Suns Acquire Jason Richardson for Bell and Diaw

[Lamrock]

Matt Barnes is playing as well as Shawn Marion is this season, for what its worth.

[Andrew]

I just don't see this trade helping either team much....maybe it'll get Bobcats or Suns an extra win or two....I dunno....

I'm inclined to agree, though I think it has the potential to help the Suns if Terry Porter does want to try going to the uptempo game more often. Maybe it'll give them a shot in the arm but if it doesn't, I don't see them faring any worse. The Bobcats are picking up a couple of good players as well but I don't think they're doing anything significant this season and although they bring some good things to the table, acquiring Diaw and Bell isn't akin to bringing in a superstar to lead the team to greater heights.

this only mean one thing....

NBA Live 08 Roster Update v2.5

Well yes, at some point, but the trade doesn't have any bearing on the future of my updates; I was planning on releasing 2.5 and beyond anyway. At any rate, that's a topic for the NBA Live sections, not NBA Talk.

[Laxation]

Benji, are you trying to say you need to be good at offence AND defence to win a championship? Thats just ridiculous...

But seriously, the argument here is that purely offensive teams will not win championships. Sure, teams that win championships are good at offence (as you'd expect) but a team that is shit at defence is not likely to win a championship.

[benji]

Okay, but that's irrelevant. A team that is purely defense, and/or shit at offense won't either.

[Axel]

By that logic, the Charlotte Bobcats should be one of the best teams in the league. I mean, they do have the 6th best ppg average (93) and since offense is so irrelevant, who cares if they can actually score.

Benji is right on point. Offense and defense are both needed. The Suns were getting neither from Diaw and Bell.

Bell's defense gotten steadily worse over recent years. His defensive rating has gone from 109 in '05/'06 to 110, 111, and 114 this season. This season has been the worse defensively of his career, and he's well below league average. He's having a great year shooting from behind the arc, but that's all he can do. J-Rich is a complete offensive player, and has the same defensive rating of 109 that Bell had in '05/'06. As for Diaw, he always has been an liability when on the court. Not only that, but his contract is awful. I'm also looking forward to seeing Robin Lopez take some of Diaw's minutes.

I think all around, this trade is a huge win for the Suns. I'm thinking this makes them a solid second tier team in the west, likely with a 5th or 6th seed.

[tee-pane]

Wow, JRich did good off the bench with 21 pts in debut.

[Nick]

I like this trade for the Suns. I think we've always needed an athletic SG that can finish, create AND shoot. He's also not bad defensively.

- J-Rich is much better than Bell
- Diaw was pretty expendable anyway with Barnes and Hill on the team.
- Jared Dudley is not just a throw in, he will be useful. Could end up just as valuable to the team as Diaw, except with a much smaller contract.
- Not a big fan of Jrich's big contract, but Diaw's is almost as much anyway.
- In terms of production per dollar, I'd rather pay 12 mil for 19ppg/36mins than i would 9 mil for 12 ppg/36mins.

[NovU]

Diaw and Bell just ripped Suns apart today. Even though Nash played hurt, the total domination by Bobcats was uncalled for.

It seems like 6-8th spot is in a good reach if they keep playing at this pace. Well, I'm starting to like Bobcats' chances at making playoffs this year. Harris is hurt a bit and NJN has been losing. Knicks have been playing quite good lately while Milwaukee has Redd back. Add Chicago into the mix and we have a war going on for 6-8th seed playoff spot. The latter part of this season is gonna be so interesting in East.

Meanwhile, Suns in 9th place in West is clearly very underachieving. The team with superstars at every positions. Just compare starting line ups to the LAL. I don't find it much worse, in fact better in some positions.

[Andrew]

I wouldn't be surprised if Chicago completely fizzled again. If the Bobcats stay healthy then they could certainly make a run. They probably could've made better runs the last couple of years but it seems they've always got a key player or two out for an extended period of time and other key players missing stretches here and there.

[shadowgrin]

Larry Brown's magic is finally affecting the 'Cats.

[NovU]

Very impressive road victory by CHA over Lakers tonight. Now they are 1.5 games behind MIL for 8th seed and a half game behind NYK. Both NYK and CHA have been great lately and I think one of these two teams will take over Milwaukee's spot in a near future if Devin Harris keeps struggling.

I'm happy for Diaw and Bell for getting bigger roles and playing well once again.

[Andrew]

Devin Harris? His struggles can only help the Bucks and hurt the Nets.

A very nice win for the Bobcats though, the Lakers had some tough luck with Kobe fouling out and being forced to sit out the second overtime period.

[el badman]

Another almost-triple-double for Boris. In the right conditions, he can really do it all, and even help mediocre teams to win apparently.

[Andrew]

His numbers with the Bobcats aren't too shabby at all, though he's not shooting free throws particularly well.