An original Trade Journal proposal lands Zydrunas Ilgauskus, Steve Blake and Nicholas Batum in Orlando, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick in Portland, and Travis Outlaw, Brian Cook and Marcin Gortat in Cleveland.The explanation:
I worked through various permutations of this deal involving any numbers of players, and finally arrived at a version I think would fill a need for all teams involved. Let's look at what each team sacrifices and gains in the proposed deal.
Orlando gives Turkoglu, Redick, Cook and Gortat, and gains Ilgauskus, Blake and Batum.
The Magic emphatically addresses its most glaring weakness, the lack of a natural power forward, by installing the 7-3 Ilgauskus at center and enhancing Dwight Howard's dominance by moving him to that vulnerable position. Orlando's ill-fitting starting five would transform into a fluid, balanced group: pure point guard Jameer Nelson and defensive specialist Mickael Pietrus in the backcourt, sharpshooter Rashard Lewis at his ideal position of small forward and Howard and Ilgauskus presenting an impossible matchup for opposing frontcourts. Blake is a valuable backup to Nelson, another pressing need for Orlando, and Batum a low-risk prospect with considerable potential.
The move costs the Magic a valuable piece in Turkoglu, but his strengths and weaknesses overlap with Lewis, and it's unclear that the financially-strained franchise will even be able to keep him around after this season.
Portland gives Outlaw, Blake and Batum, and gains Turkoglu and Redick.
The affluent Trail Blazers would have no such trouble locking up Turkoglu, and would likely want to once they saw him mesh with their young stars. Turkoglu's all-around game would facilitate an offense loaded with weapons like Greg Oden, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, leaving point guard as the only position not completely settled in the Blazers' burgeoning title contender.
Despite the loss of Blake, Portland is still well-stocked with talent at point guard in the young combination of Sergio Rodriguez and rookie Jerryd Bayless. The ouster of Outlaw from the small forward spot, meanwhile, could be seen as a positive change of scenery move for the Blazers, as the talented wing has displayed some selfish tendencies and has openly questioned his standing among the Blazers' many offensive options. The trade brings certainty to a volatile situation and exchanges a potential star for an established one, a productive move for a team poised to make the first of many postseason runs. Redick, meanwhile, could join Martell Webster as marksmen feasting on defenses scrambling to cover the array of stars.
Cleveland gives Ilgauskus, and gains Outlaw, Cook and Gortat.
While last year's huge trade-deadline transaction placed a group of fading veterans around LeBron James, this move joins the recent Mo Williams acquisition in a more comprehensive Cavalier strategy to appease and support the resident superstar. Outlaw would be a young, dynamic foil to James on the Cleveland wing, a change the franchise player would likely welcome after years alongside the likes of Sasha Pavlovic, Larry Hughes and Wally Szczerbiak. The benefits go beyond mere youth, however: Outlaw can ease James' defensive burden by assuming the chore of guarding the opponent's best perimeter player, ease his offensive burden by shouldering the scoring load for short stretches, and keep up in the open court, finally signalling an end to the one-man fast breaks that are a hallmark of Cavaliers basketball.
A trade of Ilgauskus clears a starting role for Anderson Varejao, another player whose career arc more closely mirrors LeBron's. A core of Varejao, Outlaw, Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson and promising rookie J.J. Hickson surrounding a rare talent like James establishes Cleveland as a long-term contender and spares the team from annual transfusions of passable veteran help.
The upshot: Renewed optimism all around.
The upshot: Renewed optimism all around.
5 comments:
An interesting concept. I'm not completely against a starting 5 of Bayless, Roy, Turkoglu, Aldridge, Oden at Portland, actually, with the ball-handling abilities of Roy and Turkoglu I don't know that the PG situation is quite that bad.
Big Z is the ideal type of big man, soft and with a little range to play around Dwight Howard, and this gives Howard or Big Z both ample opportunities to punish smaller PFs in various lineups. Something to note is whether or not either one is willing to chase said PFs to the perimeter. However, I still have to chuckle whenever a former Warrior is mentioned as a "defensive specialist".
Cleveland would be interesting, I assume then Outlaw would be playing something of an oversized 2-guard position? I would like to see that kind of lineup, perhaps starting Williams, Outlaw, James, Wallace, Varejao. My only concern is that Varejao has yet to show any offensive low post threat, which means that Cleveland has lost any legitimacy (what little it had in Big Z) in the block. It's an interesting idea, but I still have a nagging feeling about it. Mike Brown would have to speed up his offense a bit to make it work, otherwise they'll get killed by teams like your revamped Orlando down low.
I think Cleveland has to speed up its offense if it wants to keep James. With or without Ilgauskus, and with or without shooters to spread the floor, James is stuck coming off high screens and dribbling into traffic in the half-court set. He's got to be getting tired of it. And you're right about Roy; I don't think he'll ever be a full-time PG, but he can certainly handle it in spot minutes.
I think the trade scenario is a genuinely bad idea for the Magic, considering the changes it would make to our current roster based on a flawed concept.
Bringing in Z to address the Power Forward slot is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer. He is a significant drain on offensive speed, gets worked over by smaller players and is not necessarily a better rebounder and scorer in the context of the Magic starters than Battie. As well, the Magic HAVE to give Battie a chance to play alongside Dwight and experiment with him in the starting lineup (big lineup with Hedo at SG).
He’s on the hook for nearly 2x as much salary as Hedo and his contract doesn’t expire till the end of next season.
As well, Dwight is not at a point where he has a 10-15ft offensive game which would is key if he is starting at PF. If you pickup Z, who likes to pop the foul line “jumper,” then Dwight still has no inclination on offense to play like a PF and will end up guarding the big man near the basket.
What is the point of bringing in Anthony Johnson and Milk Wilks if only to trade for Steve Blake? He’s a decent player, but not enough of an upgrade (even if tangential) in a mediocre trade scenario.
The Magic would be best served with getting Diogu or Frye from Portland instead of an old, creaky center and extras.
I'm not too enthusiastic about this deal from the Magic's perspective. Ilgauskas is a fine player, but doesn't have the stamina to run with the Magic, who played at the 9th-fastest pace of any team last year. He'd have to play power forward on offense because Howard is ineffective outside the paint. Luckily, Z has a reasonably reliable jumper from the top of the key, but it doesn't change the fact that his solid low-post skills would largely go to waste.
The Magic could probably get more in return for Hedo than Z.
I had a feeling you'd be skeptical of this deal, Ben Q. But I think Blake is a major pickup for the Magic too. Jameer and Anthony Johnson is a pretty thin group, and Stan Van apparently is concerned enough to try to adapt a wing to the point position. I like the idea of Z hitting that jumper, but also of Howard and Z tipping/dunking in each other's misses a few times a night. That Magic lineup scares me.
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