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Old 02-24-2009, 02:45 AM   #562
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
I just now realized I've completely forgotten about tracking trades, probably because for the first time in my 20 year career, I'm not seriously considering any moves.

Time to catch up.

November Trades

Charlotte Bobcats receive
C Milan Nouge

Phoenix Suns receive
SG Jamel Jackson

What this means for the Bobcats
The 32 year old Belgian Nouge is one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory. Taken 3rd overall in 2017 by the Suns, he never produced in his 11 year and change career with the Suns, despite being given ample opportunity to. His career season highs are 8.4 points (2022 in a season cut short by injury) and 9.8 rebounds (2021). That said, he can rebound and score some as a bench player and he actually is an upgrade for an astonishingly weak Charlotte bench.

What this means for the Suns
Phoenix has been trying to get rid of Nouge for years and they finally found a taker. What they get back is 35 year old Jackson, a terrific bench scorer whose expiring contract is worth $800k more than Nouge's. Of course, a team that has Ray Fields on its bench and a promising young scorer and defensive specialist in 25 year old Tavorris Gebbors, a second round steal by the Cavaliers (2nd pick in 2nd round - 2025 draft), Jackson doesn't mean much.

Winner: Charlotte
Strictly on the basis of need fulfillment, the Bobcats win this one. Jackson is just the Suns adding strength to more strength.

Side note: Jackson broke his arm last month, so I guess that makes it even bigger a win for Charlotte.

Houston Rockets receive
SF Samaki McKenzie
Minnesota Timberwolves 2029 2nd round pick

Minnesota Timberwolves receive
PF Ryan Bush

What this means for the Rockets
Houston hasn't had a winning season since 2015 (though they did go .500 in 2020). McKenzie isn't the one to push them over the top. Yes, he plays four positions and he'll put up points, but he'll shoot miserably while doing it. So miserably that his career shooting average is 31.2%. Throw in that he's a defensive sieve and it's really hard to see how this doesn't harm the Rockets' hopes for a good year.

What this means for the Timberwolves
Bush, 25, isn't an All-Star player or anything, but he's good decent ballhandling skills for a big man and will score and rebound a little bit here and there. He slots in as the starting PF, meaning Kelvin Moody moves to C. Bush has got reason to want to play well, because he, like McKenzie, is an expiring contract and in no way does he want to stay in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves are stinking up the joint in what may be Moody's swansong season, his 21st.

Winner: Minnesota
The Timberwolves improve now and they make a West Conference team worse by shipping off a bad player to the Rockets. Even if Bush leaves Minneapolis as expected, Minnesota still makes out here.

December Trades

Atlanta Hawks receive
SG Alan Lentz
New York Knicks 2029 2nd round pick

New York Knicks receive
SG Nyah Boyce
PG Josh Tyler

What this means for the Hawks
Lentz is a decent all-around 24 year old and a good reserve player to have, but he just can't seem to find minutes anywhere. He didn't get much of them in New York and he won't see that much more time in Atlanta, where he's the 10th man, stuck even behind 39 year old Kevin Durant.

What this means for the Knicks
Boyce's a defensive specialist with high-percentage shooting, but he can't pass the ball to save his life and is unfortunately buried here as the Knicks' 12th man. It's a shame too, because he had a good rookie season with the Hawks and for some reason just fell out of favor from there. Tyler's a defensive scrub.

Winner: Draw
This really feels like it should be None, because it's just a pointless shuffling of unwanted pieces.

Houston Rockets receive
C Brett Johnson

Charlotte Bobcats receive
C Benjamin Williams
Houston Rockets 2029 2nd round pick

What this means for the Rockets
It says something about the deplorable state of Houston's frontcourt when a one-dimensional player like Johnson (rebounding specialist) is the starting C. He isn't likely to get any better at 26 and he fell into a golden opportunity here. But like the recently departed Bush, he desperately wants to play for a winner.

What this means for the Bobcats
Williams is 24 and a better defender and shotblocker than Johnson, but Johnson provides a touch more offense. Oh and did we mention that Johnson's an expiring contract, whereas Charlotte's on the hook for another year with a guy they're making their 12th man?

Winner: Houston
Nice piece of work by the Rockets. Any time you get a new starter and financial flexibility, no matter how tiny (Not even $1.5 mill. in this case), it's a winning situation.

I'm extremely intrigued by this Tavorris Gebbors kid, so I contact the Suns about a deal. It doesn't take long to work one out.

Sacramento Kings receive
SG Tavorris Gebbors
Phoenix Suns 2029 1st round pick
Phoenix Suns 2030 2nd round pick
Phoenix Suns 2031 2nd round pick

Phoenix Suns receive
C Patrick Weston
Sacramento Kings 2029 1st round pick

What this means for the Kings
The 25 year old Gebbors has a nice, accurate shot and is a defensive whiz, but isn't the best ballhandler, especially for a guard. That said, he'll provide more scoring punch and a lockdown defender at the swingman spots and that's never a bad thing. The Kings should see a higher 1st round pick as a result of this deal too.

What this means for the Suns
Weston, 23, is a mammoth 7'5, 290 lbs and a very good defender and decent shotblocker. Not much on the offensive end and while he can haul in rebounds, he doesn't get as many as a man of his size should be able to. That said, he's a huge presence on Phoenix's bench, which had, after Damous Price, 37 year old softie Tim Davis as their big man. Weston's got great passing and handling skills for a big man, rather like David "50 Ninja" Jackson in that regard, so he improves the Suns' bench overall.

Winner: Draw
For the Kings, they get a likely better draft pick and more points and defense for their bench along with a couple second round picks that will surely be traded off at some point. On the other hand, the Suns shore up their weakest area and only gave up a little bit from their strongest area, freeing up minutes for Jamel Jackson when he comes back from his broken arm. It's a trade that works well for both teams.

A back-to-back road trip to start the New Year. We beat the Knicks 97-87 as Justin Richler tears it up for 34 points, Vladimir Tupolev scores 23 and Luke Smith doubles for 13 points and 15 rebounds. But then the Raptors blow us out 115-85 where our best showing is Luke Smith's 10 points and staggering 21 rebounds.

Yet another away doubleheader with another split. I really do hate how Schedulegate hosed the Kings. 114-102 over the Hawks as Vladimir Tupolev scores 29, Vladimir Rascupchin adds 25 points and Luke Smith records his third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Smith keeps the streak going with an impressive 20 points and 16 rebounds against the Hornets, but we lose 115-108. Vladimir Raschupchin scores 21 and William Tackett comes off the bench for 12 points.

Finally, a win we can be proud of in 2029 as Jim "Twizzler Johnson rains down 32 points and 12 rebounds in our 116-104 victory over the Nuggets. Justin Richler and Vladimir Tupolev each score 22 to seal the deal and I don't care one whit that Luke Smith's double-double streak ended (7 points, 7 rebounds). We beat that damned Denver team.

At last we put two wins in a row together, knocking off Utah 106-91 behind defense and Justin Richler's 37 points and Jim Johnson's 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Make that three in a row as we edge the Clippers 104-97. Vladimir Tupolev and Jim Johnson score 21 a piece, Luke Smith barges in for 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out and David "50 Ninja" Jackson picks up the slack for him with 12 bench points. All five starters scored 14 points or more. Total team effort.

It's with considerable dread that I eye the upcoming doubleheader, but we pull off the sweep. Luke Smith bashes the Clippers for 25 points and 13 rebounds in our 102-91 road win, aided by William Tackett's 11 bench points and Justin Richler and Vladimir Raschupchin take down the Trailblazers 115-106 with 26 and 23 points respectively. Jim Johnson picks up 15 points and 12 rebounds, a point total matched by David Jackson off the bench.

We stomp the Cavaliers 110-96 as Jim Johnson breaks loose for 23 points and 12 rebounds and David Jackson and Tzvetan Kishishev score 11 and 10 points with the second team.

I'm schoolgirl giddy after we rape the Spurs 124-94 on Justin Richler's 30 point, 9 assist, 7 rebound performance and Tzvetan Kishishev's 15 bench points. One of the reasons why I was willing to deal Patrick Weston was so that it would give 50 Ninja and our Bulgarian more minutes and it's paid off beautifully, with nice results for each.

We thwart the Nets 119-102 as all 5 Kings starters score 14 or more. Leading the way is Justin Richler with 30 points, followed by Twizzler Johnson and Vladimir Tupolev with 23 points, then Vladimir Raschupchin with 18 points and Luke Smith providing the icing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Spurs go looking for payback when we head to San Antonio on the front end of a road doubleheader. They don't get it as Justin Richler pummels them for 35 points, Twizzler Johnson piles on with 31 points and 12 rebounds, Vladimir Raschupchin elbow drops them for 22 points and Luke Smith donkeypunches them inside for 10 points and 12 rebounds. 128-117 may not seem like much of a smackdown, but against the Spurs on their home turf, it's a big win. No letdown in Houstin either as we win 109-102 the next night. Justin Richler decides to play a little PG in netting 23 points and 12 assists, Vladimir Raschupchin tries his hand at rebounding with 24 points and 10 boards and Tavorris Gebbers steps up with 10 bench points. Good job, kid. Way to make me proud.

I don't know what stuns me more about our 132-124 shootout OT win over the Timberwolves at the Target Center; the fact that Minnesota was actually able to give us that hard a game or Justin Richler's 47 points. The Two Vladimirs combine for 28 (Tupolev) and 23 (Raschupchin points a piece and Luke Smith chips in 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Home versus Seattle, followed by next night's way game in Oakland to finish off January. We win both easily. The Two Vladimirs score 25 points each and 50 Ninja stealth-strikes the Sonics for 10 bench points in our 102-92 win that was never really in doubt, while our 111-79 bitchslapping of the Warriors comes courtesy of Vladimir Raschupchin's 26 points and our bench going haywire. Brandon Edmond comes out of nowhere for 18 points, Justin Cherry finds some of his old game back with 11 points in 13 minutes on flawless 4/4 shooting and William Tackett dishes out 11 assists.

36-9. We have a ridiculous 11.5 game lead on the Suns, who I'm sure are now quite sorry they agreed to flip-flop 1st rounders. Dallas is closest to us in the top seed race, but the Mavericks are 29-15 and fighting to hold off the Grizzlies, who are somehow 1.5 games back, with the Spurs lurking dangerously beneath at 2.5 behind. But that's not as crazy as the Northwest:

Denver Nuggets - 27-19
Seattle Supersonics - 26-18
Utah Jazz - 26-20 (1 GB)
Portland Trailblazers - 22-22 (4 GB)

But then again, the Southwest has 4 teams over .500, so it's a tough call to say which is the better division. Exciting time to be an NBA fan that's for sure.

Indiana's still hanging on to the top seed in the East at 32-11. Like us, they've got a double-digit lead on their nearest division foe (10.5 over the Bulls). New Jersey's 32-14, 4 games up on the Celtics, while the Southeast is not just the worst division in the East, it's the worst in the league, with 22-25 Miami tied with 21-24 for the division lead.

You know it's bad when 16-28 Atlanta is just 4 games out.

If I was Oswaldo Apolonario, I'd be going bonkers right now. But he doesn't care. He just wants to be the Star, the Man, no matter how poor the team's doing. He's certainly got that going for him with the Hawks.
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