Loading ...With the NBA draft a day away. The trade rumors are flying. A few rumors have caught my eye. One involves the Suns sending the No. 15 pick and Leandro Barbosa to Los Angeles in exchange for the No. 7 pick and Corey Maggette. Another is the Warriors sending Baron Davis and Al Harrington to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace.
For the Warriors and Clippers, these deals would be incredibly foolish.
Golden State
- Chauncey Billups (31) is three years older than Baron Davis
- Chauncey’s contract extends to the 2010/2011 season
- Baron will be a free agent after next season
- Davis’ 2007-2008 stats: 22 pts, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 43% from the field
- Billups’ 2007-2008 stats: 17 pts, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 45% from the field
- Rasheed Wallace (33) is six years older than Al Harrington
- Rasheed’s 2007-2008 stats: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 43% from the field
- Harrington’s 2007-2008 stats: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 43% from the field
- Chauncey and Rasheed are half-court players
- Neither Billups or Wallace possess the open-court skills to succeed in Coach Don Nelson’s system
Bottom line: you don’t trade youth for experience unless the deal makes you substantially better or gives you the chance to win a championship. The Warriors wouldn’t improve much (if at all) and they’d still be far from championship contenders.
LA Clippers
- Barbosa is three years younger than Maggette
- But Maggette is only 29
- Maggette averaged 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists last season
- Barbosa was the 2006-07 NBA Sixth Man of the Year but hasn’t even broken the starting lineup for Phoenix
- Barbosa averaged 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists last season
Botton line: knowing all of this, why would the Clippers consider trading a better player for the chance to pick later in the draft?
