Post by San Francisco on Jun 8, 2015 10:49:09 GMT -6
Last week shockwaves rolled across the ABCA Landscape, or at least rippled when the defending Champion Warriors traded their heart, soul, leader and best player Magic Johnson to the Bayi Rockets. The deal broke down as follows:
In a nutshell the Warriors traded their best player in Magic Johnson (17.3 points, 8.4 boards, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals along with two valuable cogs in their bench in defensive stalwarts Dennis Rodman and Tom Furlow for combo guard and big expiring Eddie Johnson, talented post Chris Dudley, athletic rookie Shawn Marion, rookie Kenyon Martin, defensive stalwart Alvin Robertson, two first round picks in the next draft and a future 2nd round pick. At the press conference announcing the move the Warriors GM explained that with the team facing tough decisions moving forward due to being right at the hardcap, the team had to make a move for the future of the team moving forward. "This deal was about securing the ability to compete for more titles for the next 5 years instead of just this year. Magic was the heart of this team, he worked tirelessly at his game and is having the best year of his career. We explored options involving all of our high salaried players and ultimately this was the deal that gave us the brightest future and allowed us to continue to compete now." The crux of the deal for the Warriors will be rookie Shawn Marion and fans still remember the last time they had a promising young athletic SF in Scottie Pippen and how quickley that did not work out. The Raptors pick will also serve as a valuable piece to either add another cost controlled asset or to flip it for a more proven commodity. A polling of ABCA GM's revealed that overall most teams thought the deal was a win for the Warriors:
Rockets Trade:
Chris Dudley
Eddie Johnson
Shawn Marion
Kenyon Martin
Alvin Robertson
Harlem 2028 First
Toronto 2028 First
Bayi 2030 Second
Warriors Trade:
Terry Furlow
Tom Gugliotta
Magic Johnson
Dennis Rodman
Neal Walk
The Warriors GM said "yes I voted for myself do you know the level of ego it takes to not drown in this league, the day I don't think I have won a deal, even one like this that carries tremendous risk is the day I need to go do something else". That said it is clear this deal carries tremendous risk for a team coming off a championship and oen that had after a few years of tweaking put together a roster that really complimented the style of coach Milorad Raskovic and was centered around a fast paced passing attack and length and rebounding defensively. The coach was visibly shaken by the news and seen huddling with long time Warriors assistant coach Theo White, the architect of a defense that is currently first in the league in OPPG. The real question is just how competitive will the team be moving forward.
In the first 8 games since the trade the team has gone 5-3 which is not bad considering the amount of change to the team's rotations has occurred. However the team only played one winning team during that stretch in the Knicks who pasted the team pretty good and overall their opponents had a winning percentage of .424 (.355 if you take out the Knicks). Statistically the team gave up 5.8 more points per game than their season average saw a percent change of -18.1 in their assist to turnover ratio, saw an increase in their turnovers to 18.5 per game and still continued to hold an overall rebounding advantage. The net of this is the team is clearly not playing at an elite level, but moving forward if it can find the right tweaks to the lineup they should be all right and be a strong playoff team although probably not a title favorite like before.
Individually the team had some strong performances:
Ralph Sampson 28.1 points 10.3 boards 2.1 blocks and had 4 games with 30+ points and 10+ boards. He isn't Hakeem but he is in the conversation as the next best big man in the game, I'd give the nod to Ewing tho.
Penny Hardaway 13.6 points 5.3 boards 4.6 assists 0.9 steals Just call him mini Magic as that is the roll he has been asked to play for the team. So far so good although he isn't as tough on the opposition at either end in the post. There are rumors that the team would trade him and find out just how ready Marion is.
Byron Scott 19 points 4.6 boards 6.8 assists 1.9 steals. A slow sim for Scott but he is adjusting back to playing the SG spot.
Eddie Johnson. 14.4 points 4.1 boards 4.8 assists 1.4 steals. It is unclear if Johnson will be the starter for long, the team thinks Kenny Smith is ready for the roll and Eddie may be best served as a combo guard off the bench. The team is also really high on Alvin Robertson so don't be surprised if Eddie is moved sooner rather than later.
Outlook
The team has another sim with a relatively soft schedule before they will really find out just how far of a step back the team has taken. It is clear that the move was necessary but it will mean taking a step back temporarily. The team is actively discussing anybody on the roster not named Smith, Robertson, Sampson and Marion so more moves may be on the horizon. With two big expiring deals in Thompson and Eddie Johnson, the Raptors first and other rebuilding pieces the team may be able to add one more big piece to the puzzle by the deadline.
In the first 8 games since the trade the team has gone 5-3 which is not bad considering the amount of change to the team's rotations has occurred. However the team only played one winning team during that stretch in the Knicks who pasted the team pretty good and overall their opponents had a winning percentage of .424 (.355 if you take out the Knicks). Statistically the team gave up 5.8 more points per game than their season average saw a percent change of -18.1 in their assist to turnover ratio, saw an increase in their turnovers to 18.5 per game and still continued to hold an overall rebounding advantage. The net of this is the team is clearly not playing at an elite level, but moving forward if it can find the right tweaks to the lineup they should be all right and be a strong playoff team although probably not a title favorite like before.
Individually the team had some strong performances:
Ralph Sampson 28.1 points 10.3 boards 2.1 blocks and had 4 games with 30+ points and 10+ boards. He isn't Hakeem but he is in the conversation as the next best big man in the game, I'd give the nod to Ewing tho.
Penny Hardaway 13.6 points 5.3 boards 4.6 assists 0.9 steals Just call him mini Magic as that is the roll he has been asked to play for the team. So far so good although he isn't as tough on the opposition at either end in the post. There are rumors that the team would trade him and find out just how ready Marion is.
Byron Scott 19 points 4.6 boards 6.8 assists 1.9 steals. A slow sim for Scott but he is adjusting back to playing the SG spot.
Eddie Johnson. 14.4 points 4.1 boards 4.8 assists 1.4 steals. It is unclear if Johnson will be the starter for long, the team thinks Kenny Smith is ready for the roll and Eddie may be best served as a combo guard off the bench. The team is also really high on Alvin Robertson so don't be surprised if Eddie is moved sooner rather than later.
Outlook
The team has another sim with a relatively soft schedule before they will really find out just how far of a step back the team has taken. It is clear that the move was necessary but it will mean taking a step back temporarily. The team is actively discussing anybody on the roster not named Smith, Robertson, Sampson and Marion so more moves may be on the horizon. With two big expiring deals in Thompson and Eddie Johnson, the Raptors first and other rebuilding pieces the team may be able to add one more big piece to the puzzle by the deadline.
