Hoops

NBA Trade rumours?

Just while I'm thinking of the Hawks... No-one talks about them unless its to propose trades of Johnson.

I know they've had cheap ownership for years, but just suppose they made a run at Bosh now!

Provided they are willing to spend about $5-10 mill more next year than they did this year, they could trade Horford, Marv Williams and Evans for Bosh and then resign Johnson to a max contract in the off season (assuming they retain his Bird rights).

If Toronto does fear losing Bosh, they might think that is a pretty good compensation package. Horford is the tough guy they need to defend the middle and compensate for the finesse games of Bargnani and Turk. Williams is a nice bonus with some upside and Evan is just filler.

Meanwhile, imagine the Hawks? The only thing they lack is a post-up guy for the grind it out half court games. Bosh would be that guy. He'd also draw double teams and open things up for Johnson, Crawford and Bibby on the perimeter.

Even better for the Hawks, they still have Zaza, who can play the bigger centres while Bosh plays PF. Imagine Zaza carving out space in the middle with Josh Smith and Bosh cleaning up all the rebounds!!!

That would be an awesome team right there. Couple of good FA signings to round out the bench and the Hawks are loaded to compete for the title for 4-5 years!

It can't just be the rotations, because the Celtics used the same rotations on the Hawks, but Crawford was able to get free for a shot all the time.

I think theres a couple of factors in play. One is just speed. Crawford is quicker than Kobe and can therefore beat the rotation more often.

I'd have to watch both games again to be sure, but I reckon the other difference is the fact that Crawford shares a backcourt with Johnson, whereas Kobe only has Fisher. The Celtics often leave Fisher open to pressure Kobe and hope to run him off the shot if he gets it. Do that with Johnson and he'll be straight by you and to the basket for a foul at the very least!

It must be good to be a Hawks fan right now!

TR, I remember the rumours that the Celtics wanted AI very well, but I never heard that it was Jefferson for AI. I was mad enough that Ainge was considering AI, let alone if it was Big Al for him! Do remember where you heard that?

The Duncan for Bynum rumour is interesting, but I seriously doubt that would happen. No reason for Lakers to disrupt a contending team for an old rival past his prime. For the Spurs, it wouldn't look good sending the best player in the team's history to their arch rival, when the guy they're getting back isn't going to turn anything around.

There's been a LOT of trade ideas thrown around about Ray Allen recently and I think it likely that Ainge is seeing what he can get.

The Celtics are too far over the cap to sign a major new FA even with Ray's salary off the books, so the only way to get a quality player is to trade his contract.

In terms of pure talent, probably the best rumour with some credence is Ray for Monta Ellis plus say Maggette or, more likely, Vlad Rad and Morrow or Azubuike. Optimisits like to include Randolph but I don't think even GS are that crazy!

While a great deal talent-wise, a Monta and Rondo backcourt is not a great fit as neither shoots that well from range and both need the ball in their hands. In the end, could Ellis learn to play off the ball and become a good jump shooter?

I like the Bulls trade possibilities too. Any two of Hinrich, Salmons and Thomas would be very useful for the Celtics. This is even moreso now because of Pierce's injury. In the end, this will only happen if the Bulls feel they need to get further under the cap next year.

Kevin Martin has been mentioned as a trade option too, but although he is a good scorer, I just don't think he has the mobility to handle the quicker SG's that are giving the Celtics problems now (I'm talking about you Jamal Crawford).

Speaking of which, did anyone see the recent Lakers-Celtics game? Both Ray and Tony Allen defended Kobe exceptionally well. I think its interesting that they did a much better job on him than they do on guys like Crawford or Gordon!

So, who wants a Kobe stopper in the West for one season? :-)

I can't see the Bulls offloading too many players for Ray Allan, since depth is already one of their biggest issues, even after bringing in Devin Brown. They've been terrible with even 1 injury all year. I also think they are much more likely to try and dump Salmons for guaranteed expirings (say McGrady), potentially using TT and/or Jerome James to fill out numbers.

They only need to lose Salmons potential opt in and renounce Tyrus to have the cash for a FA if the cap ends up at the estimated 55-56 mill or so.

Also I believe their order would be James, Bosh, Wade, Johnson.
James is a no brainer, and Bosh fits better with Rose, who duplicates a lot of Wade's skill set, whilst neither is a great outside shooter and both need the ball a lot to be effective.

Hinrich and Thomas for Ray Ray is one I read earlier. Like the offensive pick up, but don't really want to lose our best defender on the ball.

TR, what are your thoughts on that one?

You suck at maths - it means there's a 75% chance of the Lakers accepting the deal if offered.