Last week, the Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, and New Orleans Hornets agreed on a five-player trade. Here is how I break it down:
New Orleans Hornets:
Traded: Darren Collison, James Posey
Received: Trevor Ariza
Grade: B
This trade is GM Dell Demps first big move with the team. By trading away promising PG prospect and Chris Paul insurance Darren Collison, Demps and the Hornets front office are making a statement that they are serious about building around CP3. In Trevor Ariza, the Hornets will get a young athletic wing player that they haven't had in recent years. Ariza, who last year signed a 5 year, $35 mil deal with the Rockets, averaged 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in his lone year with the Houston. Although effective, his shot selection was often criticized and he ended the year shooting 39% from the field and 33% from 3-point land. Hopefully, with Chris Paul running the show Ariza will get more easy buckets and clean looks.
You would have hoped that the Hornets could have gotten more for PG Darren Collison, who as a rookie averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 assists on the season and 21.6 points and 8.3 assists during the month of February when CP3 was injured. While Ariza is a nice player, he is by no means going to push the Hornets into contender status.
Houston Rockets:
Traded: Trevor Ariza
Received: Courtney Lee
Grade: A
Who would have thought? Another prudent move by Rockets GM Daryl Morey. The Rockets will easily replace Ariza's production at SF with the ageless Shane Battier and the emerging Chase Budinger. In return for Ariza, Houston gets a promising young SG in Courtney Lee, who played a key role in the Orlando Magic's run to the finals 2 seasons ago. He will come off the bench behind Kevin Martin and will see starter's minutes when Martin inevitably gets injured (has played over 70 games only twice in his 6 year career).
With Chase Budinger proving to be a solid rotation player, Trevor Ariza was superfluous on Houston's roster. Also, with Courney Lee playing on his rookie contract for 2 more seasons, the Rockets cut salary and got better at the same time. Their depth chart should look like this:
C: Yao, Brad Miller, Chuck Hayes
PF: Luis Scola, Jordan Hill, Patrick Patterson
SF: Shane Battier, Chase Budinger, Jared Jeffries
SG: Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee, Jermaine Taylor
PG: Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry
That ladies and gentlemen, is a deep team. If the Rockets/Yao can manage to stay healthy, they could provide the Lakers with stiff competition for the Western Conference title.
Indiana Pacers
Traded: Troy Murphy
Received: Darren Collison, James Posey
Grade: B+
Finally! The Jamaal Tinsley, T.J. Ford, and Earl Watson era in Indiana is over. The Pacers finally have their PG of the future in Darren Collison, who tore it up in his rookie season with New Orleans. The Pacers also received James Posey onerous contract, which was no doubt a vital part in any trade for Collison. Indiana has over $20 mil in expiring contracts going into this year, thus taking on Posey's contract for 2 more years isn't a death knell. On top of that, Posey has come out and said that he will try to mentor some of the Pacers young players as much as possible (Paul George, Brandon Rush). With the departure of Troy Murphy, the Pacers will hope that Tyler Hansbrough can fully recover from the remnants of last year's concussion and provide productive minutes at PF.
For Indiana, this trade isn't about next year, it's about the future. With so much cap space next summer and Collison, Danny Granger, and Roy Hibbert entrenched as the cornerstones of the franchise, there is a lot to look forward to in Indiana.
New Jersey
Traded: Courtney Lee
Received: Troy Murphy
Grade: B+
With the signing of sharpshooter Anthony Morrow and emergence of Terrence Williams, it seems that Courtney Lee was deemed expendable by New Jersey management. By trading for PF Troy Murphy, the Nets will receive a three point shooting big man who can also crash the glass. Murphy's range will give C Brook Lopez more room to work inside and discourage double teams. This move also indicates that the Nets plan to develop lottery pick Derrick Favors slowly. While I'm not crazy about some of the Nets other moves (signing Travis Outlaw to $35 mil), this appears to be a well thought out trade.
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