[Izulde]

Trade action.

Houston Rockets receive
PF Michael Beasley

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
PG Kyle Lowry
Houston Rockets 2012 1st round pick

What this means for the Rockets
Although listed as PF, the 22 year old Beasley's size and game is more suited to SF. Terrible shooter, although he's better than he was last year. Despite the name recognition, he just isn't a good player, even though Houston's forward situation is such that he's a starter.

What this means for the Timberwolves
Lowry's a great defender and secure with the ball, but he's also a poor shooter. Even worse, he's a bad contract and buried on the Timberwolves' inactive list. Another first round pick is nice for Minnesota, but not that nice, considering it's a mid-late first.

Winner: Houston
Despite Beasley's shooting woes, he does have the upside to get better and become a good shooter. Lowry's contract is an albatross for Minnesota.

Once again Denver's under-over .500 fate lies with us and once again they beat us, 112-90. We just do not match up well with them at all. 25 points, 10 rebounds for Marc Gasol, 20 points for Tiago Splitter, 11 bench points for Eric Bledsoe.

121-97 loss to Dallas the next night with Marc Gasol's 14 points, 13 rebounds and Ryan Gomes 10 bench points the only highlights.

The losing streak hits three, 119-96 to Philadelphia. Allen Iverson and Ryan Gomes did well, netting 13 and 12 bench points, but everyone else played like crap.

I'm beginning to think I made a mistake in hiring Jeff Van Gundy, when we reverse course and beat the Cs 102-97 in Boston to stop the drought. Incidentally it's also the first game this month Eutor Taffarel has played, our first round pick having dealt with injury issues. Marc Gasol leads the way with 19 points, 14 rebounds, support coming from reserves Timofey Mozgov (12 points, 9 rebounds), Eric Bledsoe (12 points), and Xavier Henry (11 points).

But then we drop the back end of the doubleheader, 110-102 to a terrible Toronto team. Best event of the night? Allen Iverson's 11 points in just 7 minutes.

We barely beat the sad-sack Pistons 100-92 on Tiago Splitter's 20 points and 9 rebounds, Marc Gasol's 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Ryan Gomes and Xavier Henry's 11 and 10 bench points.

A fourth quarter rally swings a key playoff position game our way, a narrow 117-114 victory over Portland. Tiago Splitter dominates for 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and Xavier Henry, Eric Bledsoe, and Nicolas Batum spark the second team with a staircase 12, 11, 10 bench points.

It's calming to see us get the sweep, especially since the second game was our best of the month - a 108-88 tromping of the Thunder. Marc Gasol absolutely owns the post with 20 points and 23 rebounds, Tiago Splitter none too shabby himself with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jose Calderon rips off 20 points, and Nicolas Batum scores 11 bench points.

Nice to have three straight wins before the All-Star break, particularly given how out of it we looked to start the month.

All-Star Festivities
Stanley Robinson of the Toronto Raptors wins the slam dunk contest and Kyle Korver wins his second straight 3 point shooting contest. Makes me think I should maybe go get him.

An absolutely thrilling Rookies-Sophomores game this year, one that saw the first years win 126-122 in OT. Mills Jolly, who I thought was the best all-around potential PG in the draft, although with a bad handling ceiling, took home MVP honors with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Looking like a nice pick for Memphis at #10 overall. Eutor Taffarel started for the Rookies and acquitted himself well - 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and a turnover on 7/16 shooting, 3/8 from behind the arc. Tiago Splitter started for the sophomores and was 7/12 for 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.

What about #1 overall pick Ryan Hoiberg, you ask? He tore his ACL on January 2nd and is done for the year. A damn shame too, as he was putting up 16.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks, but durability was the biggest knock on him coming out of college. It appears that health risk has indeed come to pass.

The West beat the East pretty handily - 142-127. Chris Paul was named Game MVP due to 17 points, 17 assists, and 4 steals. We actually had a representative this year. Marc Gasol played 8 minutes off the bench and scored 5 points.

I decide to do some browsing of the available goods on the trade deadline market. Joakim Noah's on the block, interestingly enough, as is Danny Granger. Oh look, Raymond Felton's on the block, too, and so is John Wall.

Wait, what? Wall's available?

Los Angeles Clippers receive
PG John Wall
C Brad Jones
PG Kirk Hinrich

Washington Wizards receive
C Marc Gasol
SG Xavier Henry
Toronto Raptors 2012 2nd round pick
Los Angeles Clippers 2013 1st round pick

What this means for the Clippers
GM Jestor coveted UNLV alum Jones from the very beginning, and his general sense also was that he overpaid for Gasol in free agency Jones isn't the rebounder that Gasol is, but he's a defensive presence and can block shots with the best of them. Wall is already an ideal Jestorball PG and he has the upside to only get better n his passing, handling, and stealing. Hinrich is just here to make salaries work.

What this means for the Wizards
Washington lacked a star player and offensive scorer in the post and now they have that in the younger Gasol, not to mention a ferocious rebounder. Henry bounced back and forth between the starting lineup and the bench during his short time in LA, and he's locked down at the SF starter with Washington. The Clippers first will probably be a mid to late selection, as all of LA's key players are 26 and under, but Washington does get a high 2nd round pick for their troubles.

Winner: Draw
Both teams get a lot to love in this deal and both of them gave up something significant to get the things they wanted. The Wizards are a playoff team in the East at 27-26, and so are the Clippers in the West at 33-19, so it will be interesting to see how their fortunes pan out.

I am absolutely thrilled with this trade. I got the point guard I can plug in there for the next 10 years and I got my Runnin' Rebel to start at C. I still have way too many 2nd round picks, but at least I got rid of one of them. We also have the Mavericks' 2013 1st, which is why I was willing to deal our pick in that year.

Our new lineup:

PG John Wall
SG Eutor Taffarel
SF Timofey Mozgov/Nicolas Batum
PF Tiago Splitter
C Brad Jones

The new starting five gets a 99-83 debut win over the Bobcats. Tiago Splitter scores 20, as does John Wall, the latter of whom also had 6 assists to 3 turnovers in his first game as a Clipper. Eric Bledsoe and Jose Calderon paced the bench with 14 and 11 points respectively. My fellow Runnin' Rebel, Brad Jones, had a solid debut. He hit 4 of 8 shots for 8 points and 12 rebounds, sneering at the idea that he can't board like Marc.

Incidentally, Marc Gasol and Xavier Henry shot well in their Wizards' debut, as Washington steamrolled the Nuggets 127-93. But they didn't have a big impact on the game, not like Gilbert Arenas, who went off 42 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in his first start at PG in a long time. Reggie "Hi, I'm Overrated" Williams scored 22 with 7 assists starting at Arenas' old SG spot.

We beat Golden State on the road the night after, an impressive 110-96 win. John Wall looking the real deal with 23 points, 15 assists to 2 turnovers. Tiago Splitter scores 21 and Brad Jones is ever-present in the post for 11 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. 13 and 11 points for Nicolas Batum and Ryan Gomes off the bench.

Oh so thin and oh so beautiful 109-106 victory versus San Antonio. All five starters with 10+ points, including Tiago Splitter's 34 points and 10 rebounds, and John Wall's 15 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. The win costs us Jose Calderon for a couple weeks with a calf injury, but we're deep enough at PG to withstand the loss.

The biggest sign of how great this trade is comes in Denver a few nights later. For the first time in forever we beat the Nuggets, 121-106. John Wall flourishes again with 29 points and 13 assists, and he's joined by Tiago Splitter's 22 points and 4 steals, Eric Bledsoe's 20 bench points, and Kirk Hinrich's 13 bench points. Unfortunately, Timofey Mozgov is questionable for two weeks with a finger injury, and Nicolas Batum is hurt for our next game.

So with all those injuries, our month-ending 107-89 road loss to the Blazers is no surprise. John Wall did his best with 34 points, but when he's the only offense on the night, that just isn't going to be enough.

I'm still happy, though. At 37-20, we're just barely ahead of San Antonio in the fight for the 3 seed. We went 4-1 after the trade and we would have given Portland a better challenge without the injuries.


Los Angeles Clippers Leaders
Points
1. Tiago Splitter - 17.4
2. John Wall - 15.6 (14.8 with Washington, so he's fast on the rise)
3. Jose Calderon - 10.9 (the only other Clipper with 10+ points scored)

Rebounds
1. Brad Jones - 8.5 (8.6 with Washington)
2. Tiago Splitter - 7.1
3. Timofey Mozgov - 5.1 (only other Clipper with 5+ boards)

Assists
1. John Wall - 6.8 (6.5 with Washington, so this is on the rise too)
2. Jose Calderon - 6.7
3. Eric Bledsoe - 3.5

Blocks
1. Brad Jones - 2.0
T2. Tiago Splitter - 1.4
T2. Eutor Taffarel - 1.4

Steals
1. John Wall - 1.2
T2. Tiago Splitter - 0.9
T2. Brad Jones - 0.9
T2. Eric Bledsoe - 0.9

Jose Calderon with a 6.6 A/TO ratio. John Wall's 2.5 is a little low - I normally like to see at least 3 for my starting PG, but he's making up for it in other areas.

League Leaders
Points
1. Carmelo Anthony (DEN) - 28.4
2. Kobe Bryant (LAL - 28.0
3. Lebron James (MIA) - 26.8

Assists
1. Chris Paul (NO) - 10.5
2. Deron Williams (UTA) - 10.3
3. Rajon Rondo (BOS) - 9.5

Rebounds
1. Dwight Howard (ORL) - 13.5
2. Andrew Bogut (MIL) - 13.0
3. Joakim Noah (IND) - 12.1

Looks like Noah didn't get traded after all.

Blocks
1. Andrew Bogut (MIL) - 3.5
2. Dwight Howard (ORL) - 3.3
T3. Pau Gasol (LAL) - 2.7
T3. Brendan Haywood (DAL) - 2.7

Rookies Leaders
Points
1. Andrew Kirtz (MIL) - 13.6
2. Germayne Postell (TOR) - 12.1
3. Mills Jolly (MEM) - 11.7

Assists
1. Mills Jolly (MEM) - 5.4
2. Ricky Rubio (MIN) - 4.5
3. Hector Simmons (NY) - 4.1

Rebounds
1. Brad Jones (LAC) - 8.5
2. Germayne Postell (TOR) - 7.5
3. Clay Minahan (CHA) - 6.7

Blocks
1. Brad Jones (LAC) - 2.0
2. Sam Kitt (GSW) - 1.8
3. Germayne Postell (TOR) - 1.4
4. Eutor Taffarel (LAC) - 0.9

Steals
T1. Mills Jolly (MEM) - 1.3
T1. Brandon Molnar (DET) - 1.3
3. Andrew Kirtz (MIL) - 1.2
4. Arlon Knight (MIN) - 1.1

At this point, I'd call the Rookie of the Year race a three way tie between Postell (taken 2nd), Jolly (taken 10th), and Kirtz (taken 11th). Kirtz, a Duke alum, just might end up being one of the biggest steals in this draft by the time all is said and done.