Hoops

NBA Trade deadline madness

Looks official today on NBA.com

Murphy to the Celtics, Extension given to Perkins for the Thunder; and Bibby to the Heat.

Big question for the Heat is whether to start or Bench Bibby. Chalmers appears to be filling the role required of him and is more offensively minded than Bibby is nowadays.

Good choice for Murphy to the Celtics; he'd gain much more court time with an aging Celtics team off the bench than behind Bosh on a youthful Heat squad.

Troy Murphy picks the Celtics over the Heat...

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=6170568

Bibby has agreed to a buyout with the Wizards and is now reportedly headed back to the Heat...

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6167769

From the article:

In a stunning move, Bibby, whom the Wizards acquired from Atlanta last week in a trade for Kirk Hinrich, gave up his entire salary for next season. The 32-year-old point guard had one year and $6.2 million left on his deal.

"He sacrificed some money in order to win a championship," said David Falk, Bibby's agent. "Once you're past 10, 11 years in the league, you want to be in a situation where you can win. He's got some attractive options open to him."

Bibby is eager to sign with a title-contending team after clearing waivers, and sources say the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers are interested in him.

As widely anticipated, Troy Murphy's contract has been bought out, paving the way for him to join a host of teams. The Celtics, Heat and even Trail Blazers are all apparently lining up for his services.

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6166159

Like Rocky Balboa, I was completely blind-sided by the Celtics moves at the deadline. They have been looking good so far, so I thought they would just stand pat and focus on winning a title this year.

Ainge certainly has some balls. If he stood pat and the team fell just short of the title, no-one would blame him for that. But now, if Danny's plan doesn't work out, he is gonna get lynched!

Its a tough one to call and I don't know how I feel about it yet. If the Celtics weren't in contention for a title this season, there's no doubt that this is a good trade. Perk could very well get an offer the Celtics can't match next season and in that sense, Danny has really maximised his trade value for the team by getting Green and Krstic.

Green is a talented player who should be able to spell both KG and Pierce and his size and athleticism will be useful to counter LBJ and Melo. Krstic is a solid big you can rely on.

There's also the cool fact that the Celtics now have back the two players they traded for Ray in the first place - West and Green!

But giving up Perk AND Erden when Shaq has been in and out and JO looks almost done? Very risky. There just has to be another move to come. As someone said above, Troy Murphy has to be a chance if he is indeed bought out.

All indications are that Sheed really is done, so I don't think he will ride into town to save the Celtics. If he has stayed fit, I would prefer him over Murphy though. Murph has been out of sorts since his injury and the trade, so who knows if he can play at the level the Celtics would need.

Przybilla is a guy who I'd like to see in Boston if he is bought out. Would be the perfect fit really. Not sure what the Bobcats plan to do with him yet though.

From an OKC point of view, they finally have their man. From what I have read, this is not the first time OKC have tried to trade for Perk. If they can be patient and wait for him to get back to full fitness next season, they finally have the toughness they needed under the basket. It also allows Ibaka to slide across to the PF slot, where I think they wanted him to play from day one. That is a scary defensive tandem, with Perk corraling guys and keeping them busy so Ibaka can come across and swat shots left and right.

The only real weakness I see with OKC now is their outside shooting. A Perk/ Ibaka frontcourt is not gonna stretch the D and their wings aren't great 3pt shooters (Durant is really good from mid-range but blows hot and cold from beyond the arc and Sefolosha and Harden are the same).

Wow, Perk is gone. Agree with TC, Boston where scared he was going (they offered him the max they could and he said no) so they said goodbye and aimed for the future. Green, Davis and Rondo is a pretty good base for the future but they need to worry about this year not the next 5 with the current roster. Having said that Ainge has earnt the right to make some risky bets the way he has transformed this ball club so here's hoping the luck of the irish stays with them!

Hustle, remember the Celtics have Shaq coming back too and they have Big Baby to rotate into the lineup if KG needs to play Centre for any period.

I'll say this so far, Portland and OKC just got awesome trades.

Wallace can play 2-4 for the Blazers if needed and is a great rotation to the 4 if Alridge has to play at the 5.

OKC just needed a decent centre and got that with Perkins; they might actually stand a chance against some of the big teams in the West this playoff series.

Wow! I'm surprised the C's traded away Perkins.

Something worth noting is that Portland is rumoured to be very active in trade talks with a number of teams and players being linked ot them. Interesting to see how it pans out and how that may impact on Patty.