February 21, 2008

Cavs Acquire Ben Wallace and Wally Alphabet for Playoff Run. : Eleven player, three team deal between Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle. TrueHoop's thoughts.

read story | posted by yerfatma to Basketball at 5:11 PM CDT (20 comments total)

Some of the ESPN fan comments suggest Wally will be a big plus for Cleveland. Having watched him for parts of two years in Boston, I can't see it, but I'm happy to see Delonte West on a better team. He could make a difference for them. I hate to see another strong team in the East.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 5:14 PM CDT on February 21

I would say the Bulls got the most out of this trade. Hughes and Gooden is a huge offensive upgrade, and big Ben wasn't fitting in anyway. Hopefully the Cavs will use this change to boost morale and gain some momentum heading into the playoffs. Even though they didn't really pick up a star, all four of those players will be heavy contributors. Joe Smith is highly underrated for an old big man.

Seattle doesn't gain much in Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble, but they are moving cities next year anyway. Maybe Marshall can be a semi-good mentor for Kevin Durant. I have always thought Donyell is a poor man's Robert Horry, who has about 30 rings.

Comment icon posted by Snikastyle at 5:59 PM CDT on February 21

As a Cav fan I don't love this move but I will get used to it. We're gonna miss Gooden, not so much Hughes. Ben Wallace I think is overrated. Wally won't help that much and Smith is gonna get garbage minutes. The way I see it, we lost 2 starters, 1 we didn't need (Hughes) and gained an average big guy. West will help a little, but LeBron still has no Pippen.

Comment icon posted by Clevelander32 at 6:51 PM CDT on February 21

I think Cleveland got the best part of this deal, for the short term at least (older). West should help their backcourt and I can see Wally being enough of a threat from outside to stretch the D. I haven't see Chicago play this year but if Big Ben still has that fire then he'll be huge for them.

Man, there has been more deals than usual this season. I like it. The NBA needs to shake it up a bit.

Comment icon posted by curlyelk at 6:57 PM CDT on February 21

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquire Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak in a trade. I think this is, as being a Cleveland Cavaliers' fan, I think this probably the best trade that the Cavs have made in many years, to help build this team, grow this team, and make it into a championship contender. Adding these players, I think this is really going to help the team, as they get into the play-offs. Lebron James has been asking for help, for a long time and then General Manager Danny Ferry has finally did something to help improve this team. So, I think this is going to really help them, as we go through the rest of the season and then get into the play-offs and they could be a contender in the Eastern Conference."

Comment icon posted by al1woods at 7:42 PM CDT on February 21

This was a good trade. Ben Wallace is a defensive player, Joe Smith is ok, Sczerbiak is a good shooter and Delonte West is ok also. What the Cavs really needed though is a top notch point guard who is also a good shooter like Bibby. The trade definitely made them better on D and shooting cuz of Scerbiak and West. Lebron could make it to the Eastern Finals where they will fall to either the Celtics or the Pistons. I just don't see them beating either one of those teams. Lebron would have to duplicate what he did in the Eastern Finals last year and I just don't see that happening again. If they go to the NBA Finals again it's not even going to matter cuz Kobe, Pau and the Lakers bench will beat whoever and win the championship (here's to hoping).

Comment icon posted by Scars at 9:00 PM CDT on February 21

I think nobody is pointing out the real meat and spuds of this deal: The fact that without the guys at the end of their contract that have been traded, Seattle saves a lot of money to put down on a deposit on the moving van.

Comment icon posted by THX-1138 at 9:50 PM CDT on February 21

What about the fact that Ben Wallace has now completed the Central Division Triangle, playing for Detroit, Chicago, and now Cleveland in less than four seasons?

Comment icon posted by apoch at 4:45 AM CDT on February 22

Seattle saves a lot of money to put down on a deposit on the moving van

And to pay the three first-round picks they now have.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 6:03 AM CDT on February 22

Gee, the Bulls get another shooting guard. Yawn......I guess Ben Gordon is gonna be leaving, just covering their asses.

Comment icon posted by wdminott at 8:30 AM CDT on February 22

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that makes it official:

Wally Szczerbiak will have sat on the bench for at least one game for every basketball team ever assembled anywhere ever.

Comment icon posted by chicobangs at 8:42 AM CDT on February 22

Having watched [Wally Szczerbiak] for parts of two years in Boston, I can't see it

I'm on the fence with this one considering that Wally Alpha hadn't truly recovered from his nagging injuries until this year. Coming off the bench for Seattle has revived his shooting touch and maybe, just maybe he has come back to form as in his days with the Timberwolves.

Also, bringing in Ben Wallace is a very good thing. Things didn't work out too well for him over in Chi-Town but that may have been because the Bulls just weren't that good of a team. He did help them reach the playoffs last year and having a motivated Big Ben playing along side King James can/will/should motivate just about anybody in the league.

Remember, LeBron James was pretty much the sole reason the Cavs made the NBA Finals in the first place last year and now that he finally has gotten some solid contributors, this should be a very interesting playoff run in the east....although I still like the Celtics to win the division.

Comment icon posted by BornIcon at 9:13 AM CDT on February 22

I don't think Wally has been here yet. Although he would fit in well.

Comment icon posted by curlyelk at 9:14 AM CDT on February 22

Um - Doesn't Ben Wallace kinda blow now? And Szerbisuck isn't anyone's championship answer.

It's an interesting move - I think Chicago wins by virtue of them not having Wallace's contract anymore... Wait - they got Larry Hughes'. I'd take Wallace over Hughes - but I'm not so sure I'd take Wallace over Gooden - three years ago - for sure, but now? Cleveland is already a good defensive team, so I'm not seeing the real need for Wallace.

That said - they are still an elite East team by virtue of the King.

Comment icon posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:38 AM CDT on February 22

I'm on the fence with this one considering that Wally Alpha hadn't truly recovered from his nagging injuries until this year

Yeah, plus playing on those Celtics teams wasn't going to bring out anyone's good side. I just didn't like watching him; he felt like a shoot-first player who wasn't good enough to be that way.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 11:34 AM CDT on February 22

Ok, I hate to lose Gooden, he wasn't used for any offense which is odd because his college career was good scoring at Kansas. He essentially gave us what Boozer did before. Boozer now, has offensive plays for him. But having Lebron didn't require Gooden to be the top scorer, especially with the solid shot of underrated big man Z. Hughes had a good year in Washington, got the huge contract from us, dumb move because he's supposed to be a scorer but here, he was not and could not accept the fact that Lebron is the main man, not him. Plus the guy(Hughes) gets a blister and has to sit for a month. Wally World should be interesting because when he played against us, the guy seemed to never miss. Getting Ben Wallace is good for defensive purposes, but how does a pro shoot 40% from a free throw line and make his money? He better be THAT good defensively. He should help with new enthusiasm. The other two....West and Smith......will fill their roles. Ira Newble is a good player defensively, Seattle will like that. The Cavs should be in better position to compete with the Western teams if it cam eto finals again and definitly helps them overall in the East.
Side note; Drew Gooden and CC Sabathia(Cy Young winning Indians pitcher) from the Indians are friends.....one friend gone this year....CC gone next year.

Comment icon posted by ravenhater at 3:36 PM CDT on February 22

apoch-BW has been moving, but he was at Detroit for a long time. I know, I am a Pacers fan and as such, need to keep my senses about Detroit, just about every year. However, it is not a particularly good year to be a Pacer fan, but they have been great for a long time - maybe this is the time out they needed to get in a good draft position.

Comment icon posted by twoman at 1:08 PM CDT on February 24

I haven't see Chicago play this year but if Big Ben still has that fire then he'll be huge for them.

That fire is dead.


To be honest, this may be a decent trade for both teams (but never a good trade, because no real talent was exchanged). Wallace may be able to salvage something of his defensive reputation playing PF next to a big, offensive C. Hughes may fill a need as a decent slasher on a team made up primarily of jump shooters - as opposed to being a crappy jump shooter on a team that already has the best slasher in the NBA. But let's be honest, this is trading garbage for garbage, bad contract for bad contract.

To really understand the context, go read Cavs blogs like http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/ or Bulls blogs like Blogabull to see how ecstatic each teams' fans are to get rid of Wallace and Hughes respectively. The first time Hughes goes 1-14 from the field, and the next 50 times Wallace airballs a free throw will make the fans of their new teams see the light.

The best player, or at least the player who is playing best, in this deal is Joe Smith.

Comment icon posted by sic at 1:38 PM CDT on February 24

This trade definitely improves the Cavs but I cannot see it helping them pass up the Celtics or the Pistons without some help from those teams themselves.

The best accquisition for the Cavs here is Wally Szczczczcz, if he can stay healthy it gives the Cavs somebody who can take the pressure off of LeBron James. The same cannot be said for Ben Wallace. He may still be a good defensive player, but he is far from the player that won a championship with the Pistons. The Cavs have traditionally had a hard time getting offensive support from players not named LeBron, adding Ben Wallace does not help.

Comment icon posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 2:08 PM CDT on February 24

The Pistons just demolished the Suns by thirty. That was a very enjoyable game.

Comment icon posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 3:56 PM CDT on February 24

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