- Brussels drafted Rondo for $18
- After a couple of stinkers to the start the season Rondo (and the injured Jabari Parker) were shipped off to Chilliwack for Myles Turner
- Immediately after arriving in Chilliwack, Rondo goes nuts and starts dropping triple doubles every night
- Furthermore, Turner breaks a bone in his hand/thumb and is gone for at least 4 weeks
- Benny leverages Rondo's recent success and trades Rondo, Parker, Josh Smith, and Luis Scola to the Arctic for Kevin Love and Jae Crowder
- Online chatter goes crazy about these trades and I get a request to Chronicle
So, now, that we're all up to speed...my thoughts and honest reactions...
For starters, let me just level set and say that I didn't like Rondo coming into this season. I didn't think he would work in Sacramento and I certainly didn't expect him to be Mr. Triple Double again. That's specifically why I drafted Darren Collison. I figured he would be the starting PG by December. I'm likely to be wrong with that prediction.
Also, I loved Myles Turner as a Rookie pick. I was hoping he would fall to me in the draft. I think he has a lot of future potential. I think he will be starting in Indy by the end of the season.
Despite my hatred of Rondo and love for Turner, I was surprised to see a 2 for 1 from Brussels. I could buy Rondo for Turner as you would be believing that Rondo was going to stink and Turner was going to blossom. The wrinkle was the addition of Parker to the deal. He's a wild card too. He's recovering from ACL surgery and his role in Milwaukee is somewhat cloudy. It appeared they were grooming him to be their #1 option last year and all of a sudden he is barely a #3 behind the Alphabet and Monroe. But still, this 2 for 1 deal was a big gamble. We all know it's back-fired.
So Turner is done for a bit and this deal will now associate Brussels to potentially one of the most lopsided deals in JBL history. Timmy swung for the fences but went all Rob Deer and missed. We all remember the Penny Hardaway for Dan Majerle and Mugsy Bogues deal. At least in that one, Penny was at least the best player in the deal. Unfortunately in this one, Turner was the 3rd best player in the deal (for now).
Benny got a few big games from Rondo and shipped him off to the frozen tundra in the Arctic in exchange for big man Kevin Love. Yes, some other pieces were involved. As pointed out on social media, this essentially makes the trade for Benny as Myles Turner for Kevin Love. So, yes, this is a good, no great, swap for Chilliwack.
Benny's forward line now has Durant, George, Draymond, Love, Crowder and soon Chandler Parsons. An excellent front line. I repeat, excellent. However, it has to be to make up for the center combination of Alex Len and John Henson. Benny needed the big rebounder because his top rebounder, prior to the deal, was the undersized PF Paul George at just over 8 per game. Benny needed boards. Let's not understate the value of Crowder here either. He is currently leading the league in steals and has that DeMarre Carroll feel about him (could it be the hair?). That being said, he needs a compass to find the hoop (currently shooting 34/26).
I see why Arctic made this deal as well. Arctic needed depth. After having to auto-draft the last half of the Auction he needed more guys who could start every week. Rondo, Jabari, and Scola should all be regulars for this squad. Also, Arctic was a very good rebounding team already and the loss of Love doesn't really hurt them. I still see them as a top 5 rebounding team. All 3 of those new starters should average around 7 boards a game. Not too shabby. So, I see why he wanted to make this deal.
The big debate was who 'won' this trade?? There is a simple answer but it won't be a popular one - both teams. Arctic got what he wanted = depth and Chilliwack got what he wanted = points and rebounds. Both teams improved their current rosters. Does it make either of them a contender? No, not yet. But it does help both teams in areas they needed to improve.
I will say this about Kevin Love. He is really just a 2 category player. Love will help you in Points and Rebounds. He does not help you in FG%. He doesn't steal or block. His ATO, while it doesn't hurt you, it also doesn't really help you. And 3PT% - sometimes he's hot, sometimes he's not. He's a 36.1% career shooter from downtown so that's not spectacular. The Wack is strong in 3PT% so Benny is hoping that Love helps and doesn't hinder. I like Kevin Love, but he's not the superstar PF that he used to be when he was averaging 26 and 13.
People ask, Johnny, but which side of the deal would you want?? Love/Crowder or Rondo/Parker/Scola/Smith?? Give me an answer. My answer would be - depends on who else is on my team. Let's say this was at the Auction and I could have added these players to my set of keepers. My keepers were Drummond, Whiteside, Gasol and Leonard. All bigs. So, at that stage of the game, I would prefer the side that gives me the triple-double point guard. If I was light in rebounding and had 2-3 PG's already - I would pick the side with Love. All deals need to be looked at from a team's needs - not by simply who the best players are. Sorry, boring answer, but that's how I see it.
What else is going on around the JBL. Some quick thoughts...
- 3-6-4 - we have our 3 tiers of teams right now. Those will change.
- Maui has been devastated by injuries. My pre-season favourite is really struggling as Davis, Gobert, Jones, Oladipo, etc have all missed time due to injury. Watch out for this team when they get healthy.
- What would Steph Curry go for at Auction today? Right now? Would you spend over $100 bucks? You better say yes to that. He's having a monster year. He could be worth $120 bucks! No, I'm serious.
- As I type this, Bangkok is in 4th...he must be splooging all over himself
- 4th to 8th currently separated by 35 points.
- 1st to 3rd just 23 points apart. I love the parity.
- Why do fans in Philly even go to the games? I wouldn't pay money to watch that.
- Boban Marjanovic - google images. 7'3, 290, and pretty as an angel
My last request is for every owner that reads the Chronicles is to update their 'On the block' with 3 players you'd be willing to listen to offers for. Because, really, we all need more offers from Idaho.
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