Spartans traded

If you follow the NBA more closely than I do (judging by my fantasy team, I don't pay nearly enough attention), you can answer me this question:

Are the two recent blockbuster trades good for the former Spartans involved?

Maurice Ager was shipped off to New Jersey in the Jason Kidd trade.  He wasn't getting much playing time in Dallas, but when he did, he faired ok.  Will he grow and become a star for the Nets?

And today Shannon Brown went to the bulls in the Ben Wallace trade.  His career has been even less eventful than Ager's.  Is Shannon the next MJ in Chicago, or will he at least see some time on the floor?

Enlighten me.

Comments

[Joel V]

Well, with the way their seasons were going before, you would think that these two could only be in better situations than they were before. I don't see either of the two becoming stars on their new teams, but I think that they may be able to get some attention. Both guys have chances to get more playing time. The Bulls and the nets have the starting shooting guard and small forward spots set, but I think that both of the teams need to look for some spark and will give Brown and Ager ample time off the bench to get a feel for what they can do. Hopefully that will lead to the two Spartans proving they are NBA worthy. Who knows, maybe they'll be able to shore up a solid bench spot on their respective teams.

[bradford]

im no nba expert, but i would say ager to new jersey is good. dallas was and is a loaded team. there were too many good players and too much winning there for ager to break in. and while new jersey would be in the playoffs if they started today, they're still only a 24 win team.

probably good for brown to move away from the cleveland "lebrons" to chicago. outside of hinrich and gordon, chicago hasnt gotten much from their guards. plus, the bulls aren't very good.

[The Coach]

How big of a mistake was it for Shannon Brown to leave early to the NBA?

One more year as the stud player at MSU and I believe he was a lottery pick.

This is no Marcus Taylor story, but I think it was a mistake.

[SpartyOn]

yes jon, shannon brown is the next micheal jordan.

[MS]

Ager hardly played at Dallas. I think Brown's contract was not extended beyond this season by Cavs. Does anybody know how Paul Davis is recovering from injury?

We can only guess what would have happened if Brown stayed longer at MSU.

I wonder what R. Morgan will be after this season. I hope he makes his decision based on what he will do for the rest of his life.

Go Spartans!

[markv]

The consensus seems to be that this is a good trade for Ager. NJ will suffer for scoring without Kidd to run the show, and Ager, despite his defensive, decision-making, and ball-handling problems, is the type of player that creates shots for himself. He doesn't necessarily need a Jason Kidd to set him up. So i think he'll get a chance to come off the bench and make score some important points at some point in NJ's playoff push. Good luck to him.

Shannon on the other hand i think went from a hopeless situation to another one. He is a great player and a true Spartan, but he is undersized, can't handle the ball well enough to play one-on-one at the NBA level, and doesn't have the range to be an outside shooting specialist (which is what Cleveland needed out of their guards around Lebron). But in Chicago will he be of any use? I don't think so. The Bulls already have an undersized poor defensive shooting guard in Ben Gordon, and face it he's better than Brown. Do they need another player of the same type? I doubt it. Shannon's only shot at being useful in the NBA, IMHO, is to develop into a Vinnie Johnson type of player. Which means landing on a good team that needs a hot (and cold) scorer off the bench, but has the personnel around him to absorb his lack of ball-handling and defense. I don't think many teams are like that...certainly not Chicago. Too bad he's not still at MSU this year.

On another Spartan NBA note, it's bittersweet to see Eric Snow's career winding down. After years of being a tremendous role player, with great team leadership, assists, phenomenal defense, and a key scoring touch, he's regressing back to his freshman year at MSU. He's shooting about 15% from the field, and 45% from the line, and Cleveland isn't going to use him much anymore.

I'll never forget seeing him airball 2 free throws in his freshman year. Who would have ever thought he'd go on to winning awards in the NBA and being a multi-year starter alongside Payton, Iverson, and Lebron? I hope he's interested in coaching when it's time to retire.

[BarryTN]

MS --- Morgan is not even close to being a NBA caliper player. He can't dribble and his jump shot needs lots of work. He should stay for 2 more years.

[Dan]

I think that it's a win-win for both the players. Shannon will break out soon and I'm glad he'll be a Bull when he does. Ager will fit in well in NJ as well. I don't expect to see either of them torching the league anytime soon but they will both develope slowly and be good players. You can't keep a good player down for long and I believe that both players are too good to simply fade into obscurity.

[J in Columbus]

FYI on Brown...he would have been a senior last year, not this year so it doesn't make a difference if he stayed or not. Mateen stayed for his senior year...did it help him? He would have faired the same in the draft from his junior or senior year and still been the same NBA player he is today. When a kids potential is maxed out his fresh, soph or junior year and they can get drafted in the 1st round I say good luck to you and hope you make it.

I don't think Morgan is ready but if he can get paid you can't blame the kid...The whole situation is exactly like if a company offered you a 150k a year job but you had to drop out of school would you take it?? I think so...

[lomak]

Actually, staying another year can make a huge difference for some players. DJ White, for instance. He probably would not have been a lottery pick last year, but may be one this year. The difference in contracts is huge as you go from a lottery pick to a late first round pick. If you are a second round pick, forget it, you better get lucky in the team that selects you and be very good, because you will not get much of an opportunity to develop or play. Lets face it, most college players fail in the NBA, that is a fact. So it is good to get the money up front, because chances are you won't be playing in three years, no matter how good you think you are.....

[tburke]

That is true Dan. Except it is closer to a company offering you more like 3 million a year to leave school early. And a lottery pick gets a guaranteed 3 year deal. We ALL would have left early for that. Some well paid folks will take 10 years just to make 1 million. So reality is, take the guaranteed 9 million dollars or whatever it is and go back and get your degree when you get cut in 3 years.

[Ben Green]

Lomak, excellent point!

It's very tempting to jump at the 1st opportunity for big NBA money.

It takes patience to stay, get better, work on deficiencies and earn a higher selection.

Earning a higher selection pays exponentially more money on day 1. As you say, there are NO guarantees of success long term in the NBA.

No doubt Shannon Brown would have been a higher pick had he stayed. He would be much better off financially now. He threw dollars away by leaving early.

The Marcus Taylor situation happens more often than not. 52nd pick in the 2nd round in 2002 and ended up playing minor league ball. Named First Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore. Was only the second player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in scoring (17.7) and assists (5.0) in conference games in a single season. Yet he wasn't ready for the NBA.

If Raymar Morgan is even thinking about leaving he should have his head examined. As BarryTN says, he's not even close to NBA caliber. Yet. He will be. Gotta have patience.

[Ben Green]

Here's an ESPN write up on Marcus Taylor after his Sophomore season:

"Negatives: Taylor is not ready to make the leap and contribute. Taylor would certainly benefit from another year under Tom Izzo. Consistency hasn't been a trademark of his college career. He's not a lock for the first round and that should be enough of a wakeup call."

Guess that says it all. Obviously it wasn't a wakeup call but should have been.

[Michael Motta]

Pro sports across the board have gone down in my eyes since my youth, and the NBA was already a bottom feeder on my pro sports chart anyway. MLB's glory days were likely before I even followed the Orioles and Tigers from the late 70s through the early 90s. The NFL's glory days were right around that time though. The NHL is bad enough, playing so many regular season games and then so many playoff games - as if they skipped the statistical analysis portion of school. The NBA is at least as bad on this score, and is a worse product than the NHL to boot.

I like Spartans to perform well in the NBA, but I'll read about it by accident rather than watching that. I'd much rather watch IPIUI @ IPFW than the NBA.