[ESPN] Boykins/Julius Hodge to Bucks for Steve Blake

How lucky is Denver? Not only were they going to have to dump that first-rounder from Dallas by June anyway for the tax, but they turned it into AI.

 

Boykins will light it up for the Bucks.

The dude is doing so damn good, even though he's so damn short and pretty damn old.

Hate to see him get traded even though he was performing better than Iverson on some nights.

 

In another post i said bad trade, but after reading the espn article i say its a good trade especially for Boykins. Hopefully the bucks will make the playoffs.

 

Hard to believe anyone swapping a point guard for Earl Boykins will get an upgrade in the defense department, but that's what they just did.

It'll take more than that, though. Milwaukee's last in the NBA at def eff.

 

Hodge could be a decent player, but he was going to get no time behind Melo.....maybe he will get some run in Milwaukee.

DD

 

No question Boykins was the best player in the deal. Denver did it for luxury tax reasons, not BB reasons, Boykins has been hleping to keep them afloat.

I'd do the TE and/or Novak for Boykins in a second. Too bad Williams is out in Milwalkee and they need Boykins contributions, but maybe they would be enough exited about Novak to do it.

 

Ugh...I think the Nuggets will regret this move.

AI & Boykins were playing very well together. Boykins has been averaging over 20ppg since the trade. Steve Blake is one of the few point guards in this league that is worse than Rafer. This was a team on the verge of contending for the title, and instead they're basically throwing that away to save money.

 

they only did it for salary purposes

 

Two reasons Boykins' ass is gone -- luxury tax and chemistry. He was going to see his minutes cut big time now that JR is back. AI is going to get his 40+ minutes a game. JR is going to get 30. Diawara is our best defender, so he's going to get around 20 a game. That left very little time for the midget. He would have complained. Hell, he b****ed when things were going well. We only had place on our team for one midget guard who would hog the ball, and AI fills that position. As for Blake, I'm not as down on him as you are Kelly. I'm not worried about the 10 minutes he'll be out there standing around.

Not sure about that. I held out hope for Hodge, but he never really got it together. He doesn't have much of a shot, isn't a great ballhandler, and is only a marginal defender. I wish him nothing but the best, but he'll probably be out of the league soon.

 

You are right and I stand corrected. Blake has totally tanked this year. I checked his stats out and all I can say is YOUCH! After last season with the Blazers, I thought he might be developing into a decent backup PG. I don't follow the Bucks at all since TJ left, so I had no idea the bottom had fallen out.

So the Nuggets wanted to dump Boykins. Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

I just worry about the other end, where he's not allowed to stand around.

He's given up over a 22 PER so far this year, compared to his own 7.

 

But Milwauke is just a terrible defensive team, in general. Denver is 10th in defensive efficiency, despite having played Boykins significant minutes. I think Denver, for whatever reason (maybe it's having Camby and Nene down low, maybe it has to do with their fact pace), might be more tolerant to having a defensive liability on the perimeter.

 

Honestly, after Boykins, even if he keeps that up it's not like it's going to be any different. Boykins was quickly becoming unpopular in the locker room with his teammates. He would slack on defense so they had to help and then he wouldn't pass them the ball on offense.

I know I'm in the minority, but this is addition by subtraction.

 

what?! at 5'5 you simply CAN'T afford to slack on defense. unbelievable.

anyhow, what's the update with my boy Nene? why is he so round these days?

 

Obviously Blake isn't as good as he played tonight: 13 points (on just 8 shots), 4 rebs, 6 ast and 0 TOs.

Still, this indicates he is better than what he showed with the Bucks so far this season. He may fit right in as a solid backup PG for 10-20 minutes/game.

 

From the same website as Tony Allen's injury clip... Steve 'the dunker' Blake.

Link!

 

Per A-3P0:

"Blake is better than you think and Denver has wanted to dump Boykins all year. Patience with him was just about gone. I guess his recent scoring surge actually made him attractive to the Bucks. This is a very good move by the Nuggets.

I wouldn't give up a pack of chewing gum for Boykins or Hodge. If anything, Denver won this trade IMO."

Your post was prophetic. Blake looked really good in the game with Rockets. He brought the ball down the floor lightning fast. He looked good- Denver did good in this trade I think.



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that was a really, really good deal for the nuggets. the main purpose of this trade was obviously to avoid the luxury tax, but there is a lot more to this trade that makes it great for the nuggets.

as nuggets4 said, boykins would not have gotten that much playing time. chemistry wise they made the right decision. steve blake on the other hand is not the worst player in the nba. actually he's pretty solid. he's a low turnover guy, a floor general and he can make the outside shot. he's actually a better shooter than boykins. his defense is not very good but still better than the midget's. combine this with the fact that denver really needed a pass first point guard and you have a great trade.

i was thinking wtf!? yesterday after i read the comments, especially by kelly, in this thread.

boykins on the other hand will also do good in milwaukee. he's the type of player they right now needed and so it's a good trade for the bucks. but for denver this was a great trade.

 

I think Kelly is being a little harsh on Blake, but it's obvious that the Bucks got the better end of the deal talent wise. The important thing to know is that this move makes the Nugs better as a TEAM. Some of the stuff we're hearing about player reactions to Boykins being traded is really eye-opening.

There's no way Blake will play as well as he did last night ever again, but if he's just half that good I'm thrilled with the deal. Plus, we did get a $2.9 million exemption to use. The odds of us using it are small, but it's nice to have that club in our bag if we need it.

 

When AI and JR Smith were the backcourt last night, Denver looked like a typical "bad" AI team. All AI, and all others stabding around on offense, watching. AI was very good in the first half, but that kind of AI dominance of the ball will kill a teams ability to play team offense, and will lead to who cares defense. All players need to be involved.
When Steve Blake was the point in the second half, Ai was the two, and JR Smith was on the bench. The Denver offense started to sing. AI was still great, but Blake was bringing it up the court and had the chance to get the others involved. I think this has a future for the Nuggets, assuming Blake can play D and continue to hit a decent % from the outside.