HoopsHype.com Columns

A trade that could help both teams
by Marc Narducci / January 18, 2007

Under Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, the Indiana Pacers are a team that continues to redefine itself. Indiana didn’t like its current makeup so Walsh and Bird went for a major facelift.

The Pacers hope that their blockbuster eight-player trade with the Golden State Warrriors can breath some life into a team that was wallowing in mediocrity, even in the less than challenging Eastern Conference.

Indiana received forwards Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod from Golden State for shooting guard Stephen Jackson, forwards Al Harrington and Josh Powell and point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius.

In short, this is a deal that should help both teams, but other than adding more than $30 million in long-term salary than they traded, this could enable the Pacers to make a move upwards in the Eastern Conference.

The Pacers can’t still be considered among the favorites, but they could be improved and in the Eastern Conference that might be enough to earn at least home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Indiana was 20-18, the sixth best record in the Eastern Conference at the time of the trade.

Golden State, meanwhile, looking for its first playoff berth since 1994, stood at 19-20 at the time of the trade. The Warriors were ninth in the Western Conference, within shouting distance of the eighth and final playoff berth. The addition of Harrington should give the Warriors a legitimate shot to compete for a postseason berth.

The 6-foot-11 Murphy was a square peg in the round hole that was coach Don Nelson’s run-and-gun system in Golden State. During each of the previous two years he averaged a double-double, which included 14 points and 10 rebounds per game last year.

Under Nelson, his playing time and statistics dwindled (8.9 ppg., 6.0 rebounds, 25.7 minutes). Yet Murphy is a solid medium-range shooter who can give the Pacers another capable rebounder. Rick Carlisle will employ many more half-court sets, which is more suited to the games of both Murphy and Dunleavy.

In Golden State, Dunleavy never lived up to expectations after being the third overall player taken in the 2002 NBA draft. Now in his fifth season, he has averaged just 10.6 points for his career.

The son of Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, the younger Dun adds depth to the frontcourt. He might not have been worthy of being drafted so high or of receiving a five-year $45 million extension last year, but he could be successful in coach Rick Carlisle’s system, which places as much on intelligence as athletic ability.

A frontcourt of Jermaine O’Neal, Dunleavy and Murphy, along with holdovers Danny Granger and Jeff Foster, will be the strength of the Pacers.

Who knows how much value Diogu brings? Last year Diogu was coveted by the Pacers when they were dangling Ron Artest.

Diogu was the ninth overall pick in the 2005 draft, eight selections ahead of Granger, who was taken 17th by the Pacers. Golden State deemed Diogu untouchable, but that was before Nelson came along. Diogu hasn’t played enough in his nearly one-and-a-half seasons to make a definite judgment on.

McLeod is a journeyman, now with his fourth team in four NBA seasons. Since Indiana isn’t strong at guard, he might be able to see some time.

This summer Golden State tried to lure Harrington, who ended in Indiana following a sign-and-trade with Atlanta.

Harrington is the player the Pacers didn’t want to part with, but sometimes a team needs to give value to get some in return. He is by far the most productive player in the trade, having averaged 15.9 points while shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range in his brief second tenure with Indiana.

No doubt Indiana had to give up Harrington in order to have Golden State accept Jackson, a talented player who has been dogged by a series of indiscretions. This year he began on the wrong foot after being involved in a fight outside an Indianapolis strip club. Next month Jackson goes to trial for firing a gun during the incident.

Jackson was inconsistent this season (shooting 41.9 percent from the field), but like Dunleavy, he could benefit from a change of scenery.

It’s not likely that Powell and Jasikevicius will be major contributors for Golden State.

The winner of this deal will be the team that gets the most from the perceived second man in the trade – Dunleavy and Jackson.

Harrington should flourish in Nelson’s system and continue to be a highly productive player. Murphy, the key for Indiana, should also return to his double-double status playing for Carlisle. That leaves the play of Jackson and Dunleavy as two major question marks. Both have been disappointing, but Jackson more for his off-the-court behavior.

Dunleavy meanwhile hasn’t seemed to enjoy playing the game and if he can recapture his enthusiasm and become revitalized by the trade, then Indiana would have made a good deal. And Jackson also will be happy to play in a system that suits his game.

Both teams are rolling the dice. Then again, it would have been a worse gamble for each of these teams to stand pat and continue their inconsistent ways.

Marc Narducci covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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