Trade Deadline Deals

I just discovered that I can now get on this blog from work, so thats exciting.

More to the point, the NBA's trade deadline was this last Thursday at 3pm Est. This year, there were severl trades in the days leading up to the deadline (14 by my count) including a few major trades.

Let's look at the 3 big trades:
On Tuesday, this trade went down: the Denver Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, and Shelden Williams to the New York Knicks for Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wison Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, a future 1st round draft pick, 2 future 2nd round draft picks, and cash, plus Kosta Koufos and a 2nd round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded Corey Brewer to the Knicks for Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry, and cash. So that trade involved 13 players (1 an All-Star this year) and 4 draft picks being moved. That is a huge trade. The key piece to this was Carmelo Anthony wanting to play in New York, so the Nuggets decided to trade him there instead of letting him go in free agency in the summer. By doing this trade, they also saved around $25 million this year in salaries and luxury taxes.

The next big trade happened Wednesday. This one wasn't so big in the number of players, but big in significance. The Nets felt they missed out on getting Carmelo, so they traded Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, 2 1st round picks, and cash to the Utah Jazz for All-Star point guard Deron Williams. Like the Nuggets, the Jazz were worried that Williams would leave in free agency when his contract is up in 2012, so they decided to trade him now and get something good in return. This trade is also significant for the Jazz in the sense that they have had one losing season in the last 23 years, and yet in the last month they have fired their head coach, Jerry Sloan (the head coach for all 23 of those years), and traded away their best player all while having a winnign record right now. If they can maintain a winning record for the rest of this season I would be surprised.

The next big trade isn't in the number of players, nor was their an All-Star player traded. It is big because the best team in the East, the Boston Celtics, traded their starting center. Boston traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Most people I have heard talk about this trade think the Celtics were the big losers in this one. Perkins gave them the size, toughness, and experience necessary for the playoffs. Green gives them versitility, more offense, and potential. I think Green will be an important part of the Celtics rebuilding plan once Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen retire in the next few years. However, I do think it hurts their chances to win it all this year. They have to hope that Shaq can stay healthy for the playoff run. But if the Celtics can sign a recently released free agent, such as Troy Murphy or Leon Powe, I think they will be set for this year and the future. On the Thunder's side, this trade makes since because they lacked everything I mentioned Perkins has. Plus, they have a young, up-and-coming power forward in Serge Ibaka (his full name is Sergeballu LaMu Sayonga Loom Walahas Jonas Hugo Ibaka and he is a 2nd year player from the Congo). So this allows him to get more playing time too.

Other trade deadline notes:
One of my favorite players, fellow Purdue alumni Carl Landry got traded to the New Orleans Hornets from the Kings. I like this trade for a couple reasons. The Hornets needed more size off their bench. This allows Landry to play for a better team. And now, two of my favorite Purdue athletes, Landry and Drew Brees, both play in New Orleans.

Total there were 50 players and 17 draft picks traded this past week.

For the rest of the trades and other transactions, visit hoopshype.com.

Best Value Teams pt. 10

This week's best value teams ranking is done with all the teams stopped for All-Star weekend. As of last night, there was a major trade involving Carmelo Anthony going from the Nuggets to the Knicks. Trades like this do major changes to teams' salaries, and with the trade deadline this Thursday, I'm sure next weeks rankings will be much different.

Biggest improvement: Warriors (+4)
Biggest drop: Jazz, Nuggets (-4)

Rank - Team - Projected Wins - Cost per Win - (last ranking)
1. Bulls - 58 - $969,615.60 (1)
2. Spurs - 67 - $1,016,967.91 (2)
3. Heat - 60 - $1,09+,277.07 (4)
4. Thunder - 53 - $1,093,482.75 (3)
5. Knicks - 43 - $1,351,219.49 (8)
6. Hawks - 51 - $1,360,230.78 (6)
7. Celtics - 61 - $1,373,619.00 (7)
8. Hornets - 47 - $1,407,102.47 (5)
9. Blazers - 47 - $1,455,725.79 (12)
10. Mavs - 59 - $1,487,495.98 (9)
11. Grizzlies - 45 - $1,492,496.40 (10)
12. Suns - 41 - $1,596,392.17 (15)
13. Lakers - 55 - $1,664,902.89 (13)
14. Warriors - 39 - $1,681,309.18 (18)
15. Jazz - 45 - $1,684,119.00 (11)
16. Clippers - 31 - $1,698,993.65 (14)
17. Magic - 52 - $1,714,223.00 (17)
18. 76ers - 39 - $1,778,467.85 (19)
19. Pacers - 36 - $1,788,011.69 (20)
20. Nuggets - 46 - $1,823,096.52 (16)
21. Bobcats - 35 - $1,882,310.97 (21)
22. Rockets - 37 - $2,015,722.14 (22)
23. Kings 20 - $2,189,920.05 (23)
24. Pistons - 30 - $2,197,260.70 (25)
25. Bucks - 31 - $2,237,209.87 (24)
26. T-Wolves - 19 - $2,363,152.16 (27)
27. Nets - 24 - $2,439,162.79 (26)
28. Wizards - 23 - $2,611,600.48 (28)
29. Raptors - 22 - $3,077,185.82 (29)
30. Cavs - 15 - $3,438,187.13 (30)

NBA All-Star Weekend

Tonight marks the beginning of one of my favorite weekends of every year. It's NBA All-Star Weekend. Three nights of the top players competing against each other in various forms of competition. The schedule for the weekend is as follows (all times Eastern):

Friday
7 pm on ESPN
Celebrity All-Star Game
-- This is my least favorite part of the 3 day celebration, but it is still sometimes interesting. I don't know who all is playing in the game this year, but there is usually a collection of retired NBA players, WNBA players, musicians, and actors. Some are obviously better than others, but the quality of the game is usually pretty low.

9 pm on TNT
Rookie - Sophomore Game
-- This is the premier showcase of the young talent currently in the league. It is usually pretty entertaining as some of the lesser-known guys try to make a name for themselves. It pits 12 of the best rookies from this year against 12 of the best 2nd year players in the league. This year, notable players include Blake Griffin (who is competing in events all 3 nights), John Wall, and Stephen Curry.

Saturday
8 pm on TNT
All-Star Saturday Night
-- This night consists of a few different individual competitions. This includes the Slam Dunk Competition, The 3-Point Shootout, and the Skills Challenge. The Slam Dunk contest has not been great the last few years, but this year is must-watch TV because of the previously mentioned Blake Griffin. He is unbelievable. Just search Youtube for his highlights and enjoy. The 3-Point Shootout this year has the new all-time leading 3-point leader, Ray Allen (he recently passed Reggie Miller for that distinction). It also has last year's scoring leader Kevin Durant and Celtics forward Paul Pierce, among others. The Skills Challenge is probably my favorite part of the night. It pits some of the best point guards in the league against each other in an obstacle course filled with basketball tasks like dribbling, shooting, and passing. This year's contestants are Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Russell Westbrook. It should be a good time.

Sunday
8 pm on TNT
2011 NBA All-Star Game
The best all-star game of any of the major sports. In this game you get to see the leagues best players playing together, having fun, showing off, and towards the end: playing to win. The starting lineups for this game is unbelievable. 10 starters, all who will one day be hall-of-famers. The East is starting Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Amare Stoudemire. The West is starting Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Tim Duncan (the greatest power forward of all time), Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant. The backups are no slouches either. They include guys like Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Deron Williams, among several others. Please, I beg of you, if you want to like the NBA at all, check out this game. It is amazing.

For any and all of things related to All-Star Weekend, go to ESPN's page here: espn.go.com/nba/allstargame.

Add on to yesterday's Cavs post

A few things I came across that I wanted to share in relation to yesterday's post about the Cavs being very, very bad. The 1st is this website: http://www.didthecavswinlastnight.com/. It's simplicity makes it awesome.

The next is an article on SI.com (that's short for Sports Illustrated for those of you who don't know) by Michael Rosenberg. It talks about the biggest falls from being a great team to an awful team in one year in all the major sports. But the first paragraph is what got me:

The Cleveland Cavaliers stink like old diapers dipped in sewage. They are so bad they lose their practices. (Average score: Starters negative-12, Backups negative-38.) They aren't just bad, they're toxic. When they watch Hoosiers, Hickory High loses.

Read the rest of the article here.

One more note, that isn't really related to the Cavs awfulness, unless you are count every LeBron James highlight a jab to the team in Cleveland, is this play in the Heat-Pacers game last night. Simply amazing play by Dwayne Wade and James.

Anyways, have a wonderful day. The weather here in Indiana is a beautiful 60 degrees finally.

Are the Cavs the Worst NBA Team Ever?

Now that the Cavs finally ended their NBA record 26 game losing streak, the question must be answered: are they the worst NBA team ever?

Obviously we need to wait until the season is over to truly understand the awfulness that is the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers, however, we can certainly start to get an understanding of their ineptness now.

The team with the worst record of all time is the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. They went an unbelievable 9-73 that year. That put them a cool 59 games behind division winner Celtics that year. They won only 2 road games and only 2 division games. Their longest losing streak was 20 games that season. They are generally considered the benchmark for the worst team ever.

But there are a couple more options to look at. The longest single-season losing streak before the Cavs broke it was 23 games. This record was held by 2 teams: the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies and the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets. The Grizzlies wound up with a record that year of 15-67, finishing 44 games behind the division winning Spurs. They managed 5 road wins and 3 division wins all season. The Nuggets finished with a record of 11-71, finishing 51 games behind the Jazz in the division. They won 2 road games and 3 division games.

This years Cavs are currently 9-46, 28.5 games behind the Bulls in the division. They have won 3 road games and one division game. This puts them on pace for a record of 13-69, 44 games behind the Bulls, with 4 road wins and 2 division wins.

So deciding which of these teams are the worst I think you can easily count out the 95-96 Grizzlies. Their losing streak was matched by the Nuggets and the Nuggets finished worse overall. The Cavs 26 game losing streak is amazing, but they would have to lose their last 27 games this season to match the 76ers record. And their projected 13 wins would be better than the Nuggets record. 44 games behind in the division is better than 51 or 59. So I would say the Cavs are not the worst team ever. Yet. It could still happen. But for now I will say the 72-73 76ers are still the worst NBA team of all time.

Best Value Teams pt. 9

For the first time all season, the Spurs have been knocked out of the top spot. This week the Bulls moved up to first place by going on a 6 game win streak and the Spurs lost a couple games.

The Cavs have set an NBA record with their 24th straight loss. Apparently losing LeBron James is not good for your team after all.

Biggest improvement in rankings: Grizzlies (+4).
Biggest drop in rankings: Blazers, Lakers, and Nuggets (all -3).

Rank - Team - Projected Wins - Cost per Win - Last weeks rank
1. Bulls - 58 - $969,615.60 (2)
2. Spurs - 69 - $987,383.77 (1)
3. Thunder - 54 - $1,073,233.07 (3)
4. Heat - 59 - $1,107,739.39 (4)
5. Hornets - 51 - $1,296,741.49 (5)
6. Hawks - 53 - $1,308,901.32 (6)
7. Celtics - 62 - $1,351,463.85 (8)
8. Knicks - 42 - $1,383,391.38 (7)
9. Mavs - 57 - $1,539,688.82 (11)
10. Grizzlies - 43 - $1,561,914.84 (14)
11. Jazz - 48 - $1,578,861.56 (12)
12. Blazers - 43 - $1,591,142.14 (9)
13. Lakers - 56 - $1,635,172.48 (10)
14. Clippers - 32 - $1,645,900.09 (15)
15. Suns - 39 - $1,678,258.44 (17)
16. Nuggets - 48 - $1,747,134.17 (13)
17. Magic - 51 - $1,747,835.22 (16)
18. Warriors - 36 - $1,821,418.28 (20)
19. 76ers - 38 - $1,825,269.63 (19)
20. Pacers - 37 - $1,839,097.74 (22)
21. Bobcats - 35 - $1,882,310.97 (18)
22. Rockets - 37 - $2,015,722.14 (21)
23. Kings - 21 - $2,085,638.14 (24)
24. Bucks - 32 - $2,167,297.06 (23)
25. Pistons - 29 - $2,273,028.31 (25)
26. Nets - 24 - $2,439,162.79 (26)
27. T-Wolves - 18 - $2,494,438.39 (27)
28. Wizards - 22 - $2,730,309.59 (28)
29. Raptors - 23 - $2,943,395.13 (29)
30. Cavs - 13 - $3,967,139.00 (30)