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Really? , I thought they were good news. Thanks for clarifying that Monroe.
Trades in West bad news for Spurs
Mike Monroe
The race for playoff berths in the Western Conference was tough enough before the furious activity that surrounded trade-deadline week.
What does it look like in the aftermath?
The Lakers did nothing because they didn't need to add anyone to remain the best team in the West.
Denver was active in talks but chose to stand pat, and it's hard to argue the wisdom of that course of action. The Nuggets went to the Western finals last season and have been the No. 2 seed for weeks, well positioned to make another long playoff run.
It's positions No. 3 through 11 that intrigue. Of those nine teams with postseason dreams, four made trades that brought new players. The Spurs and Jazz also made deals, but they were money dumps, plain and simple.
This, too, is plain and simple: The Spurs' task in their remaining 29 games got harder, not easier.
Here's why:
• The Mavericks, the team the Spurs are chasing in the Southwest Division, got bigger and better. Josh Howard has been a thorn in the Spurs' side for years, but he also had become a pain in the Mavericks' collective backside in recent seasons. Using him as the prime bait in this trade qualifies as addition by subtraction, but replacing him with Caron Butler qualifies as a master stroke. Butler's not going to be an All-Star, but he's solid and a better fit with the Mavs than he was in Washington.
Brendan Haywood is big, physical and thrilled to be on a contender. The fact that his arrival helps the Mavericks survive the injury loss of Erick Dampier is a quirk of timing.
Ultimately, the Mavs may rue having lost James Singleton, but for this season's playoff push, they are better off. This will be especially true if they meet the Lakers.
• The Trail Blazers have been skating by without a legitimate center since Joel Przybilla joined Greg Oden on the injured list. Marcus Camby gives them an inside presence. He will block shots and rebound because he always has. Portland already had offense aplenty, so that is enough to make it better.
• Dallas tried hard to deal for Kevin Martin, but it was the Rockets who ended up with him. It will be a while before we know how he fits with Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier, but he is a scorer who gets to the foul line. That's a big factor, especially in the playoffs.
Giving up Carl Landry will hurt a team already missing Yao Ming, but the Rockets' deal was more about the future than the here-and-now. They're rid of Tracy McGrady and have some young talent, and draft picks, to show for it.
• The Grizzlies have suffered some recent slippage, but adding Ronnie Brewer, a tough defender who understands team play, can make them better when he recovers from a partial hamstring tear suffered in his first game with Memphis.
It's crazy that an arbitrarily imposed deadline can exert so much influence over the league's basketball decision makers, but it happens every season.
Really? , I thought they were good news. Thanks for clarifying that Monroe.
I wonder if RC asked him to write this piece...
anotherfor monroe
Really? , I thought they were good news. Thanks for clarifying that Monroe.
Does anyone know where I can send Monroe a fruit basket?
Actually the trades are good news, whether you want the Spurs to make the playoffs or hit the lottery. Fitting in core pieces this late in the season is difficult, so I would expect the Spurs to have a leg up on both of these 2 teams in that regard.
Monroe is wrong again, as usual.
Doesn't he realize that the Spurs saved nine hundred and sixty two thousand dollars by trading Theo Ratliff?? If you also consider that they'll never actually have to draft someone with the pick they traded him for it just adds to the savings! Peter Holt is probably dancing wherever he is as we speak!
way to recap the trade deadline....3 days later..I miss our old writers...
dumb, dumb, dumb
scratch brewer off the list.
They could've had him too. I know they fancied him in the year he was drafted.
Another 19pts, 7ast, 2stl for Salmons & 12pts/11reb/4blk for T.Thomas, both off the bench for their teams.
That should have been our trade that caused threads like this one to pop up on other rival teams' message boards.
yup all those moves and none of them are good enough to beat the lakers.. gonna suck for them at the end of the season...
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