February Trade Rumors: Bargnani to Chicago

Shortly after the Raptors traded for Rudy Gay rumors started to spread that they were looking to bolster their front court as well. First, Pau Gasol's name came up, but with him going down for the remainder of the season a trade seems unlikely. According to Marc Stein the Raptors went from inquiring about a center with an albatross contract to a power forward with one in Carlos Boozer.


Source: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8927362/chicago-bulls-toronto-raptors-talking-carlos-boozer-andrea-bargnani-swap-sources-say
"The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors have engaged in exploratory trade discussions on a deal that would swap the Bulls' Carlos Boozer for the Raptors' Andrea Bargnani, according to sources familiar with the discussions."

Why for the Bulls:
Despite Carlos Boozer having his best year in Chicago, he remains one of the more overpaid players in the NBA. Despite being a stellar offensive player Boozer does not have the quickness to have the same impact on the defensive end. When it comes down to crunch time Tom Thibedeau does not have enough faith in Boozer's defensive ability to put him on the court. No player who is paid near max dollars should be on the bench in the closing minutes. The fact that Boozer isn't always in the game in crucial situations is everything you need to know about Chicago's willingness to move him.

More so than any other team in the league the Bulls rely on screens, ball movement and cuts to create their offense. For those three facets of their offense to be successful spacing is extremely important. If opponents can pack the defense in the paint with no fear of leaving three point shooters open defense becomes easy.

The Bulls are 29th in the league in three pointers made and last in three pointers attempted. Adding Bargnani would improve the Bull's three point shooting, and more importantly their spacing. A pick and pop player such as Bargs could prevent teams from sagging into the lane on a Derrick Rose drive, making one of the best dribble drive players even more difficult to drive. In addition to reshaping their floor spacing The Bulls would save themselves five million over the life of the contracts. Who knows, if anyone can get Bargnani to play defense it will be Tom Thidedeau.

Why for the Raptors:
The Raptors are tired of being awful. They have had enough of waiting on ping pong balls to drag them out of the basement. With the Rudy Gay trade Toronto ownership has shown that it is willing to take on salary in order to make the playoffs a reality sooner than later.

In terms of talent Carlos Boozer is better than Andrea Bargnani. He is a much better rebounder and has a better feel for scoring. In Toronto where defense is less of an emphasis Boozer would surely be on the court in clutch situations. The question is will the Raptors consent to committing to Boozer's long term contract

Check out the other posts in our February Trade Rumors Series:

First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth

February Trade Rumors: Pau Gasol to Raptors

The NBA trade deadline is on February 21st, for all of the arm chair gm's out there this means it's time to fire up the trade machine. In honor of this we are going to try and post about 21 trade rumors before the deadline on the 21st. These will be rumors from well known sources, or trades that we think just make sense. Make sure to check in for the Rumor of the day all month leading to the deadline.

 Source: Marc Stein Weekend Dime
 The Trade:














Why for Toronto:
The Raptors have been bad for a while. They are tired of having to build through the draft, then hoping they convince their high draft picks to stay. With the Rudy Gay move, they showed that they are willing to trade young players and take on salary in order to bring a max level player into Toronto.

Pau Gasol would give Toronto a post presence to combine with Amir Johnson. A lineup of Lowry, DeRozan, Gay, Johnson and Gasol is a playoff worth roster. To boot they don't have to pay Bargnani to run three point line to three point line. With the Boston Celtics struggling due injuries the Raptors see a prime opportunity to head back to the playoffs, and Pau Gasol is just the player to lead them there.

Why for LA:
If the Lakers truly are committed to Mike D'Antoni's system (for what reason I'm not sure) then this move will help them both now and in the future.

Andrea Bargnani hasn't lived up to his number one pick billing. He has always been a good scorer, but the other phases of his game have never developed. In D'Antoni's up tempo spread offense a player like Channing Frye was a valuable contributor. Bargnani is similar player but a much better scorer than Frye and should find a niche in LA.The Lakers also get Valanciunas, as a future center product.

Stein mentioned that the reason the Lakers needed to keep Pau was to protect themselves in the event Howard left. In this deal they would obtain a scoring starter now, as well as highly regarded prospect to play center in the future. On top of all that they would be saving $3.5 million in salary during a year in which they will struggle to make the playoffs.

Please leave comments on what you think of this trade, any trades you want our take on or any other question you have. Check out the second piece in our trade rumor series here and the third piece here