Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return
Sonics Make Move
February 10th, 2016
By Vonny Lee
The trade deadline is now just over a week away but Seattle has seemingly made its move: the Sonics have traded Gary Neal and Shane Larkin to the Hornets for Jeremy Lin and Brian Roberts.
And that's it. Much to the chagrin of some fans, the Sonics have decided to remain firm in their quest for internal development and have announced changes to their second unit going forward.
"I first want to thank Shane and Gary for their contributions this season; they've been professional throughout and I anticipate them having success in Charlotte. For our end, the deal to bring Jeremy and Brian here was a deal that was worked out over many days ... we really thought long and hard about it, but the experience of these two players is something we value going forward," said owner and GM Max Newman.
Mad Max has been rumored to be involved in multiple mega-trades -- none of which took place. One scout within the organization, who has requested to remain anonymous, believes that the Sonics are ready to bet on someone already on the roster.
"It's Bogdanovic," said the scout. "He's been in the doghouse all year, but he's been practicing, he's been pushing, and so has his agent; they wanted a trade or more minutes and Hollins was finally satisfied with the way Bogdanovic was moving on defense. He's plugging Bog-Dog in as the backup three, with a bit of two in there, and they're going to use his spacing out there on the floor."
The trade seems small and ineffective on the whole -- Lin seems to have peaked as a player and looks to have little to offer that we haven't already seen -- but he'll be more capable at the point than Larkin or Neal was, and is shooting a higher percentage than either of them at this point.
For the Hornets, this trade is the first in what appears to be a series of trades -- Hawes is rumored to be on the move now, as well as Jeremy Lamb, both players that the Hornets front office are displeased with. Neal, familiar with Charlotte from his experience there two years ago (also the last time they made the playoffs), will immediately slide in as the starting two, hoping to pick up where he left off the last time he was in Charlotte.
As for Larkin, he's a younger and cheaper backup than either Roberts or Lin, and should be able to better play to his strengths in an offense that has Kemba Walker as it's starter.
Whether this trade will be enough for either team to succeed in the last two months of the season is another question entirely. One one hand, don't fix it if it ain't broken ... on the other, the playoffs are a different beast altogether than the regular season; did Seattle do too little here?
We'll only know at the end of the regular season.
Sonics Make Move
February 10th, 2016
By Vonny Lee
The trade deadline is now just over a week away but Seattle has seemingly made its move: the Sonics have traded Gary Neal and Shane Larkin to the Hornets for Jeremy Lin and Brian Roberts.
And that's it. Much to the chagrin of some fans, the Sonics have decided to remain firm in their quest for internal development and have announced changes to their second unit going forward.
"I first want to thank Shane and Gary for their contributions this season; they've been professional throughout and I anticipate them having success in Charlotte. For our end, the deal to bring Jeremy and Brian here was a deal that was worked out over many days ... we really thought long and hard about it, but the experience of these two players is something we value going forward," said owner and GM Max Newman.
Mad Max has been rumored to be involved in multiple mega-trades -- none of which took place. One scout within the organization, who has requested to remain anonymous, believes that the Sonics are ready to bet on someone already on the roster.
"It's Bogdanovic," said the scout. "He's been in the doghouse all year, but he's been practicing, he's been pushing, and so has his agent; they wanted a trade or more minutes and Hollins was finally satisfied with the way Bogdanovic was moving on defense. He's plugging Bog-Dog in as the backup three, with a bit of two in there, and they're going to use his spacing out there on the floor."
The trade seems small and ineffective on the whole -- Lin seems to have peaked as a player and looks to have little to offer that we haven't already seen -- but he'll be more capable at the point than Larkin or Neal was, and is shooting a higher percentage than either of them at this point.
For the Hornets, this trade is the first in what appears to be a series of trades -- Hawes is rumored to be on the move now, as well as Jeremy Lamb, both players that the Hornets front office are displeased with. Neal, familiar with Charlotte from his experience there two years ago (also the last time they made the playoffs), will immediately slide in as the starting two, hoping to pick up where he left off the last time he was in Charlotte.
As for Larkin, he's a younger and cheaper backup than either Roberts or Lin, and should be able to better play to his strengths in an offense that has Kemba Walker as it's starter.
Whether this trade will be enough for either team to succeed in the last two months of the season is another question entirely. One one hand, don't fix it if it ain't broken ... on the other, the playoffs are a different beast altogether than the regular season; did Seattle do too little here?
We'll only know at the end of the regular season.
Comment