NBA Trade Idea of the Week: Trade #4

Here is Crossover Hoops weekly trade idea.

Last week the trade was Jason Kidd for Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. This weeks trade involves the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks. Two teams that are in desperate need of a roster revamp.

Key players in this trade are center Ben Wallace of Chicago and power forward Zach Randolph of New York.

The Trade: The Chicago Bulls trade center Ben Wallace and point guard Chris Duhon to the New York Knicks, in exchange for power forward Zach Randolph and combo guard Fred Jones.

games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2377~885~1718~1017&teams=18~18~4~4

WHY THE TRADE HELPS CHICAGO:

The Bulls, in desperate need of post scoring love this deal. The get Zach Randolph, a young power forward, who will give them 22 and 10 every night for a very long time. They also pick up the high flying combo guard, Fred Jones, and his 3.3 million dollar expiring contract. With this expiring contract and the loss of Wallace's salary, the Bulls will have slightly more flexibility in resigning Luol Deng and Ben Gordon to new contracts this summer. Creating a starting 5 of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Zach Randolph, and Joakim Noah, gives the Bulls one of the best starting 5s in the NBA. This trade is much more useful to the Bulls than the talked about trade of Wallace for Richardson, Malik Rose, and Fred Jones, because it gives them the inside offense they have been missing since Elton Brand wore a Bulls jersey.

WHY THE TRADE HELPS NEW YORK:

The Knicks are most likely willing to make any trade at this point. This trade may not look great statistically for New York, but it really helps them out. They bring in center Ben Wallace, who is a great defensive player still. Since the Knicks already have Eddy Curry and David Lee, Ben Wallace could do for the Knicks, what Alonzo Mourning has done for the Miami Heat the past few years. He may not log 30-35 minutes a game, but that is fine. He can still grab 7-8 rebounds, block a couple of shots, and give Eddy Curry a break every now and then, which is all they need Big Ben to do. With the departure of Randolph, it allows David Lee to finally get back into the starting 5, which is where he should be. Lee is very underused player. He would be a starter on almost every other NBA team, however with Randolph sitting above Lee on the depth charts, Lee hasn't been able to be the 15 and 11 he really is. The addition of Chris Duhon in this deal is also HUGE for the Knicks. It gives them a young point guard, who can be their floor general, until the Knicks can pick up a full time starter in the off season. Duhon is a solid point guard, he may be small, but he is great defender, a good scorer, and a above average passer. He will definitely fill Marbury's former role very well. The addition of Duhon gives the Knicks a solid starting lineup of Duhon, Crawford, Richardson, Lee, and Curry. Although the trade won't immediately push the Knicks into the playoffs, it should help a little bit.

After the completion of this trade, here is what both teams depth charts might look like:

CHICAGO

PG-Kirk Hinrich-Thabo Sefelosha-JamesOn Curry
SG-Ben Gordon-Fred Jones-Adrian Griffin
SF-Luol Deng-Andres Nocioni-Demetrius Nichols
PF-Zach Randolph-Tyrus Thomas
C-Joakim Noah-Joe Smith-Aaron Gray

NEW YORK:

PG-Chris Duhon-Nate Robinson-Stephon Marbury(Out for Season)
SG-Jamal Crawford-Mardy Collins
SF-Quentin Richardson-Renaldo Balkman-Wilson Chandler
PF-David Lee-Jared Jeffries-Malik Rose
C-Eddy Curry-Ben Wallace-Randolph Morris-Jerome James

UPCOMING POSTS-

-All-Star Weekend Predictions
-All-Star Weekend Diary?
-2008 Mock Draft
-Possibly the emergence of a new weekly column, due to the end of Trade Idea of the Week after the Trade Deadline.