EG and Cat, according to Insider 'Trade Winds'

Who's still on the trading block?
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Wednesday, October 22

Now that the shock of the Antoine Walker-Raef LaFrentz deal has worn off, inquiring minds want to know -- will more big deals happen before the start of the regular season?

Several NBA GMs told Insider on Tuesday that there has been a lot of talk the past week about potential moves.

"I just think it's natural," one GM said. "Once you get to camp, you want to sit back for a few weeks and see what you've actually got. You watch the practices, analyze a few preseason games and you start to form opinions about what the team still lacks. Then you pick up the phone and see if you can't make something happen before the regular season gets underway."

"I don't think you'll see a flurry of trades, like at the trade deadline," he added. "But I know there are a few guys out there that are getting shopped pretty hard."

Now here's the fun part. Figuring out who those guys really are. GMs, for the most part, always claim that they never shop players. Ever. However, they usually have a laundry list of players who are being shopped to them.

Here's a look at a few players who could be on the move before the start of the regular season.



GriffinEddie Griffin and Cuttino Mobley, Rockets
New head coach Jeff Van Gundy is trying to lay down the law in Houston. Griffin's decision to go AWOL on the team lowers his trade value significantly, but moving him now would send a strong message to the rest of the team. If the Rockets could package him with Mobley for an upgrade at the four, it may be worthwhile. Van Gundy has gone on record as saying that he wants to surround Yao Ming and Steve Francis with role players willing to play their part. It's still unclear whether Griffin and Mobley will ever buy into that.

Tony Battie and Eric Williams, Celtics
With Raef LaFrentz in the fold and Vin Baker looking decent, the Celtics have a decision to make. They could try to move Battie and get some extra cap relief in return. Or, Danny Ainge could try to hit a home run and package Battie with Williams (whose contract comes off the books next summer) and get another solid player in return. It all depends on what the Celtics philosophy is going to be. If it's just to cut costs, then moving Battie and Williams for someone like Tom Gugliotta or Toni Kukoc would give them an additional $10 million in cap room over the next two years. If they want to win, then prying away young players like Mo Peterson and Michael Bradley from Toronto could be a real possibility.



ThomasKurt Thomas, Charlie Ward and Travis Knight, Knicks
Their names came up again as part of the Walker trade. Apparently, Scott Layden offered Thomas, Ward and Knight to the Celtics in return for Walker. Layden also offered this combination to the Mavs for LaFrentz and to the Warriors for Nick Van Exel. Clearly all three are still in play. Ward has a $2 million buyout on his $6 million contract this season. Knight is in the last year of his deal. The Knicks need to trim a roster spot or two, so expect Layden to keep working the phones to make something happen. With Dikembe Mutombo in the fold, apparently Thomas is now expendable.

Marcus Fizer and Donyell Marshall, Bulls
Fizer and Marshall appear to be the odd men out in Chicago with the emergence of Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Lonny Baxter and the signing of Scottie Pippen. GM John Paxson would love to move Eddie Robinson and his terrible contract, but right now there aren't any takers. However, Fizer and Marshall both have value. Fizer has logged several solid games for the Bulls this preseason and appears to be completely healthy. Marshall is a versatile veteran who knows how to score and rebound. The best part? Fizer's contract is up after this season and Marshall has just two years remaining on his.

Mo Peterson, Michael Bradley and Jerome Williams, Raptors
Peterson appears to be in coach Kevin O'Neill's doghouse. Williams is struggling to find minutes with the emergence of rookie Chris Bosh. Bradley figures to fight a losing battle there as well. Can the Raptors parlay a couple of them into a decent center to back up Antonio Davis? Peterson is in the last year of his deal, making him the most attractive. Bradley could also be a free agent next summer if no one picks up his $1.9 million option for next season. Williams is a much bigger problem. He still has five years, and $30 million remaining on his contract.

Toni Kukoc, Bucks
The Bucks have been discarding veterans at an alarming rate. They just paid Anthony Mason and Jason Caffey millions not to play for them this year. While the team loves Kukoc and what he brings, his expiring $9 million salary might fetch them a few more pieces to the puzzle.



BarryBrent Barry, Sonics
Barry has looked solid in the preseason, but he doesn't have any long-term future with the Sonics. He's in the last year of his deal and plenty of teams covet him. If they could package him with one of their overpaid centers (like say Calvin Booth or Vitaly Potapenko) and get a starting point guard or power forward in return, they'd have to seriously consider it.


Around the League

Raef LaFrentz may not play great defense. But Danny Ainge sure can. He went defensive on Tuesday against accusations that he didn't get enough for Antoine Walker in Monday's trade.
"I honestly cannot base how I do my job on how fans are going to react or how people in the media are going to react," Ainge told the Boston Herald. "I have to do the work and make the best decisions I can. If I worry about what people are going to say afterward, then I'll never get anything done."

"I kind of expected this reaction because I don't think that, first of all, the average fan and even the people around the league like ESPN.com and all the people that write that stuff have as much information as I do about this trade," Ainge said. "I'm not saying that I'm more of a basketball expert than they are, but I feel like I have a better grasp on the pulse of our team, our future, our chemistry, our personnel - everything - and how it all fits. So I kind of expected a negative reaction because Antoine's an All-Star."

Ainge appears to be basing much of his optimism on the acquisition of Jiri Welsch, who he's touting as a Peja Stojakovic-type of player. I've always been high on Welsch and think he has a chance to be a star -- though comparing him to Peja may be pushing it a bit.

Welsch is a combo guard who can play a little one, but is mostly a two. He's an excellent shooter (though he's still struggling to find his range on the NBA 3), good ball handler and a smart, fundamentally sound player.

If Welsch is ready within the next year to claim the starting two guard spot, and Raef LaFrentz puts up numbers similar to what he did in Denver (15 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.5 bpg on 46 percent shooting), we may be judging the deal too harshly.

One overlooked part of the equation? With Chris Mills likely out for the year, insurance will pick up 80 percent of his $6.6 million salary this season.

If that isn't enough to pacify the wary Celtics fan, Ainge evoked the names of Rick Pitino and Red Auerbach in his final defense.

"I don't have the same kind of clout that Rick Pitino had," Ainge said. "I'm not just coming in here doing anything I want. I have an experienced staff and coaching staff and owners that run the business side, and we discuss everything we're doing in great detail. And when it's unanimous, those are easy. I trust my instincts, but I communicate with a lot of people and I see if my instincts are right. And then it has to make sense with the plan you have in place. This was unanimous. This wasn't just me. We have checks and balances built into our organization. I talked with Red (Auerbach) about this deal about three or four days ago in detail. When I laid it out for him, Red was 100 percent for it. He thought it was a great trade."


Why aren't the Bulls willing to offer Jamal Crawford an extension? Crawford is averaging 17.1 ppg, 7.1 apg and 3.7 rpg in the preseason.


CrawfordEven with the progress, GM John Paxson prefers to wait on Crawford. It seems like it would be much cheaper to lock him up now. If the Bulls wait, and Crawford blows up this season, it could cost them a fortune to keep him when he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

Right now Crawford is playing so hard, in part, because he's got something on the line. The Bulls fear that if they pay him too soon, they won't be able to get the type of effort they need from him this season.

"Jamal has to be able to balance what we want with what he wants," coach Bill Cartwright told the Chicago Tribune on Monday. "We want him to be a penetrator, and he wants to be a shooter. For us, it's best that he penetrates. Then he creates for himself and others. When he does that, he is very formidable. When he settles [for a jump shot], he's not."

Crawford responded with nine assists and nine points in the Bulls victory over the Raptors on Tuesday. The effort pleased Cartwright.

"He did a great job of organizing us," Cartwright said. "This was a confidence-builder for our young guys because we were 1-8 in overtime last year in these types of games."

"I'm still learning how to balance scoring and getting guys involved," Crawford said. "I'll let my scoring take a back seat and just really concentrate on passing the ball. But it's very tough. It's something that will be an ongoing battle."


Three weeks into the preseason, Flip Saunders is already losing his patience. Injuries, not chemistry issues, are the problem of the moment in Minnesota.
Latrell Sprewell played his first game on Monday. Wally Szczerbiak is expected back tonight. Everyone's still waiting to get a look at Michael Olowokandi.



SzczerbiakThe frustration is boiling over. On Monday, Saunders took a shot at Szczerbiak for missing so much time on the court. "Wally's not in a situation where rest will make him better," Saunders told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "It's a nuisance injury. You basically end up playing with it. You have your good days and bad."

Saunders' frustration isn't with the actual injuries. It's Wally's reluctance to play through "nuisance" pain, a source in Minnesota told Insider on Tuesday.

"Flip wants Wally to toughen up," the source told Insider. "That's all there is to it. Wally has the tendency to nurse things too long. Sometimes you have to suck it up and play."

Looks like things are off to a beautiful start in Minny.


LeBron James is back playing the point in Cleveland. Originally, coach Paul Silas said he'd throw James in the deep end and start him at point guard. After watching him struggle a bit in the preseason he decided to take some pressure off James and moved Darius Miles into the position.
However, James' stellar play at the point against the Lakers appears to have changed Silas' mind again.

"I'm rethinking things a little bit, just a little bit," Silas told the Akron Beacon Journal. "I knew that as this thing unfolds and he got more aggressive that this was going to happen."

"I put the ball in his hands against the Lakers, and he looked much more fluid," Silas said. "He was not ready for that early on."

"After six preseason games, maybe he's ready to take the next step."

That's what I'd call serious progress.

 

Um, have you been watching Dallas' moves? All trades with Utah? Milwaukee?

Deals are made for either personnel or cap reasons, so teams are dealing for different purposes.

 

If you buy Ford's logic and remember Lewis for EG, then --

BBarry/James

for

EG/Mooch

works for all.