Quick Thoughts on Tonight’s Trades

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Player News, Trades
Posted on: February 17th, 2010

So the Cavs acquire Antawn Jamison (aka Plan We’re Fk’d) after the Suns turned down their offer for Amare Stoudemire. In case you missed it, the Cavs traded for Jamison, sending Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his expiring contract to the Wizards. The Wizards also get Al Thornton from the Clippers in exchange for Drew Gooden (who will likely get bought out by the Clippers). Finally, Sebastian Telfair heads to the Cavs as part of the deal, officially making the Clips the rich ugly chick at the 2010 free agent party.

I reserve the right to change my mind on any of this after I get a chance to sleep on it, but my quick take on the trade.

• Fantasy-wise, my first instinct was to think the move was bad for Jamison. But as second banana, Jamison should be able to provide the team with a much needed scoring punch from someone other than LeBron (especially while Mo Williams is out). Who does this mean bad news for? J.J. Hickson, who won’t be seeing 25 minutes a game anymore this season. Anderson Varejao retains his value due to the fact that he can slide over to the backup center position.
• The trade opens up a starting gig for Thornton in Washington. He couldn’t do anything in 27 minutes a game this season with the Clippers, but the sheer amount of court time available to him probably makes him worth an add.
• This appears to be a lateral move for Ilgauskas, who was wanted in this trade for his contract more than anything else. Would guess he ends up backing up Andray Blatche for now.
• The Departure of Thornton is an all clear ahead sign for Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan, both of whom are in line to get big minutes as long as Gooden is waved. Add em if they are available.
• Don’t feel bad for poor Drew Gooden. He’ll likely either get traded somewhere else before the deadline, or get bought out and resign with the Mavs. Stay tuned…

And in other news, looks like the Bulls are getting close to shipping John Salmons to the Bucks for some undermined player. Seems like a great situation for Salmons, as they’ll turn to him to handle the scoring load that Michael Redd and his knees couldn’t.

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Tags: Al Thornton, Antawn Jamison, John Salmons