Reflecting on the 4-Team, 5-Player NBA Trade of 2010
In August of 2010, the New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets and the Houston Rockets completed a four-team, five-player trade that took some people around the league by surprise.
Courtney Lee, Troy Murphy, James Posey, Darren Collison and Trevor Ariza changed zip codes and this was a NBA trade that was completed to benefit both in the short-term and the long-term, but mostly in the long-term.
In the following slides, the trade is explained further after the one-year anniversary!
New Jersey Nets
1 of 4New Jersey Nets traded: Courtney Lee
New Jersey Nets received: Troy Murphy
Why the Nets made the trade: They got an expiring contract in Murphy to add to their bench. They move Lee who is a young player that helped the Orlando Magic make it to the 2007 NBA Finals. The Nets are looking to shed some salary in order to get ready to sign free-agents during the summer of 2010, and may look to move Murphy once more to get more expiring assets.
The New Jersey Nets dealt Murphy to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for two more expiring contracts in Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright. However, the team was not able to sign any big name players during free-agency and instead overpaid for Travis Outlaw.
Indiana Pacers
2 of 4Indiana Pacers traded: Troy Murphy
Indiana Pacers received: James Posey, Darren Collison
The Pacers brought in Darren Collison who will help to run the offense alongside Danny Granger. This is the start of a new era for the Pacers, and James Posey will provide depth at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He could also be used to shed some more salary as the trade deadline approaches in 2011.
The Indiana Pacers still have veteran James Posey on their roster, but he has an expiring contract and the chances that he could be moved during 2011-12 are 50-50. Without Murphy on the roster, the Pacers have used both Josh McRoberts and Tyler Hansbrough interchangeably at the power forward spot.
New Orleans Hornets
3 of 4New Orleans Hornets traded: James Posey, Darren Collison
New Orleans Hornets received: Trevor Ariza
The Hornets acquired Ariza and his athletic ability to put alongside Chris Paul and David West. With his ability to defend multiple positions, he should be a decent addition to the team. It is a risky move for the Hornets, since Ariza has a large contract, but it may be worth the effort, if it can keep Paul in New Orleans a while longer.
Ariza has put up decent numbers with the Hornets averaging 11.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 75 appearances (all starts). He also averaged a career-high 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the 2011 playoffs against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
It is still not known what will happen to the Hornets franchise in the long-run, but from the look of things, it appears that Chris Paul will not be re-signing with the Hornets. However this could change, especially if the collective bargaining agreement is re-structured to favor small-market teams by finding a way to “keep” franchise players from leaving.
Houston Rockets
4 of 4Houston Rockets traded: Trevor Ariza
Houston Rockets received: Courtney Lee, $6 million trade exception
The Houston Rockets are probably one of the winners in both the short-term and long-term by making this trade before the start of the 2010-11 NBA season. This is a move that may benefit the team in the long-term, especially if it comes to courting free-agents. They get rid of Ariza’s multi-year contract, and take on Lee’s which is still on a rookie pay scale.
Ariza did play well with the Rockets in his one season with the team, but he was not a foundation player that the team could build around. Ariza was rather a piece that could play alongside the foundation player that is Kevin Martin.
Courtney Lee may be another possible foundation player, but he is more likely to be playing alongside a star player. The Rockets can use him at both the shooting guard and small forward spots.
The trade exception should come in handy as general manager Daryl Morey looks at acquiring more players over the course of time. Morey’s biggest challenge will be to find a center that can replace the now-retired Yao Ming. Could the Rockets somehow work a trade with the Orlando Magic in order to acquire Dwight Howard?
At this time it is a long-shot, but maybe as time goes along, they can offer some of their assets to Magic general manager Otis Smith who may be forced to deal Howard if things do not change for the better in Orlando.
