As I'm sure most everyone has heard by now, Portland traded away Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham, Sean Marks, and two future first round draft picks to the Charlotte Bobcats for Gerald Wallace.Personally, I was glad that after enduring what felt like an entire month of nothing but a bunch of rumors, that the Blazers finally pulled the trigger and made a trade. And at first glance, a really good trade at that. When you look at what the Blazers gave up and what they got in return, Portland pretty much stole Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats.
While seeing a good teammate and good guy overall in Joel Przybilla leave town sucks, he clearly hasn't been his "old self" since returning from a major knee injury, and (let's face it) will never be a very productive player again. Sean Marks is well, Sean Marks and is going to be (or already has been) cut by the Bobcats. It's hard to gauge how draft picks will pan out, so there is no use in doing that yet. And while Cunningham showed some promise in his first two years here in Portland, throwing him in a trade to get a player of Wallace's caliber is an absolute no-brainer.
So to summarize, Przybilla's probably going to retire at the end of this season and the Bobcats already cut poor Sean Marks. You could say that Portland pretty much got Wallace for Cunningham and two draft picks. And in Gerald Wallace the Blazers got a player that Dante Cunningham only wishes to be some day. Wallace does all the same things Cunningham does, but much better.
Really, the only downside to this trade for Portland is Gerald Wallace's injury history. And as we all know, you can't be a true member of the Portland Trail Blazers unless you blow out a knee or two. It's kind of like a rite of passage now.
Mike Tokito of the Oregonian writes that, "The Blazers acquired a hard-nosed player who last season was a first-team All-Defensive Team pick. The last player who earned first-team All-Defensive honors while playing for Portland was Buck Williams in 1990-91 (although Marcus Camby has twice done so for Denver) ...... Wallace is considered the greatest player in the short history of the Bobcats. While the Blazers probably aren't in the type of position where his acquisition will boost them to the Finals, it should certainly make them better for this season's stretch drive and to be more competitive in the playoffs, if they make it."
Charlotte did this deal for financial reasons. But it's still quite the blow to a team that would've no doubt made the playoffs in the crappy Eastern Conference. Tom Sorenson, who writes for the Charlotte Observer, lays out the grim outlook for the Bobcats post-trade.
Charlotte did this deal for financial reasons. But it's still quite the blow to a team that would've no doubt made the playoffs in the crappy Eastern Conference. Tom Sorenson, who writes for the Charlotte Observer, lays out the grim outlook for the Bobcats post-trade.
He writes, "The Charlotte Bobcats were one of the Eastern Conference's better bad teams. They might have made the playoffs, might not have. Without Gerald Wallace they're Toronto, they're Washington, they're Cleveland, they're terrible.....To sum up, the Bobcats lost a heady, hustling, hard-working player who is the only all-star they've ever had. What did they gain? They don't have to pay him anymore."This trade obviously benefits Portland greatly. They now have three nasty, tough, defensive-minded players in Marcus Camby, Nic Batum and Gerald Wallace. This morning while filling in on the Dan Patrick Show, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated said that after adding Gerald Wallace, he sees the Blazers climbing to finish as one of the top four teams in the West and having home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That scenario sounds a whole lot better than the 7th or 8th seed that Portland was looking at before the trade deadline.
Yes, you can say that adding Wallace doesn't guarantee an NBA title or anything, but it definitely makes the current Blazers roster better than it was a day ago. And it makes things much more interesting, especially when playoff time comes. With Wallace and Batum able to lock down star players from other teams, and Camby (coming back soon, hopefully) altering shots around the basket, the Blazers are probably tops on the list of the teams nobody wants to see in the playoffs.
