Lakers & Magic Try to Add Final Piece, Kings Look to Dump Salary

With the Magic and Lakers getting ready for a push to the top of their respective conferences and the Sacramento Kings seeing their top young players develop, it is time for a three-way trade.

Lakers get:
Adonal Foyle, $1,219,590, 1 Year Remaining
Ron Artest, $7,400,000, 2 Years Remaining

Magic get:
Mike Bibby, $13,500,000, 2 Years Remaining
Justin Williams, $862,456, 1 Year Remaining

Kings get:
Pat Garrity, $3,818,750, 1 Year Remaining
Sasha Vujacic, $1,756,951, 1 Year Remaining
Chris Mihm, $2,500,000, 1 Year Remaining
J.J. Redick, $2,000,160, 2 Years Remaining
Trevor Ariza, $3,100,000, 1 Year Remaining
Carlos Arroyo, $4,000,000, 1 Year Remaining
James Augustine, $687,456, 1 Year Remaining
Orlando's 2008 First Round Pick

Let's go team-by-team to take a look at how this would benefit each team.

Lakers: The Lakers would get the final piece to the puzzle to make them the favorite to win the championship. With a starting lineup of Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and then Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmanovic, Ronny Turiaf, Luke Walton, and Jordan Farmar off the bench, the Lakers would be loaded. Artest would be the perfect complement on the wing to Bryant and Odom's versatility off the bench would fit well. Adding Foyle in place of Mihm would be a slight downgrade, but Foyle does play strong defense in the post. The loss of Ariza would hurt, but he is simply a poor man's Artest. Vujacic has played well and is young, but to make this trade work, he would have to go.

Magic: Today, the Magic sit three games behind Detroit and seven games behind Boston in the East. More importantly, as currently constructed, Orlando most likely will not be able to beat either team in a seven game series. Orlando's biggest weakness thus far has been at the point guard spot. Both Jameer Nelson and Carlos Arroyo have been given a shot, but neither has excelled. With a handful of expiring contracts for players that are not significant on the roster, Orlando has a chance to add a major player. J.J. Redick is a guard who has not fit in with the team and it would be a good opportunity to move him. In this trade, Arroyo would be the only impact player they would need to move. However, adding Bibby would create a situation with an extra point guard, so he could be moved.

Kings: Although the Kings would be giving up two of their most talented players, it would give them an opportunity to get out of long-term contracts that they are locked into. Sacramento would be getting six players whose contracts would expire after this season. A few of the players the Kings would be getting in this trade would be waived immediately. The Kings would also get a terrific shooter in J.J. Redick at a small salary, plus a first round pick of Orlando's next season. With Bibby and Artest moved, it would give Beno Udrih, Quincy Douby, Kevin Martin, John Salmons, and Francisco Garcia more playing time to continue to develop.

I would think only Orlando would have to consider not making this trade. They may not consider Bibby a great enough upgrade from Arroyo or Jameer Nelson to make this trade and take on a big salary for the 2008-09 season. I would think in an opportunity to dump both Bibby and Artest in one trade would be something they couldn't pass on. For the Lakers, to have an opportunity to add another major talent to their team would be a move they would make. Although they would be digging themselves even deeper into a luxury tax position, I would think they would make it for the chance to seriously contend for the title.

Top 25, 25 or Under

I went through the NBA and ranked the top 25 players that are 25 years older or younger. Rankings were based on the idea that salaries and teams do not matter - solely the value of that player. So for instance, right now, Andrea Bargnani is clearly not as good of a player as Gerald Wallace. However, because of potential, the Raptors would not trade him straight up for Wallace.

The top eleven or so picks were pretty easy, but the rest of the way was very difficult. At the end, I had sixteen or so guys for ten spots. I had to leave off: Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Leandro Barbosa, Al Horford, Monta Ellis, Rajon Rondo, T.J. Ford, Devin Harris, Chris Kaman, Mike Conley, and David Lee.

Here were my rankings:

1) LeBron James
2) Dwight Howard
3) Dwyane Wade
4) Chris Paul
5) Carmelo Anthony
6) Amare Stoudamire
7) Chris Bosh
8) Kevin Durant
9) Greg Oden
10) Al Jefferson
11) Deron Williams
12) Andrew Bynum
13) Kevin Martin
14) Tony Parker
15) Yi Jianlian
16) Brandon Roy
17) Andrea Bargnani
18) LaMarcus Aldridge
19) Josh Smith
20) Marvin Williams
21) Gerald Wallace
22) Luol Deng
23) Andre Iguodala
24) Danny Granger
25) Al Horford

Catching Up from the Weekend

-I am happy to say I missed Saturday night's Bulls-Raptors blowout at the United Center. Apparently during the second half, fans started booing and then chanted "Ko-be, Ko-be". What a disaster.

-The rest of the month has the Bulls playing six road games and a home game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Nuggets, Knicks, and Raptors make up the Bulls longest roadtrip of the season. It certainly is likely the Bulls may end with something like a 3-10 November, which would seriously handicap their chances of winning the Eastern Conference.

-During the offseason and then preseason, we heard a lot that J.J. Redick would be playing significant minutes with the Magic under new coach Stan Van Gundy. Through seven Magic games, Redick has only appeared in two games and has not scored a point this season.

-At this point, I would say the five best teams are: Boston, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, and Utah. The bottom five teams are: Seattle, Golden State, Memphis, Miami, and Washington.

-Though it is still early, Rajon Rondo has done a great job at point guard for the Celtics. He has taken care of the ball on offense, forced turnovers on defense, and has scored more than ten points per game in a majority of games. However, the one close game the Celtics have played in this year against the Raptors, was Rondo's worse of the season by far. Rondo struggled to be effective and scored only two points and had two assists, while failing to score from the field and having five fouls. So it looks like, as Rondo goes, the Celtics will go this season.

-I caught the last five minutes of the Kings-Cavaliers game late Friday night. LeBron James completely took over and Cleveland pulled out the win. The big story in my mind was Sacramento’s execution down the stretch. With twelve seconds left to play and down two points, Sacramento’s top scoring option, Kevin Martin, was isolated in transition one-on-one on the left wing. Furthermore, there was only one other Cavalier defender within the three point line. Instead of letting Martin go at his defender and trying to send the game to overtime, Kings coach Reggie Theus called a time. Out of the timeout, Martin was defended by LeBron James, who did not bite on a pump fake and ultimately forced Martin into taking a forced three point attempt that fell short. Theus clearly cost his team a chance to pull out a victory by over-coaching the situation.

Scouting Report: Francisco Garcia

Last season, guard Kevin Martin made a significant leap with the Sacramento Kings. After averaging 26.6 minutes per game and 10.8 points per game in 2006-07, Martin put up averages of 35.2 minutes per game and 20.2 points per game this past season. This year, the Kings are hoping that Francisco Garcia can make a similar leap in production.

Player Name: Francisco Garcia
Current Team: Sacramento Kings
Ideal Position: SF
Drafted: 23rd
Height/Weight: 6'7"/195
Birthdate: 12/31/81
Hometown: Bronx, NY
High School: Winchendon School
College: Univsersity of Louisville
Agent: Aaron Goodwin

Contract:
2005-06 $1,016,400
2006-07 $1,092,600
2007-08 $1,168,800
2008-09 $1,983,453 (Team Option)
2009-10 $2,885,924 (Qualifying Offer)
2010-11 $2,885,924 (Qualifying Offer)

Notes:
Nickname is the "Latin Assassin"; Younger brother died in December of 2003; Only current NBA player born in the Dominican Republic; Twice named to the Louisville Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for a GPA of 3.0 or better; Majored in communications at Louisville; Played basketball and baseball in high school; Participated in the 2005 FIBA America’s World Championship Qualifying Tournament held in the Dominican Republic as a member of the Dominican Republic National Team; Finished collegiate career ranked fourth in Louisville history in three pointers made, third in free throw percentage, eighth in blocked shots, and 23rd in points scored; Named to the 2005 NABC All-America second-team and Wooden All-American team honors; Earned First Team All-Conference USA accolades and was named as a member of the C-USA All-Decade team.

Strengths:
Great shooter; Strong interior passer; Great attitude; Has overcome a great deal of adversity; Provides great leadership and is a real team player; Versatility on offense allows him to be able to play point guard, shooting guard, and small forward; Has range on his shot and gets it off quickly; Excellent court vision; Great work ethic and passion for the game; Good shot blocker for a wing player; Tough; Scrappy; Willing to take the big shot.

Weaknesses:
Too thin; Settles for the jump shot too frequently; In-between game has room to improve; Not a high leaper; Turnover prone; Probably not quick enough to defend shooting guards, but not strong enough to guard many small forwards; Has had some foot and ankle injuries previously; Prefers to score off the dribble rather than catch-and-shoot.

Outlook:
Garcia is a versatile player who can play multiple positions and has great value to his team. He comes off as a great kid and a terrific teammate. Garcia's ceiling is the third scorer on a strong team. At this point, it looks like his strength will never increase, but he has shown that he is an above-average defensive player.

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