Trade Time!

The ESPN Trade Machine is one of man's greatest inventions since the dawn of time. It can not be overstated. You simply go online, and right from your desk (couch, bed, toilet) you can become the smartest GM in the world, and turn your team from notties to hotties in a matter of minutes.

However, in the real world, trades generally have to be beneficial to both teams (excluding any Gasol to the Lakers trades, or anything else done by Chris Wallace) and those trades are harder to come up with.

Lish and I came up with the following trades over the past couple days that could/should happen during the 2010-11 season... and would if we were GMs.

Scenario #1: The Magic send Gortat and Pietrus to Houston for Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier. The Rockets get a real center (with Yao still out, they need to address this or they will continue to stall) that can protect the rim and a valuable bench guy. They could start Brooks, Martin, Budinger/Pietrus (or go small with Lee), Scola, and Gortat. The Magic get a serviceable backup center and one of the best glue guys in the league. This would allow them to play small again (which seemed to be their best trick when they made the finals) with Lewis at the 4 and Battier at the 3. Plus they are already a good defensive team with Howard roaming the paint and throw in Battier and they would be even better. Battier could guard Wade, James, Pierce, or Allen better than Pietrus and Gortat is way better than any center option the Rockets have.

Scenario #2: This trade will only happen after the Grizzlies have realized they aren't going anywhere again (maybe Jan. or Feb.) and they are way over the cap for a team that is struggling financially. To dump some salary they send Mayo, Thabeet, and Tony Allen to the Mavs for Caron Butler and Stevenson. This provides cap relief for the Grizz and gives the Mavs and darn good, young guard in Mayo. Sure they have to eat Thabeet's contract, but Cuban doesn't mind overpaying for bigs. This gives the Mavs a 2-guard that isn't a ball stopper who has some legit range.


Scenario #3: The Lakers are in danger of overusing Odom and Gasol due to the continued absence of Andrew Bynum. To get some relief and spell the oft-injured big man throughout the rest of the season, Los Angeles needs to flip Sasha Vujacic for former-Laker, current-Knick Ronny Turiaf and Bill Walker. Walker is more or less a throw-in to balance the trade under league rules, as both teams are over the cap. Vujacic ends up in the D'Antoni system, which would seemingly utilize his particular skill set more than the Triangle. The emergence of Shannon Brown makes Vujacic fairly expendable. In return, the Lakers get Turiaf, who knows the system, to give Gasol a rest until Bynum comes back, and then continues to let Bynum ease back into the game before the stretch run in April. The major players in the deal, Turiaf and Vujacic, are both on expiring contracts, so the long-term ramifications are minimal.

Scenario #4: What can Miami do to improve? Will it just take time for Wade and James to fine-tune their games together? Will Bosh ever perform at a level that would justify his ridiculous salary? Well... here at hoopaholics, we're impatient, so we need to make this team better NOW. Per league rules, this trade can't occur until December 15th, but that is mere days away, so in a few weeks, this would work. I don't think Wade and James can ever perform at their highest levels playing with each other. The experiment isn't going to work in the long run. One of them has to go. If Miami deals one, it should be Wade, who is 3 years older and has a lower ceiling than LBJ. I think this proposed deal would actually benefit all 3 teams, creating some fun playoff matchups in the future to boot.

Miami sends DWade to Chicago
Chicago sends Noah and Korver to Miami, and Deng to Denver
Denver sends Chris Andersen to Chicago, and Al Harrington to Miami

Confusing? Yes. Will it work? It should, and could with trade exceptions, draft picks, and cash.

Lineups could look like this:
Miami: Chalmers, Miller, James, Bosh, and Noah
Chicago: Rose, Wade, Brewer, Boozer, and Andersen
Denver: Billups, JR Smith, Anthony, Deng, and Nene

Denver has a replacement when it loses Anthony, Chicago has the best backcourt in the league, and Miami has the best frontline in the league, as Noah covers up all of Bosh's deficiencies.

Now would these teams do this? No. Of course not... but it is fun to dream.