Break Down of New Possible Trade

ESPN and Marc Stein are reporthing that the Kings, Celts, and Sixers are considering a three way deal.Apparently the parties involved are in the process of salivating what is being offered on the table before deciding if they wanna buy the meal. The Skinny of the trade looks like this...........

Boston gets: Nocioni-also apparently the biggest road block on this deal because of the fact the Celts just resigned Rando and have Peirce and Allen's contracts looming.

Sixers get: K9, Brian "the giant Leperchaun" Scalabrine, and Tony Allen

Kings get: Dalambert and JR Giddens.

So what does this trade mean for the Kings at a quick glance, since it is 4 in the morning. Considering the area of concern for the front office right now is to add front court depth; i'm gonna take the easy road and assume the main point of the trade is to get Dalambert. For a guy making 12 mill this year though I don't think its much better than the Okafur deal. However when you consider the fact that Boston would be taking away Nocioni 7.5 mill on top of the loss of Thomas's 8.7 million and the Kings save roughly 3 million dollars for THIS. And to top it off his contract ends after next season (a season in which he'll make 13 million though), which is a year shorter than Nocioni's; so in essence we pay the same money but in a smaller time frame. This is key considering the fact that looking at Dalambert's stats nothing jumps out at you to say he deserved the contract he got.

Dalambert: 2 years 23.56 million remaining........however counterbalance that by subtracting Nocionis: 3 years 21 million remaining, and you see the Kings have freed up a year of flexibility without taking on that much more than they had.

Career Stats: 8.0 ppg 8.6 rpg 2.0 bpg and dismal .4 apg to 1.5 TO. He's averaged 26 mpg and shot about 51% from the field for his career.

Heres how some of the statistical percentages breakdown between Dalambert, Thompson, and Hawes this year (via 82games.com)

                      FG%        FTa48   Ft%     Ast48    OReb%     Dreb%       BS%     Blck48

Dalambert: .489         4.7         78.3      1.4        9.9              20.5           4.8         3.7

Thompson:  .453        9.0         82.8      4.0        13.4           17.2           2.4         1.9

Hawes:          .418       3.8         85.7      2.9        6.6              18.4           2.7         2.2

And just for kicks

Okafur:          .561       6.6         59.3       .9           11.2          22.1            3.2       2.4

Now I will admit that at first glance I hated this trade; however in true StR fashion I dived face first into the numbers and came back up for air with a renewed sence of joy. I now truley kinda, sort of, maybe, bob saggett like this trade. It has all the upside of the Emeka Okafur deal, with none of the negatives. Dalamberts production may not be eyecatching but his effiencency on the defensive glass and at guarding the rim is better than either Hawes or Thompson, and he is even shooting better from the field right now. Hey may not be a big body but he definately provides that interior defense, and most importantly the ability to alter shots at the rim. Can you imagine even if a guard manages to get by Tyreke they will have to then beat Thompson and Dalambert at the rim. The days of uncontested layups will be long gone.

Now not to get sidetracked, the reason I like this trade is because like I said it has the ups of the Okafur deal minus the downs. Sure he isn't averaging a double double like Okafur, but his rebounding percentages are about even, and he makes up for it in his shot blocking abilities. Even more so Dalambert wins the cake because his contract doesn't have that feeling of a bad night of partying in vegas to it. After next season his contract is done; just in time to start resigning Hawes, Thompson, and Greene.

The Contracts go as follows (via rotoworld.com)

Dalambert: 2009/10=11.36 million, 2010/11=12.2 million, 2011/12: Free Agent

Thompson: 2009/10=2.03 million; 2010/11=2.19 million; 2011/12=3 million (team option); 2012/2013=4.13 million (Restricted FA)

Hawes: 2009/10= 2.33, 2010/11= 2.97 (Team Option), 2011/12= 4.05(Restricted Free Agent), 2012/13: Free Agent

Donte Greene: 2009/10: $870,000, 2010/11: $930,700 (Team Option), 2011/12: $1,679,913 (Team Option), 2012/13: $2,503,070 (Restricted Free Agent)

compare that with the monstrosity that was Okafur's contract

2009/10: 10.54, 2010/11: 11.54, 2011/12: 12.54, 2012/13: 13.54, 2013/14: 14.54

What this also means is whoever the Kings draft next year (God it better not be a wing player) won't have to come in and log a bunch of minutes (unless need be either through injury or Dalambert turning out to a dud) their rookie season. They can get their feet wet, and then in the offseason the Kings can decide if they feel they have their third big man of if they want to hold on to Samuel, probably not but its an option.

 I like this trade because as it has been stated; the Kings aren't going to be a FA factor this summer, and there aren't that many big name bigs that we can get with K9's expiring. Emeka would of been nice if he had the contract that Dalambert has but he doesn't. So go with the guy that has that contract and about the same production. The Kings will basically get to rent a defensive specialist big man for this season and next. It also sends the message that the front office thinks they have a core to work with and want to see what will happen when you start putting some pieces around those players to compliment their games even more.

So now let the corrections of my beliefs begin.........

P.S. Got to see JR Giddens play for UNM against my Aztecs here in San Diego and simply put he has the jumping ability of a young Desmond Mason. He has the makings of being a legit defender at 6'5" and 215 lbs. Needed to be more consistant with his jumpshot to be a true offensive threat at the pro level. SDSU's Lorrenzo Wade (now playing in greece) made a guy who was getting a lot of draft buzz for a mountain west conference player, look pretty pedestrian most the game; by keeping him on the outside. As far as NBA level skills i'm not sure because he has only played in a whopping 14 games. Have to imagine he learned something though playing behind Pierce and Allen. Could turn out to be more than just a throw in though; if the trade happens he should get minutes with no more Noc and Martin and Cisco still out. Some Evans to Giddens alley-oops sound nice, or better yet maybe some Hawes to Gidden lobs. (Like Vlade to Gerald back in the day)

Beast Mode-midnight madness dunk contest. Giddens vs Tony Dandridge

MWC MVP?? Discussion-good background on the kid

30th pick

College Stats

P.S.S. After spending an hour now making this as professional as my lazy a** can be I am fully aware that this deal like the Okafur one is likely to not go through, because of the fact Boston is dumping two expiring contracts for Nocioni, who still has 3 years and 21 million left with a team option for a fourth, and have to worry about Ray Allen's contract ending this summer and Pierce's being up as well if he declines his player option. Then again they aren't losing anything of real value (still have Perkins, Powe, Sheed, Williams, and Garnett) and add a player they feel can play the same role James Posey played when they won the title. So i guess like all of you I have no clue, but hey its what makes sports blogging great; always something to discuss even at 6 in the morning.