The Pacers finally made a move trading Al "Don't Call me Baby Al" Harrington , Whoo Jackson, Saras and Josh Powell to the Warriors for Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod. Here are my random thoughts:
I guess the Pacers finally figured out (i) that Harrington and JO play the exact same position, (ii) that what their team really needed was shooters and (iii) that Carlisle was not going to turn them into a run and gun team. Hmmm . . . Where have I heard that before?
Donnie Walsh has made so many great moves I have a hard time second guessing him. Remember how pissed people were when we traded Dale Davis for JO? Whoops!
I bet this is similar to the deal we were going to do with the Warriors for Artest before they killed the deal. Please note that Donnie Walsh, whom everyone criticized for the Artest-Stojakovic deal, has now gotten the players he wanted (Stojakovic turned into Harrington and Harrington turned into these guys), while also getting rid of Jackson. Also note, Stojakovic is out for the season and may have permanent damage to his back. Donnie Walsh has ruined the careers of more GMs . . .
I am not as low on Stephen Jackson as many people around here. Still, this is probably addition by subtraction. This is a good PR move to get rid of him. Most of the fans here absolutely hate him - Indiana fans just will not support a mediocre team with "bad guys" on it (as they perceive Jackson to be).
Harrington was incredibly inconsistent this year. He also said some weird things recently. He really struggled at the 3. I don't think he was happy on the court here. Look for him to do well in Golden State.
Keith McLeod is a throw in, but we will need him as a backup 2 guard. For a fringe NBA player, he can score. It will be interesting to see who starts at 2. Marquis Daniels has been awful this year, but he is the only true 2 guard. Could we start Dunleavy and Granger at the 2-3? Not sure we want Dunleavy guarding some 2's (or 3's for that matter).
Apparently the plan is to build a team around JO by surrounding him with shooters. Murphy is a good compliment to him because he is a good rebounder and shooter. It is a mistake to build around JO, in my opinion. A better move would be to ship JO. He is a great player, but he is not the type of player that can carry a team by himself anywhere. If the P's were going to make a move, I wish they had traded JO instead. Donnie probably couldn't find any takers.
Don't sleep on Diogu. The Pacers love him. He has the potential to be a pretty good player. I would guess he is the reason we did the deal. He is a potential home run.
This deal ties up our salary cap for the next four years. Murphy and Dunleavy both have moderate to big contracts.
Apparently we think Tinsley will stay healthy this year. If not we've only got 50 year old Darrell Armstrong and unproven Orien Greene backing him up now.
Overall, I am excited about this deal. We really aren't losing that much in Harrington, Jackson and Saras. We aren't gaining that much in Murphy. Dunleavy certainly has been a disappointment and is not a "star" player, but is young and has talent. A change of scenery could be good for him. Diogu is the wild card - again could be a home run if given time (both in years and minutes). In essence we are trading the knowable for the unknown. This trade makes us a little worse on paper right now. In the future (as in maybe later this season), it could make us better, maybe even propel us to the top 4 in the East, which is a weak conference. In any event, it is a move. And Pacer fans have been asking for a move for a while.
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