Wizards, knicks, kings, clips got a lot weaker and we play them a combined 6 times which should = 6 wins. honestly i feel the bulls got weaker as well. maybe 7 wins???
Honestly, though, how many of those were you counting as losses before the trades happened? I feel that should've equaled 5 or 6 wins before the trades. So a delta of maybe +1 isn't going to get me super-excited. But you're right, it's a positive.
i dont know... the wiz already beat us, the knicks give us fits for whatever reason and martin has always torched us. not to mention the clips steal 1 every year from us.
Kings got weaker? In what universe. The Evans/Martin duo was not working. They were winning a lot more before he came back. So, instead, they are going to play Evans at the 2 where the spiritis intended and they got a nice post player in Landry. The Kings got the best player in this deal.
To me, the happiness shouldn't come from the expected change in outcome, but rather the change in certainty in those outcomes... The trade deadline is dangerous, and alot of times under the radar teams can pick up a nice piece or two, sometimes for ending contracts and the like, and become dangerous enough to win on any given night. Instead, these teams solidified their place well below us, and while before they looked like teams that we SHOULD have been able to run though, they've become teams that we HAVE to (and should be able to) run through... I'll take 80% odds over 70% odds everyday of the week...
+1. They got a backup, undersized PF. Granted he's playing out of his backside currently, but he's not as talented as Kevin Martin. Houston got a (when healthy) young, star SG AND a young bigman with very good potential, AND 2 potential lottery picks. You could argue that they got the 4 best pieces in this deal, but at the VERY least, Martin > Landry just based on talent alone.
All you need to know about the Kings is that don't have to rely on a frontcourt tandem of Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson anymore, but instead can move Thompson to center (his more natural position) and Landry gives them a go to scorer in the post. In my opinion despite K-Mart's stellar shooting, his porous defense does a lot to blunt his overall effect on wins and losses; the Kings did get the better of the deal.
Ronnie Brewer goes to Memphis in the final minutes... Brewer's torn us a new one several times. Memphis doesn't seem as much as a threat to catch us from behind, so that can't be a bad thing...
Kevin Martin is like Durant was before this year - volume scorer that does nothing to make his team better. Durant paid attention, worked his rear off - and is now a very nice defensive player. The Thunder are + with Durant on the court, they were big time - last year. Martin is still same old, same old - the Kings were losing 10 points per 100 possessions with him on the court compared to when he was not. Talented like hell doing one thing only. Does not make his teams better one bit. The Kings got much better. They have Evans who is much better than Martin playing his natural position with a real PG to help him handle the ball when he is not attacking. Just like what the Blazers do with Roy. Sure, he handles the ball a lot, and assists, but this way this is not his primary responsibility and he can concentrate on attacking while playing a secondary role as a creator. The Rockets replaced T-Mac's unreliable production with Martin's unreliable production. They will be, however, much smarter and will use him a lot less with much less complaint when Yao comes back. T-Mac needed to be the man. Martin will be fine with reduced role - and they will be able to play Ariza and Battier when Martin does not work. Good trade for both teams, but at the end of the day - the Kings got much better.
The Knicks getting worse really isn't a good thing. That just means a better draft pick for the Utah Jazz.
Did they get that much worse? At least for this season? They traded Hill - who they weren't playing, and Jeffries who's marginal at best. They bring back a PG who could be perfect for their offense and an exstar who WANTS to play. If McGrady's cleared for end of the season action it's not unreasonable at all to suggest that he and Serg should add more to the team than the production that they're losing (currently, ie. what's impacting their draft stock) in Jeff and Hill...
