I am as excited about EG as anyone; however, it seem like we should have given up two players for him and not two. So far, Jefferson is on a pace to prove that only one other player should have been added. Attached below is a credible recap of the summer activity. It's rarely a time when stars are made or broken, but we did learn a few things in the last three weeks during the NBA summer leagues. First, those international kids of mystery are groovy, baby. While only one of them made Insider's All-Summer Team, players like Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Jiri Welsch, Nene Hilario and Mehmet Okur all showed that they belong. Most of the international players are worn out from a long international season, which slows them down a bit. It was the first look for many at Tskitishivili, who showed that he has NBA range (he went 7-15 from beyond the arc) on his jumper and terrific athleticism. Welsch struggled at time running the team, but showed a nice mid-range game and lots of toughness. Okur looked to be the most polished of the group and should be able to come in right away and have a major impact on the Pistons. Hilario was the biggest project, but you could definitely see glimpses of his raw potential. He'll be a beast on the boards. Second, there are going to be some interesting position battles in camp this fall. Perhaps the most intriguing will be Jamal Crawford versus Jay Williams. Crawford started in the summer league and played really well. However, Jerry Krause didn't draft Williams to sit him on the bench. While at times, the Bulls can slide Crawford to the two spot, that's not why they drafted him. Several GM's swore that Krause played Crawford so much in an attempt to showcase him for a trade. The Hawks will have a similar backcourt jam. Dion Glover won MVP at Shaw's, DerMarr Johnson was getting major minutes at the end of last season, it's tough to sit Jason Terry, and Dan Dickau proved that he has the leadership skills (his team was undefeated in Boston) the Hawks are looking for at point guard. Richard Jefferson's emergence as the best player at Shaw's should really put some heat on Kerry Kittles in the Nets' camp. The strong play of Amare Stoudemire and Alton Ford for the Suns will put some heat on Bo Outlaw and Tom Gugliotta. And Casey Jacobsen and Joe Johnson look like they're in a dead heat to keep Penny Hardaway stranded on the bench in Phoenix. Finally, we have seen the future of refereeing in the NBA and it's simply more frightening than a David Stern-Jerry Krause nude mud wrestling match. It's evil baby. The general opinion among GM's was that the officiating was simply awful. The games were marred with a plethora of calls that made the Kings-Lakers series look legit. It was ugly, folks. Ugly. FIRST TEAM Zach Randolph, F, Blazers Stats: 18.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg on 49 percent shooting Skinny: Randolph was a summer star last year and followed it up with another big performance at the Rocky Mountain Revue. He's perhaps the most gifted offensively of any of the big men playing in the summer leagues. He's also great on the boards. While the Blazers worry about his weight, it will be tough not to dole out a few minutes to Randolph this year. He's starting to get impatient. Drew Gooden, F, Grizzlies Stats: 15.7 ppg, 9 rpg on 43 percent shooting Skinny: Gooden was the most polished rookie on the floor in L.A. and Salt Lake. He looked comfortable at both the three and the four, was relentless on the boards and most importantly, he was consist -- a rare attribute in rookies these days. He also averaged 22.6 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies at the L.A. Summer Pro League. Richard Jefferson, F, Nets Stats: 22 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 6.5 apg on 50 percent shooting Skinny: He was the best player at the Shaw Summer Pro League. His athleticism, court savvy and improving outside shot were all on display. The Nets are considering moving Jefferson to the two guard position, but it was his ball handling and ability to play point forward (the Nets didn't have a strong point guard on their team) that impressed NBA execs. Said one GM, "He's the total package. He's going to be a star." Dion Glover, G, Hawks Stats: 17.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.5 apg on 48 percent shooting Skinny: Glover had an advantage over most players at Shaw's. He's had two full years of experience in the NBA and it showed. Glover was named the MVP at Shaw's while leading the Hawks to a perfect 6-0 record. Glover clearly outplayed teammate DerMarr Johnson, which should lead to an interesting camp battle this fall. Johnson has the size and the pedigree, but it's Glover who keeps producing. Dajuan Wagner, G, Cavs Stats: 20 ppg, 2.3 apg on 50 percent shooting Skinny: Let the Allen Iverson comparisons begin. Wagner had a couple of huge scoring games (35 pts and 28 points) that have quickly made the Cavs believers. While his aggressiveness waned when he played point guard, the Cavs were impressed with his outside shooting touch and shot selection. How good was his play, exactly? The Cavs and Clippers restarted Andre Miller trade talks Friday (see below). SECOND TEAM Carlos Boozer, F, Cavs Stats: 17.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg on 49 percent shooting Skinny: The Cavs are starting to wonder if they got the steal of the second round in Boozer. Teams questioned on draft day whether he'd be able to make the transition from college center to NBA power forward. While nothing is definitive, Boozer showed nice range on his jumper and did a great job attacking the boards. Given the Cavs' woes on the front line, he should see a few minutes this year. Amare Stoudemire, F, Suns Stats: 14.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg on 49 percent shooting Skinny: He was the surprise and, to many, the star of the summer. Stoudemire was supposed to be not quite ready for prime time. While you can still see that he has a long way to come, his talent and ability to impact the game had several GMs, including Jerry West, proclaiming that he could ultimately become the star of this year's draft. Eddie Griffin, F, Rockets Stats: 22 ppg, 10 rpg Skinny: Griffin's inside-outside game is lethal. His rebounding and shot blocking skills are highly developed and he continues to show surprising range from beyond the arc. Do the Rockets even care if Mo Taylor comes back? Jason Richardson, G, Warriors Stats: 21.2 ppg on 54 percent shooting Skinny: Richardson is another star in the making. What the Warriors were really impressed with this summer was his improved shooting from the perimeter. DeShawn Stevenson, G, Jazz Stats: 17.2 ppg, 3.2 apg on 44 percent shooting Skinny: Consider this Stevenson's coming out party. After two years of hit and misses (mostly misses), Stevenson showed great poise for the Jazz. His outside jumper is coming along but it was his smart decision making and defense that will earn him a sport in Jerry Sloan's regular rotation. HONORABLE MENTION DeSagana Diop, C, Cavs Eddy Curry, C, Bulls Marcus Haislip, F, Bucks Kedrick Brown, F, Celtics Mehmet Okur, F, Pistons Jerome Moiso, F, Hornets Qyntel Woods, F, Blazers Steven Jackson, G, Spurs Joe Forte, G, Celtics Jay Williams, G, Bulls Gilbert Arenas, G, Warriors
I trust you mean 2 players instead of 3. But you have to remember those were mid to low first round picks, which means a guaranteed contract on your cap and out of your wallet for a guy like Jason Collins or Brandon Armstrong, one or both of whom may be out of the league sooner rather than later. I am not familiar with the rockets cap situation but I don't think adding another guaranteed contract last summer would have helped too much.
It is quite possible that EG is the best of that draft but Jefferson would not be that far back. The thing is though that was a very strong draft and we could probably have had the #22 or whatever the last pick we had was. I know it is all spilt milk but I am just recognizing the magnitude of what we gave up.
I don't think Clutch likes people posting from the insider part of ESPN anymore since this site was mentioned in that ESPN article. The last article that posted an article from ESPN insider was locked.
I did not know that Clutch was locking such threads. The info and not the source was what I thought was critical and only reproduced certain sections.
We gave up Richard Jefferson, a journeyman center, and an NBDL guard for a defensive monster with a blossoming offensive game - we could've thrown in another mid-first round pick, and still would've come out ahead in that deal.
Jefferson = role player or maybe good starter eventually Collins + Armstrong = lucky if they turn out to be good role players. Griff = 20 yr old future star pf. we won, game over. I'd do that trade 10 times out of 10 and never have a complaint about it.
My predictions for the future (Armstrong and Collins may not even be in the NBA for long). Jefferson=Bryon Russell Collins=Jeff Foster Armstrong=Jacque Vaughn Rasheed < Griffin < Duncan I say we won, BIG TIME!
I agree with mav3434. It was probably BETTER to trade all three first rounders for Griffin than to just trade two and to have an extra contract taking up valuable cap space. I mean, look at our contract situation right now. We have more than enough players under contract. Besides, if the Rockets had kept the #23 pick, they probably just would have used it on Morris. Instead, we traded what will undoubtedly be a lower pick for Morris, and we only had to pay him a second-round, minimum salary. DearRock, you can think of it like this: the Rockets traded Jefferson and Collins (both players I loved before the draft, btw) to the Nets for Griffin and taking on the contract of the #23 pick. Bottom line: the trade helped both teams.
The Hawks will have a similar backcourt jam. Dion Glover won MVP at Shaw's, DerMarr Johnson was getting major minutes at the end of last season, it's tough to sit Jason Terry, and Dan Dickau proved that he has the leadership skills (his team was undefeated in Boston) the Hawks are looking for at point guard. Man, great work for an "Insider." 1. The Hawks wanted a backup point guard, not a starter...Dickau will rarely, if ever, play when Terry is on the floor. 2. Glover was a starter a great deal when healthy last year...big surprise that he will probably be the starting two. 3. If Johnson ever gets some aggressiveness and lives up to his potential, he can fill the three spot...until then he backs up Glover. It is silly to put Gooden above Griffin, unless you are just going with amount of games played. Why did they not mention Griff's blocks or high FG%? Hmm... In answer to the original question - the trade was worth it. Griff is just a kid and is already better than Jefferson. Collins will always be a decent backup, but that is it. Armstrong means nothing, unless he drinks some kind of magic potion, or something. We didn't need that last pick, anyway. Besides, Rudy probably would have picked T Mo with it, anyway...meaning that second rounder would have gone to somebody who would not have made the team.
