Ray Jr On Sports

Ray Jr talks about the NBA trade deadline movements and more.

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NBA Trade Deadline-Ah yes. This time of year, when contending teams better themselves for the postseason and non-contenders unload salary for the future. And this year’s deadline was one to remember.

Cleveland Cavaliers-And then there’s this team. They basically stole the show Thursday. So far this season, the Cavs were a mess. They traded Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas, added veteran guards Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade and struggled. Then F Kevin Love got hurt and will missed 6-8 weeks. Head Coach Tyronn Lue tried, but it wouldn’t work.

The Cavs Trades-Because it didn’t work, the Cavs had to do something and boy, did they ever. The traded Thomas and G Channing Frye to the LA Lakers for G Jordan Clarkson and F Larry Nance, Jr. Then they were part of a 3-team trade in which they traded F Iman Shumpert and a 2020 2nd round pick (Via Miami) to Sacramento for G George Hill. Finally, they traded Wade back to Miami for a 2nd round pick and the Utah Jazz gets Rose and F Jae Crowder for G Rodney Hood. Whew.

How Does It Benefit the Cavs? Well, it makes them younger and more athletic. In fact, it almost seems like the Cavs are into ‘small-ball’ (Outside of LeBron James) The Thomas experiment failed. He just wasn’t a fit with James being the #1 option. I never thought Rose fit and Wade’s playing time was about to diminish. The Cavs hope that Clarkson and Hill can provide youth and fresh legs as guards and Nance and Hood get some good defense in the paint.

How Does It Benefit the Lakers? For one, it helps clear up lots of salary cap space as they plan to make some power moves this offseason. And one of the players they hope to lure is James, who’s expected to opt out of his contract with the Cavs. The Lakers also want OKC’s Paul George too. Thomas can be a good mentor to rookie PG Lonzo Ball and he can assume the role of team leader.

How Does It Benefit the Kings? Cap Space. They now have $24 million in space that could increase to $40 million if Shumpert and Garrett Temple opt out of their deals. The Kings also sent Malachi Richardson to the Detroit Pistons for Bruno Caboclo.

Why Didn’t the Cavs go after Jordan or Walker? I believe they wanted to, but Clippers F DeAndre Jordan $22 million salary may have been too much, and it just seems like it couldn’t work out with Walker.

Why Did Wade Return to Miami? The Cavs were doing Wade a favor. He wasn’t going to get much playing time and his dream was to retire in Miami, the team that drafted him in 2003. Plus, he’d already mended fences with team president Pat Riley.

Other Deadline deals-Washington traded PG Sheldon Mac to the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando sent G Elfrid Payton to Phoenix for a 2018 2nd round pick, Portland traded F Noah Vonleh and cash to Chicago for the rights to Denver, NY Kicks and Dallas agreed to a 3-way trade that sent Devin Harris to Denver,Emmanuel Mudiay to the Knicks and Doug McDermott to Dallas, and Brooklyn traded Rashad Vaughn to New Orleans for F Dante Cunningham. What a day.

Winners and Losers? In my opinion, the Cavs won because they made their team younger, but I won’t give them the trophy until we see how they fare in the second half. The Lakers are winners for angling themselves for a huge free agent shopping-spring. I can’t imagine any losers because each team-whether buyer or sellers-got what they wanted.

 Super Bowl-Well, wasn’t this a game? Every year, the media will call NFL’s biggest game the ‘best ever’, but this year’s version was truly Top 5. The Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots squared off in a rematch of Super Bowl 39, and this time the Eagles prevailed 41-33, the first-ever Super Bowl win for Philly and the 5th loss for the Patriots, 3rd with head coach Bill Belechick and QB Tom Brady.

How did the Eagles do it? They had a plan not to fall into ‘the trap’ that many teams do against the Patriots. They punched them in the mouth early and often with TDs not FGs, and although the defense could’ve played better, they kept the pressure n Brady and were able to sack him and cause him to fumble. And Super Bowl 52 MVP Nick Foles was marvelous.

Foles TD Catch-He’s the first to do so in a Super Bowl. It was a genius 4th down play that proved how bold the Eagles were as Foles caught a 1-yard TD pass from TE Trey Burton. Very creative.

Brady’s attempted catch-Unfortunately, he wasn’t so fortunate as he let a pass from WR Danny Ademola’s pass fall off his fingertips. If Brady had caught it, he would’ve had a sure first down and the drive would’ve been kept alive. Instead, the Patriots had to punt.

Eagles Parade-Close to 700,000 attended the parade in Philadelphia for the new Super Bowl Champions, which began on Broad Street and ended at the Philadelphia Museum of Art a the ‘Rocky Steps.’ What a cap to an awesome season for the Eagles as their celebrating just begun.

 49ers lock up Garroppolo-The SF 49ers became a better team when they acquired QB Jimmy Garropolo. At the time, they were 0-8, and they finished the season 6-10. For his efforts, they signed him to a 5-year deal worth $137.5. The deal includes guarantees of $90 million. Wow.

Was the deal worth it? I think it was. The 49ers have been known for successful QBs (Joe Montana, Steve Young, Colin Kaepernick) and are hoping that they’re rebuilding to be great and are hoping that Garroppolo will lead them like his former team, the Patriots has done for many years: succeed.

 KC Released Revis-He wasn’t signed until late in the season and now he’s released as the KC Chiefs released him Thursday. Now I feel it’s time for Revis to call it quits.

Steelers add assistant coaches-In the wake of the resignation of secondary coach Carnell Lake, the Steelers replaced him with former Penn State DC Tom Bradley and signed Karl Dunbar as defensive line coach. Current D-Line Coach John Mitchell will remain as Assistant Head Coach

Wildcats lose-#1 ranked Villanova lost their 2nd game of the season as they fell to St John’s 79-75. Watch out, because 2nd Ranked Virginia could be looking at their first #1 ranking since the Ralph Sampson years.

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