nba insider breaks down the big transactions so far...

[air gordon]

chad ford put together a nice article today on nba insider. unfortunately, it's a not a free article but i'll give a gist of it. ford lists the players that a specific team traded away/let go and compares them to their replacements

steve nash vs devin harrs/jason terry
advantage nash
i agree. both teams are doing great but i give the edge to nash. how long can dallas survive with the jekyll and hyde pg's?

shaquille o'neal vs chris mihm
advantage shaq

tmac/ward vs francis/mobley
advantage stevie and moms
agree here- injuries playing a factor here but francis looks reborn in orlando

boozer vs gooden
advantage boozer
agreed. boozer may be a liar but gooden is a chump.

kmart vs e williams
advantage kmart
agreed. a struggling kmart is betting then an on fire williams.

j crawford vs ben gordon
draw
disagree. bulls struggling for perimeter scoring. crawford averaging 18.5ppg and improved all his shooting %'s before neck injury

al harrington vs s jackson
advantage s jax
al harrington- careful what you asked for

payton vs atkins
advantage payton

[Matthew]

steve nash vs devin harrs/jason terry
advantage nash

I'm not sold just yet. Dallas is the best in the nba right now.. and the phoenix might struggle with close games. I say Dallas got the better.

shaquille o'neal vs chris mihm
advantage shaq

This isnt even close. Even if Mihm averages 15 a game and Shaq gets 5, the impact shaq has will always outweigh what mihm does.

tmac/ward vs francis/mobley
advantage stevie and moms

I said before this deal went down it wont help Houston, and i'm sticking to it. Tmac is an amazing talent, but he is in the wrong situation in houston. Francis looks like he has redsicovered his old form.

boozer vs gooden
advantage boozer

Boozer is a smart business man. The cavs had a serious downgrade here, but lebron has stepped up. Imagine what they would be doing if they managed to keep boozer.

kmart vs e williams
advantage kmart

Like Shaq/Mihm, this isnt close at all...

j crawford vs ben gordon
draw

They could have had both. Gordon may take off, but Jamal Crawford has been the better player by far this season.

al harrington vs s jackson
advantage s jax

Stephen Jackson is the most underated player in the NBA. Harrington probably wasn't expecting to be playing alongside Toine.. but he shouldnt have left indy.

[Andrew]

Nash vs Harris/Terry

I feel it's about even right now. Somehow, it's worked out for both teams in the early going. I think I'll reserve judgement until either the Suns or Mavericks fizzle.

Shaq vs Mihm

I know it would be more exciting if I didn't just agree with you guys, but I'm not going to argue in Mihm's favour. Mihm can't replace Shaq and Shaq should really help Miami once he's healthy.

T-Mac/Ward vs Francis/Mobley

I'll pick Orlando too. The amazing-on-paper duo of T-Mac and Yao is working out how a lot of people felt it would: not exactly the most dominant duo in the league and not significantly better than last year's Rockets (far from it). Francis and Mobley are clicking with Howard, Hill and co in Orlando.

Boozer vs Gooden

Head to head, the Jazz ended up with the better player and they do have the better record, but the Cavaliers are above .500 right now and have won their last 4 after an 0-3 start. Boozer's departure doesn't seem to have left them dead in the water so far, I'd say they've made the situation work. But the Jazz certainly got the best out of the player movement these two teams both saw during the offseason.

K-Mart vs Williams

Once again I have to be boring and agree that it's no contest. Eric Williams isn't a terrible player, but he is not and never has been close to K-Mart's level of importance to an NBA club.

Crawford vs Gordon

Needless to say I'm hoping that Gordon will pick up his game as he adjusts to the NBA game, but the Knicks easily have the more productive player right now.

Harrington vs Jackson

Jackson is working out well for the Pacers but the Hawks probably wouldn't be much better if this swap hadn't taken place. The Pacers would still probably be about the same with Harrington still on the roster. Jackson however has been placed in a much better situation while Harrington has been relegated to the NBA basement. I don't think there's really a winner and loser between the two teams, but the players have certainly had a drastic change of scene.

Payton vs Atkins

I'd have to give the nod to Payton and the Celtics too.

[Matt]

interesting.

Like Matthew said the T-Mac Francis trade is a win situation for Orlando. I'm betting T-Mac will regret the move to Houston.

[Donatello]

al harrington vs s jackson
advantage s jax
al harrington- careful what you asked for

i think we need to re-evaluate that one, now.

[Andrew]

The Pacers got the better end of the deal in terms of talent, but Atlanta will be able to utilise their new player for the next 30 games. How's that?

[shadowgrin]

francis looks reborn in orlando

That's because Grant Hll is playing the point position. Francis gets to do what he always wanted to do, and that is to score. If Hill got injured, Francis will be back to the same old player as he was in Houston.