 |
| RealGM Hoop Net |
|
| Search |
|
|
|
|
| Trade Checker ID |
| Draft Sim ID |
| Newsletter |
|
|
|
|
Authored by Christopher Reina - 10th December, 2008 - 11:48 pm
|
|
|
| Current Featured Columns |
|
Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans
The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
Wizards Deal For Present And Future
The Wizards hope Mike James can give them an immediate lif, while Javaris Crittenton has a high ceiling and is showing signs of improvement.
|
The Suns could have been set with a wealth of talent for many, many years, but after selling picks to the Blazers, trading Kurt Thomas and future first round picks subsequently have seemed to be making it up on the fly, such as last season's Shaquille O'Neal trade and Tuesday's five-player deal with the Charlotte Bobcats .
Phoenix dealt Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Sean Singletary to Charlotte for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, and a second round pick in 2010.
Richardson is clearly the best player in the trade, and although he is almost 28 and has been known as a player that relies on his athleticism, he has improved significantly as a shooter over the past few seasons. He is currently averaging 44.1% from the floor and 45.8% from beyond the arc (40.6% on 7.3 attempts per game last year).
He was once one of the finest rebounders at the shooting guard position, but he has been less efficient in that category while in Charlotte. That probably has more to do with the ineptness in Golden State and the presence of Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace than it does Richardson.
He has a history of nagging knee injuries and missed seven games earlier this season, but has looked good since returning to the floor.
Dudley had a promising and unexpected rookie season, averaging 12.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per 40 minutes, but he has been less productive as both a scorer and rebounder this season under Larry Brown. He is ranked 21st amongst sophomores in season FIC, though his 8.1 FIC40 puts him well below the NBA mean.
Grade for Suns: B+
Diaw was looking like a bona-fide star during the 2005-06 season when he had a 115 offensive rating, an efficient scorer and an incredibly talented passing big man. But with Amare Stoudemire returning fully from microfracture surgery, Diaw had an extremely difficult time adjusting had an embarrassing low offensive rating of 103 last season. This season under Terry Porter, Diaw upped his field goal percentage from 47.7% to 56.7% and his offensive rating to 109, but he continues to be inadequate defensively.
He became an expensive spare part at a position of abundance and $9 million annually until the summer of 2012 is a lot to pay a 24.5 minute per night player.
While Diaw may not be the center the Bobcats wanted in order to shift Okafor to his true position, I believe he is an excellent power forward to pair between Okafor and Wallace in the frontcourt. The defensive abilities of those two players offset his deficiencies, and his large offensive skill set is also needed.
Trading Richardson instead of Wallace is also a sidebar bonus.
Bell has progressively been less effective over the past few seasons across the board. He has an atrocious FIC40 of 6.7, despite a uncharacteristically high 3-point percentage of 46.8%. Most importantly, he has become less effective defensively in each passing year in Phoenix and now has a defensive rating of 113. He very clearly was unhappy under Porter and has a history with L.B.
Singletary is a second round rookie who has played limited, unimpressive minutes at the point guard position. He is unlikely to see much, if any, playing time behind Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin.
Grade for Bobcats: B-
|
