A Retrospective from the Atlantic Division

[blackice]

Early in the season we decided to move long time Raptor Lance Stephenson in a deal that sent the versitile swingman to the Boston Celtics. Details of the trade are as follows:

TOR

SENDS
Lance Stephenson - $11,116,000
Total $$$ Sent: $11,116,000

BOS

SENDS
TJ Warren - $7,000,000
Travis Wear - $3,400,000
Total $$$ Sent: $11,400,00

The trade was immediately admonished by the league and many comments in regards to the deal speculated that Boston was getting the better of the deal. Fast forward to now and we see that Lance cannot get any minutes on a loaded Celtics squad. Lance is averaging 3.5 MPG and is a non factor. To be fair, Dennis has put together an elite squad and there are simply no minutes for the 32 year old Stephenson. The incentive for him was that Stephenson is a large expiring contract and will provide cap relief this offseason.

As for us, Warren and Wear are pivotal parts of our bench and both are performing better then expected.

TJ Warren (28): 13/3 on 52 FG% in 21.7 MPG
Travis Wear (30): 8/5 w/ 1.4 blks on 58 FG% in 18.1 MPG

Both are on value contracts:

TJ Warren (28): 7M/7M
Travis Wear (30): 3.4M/3.4M/3.4

As you can see they are both highly efficient and provide solid defense to boot. In hindsight this was a deal that both parties benefited from.

[Dennis]

Many teams had it on the table. No one took it. I think it was a win for you talentwise, no doubt. We just couldn't afford them anymore and didn't have them in the rotation anyway. Pretty sad that we haven't been able to get anything for them despite an expiring though.

[blackice]

Many teams had it on the table. No one took it. I think it was a win for you talentwise, no doubt. We just couldn't afford them anymore and didn't have them in the rotation anyway. Pretty sad that we haven't been able to get anything for them despite an expiring though.

Yeah it was a matter of buy low for us, both Warren and Wear are highly efficient and give our bench a different look than it had before we took over the team. They are also highly productive in limited minutes.

[hardenwithnod]

Warren has always been a good slasher, and I was always surprised that not many people wanted a good 6th man like him.

[Myles]

I still think Lance is better than either one of them, but it’s nice to have depth. They are performing well and do indeed have a place in the rotation, and that will help you get a high seed in the playoffs