In a three-team trade today, the Boston Celtics sent Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to Golden State, the Miami Heat sent Joel Anthony and two draft picks (the pick will become two second rounders if the 76ers are lottery team both this year and next) to Boston, and the Golden State Warriors sent Toney Douglas to the Miami Heat.
The Celtics are also getting a future first-round pick from Philly (which will become 2 second-rounders if Philly stays in the lottery the next two years) and another second-round pick.
So three teams got together and made a trade, I thought it made sense to gather the opinions of three BoxScore Geeks.
Patrick's Take
The Heat's part of this deal is obvious: Anthony's minutes have, by now, all been soaked up by the much more capable Chris Andersen, and this move saves them quite a bit of money. Anthony makes 3.8 million and has a player option for next year; Douglas makes 1.6 million and has no option. It saves the Heat luxury tax money this year and opens up the possibility for the Heat to acquire a mid-level wing player in free agency, since every wing player not named "LeBron" or "Dwyane" has an expiring contract this year. I hear some Heat fans speaking about Trevor Ariza as if the deal were already done.
The Golden State part is also obvious; Toney Douglas is terrible and everyone in GSW management has a heart attack any time Curry takes a fall. Acquiring a young player having a career year to be his backup is a no-brainer move on their part.
Which brings me to Boston, and the "What the fuck are they doing!?" part of this trade. Generally, I think it's a good idea to trade present assets for future assets of more value, but this trade makes no sense. I understand that Rondo is coming back, and with the acquisition of Bayless, the Celtics have extra point guards, and it makes sense to trade one for future assets. But of the three point guards that Boston has lying around, it makes the most sense to ship Bayless or Bradley. Because he's a veteran, Bayless is what he is. He's never going to develop into a star and he's not a factor in the team's long-term plans. Bradley is a shoot-first guard who doesn't have the height or score well enough to play shooting guard. As a young player getting better, Crawford is the last piece that Ainge should be shipping out in this deal. If you want to trade future assets for present ones, they should be shopping vets like Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries, not young, cheap players who are getting better.
Furthermore, the returns aren't great. Yes, there is a decent chance that the Philly pick actually stays a first rounder but if it does, by definition it will be a late one. So Boston essentially just gave away a piece of their future for 2 or 3 picks that have...a small chance of being part of their future. People talk about the treadmill of mediocrity, but it's more like the hamster wheel of ineptitude.
Arturo's Take
Bullshit. At 25, Jordan Crawford is who he is. He's a mediocre point guard who Brad Stevens helped have the best season of his career so far (0.109 WP48: congrats Jordan, you're an average player). He's also completely redundant to the Celtics rotation going forward, a complete and utter liability defensively, and he's being traded at the absolute height of his trade value. Not only that, but he's being traded for an actual honest to goodness productive center in Joel Anthony who can actually play defense in the post and what could very well be a first round pick next year from Philly (since I think they easily make the playoffs in the East in 2015). This move also allows the Celtics to stop playing Humphries and Sullinger out of position at the five and gives us less Kelly and Vitor (this is a huge win). The final part of this that makes sense for the Celtics is that they get another number one pick to dangle Daryl Morey's way in a possible Bass for Asik swap.
For Golden State, It's a nice trade that shores up their bench, but they need to hope to the basketball gods that Crawford doesn't revert. They give up nothing though.
For Miami, the missing angle for Patrick is this tells me that Greg Oden might be very,very close to being ready or that they're making a play for Bynum. Possibly both.
Dre's Take
This is actually a pretty meh trade. None of the players were major players. The picks are likely second rounders. It's getting news because all mid-season multi-team trades get news. That said, let's break it down team by team.
Boston: I like this trade for them. I actually do. Pretty much this is identical to the Deng trade. The Celtics have a decent but not great player on an expiring deal. And either he'll want a raise, or won't want to stick around when Rondo returns. Rather than lose him for nothing, they picked up future assets. I'm not quite sure where Arturo's optimism for Joel Anthony is coming from. Given his age and recent performance, I wouldn't be too excited. Still, the trade is sound from purely an assets based theory.
Golden State: Golden State turns a terrible Toney Douglas into a quality backup for Curry? Remember a few years ago when Golden State was doing silly moves like signing Kwame Brown? They seem to have found their footing. Excellent move on their part.
Miami: Most trades have to have a loser. I think Miami may be said loser. Boston wins long, Golden State wins short, and Miami does what? I guess they clear their books a little, but it cost a lot. If the Heat hope to keep Bron and Wade around for another run, they'll need at least a little depth. It will be hard to afford as both will be getting raises, and more than a few teams have money to bid on them. Unless Riley has a pre-arranged deal to spend the exact cap that Miami gains, this was a loss.
Also Arturo being optimistic on Oden and Joel Anthony is just silly. Seriously, neither player should come into consideration when analyzing this trade.