strange.

They let Andre Miller leave. Which is rather crazy enough. But then…..

They sign Jason Kapono. Sure he has a ring, but also had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal back then. Sure he can hit 3s. But can he do anything else?

The 76ers expect Jrue Holiday, Royal Ivey, and Lou Williams to run the back-court? Oops, um sorry, I meant scuttle the back-court.

That is stretching it thin. At least Ivey can defend well. When you have no experience at the point, your overall chances are diminished substantially.

Elton Brand has only played 37 games over the last two years. This is a huge variable for the 76ers. If I were Brand, based on Philly’s moves, I would be saying either “Ouch, my Achilles” or “Please trade me now.”

They were unable to rid themselves of Samuel Dalembert. Although there have been several trade rumors since last season, this is my favorite .

Chances are, they won’t be able to move him because of his inconsistent play. Also, he is not so high on the basketball IQ food chain. Ultimately, if he stays, he should end up losing loads of minutes to Philadelphia’s younger big men.

Thaddeus Young is the real deal. He’s a young and talented defender with some serious offensive upside. His future looks real bright. He has an inside-out game. He is left handed which is always a plus in the world of sports.

Young killed it last year at the age of 20, dropping in 15.3 points while shooting 49.5%. He also had 5 rebounds a game. Look for these numbers to climb next season.

Marreese Speights is a young big on the 76ers roster. In 16 minutes a game he dropped in 7.7 points while shooting 50% with 3.7 rebounds a game. He is faraway the smarter center with the ball than Dalembert and he has NCAA Championship experience.

Speights’ numbers will increase with more time. Make that with Dalemberts’ time.

We are looking at a potential 15 and 10 guy here all the way.

The main question is: How are Brand and Iguodala going to feel about the rebuilding process? These guys are solid when they have the rock, but who is going to set them up?

This is going to be a long year..... (Credit: picapp.com)

It would require impossibly massive years from the 76ers backcourt in addition to Speights in order to return to the playoffs.

We all know Williams has game, but he is not a pure point, and Holiday is not Derrick Rose.

The 76ers appear to have taken a couple of steps backwards this season. However, they could easily be on the right path after this year.

The prognosis: 76ers miss the playoffs, and will be in the lottery next draft.

The only good news involving “old” is that the 76ers are planning to bring back the old school jerseys.

Unfortunately, that is not enough to make a playoff run.