We keep hearing rumblings of big names to be dealt before February’s trading deadline, but haven’t seen any action yet. While today didn’t bring any updates of Al Jefferson, Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady or Antawn Jamison on the move, we did see a couple of minor deals go down.
The most notable trade occured between the New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks. The Nets have agreed to send Eduardo Najera to the Mavs in exchange for forwards Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams. The Nets also waived the troubled Sean Williams, best known for his off-court antics (including this gem) than anything done on the hardwood, to make room for their two new additions.
When the Nets originally acquired Najera, they hoped he would provide toughness and veteran leadership. Unfortunately, much of his time in New Jersey has been stunted by injuries – limiting to only 40 games as a Net in over the past two seasons. Najera should welcome the trade to Dallas with open arms. Not only is he fortunate to be fleeing one of the worst teams in NBA history, Najera had some of his best NBA moments with the Mavericks. He spent the first five seasons of his career in Dallas and even appeared in 39 playoff games for them. While he’ll be a familiar face in Big D, I wouldn’t expect him to be much of a contributor for Dallas as they already have Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas coming off of the bench. As he has his whole career, he’ll play in spurts when hustle or defensive effort is particularly in need.
The key piece for the Nets in this trade is Kris Humphries. Although Humphries has been relatively inconsistent throughout his career, I think he is an upgrade for the Nets. First off, he’s healthy and can contribute immediately. The Nets also are relatively thin up front. Yi Jianlian has been getting tons of run lately (and playing quite well I might add) but it will nice to have a player like Humphries coming off the bench to give him a breather. Humphries is athletic, has good size, and is a decent rebounder. His rebounding, in particular, will be a welcome addition for the Nets. While the Nets haven’t made a decision yet, they have discussed waiving Shawne Williams, so he might have just been a pawn in helping to push this trade through.
The other trade of the day was even more yawn-worthy. The New Orleans Hornets traded Hilton Armstrong to the Sacramento Kings for, get this, a conditional 2016 draft pick and cash considerations. Deals that are money-motivated are never sexy, and this certainly fits the bill. The trade brings the Hornets to within $530,611 of the league’s luxury-tax line. Don’t be surprised if they make another move or waive an underutilized player to get under the luxury-tax line this season.
The Kings, on the other hand, had more than $4 million in available cap space and could afford to take on Armstrong’s contract. Armstrong will bring versatility to an unproven Kings frontcourt, and should see time at both power forward an center. He’ll definitely be a nice insurance policy for them, and should be an upgrade over players like Jon Brockman who have been getting minutes for Sacto lately. Also, Jason Thompson has often struggled with foul trouble and Spencer Hawes is the epitome of inconsistency. Armstrong will get minutes with the Kings for those reasons alone.
Still, given that Armstrong has career averages of just 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, one has to wonder if the Kings could have used this cap space more effectively. One has to wonder a bit about a player who is having his minutes cut into by players like Darius Songaila and Sean Marks. Still, most NBA caliber players just need an opportunity in the right system to elevate their game. Maybe the trade to an up-and-coming Kings team that is still establishing their identity is that opportunity for Armstrong.
Who do you think came out on top in today’s trades?
