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Strange trades Draft night riddled with interesting trades, selections
Updated: Thursday June 28, 2001 8:17 AM
On the night of the draft, CNNSI.com's NBA expert Kevin Loughery joined the Sports Tonight show to discuss it.
Fred Hickman: Who got the best of the trade that sent Elton Brand to the Clippers and Tyson Chandler and Brian Skinner to Chicago? Kevin Loughery: Fred, it's an amazing trade to me. I think the Clippers did as well as you could possibly do coming out with Brand, the power forward, a player who can score down low for them. They needed him. He's solid to go along with the fancy-type players Lamar Odom, Darius Miles. They really upgraded themselves. I really think the Clippers are a playoff-caliber team now. Chicago, on the other hand, got a player in Chandler who might have the most potential of anyone in the draft. He's a young player to along with the No. 4 pick, another high school player, Eddy Curry. You're telling your fans, "We might lose for the next three or four years, then we'll be good." Can Chicago fans handle that? I don't know. Hickman: What about the trade that sent Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Atlanta and Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight and Pau Gasol to the Grizzlies?
Loughery: I think it is a great deal for Atlanta. Shareef is the starter they need in Atlanta to go along with the crop of players they got last season. I think he gives them a scorer up front that they definitely needed, and they also got the 27th pick, but they didn't get Jamaal Tinsley. They traded him to Indiana for a first-round pick next year. It was a great move. They got rid of two contracts: Wright's and Knight's, who they did not want. Great move for Atlanta. On the other hand, the Grizzlies did well, too. They never won with Abdur-Rahim. They're going to a new city; they want a new look. They got two veteran players and they got the third pick in Gasol and the sixth pick in Shane Battier. They improved their basketball team. Hickman: What about the Nets sending Eddie Griffin to the Rockets for three first-round picks? Loughery: What this shows, Fred, is how deep this draft was. In the past, you would never trade 13, 18 and 23 for No. 7. This year, the draft is deep enough. Houston gets the big man Griffin, whom they needed. He can rebound, block shots. He had a nice, little short career at Seton Hall. He's an outstanding prospect. On the other hand, New Jersey needed bodies. They got a guard, a forward and a center in Richard Jefferson, Brandon Armstrong and Jason Collins. Good trade for both teams.
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