duncan228
02-16-2010, 08:52 PM
Some Teams Preferring to Stay Out of Trade Buzz (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-someteamspreferringt&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews
The Blazers were able to make a move to help salvage their season on Tuesday, acquiring center Marcus Camby from the Clippers for guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw, marking the second major trade of the pre-deadline season. Four teams have now made deals involving 10 players, and those numbers should grow significantly before Thursday—throughout the last few days, teams have been moving into position to acquire the likes of Amare Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Carlos Boozer and Ray Allen.
It’s not just the middling teams that are looking for swaps. The East-leading Cavaliers have been making a pitch for Stoudemire, and the West-leading Lakers have been gauging Chicago’s interest in dealing Kirk Hinrich. Hard to believe, but there are actually some teams that have been on the sidelines when it comes to the rumor mill—and with good reason.
Atlanta. The Hawks believe they made the trade that matters last summer, when they acquired Jamal Crawford and inserted him as the team’s sixth man. It has worked out as planned, with Crawford averaging 17.8 points and helping Atlanta stay on the heels of Orlando in the Southeast.
"To me, coming into the year, that was the only thing we needed, was maybe a little bit more help on the bench," Hawks star Joe Johnson said. "And we got that. As long as we stay healthy, we are as deep as anybody we are going to play in the playoffs. We have good chemistry. People aren’t really talking about us with trades because we don’t really need to make one."
Toronto. The Raptors already go 10 deep, and they believe they’ve smoothed out some of the defensive problems that plagued the team early this year. They’re comfortably over .500 trying to crack into the top four in the East and hoping they can persuade Chris Bosh to stay this offseason. While most trade buzz has centered around expiring contracts, the Raptors have (after Bosh, of course) only one expiring deal worth more than $3 million—that of Amir Johnson.
"We’ve had some injuries and we’ve had some ups and downs," Bosh said. "But I think the team we put on the floor is good enough to be one of the better teams in the East as it is."
Oklahoma City. The Thunder have one of the cleanest salary situations in the league, and they’re going to be cautious in any further dealings. They will have the capability to sign a near-max player with their cap space this summer, and flexibility is of the utmost importance. They won’t be pursuing LeBron James in the offseason, but they have the opportunity to boost their talented young roster very quickly.
Denver. Before Camby went to Portland, there was some discussion of him returning to Denver. But the Nuggets consider themselves a championship contender, and if they were to make a deal, it would have to be for a veteran player who could help them win now—and to get that type of player, they’d need to offer other teams cap relief or young players. They can’t. Which might be a good thing, anyway.
"I don’t know why we’d want to do anything major," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "I’ve been saying all year, this team can win a championship. I like our group of guys as it is."
SportingNews
The Blazers were able to make a move to help salvage their season on Tuesday, acquiring center Marcus Camby from the Clippers for guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw, marking the second major trade of the pre-deadline season. Four teams have now made deals involving 10 players, and those numbers should grow significantly before Thursday—throughout the last few days, teams have been moving into position to acquire the likes of Amare Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Carlos Boozer and Ray Allen.
It’s not just the middling teams that are looking for swaps. The East-leading Cavaliers have been making a pitch for Stoudemire, and the West-leading Lakers have been gauging Chicago’s interest in dealing Kirk Hinrich. Hard to believe, but there are actually some teams that have been on the sidelines when it comes to the rumor mill—and with good reason.
Atlanta. The Hawks believe they made the trade that matters last summer, when they acquired Jamal Crawford and inserted him as the team’s sixth man. It has worked out as planned, with Crawford averaging 17.8 points and helping Atlanta stay on the heels of Orlando in the Southeast.
"To me, coming into the year, that was the only thing we needed, was maybe a little bit more help on the bench," Hawks star Joe Johnson said. "And we got that. As long as we stay healthy, we are as deep as anybody we are going to play in the playoffs. We have good chemistry. People aren’t really talking about us with trades because we don’t really need to make one."
Toronto. The Raptors already go 10 deep, and they believe they’ve smoothed out some of the defensive problems that plagued the team early this year. They’re comfortably over .500 trying to crack into the top four in the East and hoping they can persuade Chris Bosh to stay this offseason. While most trade buzz has centered around expiring contracts, the Raptors have (after Bosh, of course) only one expiring deal worth more than $3 million—that of Amir Johnson.
"We’ve had some injuries and we’ve had some ups and downs," Bosh said. "But I think the team we put on the floor is good enough to be one of the better teams in the East as it is."
Oklahoma City. The Thunder have one of the cleanest salary situations in the league, and they’re going to be cautious in any further dealings. They will have the capability to sign a near-max player with their cap space this summer, and flexibility is of the utmost importance. They won’t be pursuing LeBron James in the offseason, but they have the opportunity to boost their talented young roster very quickly.
Denver. Before Camby went to Portland, there was some discussion of him returning to Denver. But the Nuggets consider themselves a championship contender, and if they were to make a deal, it would have to be for a veteran player who could help them win now—and to get that type of player, they’d need to offer other teams cap relief or young players. They can’t. Which might be a good thing, anyway.
"I don’t know why we’d want to do anything major," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "I’ve been saying all year, this team can win a championship. I like our group of guys as it is."