Breaking Down the NBA Offseason Trades, Part Two

The summer days lazily drift by, but not for NBA general mangers still maneuvering to make their teams better. Let’s examine the latest round of trades, and what they mean for each new employer, and each new employee.


Charlotte acquires Erick Dampier, Eduardo Najera, and Matt Carroll from Dallas for Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca

After suffering through an ineffective season marred by injuries and foul trouble, Charlotte shipped off Tyson Chandler for a more reliable center. Dampier doesn’t have the defensive range of Chandler, but he’s more forceful inside, and less brittle.

Because Gerald Wallace is an undersized power forward in Charlotte, the Bobcats need to make up for their lack of defensive bulk in the frontcourt. Dampier should do that, improving an already solid defense.

Offensively, Dampier doesn’t provide much, but he’s always been a terrific offensive rebounder, and finisher around the rim.

Matt Carroll is a shooter to store at the end of Charlotte’s bench, while Eduardo Najera is a hard-working scrapper on his last NBA legs.

The Bobcats didn’t acquire a player who could create his own offense, but they gave up two non-scorers for three non-scorers who are better defenders than what they gave up going the other way.

Discounting the financials of the deal, the Bobcats improved themselves on the court.

Grade: A-

Dallas acquires Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca from Dallas for Erick Dampier, Eduardo Najera, and Matt Carroll

The Mavericks are an older team that doesn’t cover as much ground defensively as it once did. Therefore, acquiring the rangy Chandler can serve as a boost to their defense. He’s quick enough to show on screens, to rotate along the interior, and to block shots, while doubling as a sturdy post defender. Chandler’s injury and foul problems are mitigated by having Brendan Haywood on the roster.

Ajinca is simply a project big who won’t be a factor in the NBA for a while, if ever.

Chandler is a different kind of defender than Dampier, and a better fit right now than Dampier. Najera and Carroll weren’t major parts of Rick Carlisle’s rotation, so the Mavericks, like Charlotte, upgraded themselves on the court.

Grade: A-

Utah acquires Al Jefferson from Minnesota for Kosta Koufos

Jefferson can score in a multitude of ways on the block. He carves out space with a wide body down low, has soft touch on his hooks, and can even put the ball on the floor provided he only has to go in a straight line to the basket. Jefferson has even improved his jump shooting to be a respectable threat outside the paint.

He’s certainly the same caliber of back-to-the-basket scorer Carlos Boozer is.

However, whereas Boozer could create his own offense from the high post, and was an above average passer, Jefferson’s effectiveness rapidly diminishes the farther away from the paint he is. Jefferson isn’t a willing or able passer, and isn’t turnover prone because he’s too busy attempting shots, even against double teams.

He does compare to Boozer in another area of his game—defense. Jefferson’s a slow-to-move, slow-to-recognize player who seldom offers defensive resistance.

With Jefferson on the roster, the Jazz will have a low post option to throw the ball into should their various flex sets not produce any offense, plus another effective screen/roll player.

However, Jefferson won’t space the floor the way Boozer could, and is just as poor a defender.

Essentially trading Boozer for Jefferson is a parallel deal, one that won’t make the Jazz significantly worse or better. Given the way their interior defense has been shredded the past two seasons by the Lakers, you’d think they’d prefer to go in a different direction than acquiring a poor interior defender.

Grade: B-

Minnesota acquires Kosta Koufos from Utah for Al Jefferson

For a team as devoid of firepower as the Timberwolves are, it’s almost unthinkable that they could give away a reliable post scorer and not get anything of value in return. Instead of Jefferson, the T-Wolves have Koufos, a poor facsimile of an NBA player. 

Yes, it’s painfully obvious that the combination of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love wasn’t going to cut it and one of them had to go. Neither is particularly athletic, and neither plays any semblance of effective defense. Minnesota values Love’ complementary attributes—his rebounding, his passing, his jump shooting—so they held on to him.

Instead, of finding a player who Love could work off of—a post scorer who could draw doubles and pass, an athleticic shot blocker, a wing who could create his own offense—the T-Wolves simply gave Jefferson away, failing to improve their roster.

Grade: F

Phoenix acquired Hedo Turkoglu from Toronto for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones

After a disastrous season in Toronto, Hedo Turkoglu moves west. On the surface, his last three places of residency will have employed basic tenements of the same offense. Orlando, Toronto, and Phoenix are all high screen/roll offenses with up to four three-point shooters on the floor with a big man setting the screen and rolling.

The difference between Turkoglu’s strong play in Orlando to his miserable season in Toronto is the personnel. In Orlando, Dwight Howard’s screens pulverized Turkoglu’s defenders, while Howard’s hoopward rolls sucked in help defenders to collapse on him at the rim.

Turkoglu’s three-point shooting punished defenders for going under the screens or for making ineffective closeouts. Meanwhile, his height, handles, and vision allowed him to see where the collapsing help defenders were coming from before making on-point passes.

In Toronto, defenses didn’t have to worry as much about Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani as rollers, so defenses didn’t have to suck in as much. Left to his own devices, Turkoglu is an ordinary scorer and playmaker.

With Phoenix, who will be Toronto’s primary screen/roll man? Robin Lopez looks the part, but can he be successful without Amare Stoudemire. Hakim Warrick shouldn’t pose too many sleepless nights for opposing coaches either.

As such, Turkoglu will be asked to handle the ball less in Phoenix, and to be more of a spot-up shooter, something he certainly does well. Expect an improvement over last year, but don’t expect him to return to Orlando form.

Goran Dragic’ emergence made Leandro Barbosa obsolete, as Dragic supplies terrific talent without the reckless decisions that plague Barbosa.

Grade: B

Toronto acquires Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones from Phoenix for Hedo Turkoglu

The Raptors won’t miss Turkoglu’s lack of production, his deflections of criticism, or his overpaid contract. On the downside, the Raptors are now thin at the small forward position and will need to make a move to fill their gap.

Barbosa comes in as a player who could supply offense in a pinch as a backup, but he’s another awful defender on an awful defensive team that desperately needs a defensive backbone.

Barbosa isn’t a player who’ll make Toronto better, but they saw a chance to get out of Turkoglu’s contract and took it.

Grade: B-