Those Lucky Bucks.

Something big just happened. No, not the White Sox ending an 88 year period of time between World Series Championships. That wasn’t big. That was huge. This, well this is just big. But it’s so big that it has drastically changed the face of one of the best divisions in the Eastern Conference. Center Jamal Magloire was traded from the Hornets to the Bucks for swingman Desmond Mason. This helps the Bucks a lot. It makes them a lot stronger than a lot of teams even in their own division. It also seems to make sense for the Hornets, who were desperately seeking a scorer to pair with Chris Paul. This is one of those trades that just make sense, the kind that when teams make you say, “Why didn’t the league just impose this on the two teams because it make so much sense.” This was really, just a big smart trade.

Jamal Magloire is a big burly guy who is a throwback to a time when centers played down low and boxed out. He’s a perfect compliment to Andrew Bogut, a guy who doesn’t have the size to compete with guys like Magloire down low, but is more than big enough to compete with any of the leagues power-forwards. At 245lbs Bogut still has some growing to do before he can bang down low with guys like Shaq and Eddy Curry. Adding Magloire gives Bogut the time he needs to develop. It also allows the Bucks to keep Dan Gadzuric coming off the bench where he has been extremely effective. Magloire also means that the Bucks bring Joe Smith off the bench. Smith is obviously a disappointment as a first overall pick, but he’s had a solid career with the Bucks and in 20-25 minutes a game, paired with Gadzuric, should make for a highly effective second unit frontcourt. Jamal Magloire gives the Bucks a lot of depth in the front. Magloire should keep defense’s honest down low and make it a lot more difficult for teams to isolate Michael Redd on the perimeter thereby ending his preseason shooting slump. Magloire really helps the Bucks.

He also hurts the teams the Bucks will be playing. He’s a former all-star who could return to all-star form on a team that plays basketball and not “Hornet-Ball.” This move makes the Bucks more dangerous up front than say, anyone but the Pistons, the Heat and maybe, and this is a big maybe, the Pacers and the Sixers, in the East that is. With TJ Ford returning and looking like arguably the best point-guard in the Eastern Conference for the preseason, this Bucks team suddenly looks obscenely dangerous. Lebron or no, is there anyone who really thinks the Bucks aren’t a better team right now? With the Bulls complete lack of scoring options, sorry Ben you can’t be counted until you can be counted on, the Bucks look like the better team too. And as good as Indy is, they’re really only one injury away, and they’re an injury prone team, from being a team simply on the cusp of greatness. It’s a tough sell to say the Bucks are as good as Detroit because they’re not, but they could be lucky. A lot of times in sports the luckiest team wins. If the Bucks are lucky at the right times, they could find themselves at the top of the Central Division.

The trade helps the Hornets too. It gives them their first legit scorer since the Baron Davis era, which isn’t too long ago, but when you’re a team that only wins only 18 games, any one of those other games can seem like an eternity. Although Mason certainly isn’t a proven scorer, he has all the skills to put up 18-20 a game for the Hornets. Loosing Magloire should help the Hornets develop Chris Anderson further as well. Mason could show Anderson how to throw down the right way and both of those guys are going to make Chris Paul look very, very good.

While it’s not fair to say that the balance of power has shifted in the direction of Milwaukee, it is fair to say that with Jamal Magloire on board, that shift could be happening in the not too distant future. The Bucks are definitely a better team, but time will tell how much better. The Hornets are still as big a mess as there is in the NBA, but they’ve taken a step to clean themselves. Adding Desmond Mason is like buying the soap. Now the Hornets are ready to clean up their act while the Bucks are ready to get down and dirty.





We at Page4hoop.com would also like to officially congratulate the city of Chicago as well as the Chicago White Sox for winning the World Series. That, my friends, was huge.