TRADE: Big Ben, Wally to Cleveland

by OaktownWarrior on Feb 21, 2008 2:29 PM PST Comment 21 comments

From ESPN:

NBA front-office sources say that Cleveland will come away with four new teammates for Lebron James, headlined by Ben Wallace from the Bulls and sharpshooter Wally Szczerbiak from the Sonics.

. . .

[S]ources say that the deal calls for the Cavaliers to receive Wallace, Szczerbiak, Seattle point guard Delonte West, Chicago's Joe Smith and a future second-round pick from the Bulls.

The Bulls . . . would get Cavaliers forward Drew Gooden and swingman Larry Hughes along with Cavs reserves Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.

The Sonics . . . come away with the expiring contracts of Cleveland's Ira Newble and Chicago's Adrian Griffin as well as Cavs veteran Donyell Marshall.

Think LeBron will be happy? From what I remember of last year, Cleveland was one of the best defensive teams in the playoffs. Big Ben could make them even stronger. Wally can be a lights-out shooter, given LeBron a reliable perimeter shooter. I wonder if he'll miss Donyell, Hughes or Gooden (representing his full quotient of Bay Area and former-Warrior players).

Sonics apparently come out sweet for salary cap reasons. Chicago? I dunno. They seem to be spiraling out of control, but maybe this will improve their locker room.

Look forward to hearing the GSOM take on it.

Poll

Think King James will be happy?

Yes! Cavs back in the Finals, baby!

13 votes

Maybe. Depends if Big Ben and Wally can contribute.

29 votes

Nah. No real talent involved here.

9 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!

0 recs | Comment 21 comments

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Comments

What about us?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

by Number22Drew on Feb 21, 2008 2:33 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

TrueHoop Anaylsis

Regarding Chicago::

The Bulls swap Ben Wallace's terrible contract for Larry Hughes's terrible -- but slightly smaller -- contract. (Both have two years left after this year.) Chicago saves something like $3 million this year. They also lose both their starting big men, and replaces them with Drew Gooden, which opens playing time for quality youngsters Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. Also, while many have their complaints about Gooden having defensive lapses and the like, he has always put up solid numbers, and just went to the NBA Finals. This move also removes their only real center, and I am not at all sure who on this team now guards Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Yao Ming, or Shaquille O'Neal. It also probably makes guys like Thabo Sefolosha a little nervous. He has been playing well, but Larry Hughes has to take time from someone. They also get a second round pick, and a free swing on Cedric Simmons.

by OaktownWarrior on Feb 21, 2008 2:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

[cont'd]

Regarding Seattle:

Seattle Wally Szczerbiak has a year and a half left on a deal that pays him $12 million this season. Adrian Griffin and Donyell Marshall make about seven over the same period, while Newble comes off the books this summer. So, this money-losing franchise gets to lose a little less, while acquiring cap space for fancy maneuvers down the road.

by OaktownWarrior on Feb 21, 2008 2:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

[cont'd]

Regarding Cleveland:

Cleveland In the strange world of NBA trades, apparently only one team out of these three seems was really motivated by the idea of importing better players than they currently have. Ben Wallace has been decent of late, and brings LeBron James a veteran teammate who has thrived in playoff wars. (And now the Suns are betting on the body of Shaquille O'Neal, it almost seems impertinent to question the age or vibrance of Wallace.) Joe Smith replaces some of what they lost by saying goodbye to Gooden. I'm not sure if you can play two offensively challenged big men -- Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace -- together at the same time, which to me means Smith will likely be on the floor whenever Ilgauskas is not. Wally Szczerbiak will be a better Donyell Marshall -- the shooter LeBron James passes to when everyone collapses on him in the lane. West is a useful guard on a team that needs guard help, and now the organization gets to move on from the Larry Hughes experiment.

by OaktownWarrior on Feb 21, 2008 2:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

so

does that mean zydrunas is going to play power forward?

by saintdee on Feb 21, 2008 2:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

nope

by djchuckdeez on Feb 21, 2008 2:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

asdf

just a bunch of teams exchanging a bunch of crap. drizzle is probably best player in the deal, maybe wally world if he regains his Minnesota form.

seattle comes out the winner with the cap space. oklahoma city just needs to hope presti uses it wisely.

by Nellieball on Feb 21, 2008 2:51 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Change for change sake

Don't see why Cleveland did this as they just got similar players to the ones they sent out. Delonte West comes at a good time with Gibson twisting his ankle. I really don't see Wallace fitting in. Maybe play him at PF to do all the dirty work while Ziggy concentrates on offense.
I really see Seattle and Chicago winning on this one though. Chicago gets rid of Wallace and his contract and Seattle gets more cap relief.

by tangel29 on Feb 21, 2008 3:14 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hughes is gone

that's all that matters for cleveland fans. Check out the funny website
www.heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com

This is why Cleveland needed to dump Hughes (Who has come on the last couple of weeks...looking for a new locale, perhaps?)

!!Spree for three!!

by peteb24 on Feb 21, 2008 4:11 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Good trade for the Cavs

This trade's all about getting shooters on the floor with Lebron, and Big Ben improves what they already do well: defense and rebounding.

Wally instantly becomes their second best 3-pt. shooter, and West's ability to play a little point while covering the opposing SG means Gibson, the team's best shooter, can cover the opposing PG. West can also stretch the defense a little himself.

This trade also gives Cleveland 3 pretty good centers. My guess is they won't hesitate to play Ben with Varaejo or Z. What it obviously fails to give Cleveland, is a reliable ball-handler that can make plays and reduce the weight on their stars shoulders.

by BingBluNT on Feb 21, 2008 4:29 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Ben Wallace...

...is nothing but a joke at this point. We all saw him yuking it up on national TV the first game they played us. Grinning and laughing as the Bulls collapsed.

by Zack Vank on Feb 21, 2008 4:42 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

mannnn

joe smith is a good forward man, we coulda used him hes pretty athletic and dudes semi solid

west is good too i think cleve came out on top here for sure, traded over but much younger players with a lot more potential, larry hughes and drew gooden gota go, chi sounds like memphis in this deal

by sing sing supernote on Feb 21, 2008 5:09 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

good trade

I think this is really going to help the Cavs out big time:

PG Daniel Gibson / Delonte West
SG Wally Szczerbiak / Devin Brown
SF Lebron James / Sasha Pavlovic
PF Joe Smith / Anderson Varejao
C Ilgauskas / Ben Wallace

This is a really complete/deep team. They basically traded all the garbage players that hurt the team away (Hughes, Simmons, Marshall, etc) and added some nice pieces.

The offense is still going to run through Lebron ala Point-Forward. What they've done is surrounded him with solid shooters: Gibson and Szczerbiak are serious perimeter threats, Joe Smith and Ilgauskas have dependable midrange jumpers as well.

They have shooters, they have rebounders, they have veteran experience, they have defense, and they have Mr. LeBron James. Granted they're going to be in luxury tax hell for awhile, but when you have a talent like LeBron James it's worth it.

I'd rank them up there with Boston and Detroit now as the Elite of the East, for sure.

I applaud Cavaliers' management for pulling off such a complex deal and coming out way ahead.

by jlagace on Feb 21, 2008 6:03 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I don't like this trade at all

The only upgrade Cleveland got was Joe Smith over Drew Gooden. Wallace should back up Z to help Z stay healthy. Szczerbiak is a more accurate shooter than hughes but doesn't add much else, if anything he's a step back defensively.

I mean, this the King's team, everyone else just needs to stay out of the way and not screw up too bad. The best thing for cleveland out of this trade is they save a few mil by dumping Hughes' abominable contract. They need boobie back too, hopefully he will get better soon. We all need a little boobie in our lives. I think Cleveland will be the Eastern team in the finals, but people are waaaay too excited about this trade. It's still LeBron and everybody else.

My girlfriend hates that I'm into basketball again, and that I yell at the TV during games.

by sfwarriorcvg on Feb 21, 2008 10:11 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

really?

They now have Delonte West as backup point guard and Ben Wallace as backup center (or starter possibly). These two guys could easily be starting on many teams in the NBA, and they play the two hardest positions in the NBA to fill: PG and C. Let me ask you.. who did they have as backup PG and backup C before the trade? Nobody. Now they have starter-quality depth. And they got it from trading garbage away. If you get something for nothing, that's pretty good in my book.

Oh yeah, and in this offense, Szczerbiak >>> Larry Hughes. Hughes was forced to taken open jumpshots, which is not his game, and he failed miserably at it. So they brought in an absolute lights-out jumpershooter in Szczerbiak to fill that role.

by jlagace on Feb 21, 2008 10:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

^yea

completely agree, you got it covered

wally is someone whos not the best but hes had flashes where he can make you pay, whereas if the opponent got hughes to pull up and take the jumper it was generally a successful defensive play

joe smith was a steal over gooden as far as im concerened but thats just me - a lot more fit and might fit that fastbreak lebron wants to run a little better

im just not sure about wallace though, and if hes going to be satisfied in his role enough to bring it and to do what he can/could do on the defensive end - dudes a bit of a diva,, and it always seemed like clevelands unit before this (while not so productive) was atleast pretty tight with each other

all they really lost was what? some swing/rotation at the positions? everyone they got now seems to play just thier role and position to a prototypical extent except lebron really

i think gibson is gonna benefit too from wests arrival, new kid takes some assist pressure of the kid

by sing sing supernote on Feb 22, 2008 12:00 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Gotta...

...disagree on Wallace. If not for his albatross contract, I don't think he'd still be viewed as starting material.

I'm also not confident at all with Szcerbiak at SG... I don't trust his handles.

by Zack Vank on Feb 22, 2008 3:13 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

partially agree

except they got rid of an equally bad contract (Larry Hughes at $13mil/yr) to get Ben Wallace. Financially, it's sideways at best. But Ben Wallace is going to bring alot more to the Cavaliers than Larry Hughes did, that's for sure. They didn't have a legit backup center before, but they did have plenty of crappy swingmen to unload.

And Szcerbiak won't even need to handle the ball that much, all he's going to have to do is catch-and-shoot open jumpers off of Lebron's drive-and-kicks. Gibson, West, and Lebron can handle the ball handling duties.

by jlagace on Feb 22, 2008 3:35 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess...

...I hope it works out for them and they beat a few Western clubs. We're 33-21 and outside the playoffs. Every time I turn on the TV, six East teams are losing all at once.

I guess I get why Wallace is a better fit, though I'd defend Hughes as the better player. Hughes was just the absolute wrong player for them, but he's not without his merits.

by Zack Vank on Feb 22, 2008 3:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

yep

you got it right. very good trade for them. their 4 man rotation inside can handle ANYBODY east or west. delonte/gibson platoon aint great, but it aint bad. (its probably at least as good as fisher/farmar in LA) and that bench is super deep now. i like wally geting ridiculously open looks now with the king driving and kicking. their perimeter d might be a little shaky- a team that could actually use pietrus. but everything else looks solid. and perimeter d can be shaky when you have varajao and big ben protecting the rim.

passes it to the man...and boom goes the dynamite!

by sam23 on Feb 22, 2008 12:28 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Trade from Cleveland's point of view

I like the Cavs and I hope they do well in the playoffs. With the additions of Wallace, Szczerbiak, Smith and West, they look like a good team with good depth. Hughes isn't a bad player but he has a bad contract and didn't really fit in with the Cavs. I like Drew Gooden but Joe Smith is a solid player who can replace him. Szczerbiak is an excellent shooter - especially from 3-point land and that fills their needs. Szczerbiak isn't a good defender though, is a bad ball-handler, averages a steal less than Hughes per game and gets less rebounds and assists so that could hurt them.

Ben Wallace hasn't had a good year but is good for a 'back-up center'.
I don't know an awful amount about West and although I've heard he's a good player, I'm not sure if he's a true point-guard. Gibson is a good player but he's not really a true point-guard either so that may be a bit of a problem but on the whole I think the trade will work out well for them.
PG Daniel Gibson / Delonte West
SG Wally Szczerbiak / Devin Brown
SF Lebron James / Sasha Pavlovic
PF Joe Smith / Anderson Varejao
C Ilgauskas / Ben Wallace