TJ Ford & Brandon Rush for DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Nazr Mohammed ??????????????
By Jared Wade
Updating on the previous post of “serious” discussions between Indy and Charlotte that are now “close”…Here’s another tweet from Woj:
"Charlotte and Indiana is close, but sources say not done. FIve players for now, including Ford and Rush for Augustine, Henderson and Nazr."
As reported here, this is a no-brainer for Indy.
Rush has been playing a little better since January started, but losing him isn’t a big deal. There’s not a chasm of difference between his potential and Gerald Henderson’s potential, although I have admittedly not watched a ton of Charlotte this year and you do have to wonder why Larry Brown would be willing to punt on a lottery pick so quickly. Perhaps they want to try to make a real run in the playoffs and think TJ can do more for them than DJ Augustin and feel, like I do, that Rush for Gerald is a wash at worst?
I don’t know. The whole thing seems dubious from a “why would Charlotte do this?” standpoint, frankly.
Regardless, I like DJ Augustin as a promising young PG with NBA starter potential. He suffers from some of the same size issues as TJ, but could at worst be a fresh face in Conseco and be a good option to run the team from a “change for change’s sake” perspective. He would immediately challenge Earl Watson for the starting role and, as a guy still on a cheap rookie deal through 2012, could likely remain a solid back court option that doesn’t really affect the cap for the next few seasons. Indy could let Earl Watson leave this summer and then have DJ and AJ Price as two PG options, which would lessen the urgency of drafting a PG, which is currently the major priority for the team. I’m not saying DJ Augustin is a guy you want running your team for the next five years and PG would still be the number one priority, but it would leave the front office less hamstrung to only focus on one position and give Indy some stability — which is exactly what TJ Ford was supposed to be, yet unable to be, when he was acquired for Jermaine O’Neal.
Nazr Mohammed is signed through the Summer of 2011 for $6.8 million, but that’s less than TJ would make anyway so the cap affect is a net (slight) positive for the Pacers — and obviously Nazr is a guy that Indy could desperately use immediately and next year in it’s MASH unit front court, whereas TJ is in the dog house.
Interesting stuff.
We’ll see…
UPDATE: Two new tweets from Woj:
"Indiana players believe trade is near, telling friends even that deal’s done. Front offices still talking. Charlotte may need convincing."
"Charlotte has been insisting that they won’t do a deal here, and time is running out. One final Larry Bird-Michael Jordan showdown?"
IT’S JUST LIKE THE MCDONALD’S COMMERCIAL.
UPDATE II:
…and Wells awakes from his slumber to squash all hopes and dreams:
"Pacers-Bobcats tried to work out a deal, which was first reported by @WojYahooNBA, but they couldn’t reach an agreement"
Well…that was fun.
Now you know why I think trade rumors are stupid and a waste of time.
UPDATE III:
…and just to give Woj a final word on all the commotion:
"Indiana wanted desperately to move T.J. Ford — and loved D.J. Augustine — but it appears they’ve just run out of time, source says."
I still think they can move TJ this summer if they try hard enough, but, yeah, this deal seemed too good to be true from the very start. Oh well, back to reality.
Horrible, depressing, bleak, no-hope-for-more-than-12-months reality.