Tag, you’re it!
The Chicago Bulls made their second big trade in two days on Thursday, agreeing to send Larry Hughes to the Knicks for Jerome James, Tim Thomas and Anthony Roberson.
“I think Chicago was very honest with Hughes and made him aware that when [Kirk] Hinrich came back, he wasn’t going to play,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. “I’m not saying he was happy or unhappy, I think he was looking to go somewhere because he knew he wasn’t going to play once Hinrich got back.”
The move comes just one day after the Bulls agreed to send Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons.
Hughes has been in the Bulls’ doghouse for some time and the two sides had agreed to seek a trade weeks ago. With Salmons coming to the Bulls on Wednesday, there was even less need for Hughes.
The trade is a wash financially for both teams. Hughes makes $12.8 million this year; James and Thomas make $12.2 million combined.
This one rids them of the moody Hughes, who was acquired last year from Cleveland at the deadline but has been a non-factor in Chicago’s crowded backcourt. He hasn’t played since Jan. 12, watching one game from a club restaurant, and is averaging 12 points in 30 games this season.
“Obviously with Larry Hughes’ situation, we had been looking to move him,” Bulls vice president John Paxson said. “The deal we made today was, basically, I told him and his agent, Jeff Wechsler, I would do everything in my power to move him.”
Hughes fills a need for the Knicks. They thought they had their replacement by acquiring Cuttino Mobley from the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that same day, but he was forced to retire because of a heart condition.
More from ESPN
PS - Stop dreaming about 2010.
According to Larry’s Wikipedia page:
Received the nickname “Big Shot Larry” after hitting a game winning shot against the Utah Jazz on November 24, 2008.
Dear Sir,
Please relinquish control of your awesome website to Chicago Bulls fans like myself. I realize you do not like the Bulls and to be honest, I am not too fond of the LeBron’s either. But man this thing is bigger than Chicago and Cleveland’s respective NBA franchises. You and I and every Bulls, Cavs, Wizards, Sixers and Warriors fan know what a curse having Larry Hughes is on your favorite team. There are fans of 25 other NBA teams that need to not make the same mistake we did.
Think of doing this for the good of mankind. The economy is slumping, gas prices are high, typhoid fever is making a comeback (ok I made the last one up). The last thing fans need is Larry Hughes ruining their favorite NBA franchise with his horrible shot selection, disrupting attitude, and ridiculous sense of entitlement. Fans are drawn to the NBA for entertainment, a way to escape from the stresses in their everyday lives. Larry Hughes is ANTI-entertainment. Just last night during a freaking preseason game, I threw my shoe at the TV watching Larry Hughes dribble around the court for 15 seconds before jacking up an airball with a hand in his face. You remember the first time you picked up a basketball video game and you had no idea how to run plays, so you just gave the ball to your shooter and you ran around the court aimlessly until a defender was far enough away and then you jacked up a shot? THAT IS LARRY HUGHES!
This needs to be brought to the attention of the world, so that no NBA team will ever decide to give him any money to play basketball ever again. Please consider my plea for the betterment of mankind.
Respectfully,
(Name withheld)
I couldn’t resist posting this quote from the Chicago Tribune article, “Well-traveled Larry Hughes has grown up”:
Hughes calls himself “a guard, period. Just let me play. I’ve learned to take fewer bad shots, to recognize situations, so just put me out there and I’ll try to make the good play. If it’s from the two-guard, what’s the difference?”
Full article here.
I started this site for one reason: to get Larry Hughes to stop taking so many bad shots. And along the way, I was hoping that I could make a few people laugh too. I wasn’t looking for any personal recognition and I’ve remained anonymous throughout this entire process because I felt this site was the voice of many Cavs fans and not just me.
I’ve read all of your feedback, I’ve considered many of the options, and here’s what I’m going to do:
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Keep the site going for Bulls fans?
There’s no way in hell I’m going to do this because I hate the Bulls! Look, we’re division rivals and I’m still bitter about what Jordan did to us in the 80’s. This site was trying to get Larry to stop taking bad shots, but now that he’s a Bull, he’s your problem! And besides, Chicago fans should be thanking me for raising the money to buy Larry the Better Shooting DVD - it seems to have helped some.
Verdict: No.
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Convert the site to HeyBenWallaceBlahBlahBlah.com?
I’ve received hundreds of suggestions that I should rename the site to something mentioning Ben Wallace’s poor shooting. But there are a bunch of reasons why I don’t want to do this:
1) We already know he can’t shoot free throws, and that’s not we’re asking him to do. We need him to play tough defense, get rebounds, and teach Zydrunas Ilgauskas how to become the next Rick Mahorn of the NBA.
2) It’s too early to start ripping on the new guys. Let’s give them a chance to gel and make this thing work. It’s the same reason I waited 2 seasons before complaining about Larry.
3) While the new guys aren’t perfect, I don’t think there’s a single player on our roster who is capable of the profound brickitude that Larry Hughes provided.
Verdict: No.
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Make it an all-purpose Cleveland Cavaliers site?
I’ve considered this very seriously, but I’m going to pass for now. I wasn’t trying to launch a blogging career, and I wasn’t pursuing this as a money-making venture. I was just a frustrated Clevelander sick and tired of watching one of our “star” players underachieve.
And I’m not a greedy guy: there are enough fantastic Cleveland sports sites out there to satisfy all of our needs. TheClevelandFan.com is spectacular in its depth and breadth of content, Brian Windhorst does a great job as a beat writer, WaitingForNextYear.com has been coming on strong lately with great stuff, Mistake By The Lake is always good for humorous and stat-driven content, etc, etc. So does the world really need another Cavs site?
Verdict: No.
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Make it a site that rips on ALL underachieving NBA players?
It’s another good idea, but it just won’t be the same as All Larry, All The Time. And there are already a few sites that do this, and I’m not interested in following suit. Part of the reason is that it would require that I watch about 10 times more games every night in order to monitor the crappiness across the league and I just don’t have the time (or the cable package).
Verdict: No.
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Freeze the site as a memento of the Larry Hughes Era in Cleveland?
Of course I’ll keep the site up so you can show it to your grandchildren when they ask about that Larry Hughes Web site guy. But when Larry was traded on February 21st, this mission was complete. So I won’t be actively updating the content or tracking Larry’s progress anymore.
Verdict: Yes.
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Channel my creativity into another project of epic importance?
I’ve learned a lot while running this site and it’s time to move on. But I’ve been brainstorming some other Web site ideas that I’m hoping to launch later this year. None of them focus solely on the Cavaliers, nor do I think I’ll do another Cleveland sports blog (never say never). But some of my ideas are sports related and hopefully you’ll see them emerge in the next few months. They will be weird and funny, and I think you’ll like them.
Verdict: Hell Yes.
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And now some parting words…
To Cleveland fans:
Thanks again for being so supportive. You are the most dedicated fans in the world and you deserve a championship. I’ve been very grateful for the emails and comments you’ve sent me the past few months and I’m still in awe of the response HLHPSTSMBS has generated. I’ll see you at the Cavs games!
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To Delonte, Ben, Joe, and Wally:
Play hard and live up to your potential. If you guys help us win a championship, you will be loved by Clevelanders for the next eight thousand years.
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To Larry Hughes:
Sorry if any of this hurt your feelings. As people like to say in professional sports, “it’s just business.” Like when the Cavs charge fans $7 for a beer and $20 for parking, or like the time Boozer swindled the blind guy, or when Modell moved the Browns, or when or when Manny left for more money. If everyone in professional sports wants to be ”all about business”, this is just a reminder that we fans can play that game too.
Best of luck in Chicago! Hopefully you’re in a system that allows you to play up to your full potential. You can now slash to your heart’s content, you slasher you. And now that you’re in Chicago, it’s totally fine if you want to ignore this site, throw away the shooting DVD, and TAKE AS MANY BAD SHOTS AS YOU WANT.
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Bye for now.
GO CAVS!
