Written by Zach Harper | 09 June 2009

Finally!

Bryan Colangelo and Ed Stefanski have seen our boredom, read the headlines of our space-filling posts in the days between these underwhelming NBA Finals games and have finally given us something to talk about. It's not exactly a post-season blockbuster deal like the Chris Webber for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe trade that went down in 1998. But I'll take whatever non-Lamar Odom sweet tooth, SVG ranting, Kobe Bryant underbite news I can get on the NBA front.

The Philadelphia 76ers are shipping Reggie Evans to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for sharp-shooting Jason Kapono. It's a much-needed move for both teams to exchange some depth that they have on the court for a need that they can't really fill.

Here's how the trade looks in a table setting with statistics from their now previous team:



So there you have it. When you hear the players being traded, you probably initially start thinking the the 76ers got a steal in this trade. Jason Kapono is a known player for the most part because he's won his fair share of Three-Point Shooting Contests and is tied with J.J. Redick for most hair products used in a season. Reggie Evans is rarely known by people who aren't basketball junkies or professional NBA 2K10 Franchise players.

But this is actually a much more even trade than first glance would give you and when you look at the actual numbers, Reggie Evans is technically going to give the Toronto Raptors more than Kap will give Philly. Reggie's PER (Player Efficiency Rating) over the last two seasons have registered at 11.0 and 10.4, respectively. Jason Kapono on the other hand has given the Raptors 10.8 and 8.9 in those years. Neither player will be doing a large amount of scoring with just 11.9 points per game scored between them over the last two seasons. So why does this trade matter if it involves two apparently non-essential role players?

This trade is more about the threat of these players than what they will actually give their new teams.

For Philadelphia, they struggled mightily with three-point shooting so much last year that interim head coach, Tony DiLeo, actually implored guys like Andre Miller and Willie Greene to shoot more long-range shots towards the end of the season. That's like asking Johan Petro to try catching babies from a two-story fall. Kapono will come in under new head coach, Eddie Jordan, to play more of an offensive-minded system than what the Sixers were used to last year. It won't be as up-tempo and chaotic as Philly ran as they tried to slay the Orlando Magic but it will be predicated on getting good shots off of a Princeton style of offense. A guy like Jason Kapono can really benefit in his limited time to the open looks that this sort of offense can generate. The threat of a three-point shooter will be a luxury that the Sixers were sorely lacking last season (and since they traded Kyle Korver).

For Toronto, they were a pretty soft basketball team last year with next-to-no depth in the frontcourt. They relied on small, thin players like Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh to be their tough interior players while guys like Jake Voskuhl pretended to aid the guys in the paint. Reggie Evans brings a certain wild card element that guys like Dennis Rodman and Danny Fortson have given teams in the past. Evans is an enforcer that John Chaney would pine for. Evans is a tough rebounder and a solid defender that has a one-tracked mind in getting his job done. He's the type of guy that will make the other team think twice before hammering Chris Bosh and teammates with hard fouls inside. He's an uncomfortable type of opponent that players don't like to see because you never know when he'll be inclined to make a statement with some hard-nosed play. It's a threat that the Raptors didn't have at all last season.

This wasn't a barn-burner of a trade that people will be reading about on the front page of their local newspapers tomorrow morning. But it's the type of move that each franchise needed to make in order to have a more well-rounded roster heading into next season.


And here are a couple of videos for you Raptors and Sixers fans to know what type of guy you're getting:

Jason Kapono warming up for the 2008 Three-Point Contest. He made every shot except for one.


Reggie Evans can send a message...


Or he can send a MESSAGE.

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