| Grading The Deal: Hornets, Rockets Keep Up With Joneses Authored by Andrew Perna - February 21, 2008 - 8:01 pm
It was hard not to make some kind of deal in the vastly improved Western Conference this month as a handful of blockbuster trades were pulled off on the left side of the Mississippi River.
The New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets attempted to keep up with all the enhanced teams in the West, pulling the trigger on a three-way deal that also involved the cost-cutting Memphis Grizzles.
When the dust settled on the deal Mike James and Bonzi Wells landed in New Orleans, while Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a second-round draft pick ended up in Houston. Those four players made up the heart of the deal, but Memphis got involved as well acquiring Marcus Vinicius from the Hornets.
The Grizzles also sent the rights to Sergei Lishchuk, a 2004 second-round pick, to the Rockets. Memphis received cash and the rights to Malick Badiane, a second-rounder from the 2003 draft, from the Rockets to finally complete the deal.
The complicated trade gives the Hornets, the West’s best team heading into Thursday night’s games, a pair of veteran scorers off the bench. Financially, New Orleans took on a little more than two million in additional salary this season and will be on the hook for the remaining two years of James’ deal.
James will step in as the backup for Chris Paul, who plays nearly 38 minutes a night. It’s not out of the question to expect ten quality minutes from James, who averaged 20.3 points and 5.8 assists in 79 games as the starting point for the Raptors during the 2005-06.
Wells has never been the healthiest or most disciplined player, but will bring a nice-sized scoring punch off the bench for the Hornets. Wells has posted an FIC per 40 of 11.7 for the Rockets, with a Reina Value of +93 (signifying that he’s playing considerably better than what Houston was paying him).
Jackson struggled slightly for New Orleans this season, scoring just 7.1 points on 39.2% shooting. Oddly enough, he produced well for the Hornets in his last two games with the team – posting 28 total points on 55.5% shooting against the Bucks and Mavericks in the last week.
Adding a second round pick and Haluska in the deal wasn’t difficult for New Orleans, who came out on the better end of the deal in the short term. Even next year’s salary situation looks bright for the Hornets, who reduced their salary by a million with the expiring contract of Bonzi Wells. They will, however, owe James $6.5 million in 2009-10 after all the other contracts involved in the deal have expired.
Grade for Hornets: B+
The Rockets, who landed Jackson, Haluska and a second round pick, improved their long-term cap situation in the deal. The move gives the Rockets the opportunity to give a guy like Carl Landry a nice deal, assuming they pick up his option for next season and he continues to impress in Houston, after the 2008-09 campaign.
Houston also has the option to forgo a qualifying offer to Haluska, which would allow them to reduce their cap number by another $711,000 in 2008-09. Second round picks have become the vogue, low-risk thing to trade these days, but there is always the chance that the Rockets will be able to turn the selection into something valuable.
If Jackson stays healthy, the Rockets might actually get an upgrade over James off the bench, but they lost a significant amount of talent in Wells. The only reason Daryl Morey pulled the trigger on this deal was to dump some salary without completely breaking up the roster.
Grade for Rockets: B-
The Grizzles got involved in this trade strictly for financial reasons. The contract of Marcus Vinicius, who was received from the Hornets, expires at the end of the season. Memphis also benefited from an undisclosed amount of cash sent by Houston.
The exchanging of draft rights on the pair of foreign big men (Lishchuk and Badiane) seems irrelevant, aside for its importance in the intricate Collective Bargaining Agreement. After a busy three weeks of dealing, the Grizzles are now roughly $10 million under the cap heading into next season. However, they didn’t save a significant amount with this move.
Grade for Grizzles: C-
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Free feel to contact him at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com with comments and questions. |
