Lakers trade Radmanovic for Morrison

[WayOutWest]

The Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Bobcats made a dead weight for dead weight deal on Saturday that could serve both teams well - swapping Vladimir Radmanovic for Adam Morrison.  The Lakers also receive 6'4" guard Shannon Brown who hadn't found a consistent role for Coach Larry Brown and the Bobcats.

Radmanovic had been overtaken by both Luke Walton and Trevor Ariza in the rotation.  Even power forward Josh Powell had earned the backup role to Lamar Odom while center Andrew Bynum recovers from a knee injury.  Despite the fact that Radmanovic shot 44.1% from three for the Lakers in 46 games, he struggled defensively and lacked any playmaking skills so valuable in the triangle.

Morrison had a high scoring rookie campaign but blew out his knee before last year, ironically in a preseason game at STAPLES Center against the Lakers.  A renowned shooter in college, Morrison has struggled to adapt to the NBA game - hitting just 37.3% from the field over his career.

More irony, the Bobcats were especially desperate at small forward after Andrew Bynum's flagrant foul on Gerald Wallace led to a partially collapsed lung and broken ribs.  Wallace hopes to return after the All-Star break but even with Gerald, Charlotte had been struggling for depth.

As the saying goes, one man's trash is another's treasure - Radmanovic has the potential to step in as a starter and contribute immediately for Charlotte.  The Bobcats may be 13th in the Eastern Conference but they're only 3 1/2 games behind the badly injured Milwaukee Bucks.

Equally, Morrison may find the triangle offense to be similar to what he ran with Gonzaga.  Anything LA gets out of Adam would be a bonus . . .

Whether or not Morrison becomes a contributor for the Lakers at all, General Manager Mitch Kupchak once again made a clever move.  Radmanovic is under contract for $13.4 million over the next two seasons.  Technically he has an early termination option before the 2010 season, but Kupchak couldn't count on Vlade to exercise it. 

Since LA is expected to be over the luxury tax threshold for the next couple of years - from one perspective Radmanovic was costing the Lakers $12-$13.7 million a year with minimal production.

Morrison will make $5.3 million next year in the final year of his contract after which he would become a restricted free agent (unless he and the Lakers agree to an extension next summer).

Shannon Brown is an athletic guard who isn't necessarily a great shooter or passer.  He has some ability defensively.  Perhaps he could be a more defensive-minded Mo Evans (now with the Atlanta Hawks) although it may be difficult for Brown to earn playing time.  He's earning the league minimum for a player with two-year's experience at $797,581, expiring after this season.

Kupchak saved the Lakers about $2.2 million in salary (including taxes) this year, $2.4 million for 2009/10 and potentially $13.8 million for 2010/11.

The extra expense will be worthwhile for the Bobcats if Radmanovic can help them make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.  He may not have fit with the Lakers but he's still one of the league's best shooters.

Radmanovic was one of the most charitable Lakers, regularly holding events and fundraisers to help those in need.  He was crushed when Coach Phil Jackson demoted him to the bench and while a championship run may be further way for the Bobcats, the move may ultimately be a positive for his career.

While the Lakers reduce their total salary next season, there remains tremendous pressure on Kupchak to keep payroll to a reasonable number.  Recently the Phoenix Suns have shopped big men Amar'e Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal around the league.  Sources say the Lakers had some rudimentary discussions with the Suns but that there isn't much common ground between the two organizations.

Assuming star Kobe Bryant opts out of his contract after the season and re-signs for $22.3 million in the first year and that the Lakers give small forward Trevor Ariza a contract similar to guard Sasha Vujacic ($5 million a season), LA will be committed roughly $91 million in salaries.

If the team decides that retaining Lamar Odom is the right move and he is willing to sign for a starting salary of $7 million a season, the Lakers would be on hook for about $105 million.  That's $5 million over the rumored budget as is - the Lakers would be reluctant at that point to spend their Mid-Level Exception (even though players like Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd and Andre Miller may be available.  Note that there are very few teams slotted to have cap room this summer).

Now picture an Odom for Shaquille O'Neal trade - that would bump LA's salary to around $133 million next season.  Amar'e may be slightly cheaper, but $121 million is still more than Dr. Buss is willing to pay.  Lamar Odom may have his flaws but he's a better defender at this point than both O'Neal and Stoudemire.

It might sound interesting in theory but in this economy, even the Lakers can't be expected to dole out an extra $15-30 million when they may already have the best team in the league.

Finally, LA could technically trade out Morrison should they find a taker but they can't package his salary with another Laker.  Perhaps sending Morrison for an expiring contract could either make Odom more afforable or expendable.  It's notable but unlikely.

[westkoast]

THANK YOU!

I've been wanting them to get that salary off the books for a minute.  Not sure what they were thinking when they signed him to that huge contract.  He's way too one dimensional, still doesn't know the triangle, and it's not consistent enough IMO.  I much rather see Trevor Ariza out there hucking up 3s.  Even tho he's not as pure of a shooter as Radmanovic at least he makes up for it by having a lot more in his game.  Ditto for Luke Walton.

[Derek Bodner]

and....
this is why the NBA has have's, and have-not's.

Oh, sure.  to be truly great there's a little luck involved.  But to be truly bad there's a lot of incompetence involved as well.

With the #3 pick in the draft, you got:
- 1 year of inefficient, bad basketball in which he was one of the worst starters in the league
- A one-dimensional veteran in return with a bad contract.

And you wasted a valued resource like the #3 pick in the draft to get that?

Life's really not hard.  Buy low, sell high.  That simple motto works in almost all facets of life.  Think of all the other things Charlotte could have done with that resource?  whether that be drafting (Brandon Roy, Randy Foy, Rudy Gay, Ronnie Brewer, Rajon Rondon.  Heck, even second rounders like Craig Smith and Daniel Gibson outproduced him), or in a trade, the value for that pick is atrocious.

[ziggy]

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/mr-morrison-comes-to-la/


Mr. Morrison Comes to LA
February 8, 2009 ? 12 Comments

The Los Angeles Times has created the following web page: Best of the Web: Los Angeles Lakers.  The page links to various stories about the Lakers found around the web.  The stories seem to change frequently.  What doesn?t seem to change are the following six sites presented at the bottom.

NBA.com: LA Lakers

OC Register Lakers Blog

Riverside Press-Enterprise NBA Blog

ESPN True Hoops

Inside Hoops

Wages of Wins Journal

Five of these websites have offered a comment on the Lakers trade of Vladimir Radmanovic for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown.  The one exception is the Wages of Wins Journal.  Hence, in an effort to fit in at the LA Times, here are some thoughts.

The 2006 Draft

This trade was completed in February of 2009.  Had it been completed in June of 2006 it would be as follows:

Lakers exchange Vladimir Radmanovic for the #3 and #25 pick in the 2006 draft.   Obviously those picks turned into Morrison and Brown.

Here is how Chad Ford of ESPN.com described each pick in 2006:

Adam Morrison: ?.Morrison has the star power and addresses the Bobcats? biggest need: scoring. Morrison has the killer instinct and leadership that the Bobcats crave.

Shannon Brown: I love this pick for the Cavs. They have been keyed on Shannon Brown for a long time and thought there was no way he?d be there. Brown will give them a great penetrator and explosive athlete who can attack the basket or pull up for the 3-pointer. Put him on the floor with LeBron James and defenders are going to cower. Brown has the most potent combination of power and athleticism in the draft. I?m not sure he can play the point, but with Larry Hughes and LeBron James? ball-handling skills, he?ll be fine.

So if this was 2006, the Lakers would be surrendering an NBA veteran who had come off the bench for most his career for a player with ?star power? and ?an explosive athlete who can attack the basket.?  In sum, this would be described as a steal by the Lakers.

Of course there are problems with this story.  Specifically, there are two reasons why this trade was not actually possible.  Radmanovic did not sign with the Lakers until a few days after the 2006 draft.  And even if he could have been traded by the Lakers, the two picks were held by two different teams. So unless the Cavs and Bobcats were willing to share Radmanovic, this trade couldn?t have happened. Still, just 32 months ago this move would have been celebrated in LA.

Losing Morrison and Brown

In 2009, though, it?s not clear how this move dramatically changes life for the Lakers.  And that?s because Morrison and Brown have not quite lived up to their draft-day hype.  Brown has only played 783 minutes in his NBA career and has produced -1.8 wins (yes that is a negative sign).  His career WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] currently stands at -0.108.  One is tempted to say this is the worst career mark in NBA history.  But then one turns to Adam Morrison.

The third choice in the 2006 draft finished his first season as the second leading rookie scorer.  He was also named by the NBA coaches to the All-Rookie second team, finishing just shy of a first team selection. People who looked past scoring (and by people I mean John Hollinger and myself), though, noted that Morrison was extremely unproductive as a rookie.  His WP48 was -0.137 and he finished last in the league in Wins Produced.  After this less than auspicious debut, I made the following observation:

Given the voting record of the coaches, one wonders if Michael Jordan can take advantage of his fellow decision-makers. Although rookies tend to get better (and I should post on this in the future), Morrison is going to have to improve immensely just to become average. Perhaps it?s time for MJ to work the phones and move Morrison for a player who has already attained the status of ?average NBA player.? Although average is ?not good? it sure beats ?very, very, bad.? 

It appears that MJ has actually followed this advice (not that MJ is reading the WoW Journal).  As Table One indicates, this trade allows the Bobcats to exchange two players who are well below average for a player who is quite average.  So if we ignore the salary issues for a moment (I will note this in a moment), the Bobcats are better off.

Table One: Evaluating Small Forwards in LA

Helping the Lakers

What about the Lakers?  The coverage of this trade at the sites noted by the LA Times explains the Lakers? motivation.  With Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton on the roster, Radmanovic had seen his playing time vanish.  Assuming this situation persists beyond 2008-09, the Lakers were scheduled to pay a player more than $13 million beyond this season who might not be able to get off the bench.  Brown?s contract expires at the end of this season and Morrison is only scheduled to be paid $5.3 million next year.  So LA has clearly saved on future salaries.

Whether this trade actually helps the Lakers on the court this season depends on who takes the few minutes given to Radmanovic.  Since departing the starting line-up, Radmanovic has received about 8 minutes per contest. Across the last 33 games, this would be about 264 minutes.  As one can see in Table One, if these minutes go to Ariza the Lakers are better off (by about 0.8 wins).  If they go to Walton, though, the Lakers are a bit worse off (by about -0.4 wins).  And if they go to Morrison?. yes, that won?t help (-1.1 wins less).

Of course, it?s possible the change in scenery will help Morrison and Brown. Currently I am reading ?Sacred Hoops? by Phil Jackson.  In this book Jackson argues that the triangle offense can enhance a player?s productivity.  Although in general coaches don?t have much impact on performance, there is some evidence that Jackson is an exception.  So maybe the Zen Master can make a difference.

Of course, it?s going to have to be a substantial ?difference? for Morrison to become a productive NBA player.  Barring such a transformation, it might be best for Morrison to stay on the Lakers bench.  And if that happens - and Ariza spends less time sitting - this trade could help the Lakers some.  In sum, it?s possible that this trade could help both parties.

Let me close by briefly noting that I have no idea how long the link to The Wages of Wins Journal at the LA Times will be operating.  Still, it?s nice to see this forum listed by the LA Times.

- DJ