11/23/24
February 19, 2004
Rasheed Traded to Pistons: Rasheed Wallace was traded to the Detoit Pistons in a three-team deal today involving Atlanta, Boston, and Detroit, reports Chad Ford of ESPN.com. The news was broken during a live chat with Ford, so you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the story to get the details. Ford says a story is pending.
posted by lew to basketball at 01:12 PM - 28 comments
Boom! that is the last echo of the Hawks exploding their team. Now, if they could ditch Henderson and his salary they could truly start fresh.
posted by trox at 01:37 PM on February 19, 2004
Here's the ESPN story. Detroit is making a serious push with this deal. Too bad Joe D had to give up some first rounders though. Keeping Mehmet Okur should soothe that. Mike James is a nice pickup to replace Atkins as backup PG. Atlanta gets salary dump fodder, cash, a pick, and the green light to tank the rest of the season for the best odds at the #1 pick in the draft. Jesus wept. My question is who is going to run the point in Bean-town? I'm assuming it's going to be Atkins, unless Ainge pushes for his guy Marcus Banks. Here's a few other deals. Giricek for Stevenson looks like a wash, but I think Utah wins this one. Giricek is a better scorer. Stevenson is similar to Bogans, only he doesn't board as well. Clark & Handlogten for Gugliotta & picks also looks like a wash, but I think Utah got the better end of the deal here as well. Phoenix gets the Salary dump by renting Clark & Handlogten, but Utah gets Gugliotta's expiring salary & a first rounder? Nice. Shammond Williams for Sean Rooks. The Magic get size, and the Hornets get a back up scoring combo guard. Definite wash.
posted by lilnemo at 01:38 PM on February 19, 2004
Now, if they could ditch Henderson and his salary they could truly start fresh. Henderson's deal ends at the close of next season. I wouldn't be surprised if he got dealt before then to a team looking to dump salary. Kind of like Utah grabbing Gugliotta.
posted by lilnemo at 01:40 PM on February 19, 2004
is Atkins... uh... how to put this nicely... Ok. Well, is he a good player? What is Boston getting? I don't claim to know a lot about basketball, but Ainge has less than a fan fave around here lately and his trades haven't exactly drawn raves.
posted by jerseygirl at 01:42 PM on February 19, 2004
Sheed is a really good fit in Detroit. He may stay if they offer him big bank. They might win the championship this year.
posted by djacobs at 02:20 PM on February 19, 2004
unless Ainge pushes for his guy Marcus Banks I think that's the whole point for Ainge. It was one of the issues he and O'Brien clashed over. Pardon me while I rush out to get an authentic Chuckie Atkins Celtics jersey. Yippee! Speaking of jerseys, it's only a matter of time before Ainge simply cuts someone to leave the team short a man. Then he makes Jiri Welsch change numbers and boom! starting at 2 for your Boston Celtics and coaching, Danny Ainge.
posted by yerfatma at 02:31 PM on February 19, 2004
jg: Chucky's a journeyman. I always liked him and he could flare up like Kurt Thomas and post a good year. I think Hunter and the draft pick is the real quality for your team there. However, witness today's NYT: The only question regarding Rasheed Wallace's future with the Knicks is when he will join the team, not if he will, according to a person close to Wallace This may not be over yet.
posted by forksclovetofu at 02:33 PM on February 19, 2004
They might win the championship this year. They might win the East, but they'd hit a buzzsaw in the finals. Rasheed's good, but he wasn't one of the top-top-flight big men in the West, and adding him isn't enough to give Detroit the guns to take out any of the elite West teams.
posted by cobra! at 02:51 PM on February 19, 2004
This will at least give me a little more incentive to keep a closer eye on the first couple of EC playoff rounds. And it makes the WC champion a little less of a shoo-in for NBA Champs. Inneresting stuff. I know the deadline has passed, but don't they sometimes announce trades a few hours afterwards? I wanna know if the Mavs actually went a whole regular season without a trade.
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:52 PM on February 19, 2004
jerseygirl: Chucky Atkins for Mike James is a wash. Atkins is a year older than James, but is more "established". Read: he's been in the playoffs. Lets go to the numbers.
| Player | PPG | APG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| Mike James | 10.7 | 4.4 | 41.8 | 80 | 38 |
| Chucky Atkins | 6.2 | 2.4 | 37.5 | 72.1 | 32.3 |
posted by lilnemo at 02:59 PM on February 19, 2004
don't they sometimes announce trades a few hours afterwards? If a trade is in the works and the initial scenario is submitted to the league, in some cases extra time is alotted to iron out the details.
posted by lilnemo at 03:02 PM on February 19, 2004
Rasheed's good, but he wasn't one of the top-top-flight big men in the West, and adding him isn't enough to give Detroit the guns to take out any of the elite West teams. I disagree. Portland was 12 minutes away from beating the Lakers and going to the finals four years ago. Sheed was the go-to guy on that team. It will be interesting to see what Larry Brown can get out of him. To those of you who aren't really familiar with Wallace's talents, if Larry Brown can anchor him in the post and get someone to feed him the ball, Rasheed can cause some damage. Wallace has the ability to step out and hit threes but he's truly devestating when he goes inside.
posted by Mike McD at 04:11 PM on February 19, 2004
I think that Lakers series was Wallace's high-water mark; ever since then, it's been a big fade as he phoned it in. I guess it comes down to how well Brown can motivate him. I don't know if he's capable of getting back to form. But I could be wrong... I thought Chauncey Billups would underperform in Detroit, and, um, well...
posted by cobra! at 04:33 PM on February 19, 2004
And for the record, the only power forwards out West I would prefer over Wallace are Tim Duncan & KG. That's right, I prefer Wallace to Webber, Gasol, Dirk, Malone, Brand, and Stoudamire. For one reason, his go-to move. More than any of those other players Wallace can get his shot when he needs to. Say what you will, Wallace has obviously put in a ton of work developing his turnaround moves down low. 1) He keeps the ball high so it's difficult to block. 2) He gets his body square to the basket. 3) He get good elevation 4) He has a textbook shot and release. Now, as a Wallace fan the most frustrating this is that he doesn't even use his post moves. And sometimes he gives up on it because he gets fouled and doesn't get the call. But I will always believe, that when Wallace is commited to playing inside he is one of the most consistent, upstoppable forces in the NBA.
posted by Mike McD at 05:17 PM on February 19, 2004
And sometimes he gives up on it because he gets fouled and doesn't get the call. This is an important point I would like to address. Mike, you are absolutely correct here. Referees are too inconsistent with their calls in the paint. Because of this we are seeing more and more big men venture farther away from the basket. The NBA ought to have a panel study the percentage of foul calls and FGA in the paint versus the perimeter over the years to see if there is a pattern. It is very odd that guards accrue so many "touch fouls" out on the perimeter whereas post-men are regularly bludgeoned under the basket with no recourse. Anyone who watches any Western Conference team somewhat consistently will agree that their is an inordinate amount of contact occuring in the paint that is going unchecked.
posted by lilnemo at 05:45 PM on February 19, 2004
Anyone who watches any Western Conference team somewhat consistently will agree that their is an inordinate amount of contact occuring in the paint that is going unchecked. When a guard flies in and gets contact in paint, no matter how soft, the whistle blows. It's the big men who aren't getting the calls. Even as a Shaq hater it's frustrating to see refs let people hack the hell out of him (esp. Steve Javie). Part of me thinks the fewer whistles I hear at a game the better though. I hate the action stopping to watch the increasingly crappy FT% get increasingly crappier. As a Portland resident and a Blazers fan I was pretty crushed by the loss of 'Sheed (not all of us hated him). The media here demonized him like it was going out of style, and the religious wackos who camp out outside the Rose Garden latched onto him for no good reason. The only fans who didn't seem to hate him were the ones with their asses in the seats every game... At least now we've got character... I'd love to see the Pistons make a strong run in the EC, and then at least give the West a solid run in the Finals. A six or seven games series would be huge. It might shut the 'Sheed haters here in town up, and maybe I'd finally be able to watch more than a handful of games a year without having to shell out for cable...
posted by togdon at 06:25 PM on February 19, 2004
I agree that it's a little crazy what defenders are allowed to do down in the post. One of the things that I love about Rasheed's game it that it's clean ... he doesn't muscle through guys. He uses silky smooth footwork, fundemental shooting, and a high release. He could make that move 100 times and he'd never get called for an offensive foul.
posted by Mike McD at 08:50 PM on February 19, 2004
Sheed is quite good. When he's not getting tossed from games. What does strike me as odd is that they are basically completely admitting that Milicic is a total loss, at least this year, since presumably this means Wallace plays pure center and not PF to Darko's center, as they'd once discussed.
posted by tieguy at 09:08 PM on February 19, 2004
well, i guess it IS over. I was getting excited at what was looking like a renewed Knicks East coast run after years of depressing teams and 'sheed might've been a lil' key. ah well.
posted by forksclovetofu at 04:02 AM on February 20, 2004
forksct: the times does seem to imply that 'Sheed will still be a Knick next year. 1/2 of a season is not all that much to wait, really, given how long it's been since the Knicks were decent. [I remember it clearly, since the last time the Knicks were decent, they battled the Heat in some awesomely intense, if low scoring, games.]
posted by tieguy at 06:40 AM on February 20, 2004
What does strike me as odd is that they are basically completely admitting that Milicic is a total loss, at least this year, since presumably this means Wallace plays pure center and not PF to Darko's center, as they'd once discussed. Larry Brown has said repeatedly that Milicic isn't going to be playing any major minutes at all this year. He's not going to be given the chance to produce this year, instead he's playing apprentice. I can't see the Pistons keeping Rasheed and so I'd assume this is a run at a championship before they start developping their future PF.
posted by dfleming at 09:03 AM on February 20, 2004
I think Rasheed is going to pull a Webber, which is to talk loud about the Knicks and then take the money. Detroit could sign him to a 2 year $16M contract and let him show Milly how to play defense. Right now the Pistons are better than the Knicks, and Sheed wants a championsip.
posted by djacobs at 09:53 AM on February 20, 2004
BTW, I'll just mention my favorite Sheed play of all time for the ACC-heads. It was a game against Wake Forest, and Randolph Childress got a steal around his free throw line and had a clear path to the basket. It looked like a breakaway layup (and Childress had jets). Wallace, who was behind Childress when he got the steal, never gave up on the play, chased down Childress from behind, and pinned the ball on the backboard ... one of the most phenomenal blocks I have ever seen. Remember, this was a 6'11" guys chasing down one of the fastest guards in the ACC from behind. Seriously, it was the second best block I've ever seen (with Richard Jefferson's block on Jason Richardson in the opening minutes of the AU-MSU final four game being the best).
posted by Mike McD at 10:33 AM on February 20, 2004
Mike: did you see the Shane Battier block of Joe Forte in the second game, 2001? Very similar, pinning the ball against the rim, instead of the backboard. Best block I've ever seen myself. [And seriously, I hope Detroit is not keeping 'Sheed around to tutor Darko, unless they want him to learn about the blunt, the spliff, and the T. There are other people he can learn defense and post moves from who aren't total headcases.]
posted by tieguy at 01:23 PM on February 20, 2004
tieguy, I was thinking of that same block, as soon as I read Mike's post.
posted by corpse at 01:27 PM on February 20, 2004
posted by togdon at 01:42 PM on February 20, 2004
corpse: that was my senior year, hard to forget... got to go to three of the Duke-MD games you mention in your profile. :) We were really nervous before that game, but then Shane just ran around and made plays, to paraphrase K... was a nice run the rest of the season. :) togdon: haha. Nice link.
posted by tieguy at 03:07 PM on February 20, 2004
Great trade for Detroit. I was hoping he'd come back to Portland - Sheed for Zach & Patterson.