Rockets / Nets (day 51)

[Str8westcoasta]

Rockets send:
Tim Hardaway
Zack Profit

to Nets for:
Michael Jordan
Roberto Wanzer


Rockets agree.

[NetsGM]

Rockets send:
Tim Hardaway
Zack Profit

to Nets for:
Michael Jordan
Roberto Wanzer

Rockets agree.

Nets agree.

Pretty thrilled to get Timmy Hardaway - I'm looking forward to him and Fortson making quite the mighty midget backcourt for the next four seasons. I don't think I lose much production at all with this exchange, gain some flexibility (positionally and contractually), and anticipate that Tim'll get better as time marches on whereas MJ seemed to be going in the opposite direction here in Jersey.

Pretty risky trade for both teams imo. Am looking forward to seeing how it plays out - after some FA disappointment, I felt that I needed to make some changes to set this team up for the long haul: I'll take the core of Hardaway, Pryz, Fortson, Majerle and Saperstein just about any day.

I was disappointed by Wanzer's TC, and he got leapt over by some other guys since his arrival late last year. I think he's a useful bench scorer, but wasn't confident in his ability to develop into a starter for me with the others around.

Profit will be able to step in and give me a scorer should anything happen to any of other guys. That big expiring might come in handy, too.

[NetsGM]

Oh, and Rockets, I think that Profit has a TR until day 51 due to being signed on Day Two of FA, so we'll probably have to wait abit.

[HornetsGM]

Hardaway is statistically better than Jordan already. I don't really see how this makes sense for the Rockets.

[Str8westcoasta]

Tough decision for me but in the end Hardaway isn't a SG...

I now have Grant and MJ which is a better pairing for the team than with a 6' SG

A big risk sure... time will tell

[JazzGM-old2]

Congrats to both of you for working out a deal.

[CelticsGM]

some thoughts:

- Timmy is no SG. But a heckuva player already.
- I'm not convinced that Grant-MJ will work any better than Grant-Timmy
- now i finally can repeat it: MJ is MJ and 25 ... but he's also a 16/5/4 guy shooting 41% and turning it over like it's constantly give-away night.
- sorry man, but Timmy(especially if pairde with a perfect option in Zack)
>>>>>>> Grant-MJ for the time being. Grant can't shoot and neither can MJ. ...


And now let me tell you my opinion: Imagine trading stud Grant for a frontcourt stud an

[MavsGM]

Tom, MJ has a career FG .465%, this guy can shot.  He's struggling a bit but is still early, he will turn it around.

[HornetsGM]

Why is everyone so sure that he's not a SG? He seems to be doing quite well there: 21/6/4.6

[WolvesGM]

I think this trade favors the Nets. Michael Jordan's decline in TC and in production is definitely a trend. He might bounce back by shooting a bit better but MJ might have already peaked. Hardaway seems to be putting up great stats at SG and Profit gives the Nets quick offensive production off the bench. Going by production, Hardaway is better than MJ and Profit is better than Wanzer.
The name MJ just makes GMs overvalue him.

[NetsGM]

Hardaway is statistically better than Jordan already. I don't really see how this makes sense for the Rockets.

I'm not ready to stick a fork in MJ quite yet.  We're 6 games into the season, so it's hard to read too much into this season.  Last year he "struggled" to a 23/8/4.6 season.  SSBA isn't always a linear trend, and at 25 years old, I'd certainly give MJ a shot to get his mojo back.   Remember, Ralph Sampson was done after a 19.8 ppg 3rd season with the Hornets.  Since then he's averaged 28 ppg, 23.3 ppg, 26.7 ppg and 28.1 ppg in 4 seasons since being traded, with his scoring ratings actually going up with age.  A 1 or 2 year decline in a player doesn't always signify a continual trend, and especially when judged with ratings.

[NetsGM]

The name MJ just makes GMs overvalue him.

Or it might be the 25.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 5.6 apg, 2.0 spg career averages.

[RaptorsGM]

I'd say its alot of each.

[CelticsGM]

of course i'd take MJ in an instant for half of my team, just for the sake of having MJ on my team.

[NetsGM]

Derek brings up good points about development and production - but on the other hand, some skills/productions are more linear than others such as to's (and bpg for bigs), and this one was a big issue for me. That, and I'm often just too impatient to wait through the downswings.
 
In any event, in evaluating this deal I looked at a couple of things:
1) the production the ratings led to (Timmy was providing what MJ was roughly despite lower ratings and seemed to be doing fine on the defensive end);
2) position versatility (if I have to choose between a 22ppg SG and 20ppg PG, I'll go with the point guard, especially since I didn't have a long-term answer there yet; Tim's a:to ratio is more impressive than MJ's); and,
3) contract flexibility (if I'd gotten real lucky during this year's FA, chances are that I wouldn't have done this move - at least this quickly; but I didn't, and I didn't feel as though my team was strong enough to "lock in" and  be a perennial winner. Getting a similar talent/producer and 12+mil in expiring allows me to go after premium free agents again this off-season, and closer to being the kind of team I want to end up being.)

Fair bit of risk, because MJ isn't dead, and I might not get to use my cap to get the kind of player I need, but at least I have the option now.