More Trade Talk

Two more big trades went down in the NBA in the past few days.

First, the Atlanta Hawks made a big move by picking up Mike Bibby from the Sacramento Kings for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright, Shelden Williams, and a 2nd Round draft pick.

For the Hawks, they finally get their point guard after not picking Chris Paul a few years back. Anthony Johnson was actually supposed to do the job for them, but he’s washed up.

In addition to getting Bibby, they didn’t really give up anything, making it a win-win situation. Bibby and Joe Johnson form a very formidable backcourt and his addition should be enough to propel them to the playoffs in a very, very, very, very, very weak Eastern Conference this year.

For the Kings, they’re essentially giving up and starting over. They have actually played good ball this year when they’ve had their entire team healthy, but in a season where a 50 win team might miss the playoffs in the West, their 07-08 campaign is a wash.

Next, another panic trade went down. The Mavs finally got Jason Kidd (and Malik Allen), for Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn (kind of – he’s retired and will stay retired, he just has to “unretire” long enough for this deal to go through), Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, two 1st Round draft picks, and $3 million bucks.

What a bad trade. For starters, Devin Harris was supposed to be their point guard of the future. Instead, they get an aging Kidd who can’t shoot anymore for a few seasons. Their biggest problem was the lack of a clutch player, not a point guard.

If they wanted to replace Harris, they should’ve got Mike Bibby – a clutch point guard. Additionally, everyone in the West seems to be getting bigger (Gasol w/ LA, Shaq on Phoenix, Webber on Golden State) … Why on earth did they trade their best defensive big man? What sense does that make?

For the Nets, they get a young point guard who can make a lot of plays. Maybe Diop will pick up for Jason Kidd’s rebounding. For as bad as people have made the Nets out to be, they’re still an Eastern Conference playoff team.

Going back to the Mavs and I guess everyone else in the West, I never expected every GM to react to the Pau Gasol-Lakers deal by panicking. This deal and the Shaq deal have panic written all over them. I wonder who will panic next. Maybe the Rockets will trade T-Mac to the Knicks for Zach Randolph and Jerome James or something stupid like that.

One player that could’ve actually used some of these guys, especially Mike Bibby, is LeBron James and the LeBronaliers, I mean Cavs. He has to be pissed that his team didn’t get Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby.

They could’ve arranged for Larry Hughes to be bought out by somebody and got a deal done. I hear Vince is available; maybe they can send Hughes to the Nets for Vince and call it a day. Say what you want about Vince, but I’m still a VC guy. For about the same amount of money, at least he’s better than Larry Hughes.