Big Ben to the Cavs

[CelticsGM]

What a night it's been.

After it looked like the deadline would pass without any action (from the bulls side) in the minutes right after it had passed the rumors were starting that Ben Wallace (finally) was on his way out of Chi-town. The excitement on the boards built up by the minute, and when the final deal was known the realGM thread had reached 55 pages already.

A collective sigh of relief came from 95% of all bulls fans.
And it didn't even matter who came back in the trade, just who left ...
 


In the end, the Bulls somehow managed to get 26yr old Gooden (reasonable contract, expiring next year), 29yr old Hughes (on a huge contract similar to Wallace), and two young projects in Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons, for three veterans of 34, 35 and 34 years of age that didn't play any part in the future of the team. amazing ...


but i'd like to look at the Cavs part here. Why did they do it ... and will it work?

Sure Wallace had no LeBron at the Bulls, someone taking care of the offense and allowing him to ONLY play D and keeping possessions alive (his biggest strength nowadays), but his defensive skills have eroded to a point he was a liability letting his man get big numbers in points and rebounds. Maybe it was only a matter of dissatisfaction wth the teammates, but that will be the Cavs problem to find out now. And finally, Ben had no use playing towards the end of tight games. His non-offense forced a lot of 4 on 5 sets (ok, the Cavs are used to 1 on 5 sets, so what ...), his atrocious FT shooting allowed the defense to have a perfect foul option, and the only reason he was played in 4th quarters was to keep him happyless disgruntled.

Sure, Wally and Delonte seem to be upgrades too (at least offensively, what I heard is Hughes and Drew will be badly missed on the other end), but ...

WILL THE CAVS BE CLOSER TO A TITLE NOW?
Did they narrow the gap to the Pistons/Magic ... and the whole Western Conference?


And what will be in 2 years when Wallace, Smith are retired or broken down?



Questions I'm seeking opinions on!
 

[PacersGM]

well for the cavs it was an easy call. varejao was already better than gooden anyway and hughes needs to be an option to be effectiv. with james having the ball all the time they needed shooters around him.
Z is more or less a jump shooter. wally and west ditto. joe will be the perfect sidekick in pick and roll situtations and will also paly well next to varejao. ben will have some space to go for offense rebounds which is still a strength. LB will get more opp. to drive the lane. biggest problem right now is that the cavs have to many injured players (gibson, varejao, pavlovic).
no one other than gooden would have a future with the cavs anyway and he is an underachiever his whole career.
with ben expiring in the same year as LB the cavs have a good chance to sign a second star next to james.
for the bulls it is a clear move to get their picks some PT.
Noah should be now the starting C and maybe thomas or gooden will start at PF. Hopefully not noce since he is currently better suited at SF. Gray also should get more PT. Biggest problem will be hughes who has the talent to start at SG next to hinrich. but that would mean that thabo is now a bench warmer again. what a waste
i really hope the bulls can trade hughes in the summer for expirings and find a real coach.

[WizardsGM]

The Cavs win this deal by a landslide. Ben didnt have the proper teammates around him to cover his shortcomings, but playing beside Big Z and on a better offensive team he will do a lot better (still not worth the contract, but better...). Managing to trade Hughes and get back 2 things he sucked at - a shooter (Wally) and a PG (West) was a huge steal. Hughes is absolutely horrible, and it will be interesting if Thabo still starts over him. This spells the end of Gordon's future in Chicago; he has S&T written all over him this offseason. Trading Ben and Joe Smith opens time for the Bulls young frontcourt, which is a plus for them. Gooden is one big mind-cramp, and swinging him for Joe Smith was a big plus for the Cavs too, who are now very deep in the front court.

The Cavs arent in the Detroit/Boston elite of the East yet, but they are definitely closer after this trade than they were before, and they are better equipped for a playoff series against anyone.

[CelticsGM]

... Gooden is one big mind-cramp, and swinging him for Joe Smith was a big plus for the Cavs too, who are now very deep in the front court.

And it seems like they are building for a long LBJ dynasty here, getting rid of 26 year old Gooden in favor of Joe Smith at age 33 (fits to the "Wall brothers": Wallace is 33 and Wally is 31).

[RaptorsGM]

The Cavs trade has taken a backseat to the HUGE news out of Toronto....

Raps have traded Juan Dixon for Primoz Brezac!!


 

[PacersGM]

The Cavs trade has taken a backseat to the HUGE news out of Toronto....

Raps have traded Juan Dixon for Primoz Brezac!!


 

don?t forget the green for snyder trade

[WizardsGM]

... Gooden is one big mind-cramp, and swinging him for Joe Smith was a big plus for the Cavs too, who are now very deep in the front court.

And it seems like they are building for a long LBJ dynasty here, getting rid of 26 year old Gooden in favor of Joe Smith at age 33 (fits to the "Wall brothers": Wallace is 33 and Wally is 31).

Gooden hasnt improved in 3 years, and he wont improve upon what he is now despite his age. Smith is an upgrade for a title run this year and next. And next season the Cavs have some 30+mil in expiring contracts to swing more big trades, so look out.