Thank the Lord! Praise Allah! Using every single second of the trade deadline, the Bulls finally made a roster shake-up. While it might not the the ground-breaking, Earth-shattering promise of a Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant or Zach Randolph, the Bulls changed things up a bit, injecting a much needed shake-up to their roster. The three team, twelve-piece (sounds like a meal from KFC) looks like this.
Seattle acquires: G Ira Newble (CLE), F Donyell Marshall (CLE), and F Adrian Griffin (CHI)
Cleveland acquires: C Ben Wallace (CHI), F Joe Smith (CHI), Chicago's second round pick in 2009, F Wally Szczerbiak (SEA), and G Delonte West (SEA)
Chicago acquires: F Drew Gooden (CLE), G Larry Hughes (CLE), F Cedric Simmons (CLE) and G Shannon Brown)
One really interesting thing to point out is that this trade works, even if only in very minute ways, for all involved parties. Seattle is obviously looking to shed cap numbers by acquiring expiring contracts. Right now, the team is stocking up on draft picks and really freeing up some space to make a splash in the draft and free agent market during the off-season. It may not look like a lot right now, but Seattle is bracing to build a team their team around Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox. It'll be interesting to see if they can land one of the big fish, either in the draft or free agency. Expect Seattle to have another top 5 pick.
The Bulls and Cavs were both in the same boat: needing to shake up their roster and add new elements to their teams. LeBron finally has an accurate shooter in Wally that he can rely on. With Daniel Gibson looking to be out for up to six weeks, this was a life-saver, seeing as to this point, LBJ has been carrying Cleveland on his back, even more so than usual. Joe Smith provides some scoring in the frontcourt outside of Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Smith has a solid jumper up to 18 feet, and will provide some solid veteran leadership that their team was obviously lacking last year in the Finals.
Ben Wallace is the biggest question mark for me. As a Bulls fan, I'm glad we got rid of him. His contract was massive, and he obviously wasn't happy in Chicago: it definitely showed in his play. Five points, nine rebounds and less than two blocks a game shows that. Apparently, Cleveland is wanting him to provide a spark off the bench for around 20 minutes a night. I just doing see that happening. Ben Wallace is a starter, but his lack of offense polish would make him useless at the four spot. With the emergence of Anderson Varajao, I just don't see Wallace starting over either him or Big Z. Either way, this gives the Cavs a fresh look. Wallace and Smith are going to provide some veteran leadership, and some toughness in their front court. Wally S. should finally give LeBron another shooter to look for, but with the injury to Daniel Gibson, he might need to make a larger contribution. Although, Delonte West could step in and fill his role. Not to mention, the second-round pick could be an asset in future deals.
The Bulls trade is ultimately filled with more questions, but was probably the most crucial out of the three teams. I honestly think the Cavs settled for a second-rate deal, because they ultimately wanted a point guard (Mike Bibby or Jason Kidd, anyone?) I just think they were scared at the high price that the Kings and Nets, respectively, were asking for their prized guards. However, looking at the trade they made with Seattle and Chicago, was the price they paid just as high?
Granted, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes both cause a few concerns. As a Bulls fan, I'm not to thrilled about Hughes' contract, especially when you look at his performance so far during his years in Cleveland. He's disappeared in the playoffs, and goes on streaks where he just flat-out doesn't play. The same can be said for Gooden, but not in the same severity. Gooden is a young power forward who has the occasional brain fart on both ends of the court.
Those gaffs aside, Hughes and Gooden can prove to be huge in Chicago. The acquisition all but seals that this is Ben Gordon's last season in Chicago. I'm expecting a sign-and-trade deal sometime in around the draft. Now the Bulls have a huge clog in their backcourt: Sefolosha, Hinrich, Gordon, Hughes, Duhon, and newcomer Shannon Brown will all be lobbying for playing time.
Both Gooden and Hughes bring new elements to the Windy City. Hughes FINALLY provides some size to the guard position (another reason why I think the undersized Ben Gordon will have a new home next year). He's a slasher who's going to have a lot more room to move around in Chicago's offense. Oh yeah, he's a much better defensive player, too. If he stays healthy, he could provide a nice scoring punch with Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich: all three should average above fifteen points per contest. Gooden is seven years younger than Ben Wallace. While he might not be as formidable on defense as Big Ben, Gooden is much more polish offensively, and can still pull down nine or ten boards a night.
What I love most about Wallace and Smith leaving is that this frees up a lot more playing time for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. They should each get at least twenty-five minutes a night. A new starting line-up of (I'm guessing) Hinrich, Hughes, Deng, Gooden and Noah is young and extremely exciting. Not to mention, their bench is as deep as ever, although they did take a small hit in front court depth. The energy off the bench from Gordon, Nocioni, Thomas and Sefolosha is crazy. Plus, the big thing: all these guys can score.
This obviously wasn't the blockbuster Chicago had in mind six months ago, but this may have been enough to salvage this season. Let's be honest: outside of Boston and Detroit, nobody is expected to make any noise in the East. This gives the Bulls a huge opportunity to have a solid second half and squeeze into one of the bottom three spots in the playoffs. I also think having these new faces in Chicago is enough to attract a big-time coach when the season is over (paging Jeff Van Gundy or Rick Carlisle). I'm praying to every holy figure imaginable that the Bulls aren't stupid enough to keep Boylan after his interim tag is up.
In the end, this is still too-little too-late. GM John Paxon was too hardheaded in keeping his glorious "core" of young players: Deng, Hinrich, Gordon and Nocioni, and in doing that, he let three or four potential deals fly right out the window. Deals that, looking back, came with relatively light price tags (especially Gasol's). Oh well, at least our young big guys can play, and Ben Wallace is gone.
