| Dumars Pulls Off A Mid-Season Trade Coup For Second Straight Year Authored by Tommie De Riemaecker/Off The High Glass - January 23, 2005 - 12:32 am
Although there wasn’t anybody on the trade market this winter on the magnitude of Rasheed Wallace (“Pistons’ Malaise Unlikely To Be Broken With Trade,” Off the High Glass 01/02/05) to help the Detroit Pistons break out of their doldrums, there was one on par with Mike James. He will arrive just in time to help the team fight off its recent two-game losing streak after winning six straight.
Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars sent reserve center Elden Campbell and a 2006 first round draft choice to the Utah Jazz early Friday in exchange for point guard Carlos Arroyo, who had fallen out of favor with Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan. Arroyo, a 6’2” alum of Florida International, is expected to fill the role of defensive sparkplug off the bench left vacant when James signed a free agent contract with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer.
In a move eerily reminiscent of last February’s three-way trade that landed the Pistons Wallace and James, the Jazz are expected to waive Campbell immediately, much like the Boston Celtics did for Lindsey Hunter, who then returned to Detroit. Campbell’s $4.2 million contract must pass through the waiver process within 48 hours before he is free to sign with any team for the league minimum. Only the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks have enough space under the salary cap to absorb Campbell’s contract and neither is expected to claim him. If he clears, Campbell would be free to re-sign with the defending champions if he chooses.
Even if Detroit doesn’t get Campbell back, they still come out ahead on the deal, filling their glaring need for another young veteran point guard who can score and defend off the bench. At 34, Hunter cannot continue to play 18.2 minutes per game for the entire season if the team expects him to be fresh for the playoffs. Although he averaged 20 minutes per game last season for Detroit, he did so in only 33 games. He’s played 37 games already this season.
On a secondary level, the move opens the door for the possibility of Darko Milicic taking on an expanded role. There was a reason Milicic walked out of his meeting with Dumars and head coach Larry Brown a happy guy earlier this week -- perhaps it's because he knows he gets a chance to be thrown into the fire as the primary backup center. Reports in the media have surfaced that Milicic is becoming increasingly frustrated with his place on the depth chart because he is unable to gain much meaningful playing experience. Although he has no leverage to force a trade – he still has two years remaining on his contract – it is a good sign that Detroit has cleared Campbell and Derrick Coleman from ahead of him so that he can have some spot minutes backing up the three-man rotation of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess.
If Detroit does manage to get Campbell back, the deal is a win-win for everyone -- Arroyo, Campbell, Utah, and Detroit. Campbell gets a second contract on top of Utah paying out his original deal for the remainder of the season. Arroyo gets out of Utah as the fourth point guard and into a prominent role on the defending champions’ roster. Detroit fills the void in its bench. Utah gets its cap space at the end of the season and parts with a disgruntled player.
Even though Dumars seems to play the salary cap better than any general manager out there, he may want to consider not waiving players midseason who could be used in trades-- a la Hubert Davis in 2004 and Derrick Coleman in 2005-- so the team’s front office and coaching staff don't have to do the waiver wire prayer dance for several days afterwards.
In 30 games (16 starts) with the Jazz this year, Arroyo averaged 8.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and a team-high 5.1 assists in 24.7 minutes per game. His average of 1.83 turnovers per game was third on the Jazz roster. However, Arroyo possessed the second worst net plus/minus ratio on the Jazz prior to the trade – a -8.7, better only than Matt Harpring’s - 9.2. Plus/minus ratios determine the team’s productivity in major statistical categories with a player on the floor as opposed to when the player is off the floor; the net total is the difference between the two.
The Pistons took advantage of a soft spot in their schedule to put some distance between the W and L columns, but they play host to the surging Chicago Bulls (winners of eight of their last 10), as well as taking to the road against the slumping but still-tough Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers. A home game against the Denver Nuggets is sandwiched between the Timberwolves and Pacers. |
