Weird: A Trade That Makes Complete Sense For Both Teams
Make it happen, basketball gods.
From HoopsWorld:
Does anyone believe Erick Dampier is actually going to be in Dallas on opening night? While it sounds nice to say Shawn Marion and Josh Howard could play together on the wings in Dallas . . . and they might just be able to . . . it seems more likely the Mavs continue to shop Erick Dampier. Second, the Detroit Pistons are currently without a center and are shopping guard Richard Hamilton. Rip’s number also matches up with Dampier’s, and again, the Pistons have seen both of their centers sign with other teams over the last few days.
You don’t see that very often: a trade that would clearly help two teams.
Dampier isn’t exactly a force in the middle, but he’s a substantial upgrade over Kwame Brown. Dampier is an offensive buffoon — not including his occasionally preternatural ability to suck in offensive boards — but at least the man can rebound.
Were the Mavericks to hold on to Dampier’s large contrat, Josh Howard would be part of a ridiculously potent (if streaky) 2-4 offensive line-up alongside Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon. And the Howard-Hamilton salaries match.
Rip seems just right for the Mavericks, who are desperate for a consistent outside threat. The fact he’s a 30+ veteran with a fat, long-term contract would seamlessly slot into the Cuban way of doing things, financially.
Posted By: Anton
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Anton Trees
Alex Vitlin
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Ben Toupein
hamilton is a mid range game. only in the past few years has he expanded his shot out to the 3 point line, but that does not make him an outside threat. his 3 point % is the same as Josh’s but the thing about Howard is that he can create his own shit, where rip isnt going to do that. plus josh’s defense is SIGNIFICANTLY better even against smaller 2 gaurds. Howards bigger and boards better. plus when we wanna go small and put jason terry in at the 2, with howard running the 3, marion at the 4 and dirk in the middle. that probably the best offensive lineup in the NBA that any team could throw on the floor. that leaves dirk liable in the paint, but he stuck no matter who he gaurds, and depending on the PG, Kidd could have a problem. But, it still gives you 2 lock down defenders in marion and howard out there to guard anyone from the 2 to 3 spots…i dont like the rip hamilton. if you want a shooter, go get a shooter, like micheal redd or someone
chris freeman said this on July 12, 2009 at 12:38 AM |
You say Howard is a better defender than Rip? Rip gets a bad rap of being a bad defender for reasons I honestly can’t fathom. When Rip first arrived in Detroit, he was not known for his D at all, but we’ve seen him grow into a defensive stopper. He once held Lebron James to 12 points! He’s also versatile, he can guard Tony Parker just as well as he guards LBJ. If you watch Piston games consistently, you’d see Rip is sometimes the best on-ball defender on the floor. Yeah, even better than Tayshaun.
Dominic said this on July 12, 2009 at 2:10 AM |
I can understand wanting Josh Howard over Rip Hamilton. He’s a little younger, yeah, and he can attack the basket.
But Rip is the perfect complimentary player for the Mavericks. His shooting would help most from the left wing, where he was .434% on 76 shots last year. He’ll get a tonne of those open Bruce Bowen-esque treys.
But more importantly, his constant rips and cuts and off-the-ball movement will really open up the Mavericks offense — with Kidd directing traffic, Dirk clogging up the middle, and Marion, who works best capitalising on the defense getting out of sorts, which Rip often forces, it’d be fantastic.
The fact Rip is as close to a sure thing in terms of staying healthy (which Howard is not) really helps too.
Anton Trees said this on July 12, 2009 at 1:31 AM |