<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Denver Nuggets guard Earl Watson, arguably mentioned in more trade scenarios this season than any other player in the league, is headed back to the team that drafted him. The Seattle SuperSonics, desperate for a defensive-minded point guard as an alternative to Luke Ridnour, will receive Watson, swingman Bryon Russell and a future second-round pick from Denver in a three-team deal. NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that the trade has been forwarded to the league office for approval before Thursday's 3 p.m. trading deadline. The Blazers joined in on the Seattle-Denver talks in its ongoing quest for salary-cap relief and receive Nuggets guard Voshon Lenard and Sonics center Vitaly Potapenko. Lenard carries an expiring contract ($3.5 million this season) and Potapenko has only one season left on his deal at $3.7 million in 2006-07. With Patterson due next $7 million next season, Portland saves just over $3 million in salary. The Nuggets, after unsuccessful bids to make a splashier move for Ron Artest and then Steve Francis, will instead import Sonics rebounding specialist Reggie Evans, Portland swingman Ruben Patterson and the Blazers' Charles Smith as a salary-cap throw in. </div> Source
I actually think this trade works better for Denver. Evans is all heart and he gives interior strength. Sonics don't know what they're missing. j
Evans seems like a damn good rebounder, which could really help to ease a bit of pressure on Camby. Martin just does not pull in enough rebounds consistently.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Greazy9:</div><div class="quote_post">Sonics don't know what they're missing.</div> Yeah they do. Yeah, they're missing a good, young rebounder who gives his all on nearly every play, but guess what? He doesn't want to be a Sonic... Much like the Vladimir Radmanovic situation, but this time's a little more severe. If our number one priority is ridding our squad of players who are hurting team chemistry, this was (and is) a brilliant deal by Seattle.
^I realize he was soured on the Sonics. Guess who made it that way. Last year he wanted to be a Sonic, but this year he doesn't, and it's not just because of their record. AS far as I'm concerned, that's more The Sonics fault than it is Evans'. j
Maybe Evans didn't realize that we would, a year or two down the road, have two young talented forwards (in Nick Collison and Vladimir Radmanovic, now Chris Wilcox) and one of the most underappreciated players in all of the NBA (in Danny Fortson)? He got playing time under Bob Weiss, and all was well. But that's exactly what a coaching change can do to your team - destroy chemistry. To put it simply, Evans was frustrated with his playing time, which can be directly linked to the coaching change we made.
last year i was a big fan of evans, but seeing the chemistry issues that the sonics seem to have this year as well as this losing season, i think the trade was a good move for seattle, especially since we were able to bring a proven point guard to back ridnour.
