Today the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic agreed on a deal that sent Trevor Ariza and Orlando's injury exception (acquired when Tony Battie got hurt) to the Lakers for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans.On paper, this trade makes it look like the Magic just got slashed with a ginsu knife.
Ariza, while not a fantastic shooter, is incredibly athletic and plays like an uncaged beast. He rebounds, blocks shots, plays good defense, and flies all over the court. He is also approximately 20 feet tall, and has sired over 800 children all over the midwest while traveling with his blue ox, Babe.
On the flipside, Lakers fans use Brian Cook trading cards to wipe their nose. He is a tall outside shooter who can't play defense and can't rebound...always a good thing! Maurice Evans, while great in spurts, is inconsistent and gives the Magic a glut of shooting guards.
You never know, Stan Van Gundy has found a way to actually make shitstains Keith Bogans, Pat Garrity, and Adonal Foyle into good, respectable pieces on a championship calibur team. These two guys could experience similar resurgences in their careers.
For now, though, Lakers fans should be dancing in the streets like their town just lifted the ban on dancing (real men give "Footloose" shout-outs).
3 comments:
Why trade for Pat Garrity's fat black brother Brian Cook. Evans I get: Adds the defense we lost in Ariza and is a Bogans who can dunk. Cook just baffles me. Kills our defensive effort. If he is the reason why the Magic can't afford Corey Maggette next year with the cap space we will have with our expiring contract, I will go down to Orlando and personally cock slap Otis Smith.
This was a tough one for me when I first heard about the trade. I hated like heck to see Ariza go because of his untapped potential and athleticism, but he couldn't break the regular rotation (averaging just 10 1/2 mins a game), and the Magic do need veteran frontline depth to help out Howard (James Augustine and Marcin Gortat aren't the answer). Brian Cook provides that, even though he is not strong defensively. Cook will be getting the minutes that Pat Garrity would be getting, and there's no way that Garrity is any better defensively than Cook, and Cook is just as good a shooter. I'll take Cook over Garrity any day.
In Evans, even though he has nowhere near the potential of Ariza, he essentially replaces Ariza. Evans is a very good defender in his own right and a better outside shooter at this point than Ariza.
So even though I hated to see Ariza go, I believe the Magic made the right move, at least for this season.
Like the old saying goes... you have to give up something to get something.
Great differing viewpoints.
I think I'm right in the middle. I will miss Ariza's explosiveness, but I also see the reasons behind Orlando's need to add depth and get value for a player they wouldn't have likely been able to resign this offseason.
Like I said, if there is anyone that could turn Cook and Evans into something special it is Stan The Man.
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