View Single Post
Old 01-18-2009, 10:18 AM   #496
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Boston Celtics receive
PF Booker Werner
Philadelphia 76ers 2026 2nd round pick

Philadelphia 76ers receive
PG Scott Miles

What this means for the Celtics
Werner is an average all-around young F/C (26) with nothing remarkable to say about him other than that he was a once upon a time GM Jestor draftee. The trade doesn't make all that much sense though, given that Sveto Lepinat recently broke his elbow, leaving the C's thin at PG.

What this means for the 76ers
Philadelphia reacts swiftly to losing Charles Diggs for the year to a torn ACL by picking up Miles, a 23 year old in his third season with pretty good pass-first skills, particularly for a reserve and solid elsewhere, with some upside left. He slots in as the 6th man and also gives the 76ers an expiring $2.1 million contract.

Winner: Philadelphia
Just on the face of it, it's a steal by the 76ers, but it's even further a triumph for the City of Brotherly Love when 5 days later, Celtics starting PG Jon Costello tears his Achilles and goes out for the year. Had Boston not so quickly given Miles up, they would've had adequate cover at the 1, rather than being forced to go with a two guard ill-suited to the task.

Dallas Mavericks receive
PF T.J. Roberts
Golden State Warriors 2026 2nd round pick

Golden State Warriors receive
SF Calvis Hayes

What this means for the Mavericks
Roberts may be a greybeard at 35, but he's a respectable bench big, particularly as a scoring option for a Dallas team in need of big reserves, particularly since Jarion Calloway is a one-dimensional player as a defensive specialist.

What this means for the Warriors
The 25 year old Hayes is a suspect passer/ballhandler, but he's also the rare second round pick who's actually made it. Taken with the 4th pick in the 2nd round the Lakers in 2022, the fourth year forward has greatly improved as a shooter and is a nice all-around force on the defensive end. Unfortunately, he's a bit buried on Golden State's bench.

Winner: Draw
At the time of this trade, it's a draw as both sides benefit significantly from this. But when Tyrone Dotson breaks his hand nine days later, it turns into a Mavericks victory, because Roberts isn't that much of a dropoff from Dotson.

And so the quiet trading market continues. That's not a bad thing---in fact, I rather like it this way as opposed to the dealing frenzy that occurred over the last few years.

Our 6th and final game of the road stretch comes in Miami, where a sensational battle plays out that sees us prevail 141-135 in overtime. A Heat team loaded with former Nuggets including Teddy Harriman, Luke Smith, David "50 Ninja" Jackson as starters and Louis Mertens, Lance Purnell, Leroy Freeman and Lannce Dudley as reserves was hell-bent on beating us, but it didn't happen. Antonio Sarchet was on fire all night, hitting on 13 of 16 shots from the floor for 33 points and 11 rebounds, David Anyan chipped in 24 points, William Tackett generated 13 points and 11 assists and Brandon Edmond scored 16 points off the bench, bailing out foul-plagued Greg Oden. Ronald King matched every one of Edmond's points, finishing with 16 as well.

We stomp Detroit 120-82 next game on William Tackett's 27 points and 12 assists. Two other Kings break 20+ points in David Anyan (22) and [b]Antonio Sarchet (20), while Greg Oden rebounds from his struggles against Miami with 15 points and 10 boards.

The Grizzlies, playoff plagues from my last two years in Denver, fall 98-87. Antonio Sarchet doubles for 26 points and 14 rebounds, David Anyan scores 23 and William Tackett nets 14 points and 16 assists. I'm still furious over Tackett's omission from the Rookies/Sophs game and I'm glad to see he's taken it to heart as well.

I've lost track of how many wins in a row we've had, but we tack on another in obliterating the Clippers 120-96. William Tackett takes point both literally and figuratively in compliling 26 points and 14 assists. David Anyan pulls down 20 points and 10 rebounds, Antonio Sarchet scores 24, Greg Oden delivers 12 points and 14 rebounds and Ronald King tops the second team with 11 points.

There's little doubt we're the league's hottest team right now, blowing out the Rockets 112-99 next game. David Anyan scores 25, we get a pair of double-doubles from Greg Oden (10 points, 12 rebounds) and William Tackett (15 points, 12 assists) and two bench players break double-digits in Ronald King and Brandon Edmond with 17 and 11 respectively.

Orlando come out swinging, the Magic determined to take us down, but a great fourth quarter stops them short and we keep our fiery form going in winning 104-98. David Anyan and Antonio Sarchet score 26 points each, William Tackett just makes the double with 10 points and 13 assists and Ronald King continues to be Mr. Reliable with 10 bench points.

David Anyan scores 28, combining with Mateen Yeaton's 25 points to easily clobber Golden State 111-83. Greg Oden and William Tackett are a pairing as well, Oden's double-double good for 14 points and 12 rebounds, Tackett's valid for 11 points and 14 assists. Brandon Edmond paces the bench with 10 rebounds.

Even a back-to-back can't stop us as we sweep the revenge-minded Clippers and Warriors. 99-79's the final against the Red and White, our balanced victory keyed by David Anyan's 19 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Greg Oden's 14 points and 12 rebounds, Brandon Edmond's bench 10 points and 11 rebounds and Ronald King's reserve 10 points. David Anyan singlehandedly beats down Golden State in our 134-94 laugher, scoring a breathtaking 47 points. Lost in the dust of that supernova explosion of shooting are William Tackett's 13 points and 20 assists and Ronald King and Brandon Edmond's 10 and 11 points off the bench.

I thought our unbeaten run would end against Portland, but it doesn't happen as we squash the Trailblazers 118-93. Balanced offense rules the day again, highlighted by William Tackett's 19 points and 14 assists, Antonio Sarchet's 18 points and 10 rebounds and our two most reliable reserves, Ronald King and Brandon Edmond adding 18 and 12 points respectively.

A Mavericks team featuring Devone Allen at PG comes to Sacramento eager to tear us down, but it's they who are run out of the building following our 114-99 win. Antonio Sarchet scores 26, Greg Oden abuses Dallas's centers for 18 points and 16 rebounds, Mateen Yeaton gets up for 20 points and Brandon Edmond and Ronald King headline the second unit with 18 and 10 points.

We travel to Denver next and promptly embarass an impassioned Nuggets team 109-85. David Anyan scores 31 and Antonio Sarchet scores 26 as our forwards continue to be two of the biggest reasons why we're so good right now. Zelipe Gama is extremely unhappy this go-round in Denver and can't wait to get back to a winning organization. As for Tim Butler, he's used to bad franchises after his years in New Orleans, so he's quite philosophical about the whole thing.

Philadelphia finally stops our 19 game win streak, edging us 119-114 in OT. Great games by David Anyan (30 points), Mateen Yeaton (26 points) and William Tackett (13 points, 16 assists), but our bench just went cold all night long and that did us in. Hell of a game by Corey Westbrooks with 30 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.

That hot/cold run is starting to kick in again as we lose 100-93 in Detroit thanks to going icy in the fourth quarter. David Anyan and Antonio Sarchet see their respective 29 and 25 points negated, but I'm not overly worried just yet.

Three close losses in a row, as a bad third quarter turns into a 99-93 loss to the Cavaliers. Antonio Sarchet plays well with 25 points and 16 rebounds, David Anyan adds 19 points and 10 rebounds, Greg Oden chips in 13 points and 11 rebounds and Brandon Edmond paces the bench with 10 points, but all our backcourt players had a terrible night of it. Interesting that the Cavaliers have both Mike Vines and Kenny Graham in their lineup after snapping them up in free agency this summer. Goes a long way to showing why they're as good a team as they are this year.

Despite the late-month stumble, with 8 games to go in the regular season, our 51-23 record gives us a 5 game edge on the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific, while 46-27 Minnesota is the closest to stalking us for the #1 seed in the West. The Timberwolves, who have experienced a miraculous turnaround, are 3.5 games up on the equally surprising Jazz, and it's a new leader atop the Southwest, as 38-33 Memphis has hung tough for a shocking half-game lead on the Mavericks. New Orleans looks poised to finally end their playoff drought at 34-37, even as the Nuggets are sitting there with a 25-46 record, third worst in the West.

Toronto still rules the East at 54-18, Boston staying in the 50 win club despite their PG idiocy at 51-21, 3 games back. 51-20 Cleveland's already clinched the Central over Chicago, while 41-31 Atlanta has a 4.5 game advantage on Charlotte.
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee
2006 Golden Scribe Winner
Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)

Rookie Writer of the Year
Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)
Izulde is offline   Reply With Quote