"Big" Trade

Yesterday, the Indiana Pacers and the Golden State Warriors pulled the trigger on an eight player deal. Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Josh Powell were delegated to the Sunshine State for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod. Interesting.

Kind of.

On paper, the Warriors definitely got the better of the deal. Harrington and Jackson will fit in well with Don Nelson's up-tempo style (although where does that leave budding young star/"told-you-so" of the year Monta Ellis?). Murphy and Dunleavy have talent, but honestly, how excited would you be if you were a Pacer fan about their immediate impact?

However, the linked article in paragraph (if you haven't clicked already) suggests that Diogu was the sleeper in this deal. I definitely have to co-sign with John Hollinger on this one. I watched Diogu play in college and he has a great skill set for a four in the NBA. Not only does he have great touch around the basket, but he's also tough. You don't see those two attributes in the same sentence very often when discussing big men. To me he's a much better fit in the Eastern Conference than in the West, where he had to deal with more dynamic post players.

It'll be interesting to see if he can pan out for the Pacers, but until then, I'll be expecting Golden State's playoff push to begin any day now.