Atlanta Hawks

 

2/25    Waive Tony Delk

 

Delk was a casualty of the Hawks' ongoing youth movement.  He probably could help a playoff team off the bench and the rumor is that he's heading to Detroit, which will be a nice contrast for Delk after spending almost two years with the Hawks.

 

Boston Celtics

 

2/16    Assign Gerald Green to Florida of the D-League

2/20    Recall Gerald Green from Florida of the D-League

 

A brief four-day tour of duty in Florida in which Green scored 6 points was apparently enough to convince the Celts to bring Green back.  More likely, it was the Celts' own weak play that was the impetus for Green's return.   It makes sense to try to get Green some game experience because the Celts are a 30-win team and the rook needs some game experience (so far, his playing time has been a Darko-like 41 minutes on the season).

 

Cleveland Cavaliers

 

2/20    Sign Stephen Graham to a second 10-day contract

2/23    Acquire Ronald Murray from Seattle for Mike Wilks and cash

2/23    Acquire Lee Nailon and a a 2006 second-round pick from Philadelphia for a conditional 2006 second-round pick

2/24    Waive Lee Nailon and re-sign Stephen Graham

 

Murray is what he is, a high volume low-efficiency two guard.  He's not a great player but with Larry Hughes out, the Cavs are desperate for a guard who might be able to score.  For Murray, this is an opportunity to build his market value prior to his free agency this summer.  Ultimately, I don't see Murray doing too much to improve the Cavs' fortunes.  He hasn't been able to break 40% from the field since his nice 2003-04 season and he's a .267% from three for his career.  Murray's best hope is to demonstrate some synergy with LeBron, the type of relationship that has saved many a decent players career.

 

Denver Nuggets

 

2/23    In a four-team trade, acquire Reggie Evans from Seattle, and Ruben Patterson and Charles Smith from Portland and trade Earl Watson, Bryon Russell, a 2008 second-round pick and cash to Seattle and trade Voshon Lenard to Portland

2/24    Recall Julius Hodge from Austin of the D-League

2/25    Assign Julius Hodge to Austin of the D-League

 

Denver has been a tough team to peg all year.  They seem to be a disappointment but they have a good chance of winning the Northwest but they are on a pace to win 44 games.  So really, they are no better than they were last year.  Moreover, between Nene and Kenyon Martin's injuries and the superfluous acquisition of Watson, there is a pall over this team. That's why trading one of the excess point guards was necessary.  The question is whether it was worth burning cap room on Watson based upon the return they got for him.  Evans will help the team that has been outrebounded on the season and Patterson may actually step in and take the vacant two-guard role (a la Vincent Askew for the George Karl Sonics in the 1990s). 

 

So, this is a pretty good haul for the Nuggets and should help them set their line up for the short term.  I particularly like the fact that they found a shooting guard who won't take too many touches from Carmelo Anthony, though you do wonder if an Andre Miller-Patterson backcourt can shoot well enough to keep defenses honest.  Ultimately, the Nuggets are only slightly improved but even a slight improvement is important as the Nuggets are very vulnerable to a first-round upset  (they are currently matched up with the Hornets in the first-round, with Memphis right on the heels) and the stigma of that type of loss would be pretty harsh to management. 

 

Houston Rockets

 

2/23    Acquire Gerald Fitch from Miami for Derek Anderson

 

The Rockets had given up and Anderson, who looks like his athleticism has diminished greatly and he never quite meshed with Jeff Van Gundy.  Given these facts, dumping Anderson to save some cash is a pretty logical move.

 

Memphis Grizzlies

 

2/20    Recall Lawrence Roberts and Anthony Roberson from Arkansas of the D-League

 

Both players have played well in the minors but Roberts looks particularly good (20.3 ppg, .518 FG%, 9.3 rpg in the D-League).  Mike Fratello has, in the past, been very willing to try young unproven guys (Cedric Henderson, Bobby Phills, Bob Sura, Brevin Knight) even on playoff teams so it's quite possible that they may see some playing time in the near future. 

 

Miami Heat

 

2/23    Acquire Derek Anderson from Houston for Gerald Fitch

 

On the Heat's end, they are desperate for solid pros who are willing to hustle and fill the holes in the offense.  Anderson may not quite fit this bill but Miami would even settle for a low-budget Eddie Jones.

 

New Jersey Nets

 

2/23    Acquire Bostjan Nachbar from New Orleans/Oklahoma City for Marc Jackson, Linton Johnson, and cash

 

For the Nets, this move saved some money at the expense of a potential big body.  Rod Thorn stated, Jackson was not going to play for the Nets, so he really wasn't a loss.  Nachbar, however, offers virtually nothing to the roster as the team has plenty of mediocre small forwards.  As a Nets booster, I probably would've preferred to keep Jackson around in case Jason Collins went down but, again, Jackson's contract risked putting the Nets in luxury tax land next year and you'd hate to pay double salary for a player of his caliber.

 

New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

 

2/23    Acquire Marc Jackson, Linton Johnson, and cash from New Jeresy for Bostjan Nachbar

 

After the Steven Hunter deal fell through, the Hornets have now basically acquired every third-string power forward in the league.  With no real center, Jackson may be useful in spurts but he probably should be behind Aaron Williams on the depth chart.

 

New York Knicks

 

2/22    Acquire Steve Francis from Orlando in exchange for Trevor Ariza and Anfernee Hardaway

 

Truly mind boggling.  Isiah's tenure has now has gone from questionable to outright ridiculous.  Francis is entering his 30s and his skill-set offers the Knicks little that they didn't already have.  It is true that Francis upgrades the talent on the team but the upgrade is not great and it is certainly not nearly sufficient to push the Knicks into playoff contention.  In addition, the salary commitment is obscene and will prevent the Knicks from acquiring the players they might otherwise be able to acquire. 

 

Some have argued that it's not really the public's money to spend so, it's the Knicks' choice to make and it's none of our business.  That is true to some extent.  But here's the problem, the money spent on these players affects the Knicks' ability to contend in the near future and the Knicks' future is the public's business. 

The best way to highlight this fact is compare the state of the Knicks' payroll today with what it was when Isiah took over in late 2003.  It's pretty clear that the Knicks have been a miserable team the last two years but they have also added a ton of payroll too.  Hell, let's compare the Knicks' payroll of 2005-06 and four years going forward (through the 2009-10 season) with the Knicks, assuming they made no moves since 2003-04 when Isiah arrived. 

 

Based solely on current salary commitments, the Knicks are well over the cap until 2009-10.  Hypothetically, if the Knicks had not made a single transaction from the time they replaced Scott Layden in 2003 until today, the team would be much better off.  Here's a look at the Knicks' projected payroll if they had kept there 2003-04 team intact.  We'll assume they would have added the players taken in the draft as well as the draft pick that was traded away by Isiah (and resulted in Kirk Snyder):

 

Player	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
C. Weatherspoon	$6,353,200	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
H. Eisley	$5,600,000	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
C. Ward	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
A. Mcdyess	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
M. Vujanic	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
J. Amaechi	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
K. Van Horn	$15,694,250	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
M. Doleac	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
K. Thomas	$6,620,062	$7,355,625	$8,091,187	N/A	N/A
F. Williams	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
O. Harrington	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
D. Mutombo	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S. Anderson	$6,733,000	$7,200,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
A. Houston	$19,125,000	$20,718,750	N/A	N/A	N/A
M. Sweetney	$2,116,920	$2,696,956	$3,654,375	N/A	N/A
M. Lampe	$858,534	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
K. Snyder	$1,437,240	$1,537,440	$2,358,432	N/A	N/A
C. Frye	$2,162,880	$2,325,000	$2,487,240	$3,163,769	$4,264,760
S. Vranes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total Payroll	$66,701,086	$41,833,771	$16,591,234	$3,163,769	$4,264,760
Actual Payroll	$123,959,263	$134,664,020	$74,676,125	$71,983,250	$34,512,500
Savings	$57,258,177	$92,830,249	$58,084,891	$68,819,481	$30,247,740

 

The players marked as "N/A" are players who were Knicks in 2003-04 but whose contracts have since expired.  As you can see, the Knicks' starting lineup this year could've been Van Horn, Thomas, and Frye with a weak backcourt (we'll also have to assume they would add a few more vets to the roster to fill out the backcourt).  This hypothetical team couldn't be worse than the actual 2005-06 Knicks AND the team would've saved about $50 million in salary (plus another $50 million in luxury taxes) AND the Knicks would've been under the cap going into next year (and well under the cap for the summer of 2007 when a ton of big names become free agents).  In short, Isiah and Jim Dolan have run this team into the ground both financially and in a talent evaluation sense.  As mentioned, this is truly mind boggling.

 

Orlando Magic

 

2/22    Waive Bo Outlaw

2/22    Acquire Trevor Ariza and Anfernee Hardaway from New York for Steve Francis

2/24    Waive Anfernee Hardaway and re-sign Bo Outlaw

 

As for the Magic, they have to be ecstatic that they could dump Francis and take back an expiring salary no less, wiping away roughly $50 million in future salary commitment in one stroke.  The Magic now are in the position to have a low cap number and some potentially good young players in Dwight Howard and maybe Jameer Nelson and Darko Milicic.  The summer of 2007 will be the first time since the summer of 2000 where the Magic could be major players in the market.  Last time, bad luck submarined their chances of having a great team as Grant Hill couldn't stay healthy and Tim Duncan decided to stay in San Antonio.  Should be interesting to see if they do better this time.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

 

2/23    Acquire a conditional 2006 second-round pick from Cleveland for Lee Nailon and a 2006 second-round pick

 

Nailon's legal problems made him persona non gratta and they had to send a second-rounder to make sure someone would be willing to get him out of town.

 

Portland Trailblazers

 

2/23    In a four-team trade, acquire Voshon Lenard from Denver and Brian Skinner from Sacramento and trade Ruben Patterson and Charles Smith to Denver and Sergei Monia to Sacramento

 

For Portland, this deal meant unloading uber-headache Patterson.  So, this was a mission accomplished.  Skinner is only slightly cheaper than Patterson but he hasn't had legal problems and he hasn't popped off at the coach.  In terms of talent, Skinner has actually had his moments (though he hasn't had many for a few years now).  He'll fill in as a backup forward and be competent in that role.  As for Lenard, he won't see much more playing time than he did in Denver because Juan Dixon can hit the three and is much younger.

 

Sacramento Kings

 

2/23    In a four-team trade, acquire Vitaly Potapenko from Seattle and Sergei Monia from Portland and trade Brian Skinner to Portland

 

The Kings wanted in this deal because Potapenko is slightly cheaper than Skinner (about $1.5 million less than Skinner each of the next two years) and the additional savings will be put into Monia, a young player who might develop.  I don't think breaking Skinner up into these two players helps the team much but it's not like Skinner was making the Kings world beaters.

 

Seattle SuperSonics

 

2/23    Acquire Mike Wilks and cash from Cleveland for Ronald Murray

2/23    In a four-team trade, acquire Earl Watson, Bryon Russell, a 2008 second-round pick and cash from Denver and trade Reggie Evans to Denver and Vitaly Potapenko to Sacramento

 

Seattle finally picked up a decent backup guard by re-acquiring Watson.  He's a much better defender than Luke Ridnour but he's a little expensive for a third-guard.  I might've been happier letting Evans walk and then trading Potapenko next year (the last year of his deal) rather than having commitments of $24 million for Watson over the next four seasons, especially on a team like Seattle that has money problems and isn't very good.  Still, if the Sonics wants to pay the cash, Watson can help.

 

Washington Wizards

 

2/24    Sign Billy Thomas to a 10-day contract

 

The Wiz definitely lack a three-point specialist, a skill that Thomas theoretically is supposed to offer.  There is opportunity for Thomas to stick here if he makes his shots.