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The Gay trade is a happy one for all

Roar Guru
31st January, 2013
7

My first reaction from yesterday’s three-team trade between Memphis, Toronto and Detroit was that in many ways, all were winners.

Whenever a deal of this magnitude is executed there’s an immediate surge of fuelled emotion most often guided with the intention to condemn, rather than investigate the realities of the move.

I would have though the trade that sent James Harden to Houston on the eve of the season, lambasted in many quarters but proven a roaring success for both teams, would have perhaps at least tempered the way deals of this ilk are so savagely disseminated.

They obviously haven’t.

Within moments of this deal I read ridiculous suggestions that Memphis have traded away their opportunity for an NBA Finals run which is not only idiotic, but breezes over the initial statement itself.

To begin with Memphis should be applauded for making a gutsy move which gives their franchise a lot more wriggle room where finances are concerned, adds in a draft pick, but most crucially keeps them competitive and relevant both this season and beyond.

In Rudy Gay, Toronto have landed the bigger-sized fish they’ve been chasing for some time while giving up players who have always been treated as the bait in their quest for such a fish.

As for the Pistons, well they say goodnight to their most cumbersome contract as well as the last link to their sort-of glory days of the last decade.

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In return for losing Tayshaun Prince they’ll welcome in perhaps the cleanest set of hands in the NBA in Jose Calderon.

Try as I might, I just can’t see where the disgust and haste to call a loser in the trade comes from.

In fact, and as I suggested, I think all sides of this trade could head to bed tonight with a smile on their face and a genuine cause for belief that their clubs are in better states than when they began the day.

Finally, I can’t help but feel the key factor in this deal is Ed Davis. In the increasingly numbers driven world of professional sports, Davis shapes as a golden nugget.

The former 13th overall pick was easily Toronto’s best rebounder, perhaps their best defender all round and will represent a huge addition to a Memphis team seriously lacking depth in the realm of big bodies.

While the bulk of the noise concerning this trade will pertain to Gay, Davis will be the whisper I’m most keen to hear.

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