Gasol does look to become a good player, but here are Rahim's numbers his first season-18.7ppg, 7rpg, 2.2apg, and 1 bpg. Gasol-17.6, 9, 2.7, 2 Gasol has better numbers, but are they that much better than Rahim's? Also consider that The Grizz had a 15 point, 9 rebound center in Big Country that season.
Ouch, sorry man. I *think* I only have a bone chip and Hill's problems have both been related to bone spurs and not ligaments, so in that respect I feel a bit easier about it all....but personally for myself, I want to walk already! Now I know what it must feel like for some of these injured players who want to get back out there - and a new respect for everyone else who has gone through a similar injury.
Great thread idea! The Grant Hill - Ben Wallace has got to be the best in terms of turning around the the initial perception. Here's another one: In 1996 the Lakers were trying clear up cap space to get Shaq as a free agent, which meant that Vlade Divac could be had for a song. Charlotte landed him for the rights to their pick #13 in the draft. Well, the rest is history... In the future, I think the Brand for Chandler trade will reverse, although Brand will be a solid player. Here's one from baseball: Randy Johnson for Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guilen and John halama. This might have not reversed itself if the Astros were not so stupid not to offer randy a 5 year deal. They though he didn't have many years left. Well, he is 5-0 in the fourth year of his current deal, and the in the first three he had 3 Cy Youngs and a World Series title. I guess if he does nothing from now on he was still worth his money.
Sure Runnin This trade was a complete steal for the Grizz, adding to this that this trade WASNT only SAR for Pau, Atlanta involved Lorenzen Wright (the best rebounder in this team) and Brevin Knight( playing extremely well until their injury) USA hasnt seen the real Pau yet, he has a great long-range shot, Next year,with more confidence, he will show that.
Maybe Doc Rivers read the thread CHARLOTTE -- There is no way to spin it or splice it or 'splain it. Doc Rivers doesn't even try. "It was a bad move," the Magic coach admits. "Horrible move." Well, that just about covers it. The Magic, in the midst of their playoff series against the hulking, bulking Charlotte Hornets, are lacking a couple of integral ingredients -- defense and rebounding. In two words, they lack Ben Wallace, the leading rebounder in the NBA who earlier this week was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Yes, that Ben Wallace -- the same one the Magic allowed to leave for Detroit two years ago in a Grant Hill deal that is looking worse and worse with every battered body and bludgeoned shot Big Ben leaves strewn in his wake. In fact, the joke up in Detroit is that if the Pistons win their first-round matchup with the Raptors, Wallace will have won one more playoff series in Motown than did Hill. Cold, but true. And so now it's time to play one of my favorite games: Kick the GM While He's Down. Here's how it works: I, being the smart-alecky sports columnist, get to look back with perfect 20-20 hindsight and publicly flog Magic GM John Gabriel for letting Wallace go. And here's the best part of all: Gabriel, being the GM, knows the rules and even abides by them. He knows that one minute he can be the NBA's Executive of the Year and the next he's taking more punches than Jerry Quarry. "It's part of sports," Gabriel says. "It's the nature of this job to be second-guessed. But I challenge you to find anybody back then who said getting Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady wasn't worth anything we had on our roster. It was a no-brainer back then, but now it isn't." As Rivers likes to say, "It is what it is." And what it is now is a monumental miscalculation on the part of the Magic. They had a choice back then of keeping Ben Wallace or Bo Outlaw, and they chose Outlaw. To make it look even worse, Outlaw has since been traded and the Magic are bereft of rebounders. "Bo played for us for two years at the minimum salary," Gabriel says. "Were we to be disloyal to him?" Loyalty-scmoyalty. Everybody knows loyalty wouldn't have even been a factor if the Magic had any idea what they were giving up. Let's be honest: The Magic didn't think Wallace was worth the $6 million a year Detroit offered him. They didn't think Wallace would transform himself from journeyman forward to one of the most dominant inside forces in the league. Did you see Wallace in the series opener against Toronto Sunday night? He made the Raptors look more like a bunch of legless lizards. Twenty points, 19 rebounds, three blocked shots. What was it Doc McCoy used to say to Captain Kirk? "My God, Jim, it's a freak of nature!" Wallace became only the fourth player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and blocked shots, and the other three (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Bill Walton) are all-time greats. In fairness to the Magic, they aren't the only ones who missed on Wallace. He was undrafted, which means the whole league missed on him. And then Washington practically gave him away to Orlando in a trade for lightly regarded Ike Austin. And then the Magic let him walk away, too. That concludes our little game. Don't kick John Gabriel too hard on your way out
Just read the end of that back again...Washington gave up Big Ben for IKE AUSTIN!!!!!! That makes Chris ebber, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace all up for Rod Strickland, Mitch Richmond and Ike Austin
Eh, not too many people in Orlando - the Magic organization included - care for Mike Bianchi, the writer of that article. Of course, after last night's win, he hopped on the bandwagon - but that's all he is. The rest of the time, he's bashing the team. Orlando felt loyalty to Bo Outlaw and payed him his due. They assumed Ben Wallace would be willing to wait for the updated cap figures and to get his payday (not quite as much as Detroit offered), while Detroit was proactive in having him come in for a visit while the Magic wooed Hill, McGrady, and Duncan. The cap figures were delayed, Wallace became enamored with Joe Dumars and company, and despite last ditched attempts to keep him in Orlando, Wallace wanted to go to Detroit - thus, to make it work easier for all parties, a sign and trade deal was consumated. Kudos to Joe Dumars - he's a smart one up there, and Carlisle is a darn good coach. But I still maintain the Magic will have the better end of the deal come next season. As David Aldridge reported today, the Magic seriously considered putting Hill on the playoff roster - they were that confident in him being 100% healthy. But, not expecting to make the run and wait until next year, they left him off. He'll be back....and 9reb a game from him isn't half bad, even compared to Wallace.
Mavs acquired Nash and Finley in separate trades. They traded Kidd (plus spare sparts Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer) for Cassell, Finley and AC Green in December of 1996. They got Nash in a trade 18 months later for Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells, the rights to Pat Garrity and a future first round pick that the Suns used to select Shawn Marion.
Re : Washington - Wes Unseld and Abe Pollin racked up perhaps the worst performance of a gm/owner team over the nineties. They gave away a young Gugliotta, Webber, Rasheed Wallace, & Ben Wallace, signed Juwon Howard to the huge, pre-max contract that defines "overpaid" ("saving" him from that Miami threat), signed Mitch Richmond and Rod Strickland to huge extensions after their wheels fell off, failed to protest the ridiculous moniker "Wizards", had no semblance of coaching or player development, and saw many of their player develop bad habits and trouble in that cesspool of city. Good Luck Ted Leonsis and Mike. Good job so far. Rivals - Dallas Mavericks, LA Clippers. Bad owners seem more difficult to overcome than bad coaches, players or gms. The Mavs turned around with Perot and then Cuban. Can Elgin Baylor/Donald Sterling really be on the right track, after all these years? Experience tells me "NO", but geez, that's a nice group of talents they have.
What did the Lakers give up for the pick they used for James Worthy? I seem to remember that it wasn't much ...
I remember at some point Dallas started the same line-up that Phoenix had a year and a half ago, it was surreal: Nash, Finley, Ceballos, AC Green, and John HotRod Williams.
Ok,perhaps you all disagree,but i thought that Indiana landed a steal wit Miller,Mercer and Artest for Rose and Best.I really thought Chicago was stupid but it turned out in a good trade fo the Bulls.
