By Craig Kwasniewski
New Orleans hits the panic button and trades Bobby Jackson for Bonzi Wells and Mike James.
Flat out, that's an incredibly stupid move!!!
First off, Bonzi Wells is a cancer!!!! Exactly how many teams has he actually helped over his career? And he's not necessarily the brightest when it comes to contract negotiations.
Plus, they give up their 6th man in veteran guard Bobby Jackson. The Hornets are leading the incredibly tough Western Conference with CP3 and excellent chemistry. Why mess with that? They just had a huge win over Jason Kidd and the new/old look Mavs (another team that pulled a panic deal). No better way to celebrate than to break up a successful nucleus for a me-first guy like Bonzi Wells.
Again, why mess with that?
And Mike James is one of those guys who looks better on paper than actually on the floor. He always seems to put up decent numbers and has excellent range, but his teams never seem to win.
Like Dallas and Golden State (C-Webb), this reeks of a panic deal and should never have been done. New Orleans is a great story (there’s always one every year: Seattle in 2005, Utah in 2007) and although they're not really a long-term contender with their current roster, I wouldn’t mess with them right now.
Judging by some of your prior articles, I would say this was a great trade by the Hornets.
Posted by: Craig Kwasniewski* is a douche | February 21, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Jesus, relax man. This wasn't a bad deal for the Hornets at all. Bobby Jackson is essentially a duplicate of Jannero Pargo, so the Hornets could afford to lose him. We needed a player who could create his own shot, drive to the basket and get to the foul line. Bonzi can do all of that. I'm not ecstatic about Mike James but he wasn't the Hornets main target here. We had to absorb his contract to get the deal done.
What the Hornets did was pull off a low risk trade. Bobby Jackson is not the difference between winning and losing a championship, and the Hornets didn't sacrifice their future to get Wells and James, managing to hold on to Hilton Armstrong and Julian Wright while keeping their starting five intact.
I get the chemistry concern, but Bobby Jackson wasn't some sort of miracle glue. He seemed like a good teammate, sure, but I doubt the Hornets will crumble in the locker room without B-Jax around. They still have high character guys in Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, etc. And Byron is a take-no-shit coach.
This deal is more likely to work out really well for the Hornets than end in disaster.
Posted by: Ron Hitley | February 21, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Low risk trade? Are you serious Bonzi Wells has many charcter issues. How many teams hass he been on in his career 6 or 7? He is not and has not been very coach-able around the league. I beg to differ with your opinion that it wil help the Hornets.
They are a first round and out team this year.
Posted by: Dan | February 21, 2008 at 01:48 PM
Yes low risk. Bonzi is a free agent after this season. Worst case scenario, we traded 1 more year of Bobby Jackson for 2 more years of Mike James. We didn't give up any young talent and the starting five is intact. Best case scenario, Bonzi plays to his capabilities, James gives us 50% of Bobby's production, and the Hornets are a serious threat in the Western Conference playoffs.
Posted by: Ron Hitley | February 22, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Bonzi Wells + French Quarter = Trouble !
Posted by: LJ | February 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM
It seems like a decent trade to me. Bobby Jackson isn't playing that great this season. And I think its worth it for a championship caliber team to overpay a player who can score in the post, for only one year.
Posted by: Sean | February 23, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Lets see since that trade they have lost 2 in a row and are now tied for 2nd in the west with San Antonio.
I will say it again it was a trade to TRY and keep up with others in the west.
At best they will be a 4 or 5 seed in the playoffs.
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