Ben and Wally to Cleveland.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3257159

:stein:


Sources: Cavs get Wallace from Bulls, Szczerbiak from Sonics
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

Updated: February 21, 2008, 3:57 PM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to have beaten the NBA's annual trade buzzer to get LeBron James some of the fresh help he's been openly craving.

In a three-way trade with Chicago and Seattle that has been submitted for league approval, NBA front-office sources say that Cleveland will come away with four new teammates for James, headlined by Ben Wallace from the Bulls and sharpshooter Wally Szczerbiak from the Sonics.

The league office was notified of the deal before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trading deadline, sources said, and is currently reviewing the trade details as required for formal approval.

After Cleveland watched two longstanding trade targets land elsewhere -- Mike Bibby in Atlanta and Jason Kidd in Dallas -- sources say that the deal calls for the Cavaliers to receive Wallace, Szczerbiak, Seattle point guard Delonte West, Chicago's Joe Smith and a future second-round pick from the Bulls.

The Bulls, apparently abandoning their gamble on Wallace less than two seasons into the lucrative four-year deal they used to sign him away from Detroit, would get Cavaliers forward Drew Gooden and swingman Larry Hughes along with Cavs reserves Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.

The Sonics, shedding Szczerbiak in the name of additional payroll flexibility, come away with the expiring contracts of Cleveland's Ira Newble and Chicago's Adrian Griffin as well as Cavs veteran Donyell Marshall.

I'm not happy about this, at all.

Whatever.

I think Wally and Joe Smith will help them.

Ben might step it up a bit now, too.

Hell, Delonte West might even be a boost.

Joe Smith might help them a bit, because he's a Pistons killa.

Everyone else I'm not really concerned about, even Ben.

i suspect ben plays great. i dont think he cared at all playing for the bulls this year. now that he's got a chance at winning, and playing pf, he should be good.

i dont buy the "out of gas" argument at all.

This deal DOES NOT MATTER.

GUSMAN ALREADY FUCKING SAID WE'D LOSE TO CLEVELAND, BEFORE THEY TRADED FOR THESE PIECES OF SHIT.

Delonte West probably won't even play in front of Boob.

^ I bet he still outrebounds Ben though.

I dont know... Wally, Delonte, and Joe Smith are pretty good pickups for the Cavs. Everyone other than Lebron, Z, Varajeou, and maybe boobie were disposeable trash anyways.

OTOH, wasn't Larry Hughes one of the big guards who was harrassing Billups in the playoffs? I dont recall specifically, but if he's gone that might be a good thing.

i suspect ben plays great. i dont think he cared at all playing for the bulls this year. now that he's got a chance at winning, and playing pf, he should be good.

i dont buy the "out of gas" argument at all.

I hope the exact opposite.

OTOH, wasn't Larry Hughes one of the big guards who was harrassing Billups in the playoffs? I dont recall specifically, but if he's gone that might be a good thing.

Yes.

Cleveland scared me before this move. Now they scare me even more.

Ilgauskas Wallace Wally Lebron Boobie with Delonte off the bench is a hell of a lot scarier than Gooden Marshall and (cant throw a grape into the ocean) hughes.

Let's not forget that the Bulls got better after this deal.

Err, wait...

Good moves for the Cavs. This definately makes them better, although they are totally screwed if they cannot win it all because their cap flexibilty is hosed.

Good moves for the Cavs. This definately makes them better, although they are totally screwed if they cannot win it all because their cap flexibilty is hosed.

Hosed? I think you meant to type totally fucked beyond repair. They basically are sitting at the World Series of Poker and just went all in with pocket tens pre-flop.

Too bad there are teams out there holding aces, kings, queens, jacks, etc.

Hopefully Shannon gets some PT in his hometown of Chicago. Tough to see that happening with Hinrich, Duhon, Gordon, Sefalosha ahead of him.

Delonte West probably won't even play in front of Boob.
Actually he probably will. He's a solid defender and better all around player.


This is a big trade by the cavs. Kinda ticked that Chicago was willing to do a central division trade.

OTOH, wasn't Larry Hughes one of the big guards who was harrassing Billups in the playoffs? I dont recall specifically, but if he's gone that might be a good thing.
No, Delonte is a far better defender.

The more I think about this, the more I like this for us.

I mean, look at the Cavs, its a pretty decent roster (particularly with shooters like Boobie, Pav, Wally and even delonte)... but who is going to guard billups?

The way to stop us is to put BIGGER guards on Billups - basically what we do other guards with Billups.

Without Hughes to cause him trouble defensively, Chauncey SHOULD eat those midgets for breakfast.

You are seriously underestimating delonte west on defense. He is a better on the ball defender and actually has better ability to get blocks than Hughes.

oh for realz? i didnt know that about Delonte. Well fuck the Cavs then.

Seriously? You guys are worried about Wally, an old ass Ben, Delonte West???? Come on.

Maybe you forgot we added these guys named Stuckey and Affalo to our team? Oh yeah, they happen to be pretty good too.

What is this, amateur hour?

this doesnt much change cleveland's salary structure, afaict. great deal for them, i guess. lebron and boobie pretty much beat us last year alone. now they have ben playing pf, so i guess thats an upgrade.

wally's played well from what ive seen this year, but not a fan of his.

i think its still us and boston and then cleveland, but we'll see.

Afflalo's good, but he's not good enough to be all lyke, "Hey, don't worry guys...we got Afflalo."

Afflalo's good, but he's not good enough to be all lyke, "Hey, don't worry guys...we got Afflalo."

Well I guess we have Juan Dixon now too......

On a side note, does Chicago hate their guards that much to bring in 2 more? I mean honestly, is Paxon thinking of holding a steel cage match to find out who he wants to keep?

"There can be only one Highlander."

Thabo's been playing great lately. Too bad we couldn't have traded Prezec for him.

tino prezec is not the kind of guy you trade to a division rival.

Cleveland and Chicago both envy the Pistons and their giant penises, so obviously if Chicago ain't going to be in the playoffs they're going to try to help Cleveland.

Well giving them one of the biggest dicks ever (Wallace) will probably help.







Ok, thats a bit much.

Nice!!

Why the fuck did anyone take Larry Hughes?
WOW!

Clearly Chicago felt Hughes filled a need. He's a jumpshooter who can't make jumpshots.

...Wait.

we lost to an inferior Cavs team before...

Zekyl is SO excited.

probably means ben gordon is a FA.

interesting times, SnT or MLE? i bet MLE.

We could always use more teams that are perceived as being better than us.

Not to be rude, but as much as Larry Hughes was probably the most overpaid player in the league (although Ben Wallace is probably #2 on that list), he was their best perimeter defender, Wally Szczerbiak has a poor, below-average defensive game (can you say "field day" for Rip Hamilton or Ray Allen??) Not to mention he's a poor passer as well.

And when Big Ben's on the floor, it will allow other teams to focus more on LeBron because God knows you don't have to respect Ben Wallace's offensive game...or lack thereof...

Lateral move. Cavs are no better than they were before this trade was made.

larry hughes is a pussy, his game doesnt mesh w/ lebron's, and i believe he is overrated defensively.

lebron will get ben easy baskets. i bet ben plays his best as a non-piston with the cavs. drew gooden wasnt worth anything prior to lebron, and he wont be afterwards either.

hes the big loser in this trade. he has his contract coming after next year. just enough time to be exposed.

larry hughes is a pussy, his game doesnt mesh w/ lebron's, and i believe he is overrated defensively.

lebron will get ben easy baskets. i bet ben plays his best as a non-piston with the cavs. drew gooden wasnt worth anything prior to lebron, and he wont be afterwards either.

hes the big loser in this trade. he has his contract coming after next year. just enough time to be exposed.


I disagree, LeBron won't get Ben easy buckets, between LeBron, Boobie chuckin 3's, and now Wally, there isn't going to be enough shots for Ben. Ilgauskas can score, and once Sasha comes back thats another scorer...

They're defense took a hit with this move today...Szczerbiak won't be able to do JACK SHIT Vs. teams like Boston, Detroit, or even Orlando (Hedo can eat him up)...

Just got back and heard about the trade. I'm pissed.

Cleveland just got a lot better. And for nothing. The other teams involved in this trade must have a vendetta against the Pistons, because that's the only way anyone pulls the trigger outside of Cleveland. Larry Hughes has the worst contract in the NBA, and someone took it. They got a legit post up man in Joe Smith, a guy who is motivated to rape the Pistons in Wallace, a legit guard in West, and a decent player in Wally.

And all they had to give up was fucking Hughes, Gooden, Marshall and Ira Newble (Shannon Brown doesn't count as an NBA player).

Fuck this trade.

Sigh...


This deal DOES NOT MATTER.

GUSMAN ALREADY FUCKING SAID WE'D LOSE TO CLEVELAND, BEFORE THEY TRADED FOR THESE PIECES OF SHIT.

i agree motown, cleveland just became a huge pain in the ass to play, and they already were an upset potential. i thebron enjoys BW playing on his team.

You guys really need to start listening to gusman.

Who cares MoTown, we won't have to play Cleveland in the playoffs anyway.

I swear, people are getting so hellbent around here over this thing. Just be thankful they didn't get a half-way decent player like Mike Bibby.

Instead, that dumbass Danny Ferry goes out and grabs all the "bargain bin" players off other rosters. Look at the matchups, they really haven't improved much (if at all). Statistically they broke even, and defensively they took a hit...

Plus, it won't be long until Ben Wallace starts bitching about Mike Brown...

Worst GM's in NBA (per Wil Ledezma)


1. Isiah Thomas
2. Kevin McHale
3. Danny Ferry
4. Danny Ainge
5. Billy Knight

ARV: Elgin Baylor, Chris Wallace, John Paxson, Otis Smith

Who cares MoTown, we won't have to play Cleveland in the playoffs anyway.


Unless they get the 3 seed (which is highly possible)...

Unless they get the 3 seed (which is highly possible)...

Possible, but not likely, Orlando is a "regular season" team. And since they play in a division that consists of teams that would lose to Melvindale HS, I fully expect them to lock up that 3 seed...

Just hope we don't get the ONE SEED:mccosky: :BARWIS: :sirdouche: :cogent: [smilie=blaha.gif] :emo kid: :dismissed: :kennythejet: :cornbread: :cornbread: :cornbread: :cornbread: :cornbread text:

My prediction:
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Orlando

My prediction:
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Orlando


Taken with a grain of salt.


Round 1

Boston over Chicago in 4

Cleveland over Toronto in 6


Orlando over Washington in 6

Detroit over New Jersey/Atlanta in 5



Round 2

Boston over Cleveland in 6

Detroit over Orlando in 5



ECF

Detroit Vs. Boston



BOOK IT!

Wow, you really got the playoff matchups all set and everything.

I'll take your predictions less seriously than I'd take my own.

I thought this trade was a joke. But I kept reading and realized its true....right?

I love this trade.

The more competition, the better.

Atleast for your Lakers...

This trade doesnt scare me as much. The only guy who can drive on this team is LeBron. Hughes and Shannon(although he never played) were the only players who could drive. Now LEBron is just surrounded by guys in love with the 3 pt shot...but it is LeBron so do you need another guy who can get to the rim as well as he can?

and i guess this means Ben Gordons a FA...imagine him signing with the Lakers..fucking sick...

Bynum
Gasol
Odom
Kobe
Ben Gordon

shit!

Fisher is a better fit for LA than Gordon would be methinks.

He gets the system. Gordon is accustomed to having the green light to jack up shots.

In case you guys hadn't heard, Boobie is out up to 6 weeks with an ankle injury.

lol

Atleast for your Lakers...

This trade doesnt scare me as much. The only guy who can drive on this team is LeBron. Hughes and Shannon(although he never played) were the only players who could drive. Now LEBron is just surrounded by guys in love with the 3 pt shot...but it is LeBron so do you need another guy who can get to the rim as well as he can?

and i guess this means Ben Gordons a FA...imagine him signing with the Lakers..fucking sick...

Bynum
Gasol
Odom
Kobe
Ben Gordon

shit!

When Gordon came out of the minors (aka, the NCAA), my first impression was that he's a baby Kobe. He'd work great on a team in need of a scoring guard.

It'd be interesting if he goes to Orlando. Can you imagine Howard on the inside and Gordon as the playmaker, with Nelson distributing and Turd-on-the-Loo with the touch? Not bad.

In case you guys hadn't heard, Boobie is out up to 6 weeks with an ankle injury.

lol

Can we give them Flip back?

The more I think about this, the more I like this for us.

I mean, look at the Cavs, its a pretty decent roster (particularly with shooters like Boobie, Pav, Wally and even delonte)... but who is going to guard billups?

The way to stop us is to put BIGGER guards on Billups - basically what we do other guards with Billups.

Without Hughes to cause him trouble defensively, Chauncey SHOULD eat those midgets for breakfast.

I'm pretty sure it was Eric Snow handing Billups his ass in the playoffs, along with the constant double teams on the way up the floor.

I like this deal for Detroit. We can commit two defenders to Bron (Rip and Prince) and totally ignore Ben.

Another good thing about this trade is that Lebron will be forced to chase RIP. They could use Hughes on RIP before, but Wally cannot stay with RIP. If RIP keeps running him, Bron's offensive game will suffer. I also have a feeling that Ben will be out on Sheed now, keeping him out of the paint for help defense anyway.

Another good thing about this trade is that Lebron will be forced to chase RIP. They could use Hughes on RIP before, but Wally cannot stay with RIP. If RIP keeps running him, Bron's offensive game will suffer. I also have a feeling that Ben will be out on Sheed now, keeping him out of the paint for help defense anyway.


I agree, Rip could be a pest for LBJ to cover (if he can get those off-screen jumpers), at least now Tayshaun has no excuse for disappearing offensively if we do happen to play CLE in the playoffs...

Plus, neither Delonte nor Boobie can physically hang with Chauncey..

Our backcourt should give us the edge in this series now (if it happens), plus I imagine Ben will be on Sheed (since Big Z can't guard on the perim), I seem to remember Sheed lighting Bennie's Bulls up for 37 earlier this year...

This trade is a joke, Ben will be unhappy having to split minutes with Side Show Bob, and it's pretty much a given that in the 4th quarter, he will not be on the floor...

Wally Szczerbiak < Larry Hughes, overpaid or not, offensively they are the same player, and defensively Larry is twice the player Wally is...

Cleveland now has no perimieter defenders (or at least not any good ones), teams like Boston & Detroit who have solid backcourts should be able to exploit that ALL GAME LONG, Cleveland would do well Vs. a team like Orlando since they don't have shit in their backcourt (Dooling, Bogans, Arroyo, Evans, LMFAO)

In thier first game, Ben had 12 & 10, Wally and Smith both got double figures, too.


Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said before the game that the trade will cost the Cavaliers an extra $6 million.

I'm pretty sure it was Eric Snow handing Billups his ass in the playoffs, along with the constant double teams on the way up the floor.

I like this deal for Detroit. We can commit two defenders to Bron (Rip and Prince) and totally ignore Ben.
Yikes as much as Flip isnt my idea of a good coach, most of us need never to get into coaching. You leave ben totally uncovered he'll make those dunks. nothing wrong with cheating away from him. but it would be foolish to totally ignore him, if not for a dunk, for the fact that you need to keep a body on him in second chance rebounds. They got him for that, and those second chances can kill us.

Yikes as much as Flip isnt my idea of a good coach, most of us need never to get into coaching. You leave ben totally uncovered he'll make those dunks. nothing wrong with cheating away from him. but it would be foolish to totally ignore him, if not for a dunk, for the fact that you need to keep a body on him in second chance rebounds. They got him for that, and those second chances can kill us.

Yes, there is a difference between totally uncovered and ignoring. I mean, and what i thought would be understood by any Pistons fan. IS DO WHAT TEAMS USED TO DO TO US.

Yeah, most teams just give him about 10 feet of space on the perimeter. Keep one eye on him and one eye on the superstar (in this case Lebron). That way if the superstar's defender gets beat you can help. If he's in the paint, you have to stay on him at least for rebounding sake.