Cavaliers Winners, Sonics Losers in Last-Minute Trade

A big trade went down today, but who got the better of it?

Will it be enough to get LeBron's Cavs back to the Finals?

In a last-minute attempt at a playoff stand, the Cleveland Lebrons completed an 11-player deal in an attempt make a postseason difference. 

I think it is safe to say that Cavs would’ve made the playoffs without the new additions, but as a four or a five seed. They would have attempted to prolong their demise when they faced Boston or Detroit in the second round. 

Cleveland now has new life in acquiring big defensive beast, Ben Wallace, a man to give the big boys a breather in Joe Smith, and Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak, a couple of smalls to compliment Lebron and replace Larry Hughes. 

It was definitely not a hard decision for Cleveland’s general manager, Danny Ferry to make. 

Yes, he did have to split up Batman and Robin (James and Hughes) to make the deal complete, and Larry Hughes will be missed by Cavalier fans.  But in trading Robin to the Bulls and sealing this deal, the Cavaliers get the fantastic four, a great group of talented players looking to give LeBron and the Cavaliers a chance in the playoffs. 

The Cavs lacked depth in their bench all year. They didn’t have enough energy and drive coming onto the floor when they needed it. When it comes to the playoffs, that is exactly what you need. You need the depth in your lineup to step it up through foul trouble, injuries, or just plain bad nights. And if the fantastic four wasn’t good enough, the Bulls threw in a second-round pick in the 2009 draft. 

Cleveland now has what it takes to make a stand in the playoffs. They got the offensive wizard in LeBron with a talented shooter in Szczerbiak. The defensive genius in Wallace helps too, not to take anything away from the rest of the newcomers, as Smith and West who aren’t bad either.

In this deal, the Bulls are trying to find out some type of chemistry combination to get their highly talented young players to win. The Bulls were the new up-and-coming team last year, they had the quick offensive attacks and young, fast players to run the court and play both ends, much like the Phoenix Suns.

Then why are the Bulls 21-32? That’s what the Bulls' organization is trying to find out.

They have some pretty amazing small kids in Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and newly-acquired Larry Hughes. And as nice as it is to have Ben Wallace, they have the young, fast bigs to replace him in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. These two guys are going make an impact in this league, just you wait. 

That brings us to the losers of this deal, as though Seattle could have gotten any worse. They lost Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis in the offseason, and good karma delivered superstar Kevin Durant. But really Seattle, you gave away your second leading scorer in Wally Szczerbiak (13.1) who kissed the losing days good bye in a 24-point final game to claim the win over Memphis on Tuesday. 

The only thing Seattle has to show for this deal is Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, and Adrian Griffin. Here are a group of guys who will get you absolutely nowhere. 

I hope to see a good playoff appearance for the always-exciting Cleveland Lebrons, some new blood over in Chicago, and some miracles in Seattle.

Congratulations are in order to the Cavaliers for negotiating this deal. Good luck to the Bulls. I hope it isn’t too late for you this year, and god help the Sonics, because with trades like these, he is the only one who can.