| 18 February 2009
Yesterday the Sacramento Kings finalized a deal that sent Brad Miller and John Salmons to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni and Cedric Simmons. The Portland Trail Blazers were also involved in the deal sending Ike Diogu to Sacramento in exchange for Michael Ruffin's expiring contract.
The Bulls haven't had a big man that could contribute since they traded Tyson Chandler (no offense to P.J. Brown and Ben Wallace). Brad Miller isn't the low post player that they want, but he can still contribute offensively in the high post and grab 8-9 rebounds per game. John Salmons is having the best season of his career averaging 18.3 points, 4.2 boards, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 47% from the field and 42% from three. He also has one of the best contracts in the league. He is only owed $11.3 million over the next two seasons.
The Kings desperately wanted to get under the cap this off season, and they traded away the only pieces that other teams would actually want (not named Kevin Martin or Jason Thompson). Drew Gooden was brought on as a straight salary dump which is the only good reason to trade for him. His $7.2 million contract is off the books at the end of this season. The same could be said for Cedric Simmons who has a $2.7 million team option for next season. Even if the Kings picked his option up, it wouldn't hurt their cap. Diogu should also become a free agent at the end of this season.
For the rest of this trade analysis, click the link. The Link
Tyson Chandler fails physical, shipped back to the Hornets
By Zach Harper
Remember that thing about being traded to OKC?
Just kidding. 
Let's Recap All of the Games from Last Night
By Zach Harper
There seems to be some happy sentiment towards the covering of every game in a brief recap. So we'll stick with that for now. Here are the games from last night:
Denver Nuggets 101, Philadelphia 76ers 89 in Philadelphia-
After the first quarter, the Nuggets looked like they were going to wet the bed all night and give the Sixers an easy and much needed victory. But the Nuggets realized somewhere in the second quarter that they were a much better team than Philly and by the time the second half started, the tide was turned and the game was over. Denver used a 64-point second half to blow the Sixers out of the water and cruised to an easy victory. Carmelo Anthony ended up with 26 points and Chauncey Billups poured in 22 to lead the Nugs. The Sixers shot just 32% from the field and only made 28 baskets the entire night.
Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Toronto Raptors 76 in Toronto-
Welcome to Toronto, Shawn Marion; it's the land of no inside presence. The Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the inside in Shawn Marion's debut and ended up with a pretty easy victory, in which LeBron James and company were allowed to rest in the fourth. LeBron racked up 20 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists to go with Zyndrunas Ilgauskas' 22 points and Anderson Varejao's 14 rebounds. The Cavs shot 58% from the field in a game with very few possessions. The Raptors did force 20 turnovers from Cleveland but completely laid down because of the size disadvantage. Shawn Marion had 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists in 40 minutes for his first game as a Raptor.
Charlotte Bobcats 103, Indiana Pacers 94 in Charlotte-
Generally, when Gerald Wallace is throwing himself into big bodies and trying to absorb contact, he ends up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. But last night, he drew foul after foul after foul and ended up attempting 17 free throws to lead the Bobs to victory. Charlotte used it's +14 made free throw advantage and held the Pacers to just 41% shooting to pull a full game ahead of the Pacers in the standings. The Pacers were hindered by Danny Granger spraining his foot in the second quarter, which took him out of the game and limited him to just 10 total points on the night. As expected, Maceo Baston was not able to make up for the Pacers' injured star.
Minnesota Timberwolves 111, Miami Heat 104 in Miami-
Sebastian Telfair scored 30 points. He made six of his 10 free throw attempts. He made all 10 free throws. Literally, nothing makes sense in the world anymore. A couple of interesting announcing moments in this game -- Heat play-by-play man Eric Reid (the worst in the business) numerous times referred to Mario Chalmers as Marion, which was often followed by Tony Fiorentino (the WORST analyst in sports history) also calling Chalmers, "Marion." They later referred to Randy Foye as Mario Chalmers. It's quite possible that the worst announcing team in history will be replaced by this guy.
New Orleans Hornets 117, Orlando Magic 85 in New Orleans-
Chris Paul took full advantage of Anthony Johnson being on the court and gave a dominating performance in leading the Hornets to a very easy victory. Orlando had just three players in double figures and shot just 37% for the game. The Hornets took care of the ball with just seven team turnovers and they played very efficient basketball with 58% shooting from the field. The Hornets who were without Tyson Chandler and anyone who might have once been traded for him dominated the Magic on the boards with a +11 advantage.
Chicago Bulls 113, Milwaukee Bucks 104 in Milwaukee-
Last year, I wrote an article about the most underrated players in basketball and named Kirk Hinrich as the MOST underrated. He finally came through by taking over this game and scoring 31 points off the bench as the undermanned Bulls (due to trade) got a huge road victory against the Bucks. Richard Jefferson put up a nice fight with 32 points of his own but nobody could stop Kirk Hinrich from finally coming through on my assertion. Now if he does it next game, we'll really have something going here.
Dallas Mavericks 113, New Jersey Nets 98 in Dallas-
The Nets tried to use a nice balanced attack that included five players in double figures and solid shooting from the field. The Mavericks countered with an all out assault that gave them four starters with at least 20 points, including an unlikely 20 from Antoine Wright. The Mavericks shot 54% from the field and had 30 team assists on 42 made baskets to run the Nets off the court.
Portland Trailblazers 94, Memphis Grizzlies 90 in Portland-
Rudy Gay made his first five shots to help keep within a shot or two of the Blazers as they started out to their fastest pace in a long time with Steve Blake back to run the show. But Brandon Roy and missed free throws did in Memphis as they failed to steal a road victory. The Blazers played without Greg Oden who has a bone chip in his knee but got a
great 15-rebound performance from Joel Pryzbilla in his place.
Atlanta Hawks 105, Sacramento Kings 100 in Sacramento-
The Kings put up a hell of a fight after trading their two best players behind Kevin Martin's 32 points but the Hawks won the battle of the two point guards who play zero defense as Mike Bibby out-dueled Beno Udrih and helped Atlanta bounce back after an ugly loss to the Lakers. Bibby scored 29 points to Beno's 18 and Joe Johnson dropped in 20 to give the Hawks their 32nd victory of the season. I passed up tickets to this game and am quite happy that I did.
Los Angeles Lakers 129, Golden State Warriors 123 in Oakland-
Stephen Jackson shut Kobe Bryant down (relatively) for three quarters as the Warriors attempted to deny the Lakers a road victory. But then Kobe Bryant turned on the greatness in the fourth quarter and refused to let the Lakers falter. Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol carried the Lakers early and ended up with a combined 46 points. For G State, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, and Stephen Jackson all scored at least 23 points but they couldn't get a stop when they needed to slow down the Lakers fourth quarter attack.
Phoenix Suns 142, Los Angeles Clippers 119 in Los Angeles-
In the last two games, the Suns are averaging 141 points per game against the Clippers. I think they officially have their number. 
It's TNT Thursday!
By Zach Harper
How about you get caught up in some Ben York Happiness?
By Zach Harper
Suns win = Ben Dances. Enjoy
By Zach Harper
"There should be a protocol, there should be a procedure where we have a chance to sit down and talk about the situation and not be announced in the press. I don't know why that happened, why he did that. Certainly, that is not the way things should be handled." -- Rick Adelman on Tracy McGrady's season-ending knee injury.
The fact that Rick Adelman read about McGrady's decision to forego the rest of the season shows you the internal problems in this organization right now. McGrady is becoming the big albatross in the locker room that fans can't stand and players don't respect. Is it all McGrady's fault? To a degree, yes. He's suffered through some horrendous injuries in a short amount of time and his body simply can't handle it. But at the same time, he has to communicate better with the people in his profession and involve the coach with issues like this.
Top 3 of the Night
1. Chris Paul - 36 pts, 10 asts, 3 stls, 33 mins
I seriously can't even take how good this guy is. I can only watch one-third of what he does because I might combust.
2. Sebastian Telfair - 30 pts, 6-10 3fg, 10-10 ft
The apocalypse is upon us. Everybody run!
3. Amare Stoudemire - 15 pts, 20 rebs, 5 asts, 2 stls, 2 blks
I don't really believe that he'll keep this up but if Lamar Odom can sustain this play in the playoffs, the Lakers will absolutely win the title this year. And if this happens, it will send Clippers' fans into an even bigger depression than there already was.
Bottom 3 of the Night
1. Dwight Howard - 12 pts, 8 rebs, 2-4 fg, 8-15 ft
Not exactly how you want to follow up your 45-point performance, especially when the competition is Melvin Ely and Sean Marks.
2. Los Angeles Clippers - 282 points given up the last two games.
I realize we're talking about the Clippers here but at some point, the pride has to step in and get just one defensive stop. Right?
3. Andre Iguodala - 10 pts, 4 asts, 1 reb, 1-6 fg
Not exactly the kind of production expected when J.R. Smith is the competition.
Here are the Top Blog Posts from yesterday.
1. From Waiting For Next Year-
Be sure to check out that first link, Boom Roasted!
2. From Ethan Jaynes-
Guillermo interviews Paul Pierce
3. From Hoops Addict-
2010 and the Great Free Agent Myth
In today's Ask a Blogger, we get one of the heavy hitters from the ESPN True Hoop Network, Royce from Daily Thunder. Daily Thunder is the best source for anything related to Oklahoma City Thunder basketball. I decided to check in on the state of the young players with the Thunder and how the roster is being shaped. Quick note: I asked him these questions before the Tyson Chandler trade fell apart. But still read his answer to the third question because it's a great answer. Here's what he had to say:
1. When the franchise acquired Jeff Green on the same night that they drafted Kevin Durant two years ago, it seemed like the team was trying to get as many young assets, throw them against the wall, and see what sticks. Now that the roster is becoming more defined as Sam Presti molds the core, do you think that Jeff Green is a long-term building piece for the Thunder or does he seem like an asset that could acquire a veteran player/second banana to put alongside Kevin Durant someday? Does he have a long-term place in the starting lineup with OKC or is his future with the team better as a sixth man?
The "throw it against the wall" theory is something I think a lot of people had. And after Jeff Green's rookie year, a lot of people were wondering what kind of contributor he could be in this league. He had an inconsistent jumper, didn't rebound all that well and wasn't get
much done in the post. But it's all changed this year. He's a solid outside shooter that can take people off the dribble and a physical defender. And all that stuff lines right into Sam Presti's plan. And while Uncle Jeff doesn't jump out to people on TV, he's exactly the
second fiddle OKC needs with Kevin Durant. He's unselfish, he works hard and he's really good. As for his spot in the starting lineup, that's hard to say. I think he's much better suited to play the four, but depending on how the ping-pong balls fall this year, he may become
a sixth man or even move back to the three. But in my mind, Jeff Green already is that second banana to go alongside KD. They've got awesome chemistry, they like each other and the play well off each other.
2. Russell Westbrook seems like the Thunder drafted a much better, more well-rounded version of Monta Ellis. Do you think he has a long-term projection as a top point guard or would he end up being more valuable as a scoring guard much like Monta Ellis (with Baron Davis) or maybe even a Ben Gordon?
It's funny you ask this. Ever since Russell really started picking up and catching people's attention, everyone has been looking for that elusive comparison with him. Is he Rajon Rondo? Is he Derrick Rose? Is he Monta Ellis? Is he Dwayne Wade? And the reality is, he's a little bit of everything. He's lightning quick off the bounce. He's developing a nice little 15-foot jay. He's a really quality defender that's getting better. He can get to the rim and finish with the best of them. But as for where he fits in logistically, I don't know. I like him playing the point because I think he defends that better and he can really create shots for people with his penetration. He's just not a good enough shooter at the two - yet. If he were ever to move
there, I think OKC would use him much in the way the Heat uses Wade or the Blazers use Brandon Roy. Handle the ball, distribute and create while also playing the off-guard.
3. I'm not very high on Tyson Chandler as a player unless he's playing with a really good distributing point guard (i.e.- Chris Paul). How does Chandler's presence transform the way the Thunder are building their core and will the positives overshadow his shortcomings?
I understand that because Chandler's two best years offensively were with Chris Paul. So that concern is totally valid. But two things: 1) I think Russell Westbrook can be that guy for him too. Now, I'm not trying to say Westbrook is CP3, but I think he can create similar
shots for him. 2) OKC didn't get Chandler to be a scorer. We've got that covered pretty well so far with Durant, Green and Westbrook. What the Thunder needed more than anything was a defensive presence in the paint. And Chandler is one of the best shot blockers in the league. He rebounds well and can defend virtually any other center in the league.
Right now, the Thunder has Nick Collison starting at the five. And like Pau Gasol showed a week and a half ago, a quality big man will abuse Nick just because he's so horribly out of position. So Chandler fills a MAJOR need for the Thunder but also makes them deeper in a way by letting Collison move back to his normal position and most likely come off the bench. But like I said, if Chandler scores some points then wonderful. But he's here to grab rebounds (he's the No. 1 offensive rebounder in the league) and play defense. And I don't think
he needs Chris Paul to do either of those.
Thanks for reading today's Eight-Second Violation. Any comments, criticisms, or words of praise can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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