NBA Trades on Draft Day!

[crugar]

The Boston Celtics acquired guard Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics on for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the No. 5 first-round pick.

On a bit lesser scale, the Knicks and Trail Blazers reached agreement on a deal that swaps Randolph and teammates Dan Dickau and Fred Jones for guard Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

Kobe Bryant ain't going anywhere - that's if the Lakers want to save face in trading arguably, and I say arguably, the best player in the NBA. How can you trade Shaq and Kobe and stay respectable??

What's next??

Will Bryan Collangelo make a move?

[J-Reel]

Bye bye Zach... Have fun in NY city!!!


Big picture didn't include Randolph
Friday, June 29, 2007

I t's a rural area, and people sometimes shoot at things in the sticks, so the people who live adjacent to Zach Randolph's home in Stafford will tell you they don't so much mind the occasional sound of gunfire coming from his five-acre property.

But the neighbors have grown tired of the late-night gatherings and the sound of all-terrain vehicles racing around at 3 a.m., with screeching women hanging off the back. And they'll tell you that Randolph erected a large, enclosed dog kennel on the property a couple of years ago, and they're not so sure how they feel about that.

New York City, betcha can't wait to meet the Hoops Family.

Hey, maybe you're busy today dreaming on Greg Oden. Or weighing the trade that sent Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Freddie Jones to the Knicks in exchange for Steve Francis and Channing Frye on Thursday.

So, yeah, who was the big winner?

Randolph's neighbors, of course.

Those poor souls thought they were moving to the country to get away from the noise, and the hustle, so they could get some peace and stare at the horizon. Then, they woke up one day and the neighborhood went "2 Fast 2 Furious" on them. Randolph showed up with his posse of sycophant friends who wore diamond-encrusted necklaces declaring themselves the "Hoops Family."

On Thursday, Randolph's neighbors got their liberation.

Maybe you're surprised at the big choice Thursday. Not Oden over Durant. Principles over Randolph. Because what we've witnessed is the exorcism of a franchise player. Randolph was just jettisoned out of town at 50 cents on the dollar, and the Blazers are smitten with the deal, ready to try and turn another.

Before you can even wonder how Frye will give the team depth, and whether Francis' contract (which has two years remaining vs. the four years on Randolph's) gives Portland flexibility, or whether Francis might entertain a buyout, you have to first marvel at how little the Blazers must have thought of Randolph.

The franchise didn't want Randolph around Oden. They didn't want him in LaMarcus Aldridge's way. It's obvious they didn't want to go another day, or another minute, waiting for the telephone to ring with a report of Randolph mixed up in some innocent dealing with a prostitute, police, a strip club, a gun or street racing. A guy whose unpredictable character used to fit like a headband around here found himself expendable Thursday.

Frye gives the Blazers depth in the front court. He'll fit the kind of culture that general manager Kevin Pritchard loves. You can envision Frye as a role player on a team playing deep in the playoffs. And the guy who calls himself "Stevie Franchise" has two years and $33.6 million remaining on his contract, which means you just bought two expensive years off Randolph's deal. And if the Blazers are serious about getting better sooner, they'll buy out Francis.

What you can't do if you're Portland is let Francis hang around the kiddies in your locker room.

Remember, when Francis was drafted by the Grizzlies, he was so disappointed he cried. Then, he declared that he would not play for the Grizzlies, who were in Vancouver, B.C., at the time, because it was too far from his home in Maryland, and against God's will. He's also a defensive liability. Also, Francis was suspended for kicking a photographer and refusing to enter the game in the waning moments of a blowout loss.

That's only to say, Francis isn't a 25-point pledge kind of guy. It's the most puzzling piece of the trade, until you remember he's rumored to be interested in a buyout. Portland is going to have a difficult time selling Francis to fans because he's going to remind them of everything they loathed in the last decade. Which is why the Blazers should assign a settlement negotiator, not an assistant coach, to work with Francis on how he can best help the Blazers this summer.

Sure, Portland could have waited until February's trade deadline to deal Randolph. Sure, the Blazers could have kept shopping, just to see what else was out there. But in the end, what we have here isn't so much a trade as an indictment of the old way of doing business at One Center Court.

Randolph's $84 million contract was negotiated by Steve Patterson and John Nash. So was the Darius Miles contract that still has three years and $26 million remaining, which you might argue, pound-for-pound, was the worst contract ever negotiated in Portland if only Miles hadn't gained 40 pounds since he last played. Owner Paul Allen just saved himself $33 million, which would have gone to Randolph in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

You can't make Thursday's trade about value, because, on paper, man for man, Portland got ripped off. The Blazers gave up a perennial 20-and-10 player. But if you're looking at the larger picture, if you're weighing the direction of the franchise, if you understand who Randolph was when nobody was looking, you know that something had to be done with Randolph.

He didn't fit in anymore.

You could tell by the way Brandon Roy looked at him. You could tell by the way management talked about him. You could tell by how his coaches cringed when the ball went into the post and never came out.

The bonus here is that Randolph ends up in the Eastern Conference, where he won't someday bump the Blazers out of a playoff spot. It's why Portland wouldn't seriously entertain sending Randolph to Golden State, Denver or Seattle, which expressed interest. And we're all certainly going to get joy out of watching Randolph and Eddy Curry discover during games that there is only one basketball, and two of them.

When you sift through the events of Thursday, you understand that Pritchard and Allen view their team as being two years away from completion. They're young, still. But they're good. And you wouldn't mind living next door to them. The Blazers, as is, will contend for the final playoff spot next season, but if we're talking real contention -- the top four seeds in the Western Conference -- you understand that the Blazers have given themselves salary flexibility two years from now.

Also, the neighbors finally got some peace.

Any of us would have traded for that.

John Canzano

[Joesho]

I think Seattle did real well for themselves too , not a contender by any means, but may make a run at the playoffs at least!.

The Lakers are in Trouble in the west man unless they think of something pretty quick before it is too late for them again this year.

[V_RocKs]

Good luck to all of the winners!