Most of you can guess my feelings about yesterday's big three team trade, and I want to keep it brief.
Detroit, first of all, did great to dump Tayshaun Prince's contract. They owed him over $15 million in the two seasons following this one, and Jose Calderon is only on the books through the end of this year. So this was a great, no-brainer move by the Pistons. Plus, Calderon is pretty good.
Memphis, meanwhile, had to do this trade. People who think the Grizzlies are blowing up the team because of their recent transactions don't know what the hell they are talking about. Rudy Gay was their 4th best player (maybe) - and having a worse year than Ed Davis, one of the players the Grizzlies got in return.
Gay is one of the most overpaid players in the league, and the Grizzlies are lucky they were able to dump him and only take on Prince's somewhat lousy contract in return. Memphis will not get any worse from this trade; if anything they might be a little better. They were a fringe contender before, and they still are. The main components are still intact for them - Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley.
Toronto, obviously, got the short end of the stick. Bryan Colangelo is keeping his competition up with Ernie Grunfeld for worst head executive in the league. Gay is paid like a perennial All-Star, and has never posted a PER above 18. His WS/48 has never been higher than .123. And he's a mediocre defender. Even if he improves, he is vastly overpaid.
This is a completely unjustifiable deal by the Raptors, and at this point we should not be surprised. Toronto management has no idea how to build a successful team. Colangelo has made it a custom to overpay - often wildly overpay - good but not great players. They have a big payroll and no stars. They are, in short, pathetic. This Gay deal puts them back another few years, unless something miraculous happens.
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