With Just One Day Left Until the Draft, the NBA Gets A Shake

With just a couple days left before the 2009 NBA Draft, the league felt an abrupt shimmy along the way. With three blockbuster trades completed on Wednesday alone, don’t be surprised if several more deals go down and even more rumor clouds pop up.

1.) Milwaukee Bucks send Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto :                                          

As surprising as it is, your eyes are actually not playing tricks on you. That’s right, the Spurs actually acquired a player under the age of 30. Richard Jefferson is just 29-years-old and will serve as a nice offensive threat for the Spurs. The Bucks on the other hand, do not receive a whole lot in player value but they do get three expiring contracts, and they free up Jefferson’s owed $29.5 million over the next two years, in order to try and retain Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions. It should also be noted that the Bucks immediately sent Oberto to the Pistons for Amir Johnson in order to create even more financial flexibility.

Winner? Although a line-up with Duncan, Ginobili, Jefferson, and Parker is scary, I think I give the leg up to the Bucks because they have a future ahead of them. Spurs make out in the present. Bucks likely make out in the future. But then again, it’s the Bucks.

2.) Washington Wizards send Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songalia, and the #5 draft pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller :

I’m obviously a huge Wizards fan so this position may come off a little bias. In my opinion, the Wizards receive a ‘B’ grade while the Timberwolves receive a ‘C+’. The Wiz send off a huge and ugly Thomas contract and dump some expiring contracts. As a fan, I would say that they sent the #5 pick and a halfway decent bench player (Songalia). The T’ Wolves are now equipped with four draft picks for Thursday night, two of which are in the top-ten. Mike Miller will serve as a solid veteran bench player that can stroke it from three while Foye could compete for the starting point guard position. Although Foye has had injury problems over his first few years, there is no doubt that he can score and pass effectively when healthy. I would like to think that Foye and Miller will do just fine in D.C. However, don’t look for any of the three Minnesota additions to do anything in the production category. The T’ Wolves did this primarily to acquire the #5 draft pick and probably trade up on Thursday night.

Winner? I know, I know. I say the Wizards. The Wiz have plenty of young talent in the locker room (Young, Blatche, McGee, McGuire) and the last thing that would help the team would be a rookie other than Blake Griffin. Instead, the Wiz get two guys who can play right now and contribute solid numbers in most categories. But mark my words…::..the Wizards are likely not finished dealing…:::::….

3.) Golden State Warriors send Jamal Crawford to the Atlanta Hawks for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton :

With the Atlanta Hawks not expected to be able to match an offer that Mike Bibby receives, bringing in an offensive backcourt player like Crawford is a smart idea. Joe Johnson is the primary point-scorer on the Hawks squad but Jamal Crawford can chuck it from all over…and they usually drop. Crawford is like a ticking time-bomb – he could all of sudden drop 50 right before your eyes. The Warriors had to trade him because he never fit in Golden State’s formula while it was the same case for Acie Law in Atlanta. With the Warriors expected to release Claxton, this trade is basically heads-up, Crawford for Law.

Winner? I would say Atlanta by a long shot. Take a look at the stats and see who you would take, Law or Crawford. Acie Law hasn’t had the opportunity to prove himself quite yet but I wasn’t high on the guy when he entered the league anyway. The only problem that may form in Atlanta is who gets more shots, Johnson and Crawford can turn into ball-hogs reeeaaaal quick.

……:::::…It can only get BeTTer from heRe…:::::>>>