i jumped the gun when saying Wally sucks, but I stand by Ben Wallace not being any good anymore. and definitely not worth taking on that ridiculous contract.
maybe i'm in the minority, but i believe that the cavaliers definitely win in this trade. firstly, they didn't make their cap situation any worse because ben wallace's contract lasts until 2009-10 just as larry hughes contract does, and wally szczerbiak has only year left on his contract after this season. secondly, the experiment with larry hughes and lebron james failed - which is acceptable to say after 2.5 seasons. larry hughes doesn't have the shooting ability to take advantage of the open jump shots that lebron can manufacture. they can definitely replace his scoring with sczerbiak and west, and west can legitimately play a position which they have been struggling to fill the whole season. with gooden's departure, anderson varejao can now start, and even though he doesn't have the same skill set as gooden, he has excellent chemistry with lebron and doesn't represent a drop-off at the position. plus joe smith has a jump shot and can back-up varejao. just for those players, i think they definitely improved - and regarding ben wallace, he can serve to body up against power forwards and centers of the west - i don't expect this rejuvenation in his career at this point in his career, but the cavs improve regardless of whether he does or not. this trade works for chicago in my eyes as well - larry hughes may benefit from a change in environment, playing at shooting guard next to a solid point guard in kirk hinrich. they weren't freeing themselves of ben wallace without taking on another albatross contract, and maybe larry hughes will start scoring approaching the level he did in washington. plus they free themselves of ben wallace, which helps because he was complaining about playing time even though he was lousy on the court - now they can develop noah and tyrus thomas.
They took on the contract, because Hughes has a similar crappy contract, and doesn't help the team as much as Wallace will. I am a Cleveland Browns fan, and am friends with a bunch of Cavs fans, and they are ecstatic, because next year they will have over 33 million in expiring contracts. Basically, they got rid of an albatross in the Hughes contract, and have put themselves in a position to be serious players either at the next trade deadline or the following off season. Very good trade for the Cavs.
So Cleveland got an undersized C who can only defend some and rebound but has a rediculously oversized contract? Well, at least this fills a need since they don't have a center. Oh wait, they've got that Zydrunas Ilgauskas guy. Hmmm. I guess they're either going to try to have Ben at the 4 (HA!) or have the world's most expensive backup center.
big gay ben = headcase. LBJ is such a league role model, its annoying those 2 are put together now L.hughes shouldn't be in the nba - he's the epitomy of the fake all glamour player wally is married to a hot chick....that's all i can say =D
cleveland has as much a chance of winning a ring as they did last year. zero. this is a nice little paper move for lebron but they have absolutely no chance at winning this year and with ben wallace on the books it probably won't look great for a number of years. lebron is a fantastic talent but he may have to get on another team to be a champion. we'll see.
The Cavs improved themselves but a healthy Celtics team will still beat them 4-1 in the playoffs. Wally will get more open looks than he's ever gotten. While LeBron creates, you park Wally in one corner, let Gibson roam the perimeter and they can close out some tight games.
To me Big Ben isn't the major part of the trade--at least in terms of improving the Cavs. The Cavs added Wally, West and Smith. These are all good offensive players. Now the Cavs took on a big financial commitment, yes, but they are much more formidable in their rotation. Added major shooting and another interior defender/rebounder--albeit one who costs a ton.
Z, Ben, LeBron to me . .. is not better Z, Gooden , lebron Maybe marginally Defensively but offensively . .. i don't think so Wally? He was a disappointment for me I think they will miss D. Marshall too Rocket River
I don't think Marshall got much run for them anymore. I haven't watched too much of the Bulls this year, but when I was fantasy stat tracking, Ben Wallace was very inconsistent this year...mostly bad. What's their lineup now? Starters: Z Varejao LeBron Pavlovic Boobie Bench: Ben Joe Smith Wally Delonte Damon Jones That's not a bad team.
Wow. Great trade for the Cavs! This may be the greatest NBA playoffs of all time. Celtics, Suns, Lakers, Pistons, Cavs, Spurs, Mavs...
I don't see why everyone is overlooking Delonte West in this deal. He'll fill Hughes's role without a problem, except that he's more of an actual point guard, and he's a better shooter. I think Joe Smith will help them as well. Everyone is harping on Ben Wallace, but I view him as a throw-in to help salaries match. He could help a little, but with Smith, Varejeo, and Z, it is not all-important for him to contribute. I really like the deal for the Cavs. Before, Lebron was creating everything for guys who couldn't shoot. Now he's got shooters, and a pg to help him run the offense.
I think Wally starts over Pavloic (sucking this year)--getting them much better initial scoring/shooting. Ben, Smith, West and Pavolic make a good balanced bench too. Daman Jones will get nothing but scraps, I wouldn't mention him as part of the rotation--again I think they improved their 9 man rotation both defensively and offensively. Donyell was indeed toast. Losing Gooden hurts some, but Joe Smith is mostly the same player just for more limited minutes--and with AV, Z, Ben sharing the 4/5 minutes they only need Smith to provide 20 minutes.
Seattle have 15 players on their roster and then traded 2 players for 3. Are the Sonics required to waive a player on their existing roster or can they waive an incoming player?
If Cleveland thinks that Wally and Ben Wallace make them better over Hughes and Gooden, they are kidding themselves. If anything, they took on a bad contract in Ben Wallace and makes it even harder for them to get talents via FA.
Joe Smith essentially replaces what Gooden was giving them. As mentioned before, cap situation with Wallace versus Hughes proves a wash. Adding Delonte and especially Wally to spread the floor will help Lebron a lot. I for one will have to agree with Charles Barkley and say this was a pretty good trade for the Cavs.
This elevates the cavs into elite status. Getting wallace to make up for the softness of z, the shooting of wally and west along with the veteran joe smith. This puts them in a great spot. Wallace will get them extra shots and possessions.
Ben Wallace was, for the Bulls, a detriment to the team's defense. Not a "great" defender, not a "good" one, not just overrated, and not breaking even. He hurt the team defensively. Hurt it. Wally can shoot, but you want him chasing shooting guards? He can barely stay in front of smalll forwards, and barely get his shot off against SFs. It sucks terribly that LBJ is dealing with the same thing KG and AI had to deal with in their primes. Ben thinks he can still chase guys out to the perimeter and get back to the paint in time to either help rebound, or change shots. He can't. And it didn't matter anyway, because even slower centers were driving past him as he overplayed. Brad Miller, Eddy Curry, Sam Dalembert and others have had some of their best games of the season against Wallace.
Howdy, K-Dwy On balance I believe Cavs did very well today, Sonics met their goals (sic), but the Bulls? It seems to me they took yet another step back to Kraussland. On da Bulls - there has been some discussion about Hinrich' value. Your take, please...thanks...x...
