If you are a sports fan, i'm sure you have heard about the recent BLOCKBUSTER trade that went down.

The Cleveland Cavaliers
Traded:
Larry Hughes
Donyell Marshall
Drew Gooden
Shannon Brown
Cedric Simmons
Ira Newble

Recieved:
Ben Wallace
Wally Szczerbiak
Joe Smith
Delonte West

I'm going to break down WHY I think this is just such a damned good trade for the Cavs.

GETTING RID OF:
1. Larry Hughes: The man was consistantly inconsistant, and could not find a role in our system. He has great talent, and i saw that talent for half of his first season with our team. He then changed his game away from the slashing 20+ points per game guard he was in Washington and went to an off-balanced, jump shooting, 12-15 points per game guard. He had very dismal performances in the playoffs, and never seemed to come into his own until 3 weeks before this trade. I'm glad he "found it" to allow this deal to go down.

2. Drew Gooden: See above as far as consistancy. He will get you 18 and 10 one night, and then 6 and 5 the next. His game isn't powerful, and while he hustles, he has average fundamentals and athleticism.

3. Donyell Marshall: An NBA veteran who was brought in as a soft 4 who could stroke the 3. Well, he didn't stroke the 3 as much as we'd like. I will never forget how he went off a few games last year in the playoffs. However, I'll also never forget his missed 3 at the buzzer in game 1 against detroit. He did provide a low post presence every once in awhile, but his bread-and-butter, the 3 pointer, wasn't "all that" while he was with the cavs.

4. Shannon Brown/Cedric Simmons: Both showed promise, but were buried on the bench behind Lebron, Hughes, Gibson, and Snow.

5. Ira Newble: An offensive Liability. He was well known for his defense, and we may miss that, but Newble didn't really have much to offer on the offensive end, much like Eric Snow and Anderson Varejao.

RECIEVED:
1. Ben Wallace: Another offensive Liability. However, his positioning on the court and his physicality will allow him to get 10 points on dunks a game. Lebron will find him and he won't need to shoot any shot longer than 3 feet. His defense is well documented, a 4 time defensive player of the year. He does many things that do not show up on stat sheets, like alter opponent's shots and pressure low post players with physical defense. He also can't hit a free throw to save his life, but for the first 3 and a half quarters, he's a great option to have against a Kevin Garnett.

2. Wally Szczerbiak: Ever since he played at Miami of Ohio, and single handedly almost beat Kansas in the tournament, I've watched this kid. He can flat out shoot the ball. His mechanics are great, he's an athletically physical guy, and when he gets an open look, he will drain the 3 more likely than not. He also can penatrate on occasion, although that mostly comes from a more vigorous penatration by Lebron. His defense is suspect, but I if a guy gets by Wally, he's got Ben to deal with.

3. Joe Smith: The Wild Card. once a number one pick, Smith has been injured, been suspended for an entire season with the timberwolves, and has been around the league. However, he carries some physical prowless AND can hit the 15-18 foot jumper. His offensive game is solid, as is his defensive game.

4. Delonte West: The "throw-in", but yet looks fantastic. Once the future at point guard for the Celtics, and buried on the bench behind Seattle's overstock on point guards, West is a great pick up. He's quick, aggressive, defensively solid, and can shoot. While Boobie Gibson may be a better shooter, West is probably a better all-around player.

So what happened here?

The Cavs got rid of some HORRID contracts that were busts. Every move that Danny Ferry made the last few years looked SO good on paper, but were busts.

Hughes? Expected to be the scottie pippen to michael jordan: bust
Gooden? A replacement for Carlos Boozer: bust
Marshall? A 40+% 3 point shooter.. but not in cleveland: bust
Eric Snow? The guy who ran tandom with Iverson to the finals: bust
Damon Jones? The self proclaimed "best 3 point shooter in the world": bust

Now, we didn't manage to get rid of Snow or Jones, and while Snow might be out of a job, Jones seems to be knocking down his "J" a little more lately. So now we can call him "amon Jones", because he still plays no "D". Plus, Jones has a ridiculous contract.

The Cavs now have 4 big men to mix in and out. 2 can score, and while Z is weak and unphysical on D, his size makes up for it. And meanwhile we have two hustlers in Varejao and Wallace who will fluster anybody in a 7 game series.

The Cavs now have 2 point guards to mix in and out, depending on the game. West seems to be the all around guy, while Gibson is the spot up man. Damon Jones will also get some minutes, but he is more of a specialist.

The Cavs now have a great 6th man in Wally Szczerbiak, whose shooting opens the floor that much more for Lebron to explode a facial (i'm not talking porn) on anyone in the league. And let us not forget Sasha Pablovic, who might be injured and held out, but we all know the guy is a poor man's Manu Ginobli.

Basically, we got bigger, more physical, better shooting, and gave up some perimeter defense. Good trade in my opinion.

Wally Szczerbiak... pronounced Shiz-er-bake, not Zer-bi-ack

no, it's pronounced the second way.. unless every sports reporter since his college days has been wrong.

I absolutely loved the trade because:

1. Drew Gooden is a complete bonehead. He has talent, but he's got no basketball IQ. I'd much rather have Joe Smith, a player who's not quite as talented but infinitely smarter and more mature. And, he plays defense and doesn't force bad shots.

2. We dumped Larry Hughes' contract. Although we picked up Big Ben's which is a little bit worse, Ben is a much better fit on this team than Larry. The only thing I can honestly say I will miss about Larry is his defense. I think the main reason we've had success in the postseason vs. Detroit is that Larry really disrupts Chauncey Billups' game and I'm hoping we aren't missing that come May.

3. I absolutely love Delonte West and Joe Smith. Although Big Ben and Wally were the bigger names, these two guys are what really sold the trade for me. Although Delonte isn't really a true PG, (he's more of a combo guard) he knows how to play the position and he's already played better than Larry or Boobie ever did from the point. Joe Smith is just a solid player who you'll never have to worry about making bonehead plays or mailing in a game.

This trade turned us into a real threat in the east. I wouldn't put us above Detroit or Boston yet but we're one of the deepest teams in the league and we have the best player.

A question for you Decka...what should we do with our backcourt when everyone is healthy? Where should most of the minutes go between Delonte, Wally, Boobie, Sasha, Devin, and Damon?

I agree with you Carbon.

Drew Gooden could do no right at most times, and no wrong every once in awhile. Joe Smith is a guy who will help us win NOW.

While Larry Hughes did give us some solid perimeter D, Mike Brown's philosophy is team oriented. Plus, Delante West is a physical guard himself. He was on that St. John's team a few years ago that almost went undefeated.

I don't mind dumping Hughes's contract and taking Ben's.. we need physical, inside play. Like i said before, Ben may not tear up the stat sheet, but he'll change 10 shots in the game, and make people altar what they want to do. He'll also give you 2nd chance points.

As for your question, it's a good one. We seem to have TONS of options now, which is a GOOD problem.

I'd say Delonte West is a solid point and can trade minutes with Boobie Gibson. If Gibson is hot, leave him in. If he's not, play West more. At shooting guard, a healthy Sasha Pavlovic is very nice, as is Wally. I'm not sold on Devin, and Damon Jones is just a specialist, as is Eric Snow.

However, That is assuming Lebron is at the 3. What if we go small, and Lebron is at the 4, Wally is at the 3, Boobie at the 2, and Delonte running point?

Or if we go Big, and have Z at center, Wallace at Power Forward, Joe Smith at 3, Lebron at 2, and Delonte at point?

I could come up with a TON of scenarios that are quite interesting.

Ah ha! We have differences! I am not a big Sasha fan; I think he has the talent but I don't like his basketball IQ. I love Devin Brown, smart player who plays within himself and doesn't try to do too much.

Like you said, having so much depth is a nice problem to have...but it can create problems as well. If our rotation is too deep, I fear that our chemistry will suffer.

Boy, Ferry sure looks smart after last night's game...West had 21 points, Wally 16, Smith had 17, and Big Ben 9. It was awesome watching the Cavs running on all cylinders, even though Lebron had another sub par game.