An original Trade Journal proposal has New Jersey sending Vince Carter and Sean Williams to Atlanta for Mike Bibby.The explanation:
New Jersey is anxious to clear its payroll for a shot at LeBron James or other marquee free agent in the summer of 2010, and no contract stands in its way more than Carter's. With four years remaining at about $15 million per season, the talented but much-maligned scorer is the final remaining piece of Nets old guard, having seen fellow stars Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson traded for pieces of an impressive young core. Given his reputation and contract, Carter will likely not return that kind of value. In fact, the inclusion of the promising Williams is a sweetener to make Carter's presence on the payroll more palatable. But the Nets would enjoy enormous savings in a salary dump while adding Bibby, whose expiring contract might allow the Nets to acquire a long-term piece at the trade deadline.
Atlanta, meanwhile, is an apparent burgeoning contender who may or may not be able to take an additional step into contention without a boost in overall talent. But this summer has been defined to date by the loss of Josh Childress to Greece, an embarrassing episode in a franchise that has suffered plenty in recent years, and the hesitance to re-sign explosive forward Josh Smith, an unquestionably necessary move if the Hawks wished to remain a postseason presence. Atlanta could mitigate those stumbles with the big splash addition of Carter, still one of the league's most prolific scorers. Carter and Williams would mesh seamlessly into a roster that already features Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, and Smith, creating the lineup of interchangeable athletes the Hawks have long been striving to assemble. Few opponents would have the necessary personnel to effectively guard both Johnson and Carter on the wing in a half-court set, while a fast break featuring any three of the above would be an unstoppable force.
A few concerns about this deal: New Jersey would lose the overall talent exchange here by a wide margin, while Atlanta would be left with the young Acie Law IV and injury-prone veteran Speedy Claxton at point guard unless it made another attempt to shoehorn Johnson into that role. And the Hawks' front-office situation makes a trade of any magnitude, and particularly one with this kind of financial commitment, a difficult proposition.
The upshot: There are some questions in this deal, but there are more solutions.
3 comments:
One reservation I have is a Joe Johnson - Vince Carter coexistence. Again, you've mentioned that Joe Johnson as PG didn't work out too well and that's likely what would happen, unless you opt to start one of them as an SF in place of Marvin Williams. Sean Williams adds some frontcourt depth. While Carter is a significant scoring upgrade to Bibby, I doubt that Carter would do as good of a job running the offense, and likely face many of the similar problems that Joe Johnson does. Williams puts an athletic big behind Horford and Josh Smith, but Carter I don't see meshing into the system overly well, unless you decide to run Marvin Williams as a point forward? Ideally, the Hawks offense suggests it's just 5 of the most athletic, long guys you can get running the floor, hence, whoever runs the point is sort of secondary, but you still need someone to run a half-court set should the game slow down. We might go with Acie Law or Speedy Claxton, but Law hasn't seen as much floor time as we'd like and Claxton as you've mentioned has been injury prone. Actually, I would change the coach. I'd love to see a high energy uptempo coach like Mike D'Antoni, Don Nelson, or even Rick Adleman run an offense through this team. Right now, I don't know that I'd take it, especially in light that they just traded for Bibby.
Additionally, unless you play Bibby as an SG, I'm pretty certain the Nets are moving forward with Devin Harris, no? I suppose he's more of an expiring contract then. Williams makes sense as a roster with bigs like Yi, Josh Boone, and Brook Lopez will not see much playing time for Williams. I have some reservations about it, but from a financial perspective (ie Bobby Simmons) I suppose it could work for the Nets.
I say three team trade somehow roping Ben Gordon to Atlanta to run as the PG.
Just what the Hawks need, more swingmen? Haven't we seen this problem before? And though he may be a playmaker, Joe Johnson isn't a point guard. The Hawks tried that experiment once already. Veto.
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