Wallace to Motown in blockbuster
In a three-way trade: The Detroit Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace from the Atlanta Hawks and Mike James from the Boston Celtics; the Hawks acquired Zeljko Rebraca, Bob Sura, a first-round draft pick from the Pistons and Chris Mills from the Celtics; the Celtics acquired Lindsey Hunter, Chucky Atkins and a first-round draft pick from the Pistons.
What does it give the Detroit Pistons
One of the NBA's elite big men, more versatility on and off the court, and a back-up point guard. It comes at a hefty price, but the Pistons emerge from this deal as a strong contender for this year's NBA title. They gave up four players (Rebraca, Sura, Atkins, and Hunter) plus two first-round draft picks. But in Wallace they get a superstar in his prime who can play all three frontcourt positions (small forward, power forward, and center). He'll team with the other great big men in Detroit (Ben Wallace, Mehmet Okur, and Elden Campbell) to give every other NBA team all they can handle down low. The trade leaves Detroit a little weak at guard, so James will help out there. The deal also frees up more money for Detroit next year so they can re-sign young center Mehmet Okur.
What does it give the Atlanta Hawks
A conditional first-round draft pick, and huge spending power this summer. The draft pick comes from a previous Pistons deal with Milwaukee, and is conditional on whether the Bucks make the playoffs (otherwise the pick moves to 2005). Meanwhile, the three back-up players Atlanta gets likely won't be around very long. But the Hawks are all about one thing this year--cutting salary for free agency season this summer. Sura has a $6.16 million contract set to expire this year, the injured Mills has a $6.6 million contract set to run out, and Rebraca is also playing on an expiring deal. In other words, all three players are just taking up space--on and off the court--until the summer. The Hawks made this trade because rather than just waiting for Wallace's huge contract to expire and give them financial flexibility, now they wait for three to expire and get a first-round draft pick as well.
What does it give the Boston Celtics
Detroit's 2004 first-round draft pick, some cash, and two players who can help right now. Atkins and Hunter aren't stars by any measure, but will do more for Boston than the injured Mills and the now-traded James. Hunter likely won't be around after this season (when his contract expires), but Atkins should prove to be a solid addition. He likely replaces James in the line-up right away, and while he's a better passer, there isn't much difference between the two. Like Atlanta, Boston seems to have done this almost entirely for the first-round draft pick.
Fantasy impact
