(Boulder-CO) Today the Nuggets have found a way to alleviate some of their roster problems by trading forward Reggie Evans and the rights to forward Ricky Sanchez to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for center Steven Hunter and forward Bobby Jones. Many of you might remember the name Ricky Sanchez because I included him in my memory lane series back around the time of the draft.
This trade doesn’t come as that big of a surprise to me despite the surprise timing of the deal. Reggie Evans was, at no fault of his own, the odd man out in the power forward log jam the Nuggets were dealing with and ultimately Reggie’s remaining years of contractual obligation to the Nuggets probably made him the man traded over fellow teammate and forward Eduardo Najera who becomes a free agent after this season.
Now onto what we received in return for Evans.
Steven Hunter is a versatile seven-footer who can block shots and run the floor. His mid range game is definitely a spot that needs work, but overall he gives the Nuggets a cheap insurance policy at center. Hunter is a six-year veteran with time spent in Phoenix, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
Where things start to get interesting is in the acquistion of Bobby Jones. While Jones only finished last year’s rookie season averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds. It was the way he came on at the end which makes him intriguing. Some would say that Philly didn’t have the best of years in last season’s efforts, but in the month of April Bobby Jones averaged 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in a total of nine games.
And to conclude this post I would like to remenise some of the finer points of game belonging to Reggie “The Joker” Evans. We will always remember the “intimate” grab of Chris Kaman in the 2006 playoffs and Reggie’s fulltime sense of humor. I will also remember Reggie’s sense of professionalism in regards to not complaining about playing time or talking to the media. Best of luck to Reggie Evans as he teams back up with Andre Miller in Philadelphia.
3 comments:
I like the trade. It isn't sexy or flashy, but hey, we are talking about Reggie Evans and Ricky Sanchez. I really think that we got decent enough value for Reggie. Honestly, even though Reggie was a rebounding machine, the rest of his game...well....sucked!
We got a better balanced roster of bigs. Not only that, but now we do not need to worry about bringing back Jamal Sampson, which cost us close to 800k last year. Hunter is definitely an upgrade as backup center/insurance policy big than was Sampson. And as long as Kmart and Nene and Camby can stay relatively healthy, we have a very solid big man crew on this team.
Having two high-level shot blockers in Camby and Hunter will be great for us. Also just having two legit centers (Nene doesn't really count since he's naturally a PF) will be nice for our roster. Hunter (unlike Jamal Sampson) will actually get some playing time, as with Marcus getting older and being so injury-prone, I think it's a great move.
So yeah, it's sad to see Reggie go, but we weren't using him at all. Some team (like Philly) who is desperate for a rebounder will give him quality minutes for sure, and maybe it'll give him motivation to finally fix his free throws to earn even more playing time.
As far as Jones goes, I'm not that familiar with him aside from some mentions of the end of last season. He'll probably get waived though. We also have Diawara who sort of plays SF as well, so it really is crowded there. It's funny that JR (and now Von Wafer I guess) is the only actual SG that we have on this team and then we just have a bunch of 6'6" - 6'9" guys playing "Forguard". It's like a mini Atlanta setup, but luckily for us, it's not our starting lineup.
I like the move. Best of luck to Reggie who was always a positive guy and contributed when he needed to. It'll be hilarious when he's averaging 12 boards a game in 25 minutes of action and everyone starts bashing the Nuggets management for this trade... haha..
Thanks for chiming in, guys. I too like the trade and I may have had some kind of telepathic connection with you, stumbleweed, in the sense that we both see an eminent waiving for Bobby Jones.
However, I do not see Yak getting much burn this year, unless Denver is in need of a defensive stopper for an opponent like Kobe, T-Mac, or Vince Carter. His offense still leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth and his shot selection can be suspect from time to time.
As far as Reggie Evans' statistical outlook is concerned... I will definately be buying some Joker on my www.protrade.com account as soon as NBA player prices are set. I agree with you, stumbleweed, that Reggie will definately be one of the top rebounders in the league next year in Philly.
Many of you may remember this, but The Nugg Doctor is the official source for Nuggets news on www.protrade.com and if you wish to give it a try please Email me and I can invite you into my community. It is a really fun site that is completely FREE and quite addictive.
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
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