Spurs, Raptors, Sixers, and Nets Earn A's: Breaking Down The NBA Trades

Philadelphia acquires Jason Kapono from Toronto for Reggie Evans.

Starving for three-point shooting, Kapono is a marksman who fills that need. He’ll probably come off the bench because his inability to create his own shot, defend, or rebound limit him to being a part-time player. Still, as one-trick pony, he performs that trick exceptionally well.

Assuming Elton Brand’s achillies doesn’t render him inoperable, Philadelphia has Elton Brand or Thaddeus Young to man the four spot, with Marreese Speights off the bench—meaning they already have their power forward spot set. However, they will need to sign a rugged rebounder to offset the loss of Evans.

Grade: A

Toronto acquires Reggie Evans from Philadelphia for Jason Kapono.

Raptors teams have been soft up front in the Chris Bosh-Andrea Bargnani-era, lacking the muscle power to compete with more rugged rebounding teams. Evans gives the Raptors some of the toughness they’ve sorely lacked.

They still need a wing who can create for himself, especially if Anthony Parker is leaving, but Jason Kapono needed others to create his looks anyway.

The deal was the rare trade in which each team got exactly what they needed.

Grade: A

Washington Wizards acquire Randy Foye and Mike Miller from Minnesota for Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, Oleskiy Pecherov, and the draft pick they used on Ricky Rubio.

Randy Foye is an undersized two-guard who is tough and can shoot, but is a limited player. Mike Miller should rebound after a disinterested season in Minnesota, but at his best, he’s a bombs-away gunner who can sometimes attack the rim, but only rarely play defense.

So the Wizards, already loaded with guards and shooters, acquired two more guards who like to shoot. Brilliant!

Getting rid of Thomas is addition by subtraction and should create more roster harmony, and Pecherov is little more than a young shooting big man himself. Songaila is a tough, smart glue guy now missing from a team devoid of ball movement.

Gilbert Arenas, Deshawn Stevenson, Mike James, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Nick Young, Mike Miller, and Randy Foye. Of those players, only two of them (Stevenson, Butler) will try defensively, and only one (Butler) will consistently attack contact at the rim. The rest of the gang is all defenseless, one-on-one jump shooting that may return the Wizards to mediocrity but no further.

They better hope Ricky Rubio doesn’t become good.

Grade: D

Minnesota acquires Darius Songaila, Eton Thomas, Oleskiy Pecherov, and the draft pick they used on Ricky Rubio from Washington for Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

Randy Foye isn’t an impact player, and Mike Miller never really bothered in his lone season in the twin cities, so neither player will be missed.

However, the Timberwolves need athletes badly and didn’t get any from these players. That means that their trade hinges on how good Ricky Rubio he can be.

Songaila fosters ball movement, he works hard, and he can hit open jump shots—all things Ryan Gomes can do and more. Thomas will work hard on defense and make up for some of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love’s defensive shortcomings. All Pecherov will do is shoot long jumpers and shouldn’t play much.

The trade marginally covers up some of Minnesota’s weak points, but they need athletic talent. Even with Rubio, where’s the perimeter scoring?

Grade: B-

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