Ben Wallace Shipped to Cleveland in 3-team Trade

Ben Wallace, the Bulls' marquee free agent pick up in 2006, is now headed to Cleveland to help LeBron James win his first NBA title. Along with Wallace, the Bulls sent consistent big man Joe Smith to the Cavs. The Bulls gets Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simons. The third team in the trade is the Seattle Supersonics who sent Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to Cleveland while aquiring Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall from the Cavs, and Adrian Griffin from the Bulls.

This will be a big impact to the Cavs in their playoff push this year. The Bulls, while giving up two of its top big men, will be getting a more aggressive player offensively in Gooden. This the kind of big man the Bulls have been lacking these past few year. By getting Wallace in 2006, they thought they solved the problem. But everyone knows, that Wallace is a defender and not a scorer. Gooden gives the Bulls that low post threat they needed this whole year. The Sonics, will be getting purely expiring contracts. Newble's contract is coming off the books after this season, while Marshall and Griffin's contracts expire after next season.

Jason Kidd to Dallas, at last!

Jason Kidd is officially a Dallas Maverick. The trade that almost didn't happen, happened. The New Jersey Nets shipped Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright in exchange for Devin Harris, Desagna Diop, Trenton Hassel, Keith Van Horn, two first-round draft picks, and $3 million. This deal makes the Mavs a more serious title contender. Jason Kidd makes good teammates great. So I'm excited to see what he can do with Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs however need to win within the next 2 - or 3 - years with this line-up. If not, Its back to rebuilding. Nowitzki is in his prime, and Kidd is still in the latter part of his. Waiting for Devin Harris to peak wasn't an option for Mark Cuban and Donny Nelson. This move made up for their mistake of letting Steve Nash walk away to the Phoenix Suns (if that didnt happen, they might have won a championship already). Its all or nothing now for Dallas, along with the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs and Suns made gamble moves which for me are good moves. But only one can win a championship. Will it be the Mavs or the Suns? Or would be another team? I'll see you in June to find out!

Shaq Traded To Phoenix

The Phoenix Suns aquired center Shaquille O'neal from the Miami Heat in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. This seems a blockbuster trade, if it happened a few years back. But now, everyone is wondering what Steve Kerr was thinking of when he pulled the trigger on this trade. The Diesel doesn't fit the game of the Phoenix Suns. Their uptempo style of play would tire Shaq. Or is this a sign that the Phoenix Suns would abandon their pure run-and-gun type of offense? Honestly, I don't know how to react to this trade. Yes, this makes Amare play at Power forward, but the question is still "how can Shaq keep up with the Suns?" I guess we'll just have to wait until Shaq's first game with the Suns. And we'll just have to wait until the playoffs to see if this was a wise move by Suns management.

Gasol Makes Lakers Title Contenders

The trade that brought Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Los Angeles Lakers has to be the best executive move this year (so far). The trade made the Lakers instant title contenders. If Andrew Bynum returns in time for the playoffs, then Kobe will have two talented big man to back him up in the post-season.

I hate the Lakers. Not just the Lakers of today, but the franchise as a whole (I am a big Bulls fan and, as a kid, hated Magic's Lakers, and it carried over until today). But Kobe's professionalism has made me a fan. He is not like cousins McGrady and Carter who will lose games on purpose to be traded. Plus, he carried his team to elite status this season with the help of rising star Andrew Bynum. Now, with Gasol in the line-up, the Lakers now become a fun team to watch with serious championship hopes.

I might finally cheer the Lakers on for the first time in history come playoff time.

Back to Niko's Sports Blog



OneBandila.com