NBA Basketball Trade Rumors - Boston/Cleveland Trade

Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart to Boston.
Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown to Cleveland.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1686963

Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been promising for months that he was going to fill the scoring void left when he traded Antoine Walker to Dallas.

Two league sources told ESPN Insider Chad Ford that the Celtics and Cavaliers have agreed to a trade that will send Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart to Boston for Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown.

The trade is expected to be announced later Monday. The Cavs also will send a second-round pick, which they acquired from the Celtics in the Jumaine Jones trade this summer, back to Boston.

Davis is a scoring machine but has bumped heads with new head coach Paul Silas. Silas coached Davis as a rookie in Charlotte and the two didn't get along, and Silas has grown frustrated with Davis' lack of defensive effort this season.

The trade gives the Cavs three solid defenders to surround LeBron James. In addition, Cleveland creates extra cap flexibility next summer when Williams' contract comes off the books.

The Celtics get a player capable of scoring 20 points a game in Davis as well as big man Mihm, who is playing the best basketball of his career.

The Cavaliers (6-17) took a 33-game road losing streak into their game at the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. The Celtics play host to Minnesota.

Cleveland had talks with several teams this season about trading Davis, who is averaging 15.3 points this season, third on the Cavaliers behind rookie LeBron James (17.7) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15.7). Davis had a breakout season in 2002-03, leading Cleveland in scoring (20.2 points), assists, steals, minutes and 3-point percentage.

However, Davis was unable to shake his reputation as a selfish player who looks to shoot first. His me-before-the-team attitude reached its peak during a game against Utah last season, when Davis intentionally missed a shot at his own basket to try and get a rebound that he thought could give him his first career triple-double.

Silas periodically benched the swingman this season and banished him from the team for a few days before allowing him to rejoin the team.

Silas seemed to be getting through to Davis, who had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a win over Detroit last week. But in a loss Saturday night to the Celtics, Davis scored three points on 1-for-5 shooting in 32 minutes.

The additions of Williams, Battie and Brown will help the Cavs defensively, and should rid Silas of a headache. However, the team will have to turn elsewhere for scoring until they get guard DaJuan Wagner back from an injury.

Mihm, a former first-round pick (No. 7 overall), has played extremely well in a limited role this season for Cleveland, which had been patiently waiting for the 7-footer to develop.

The 6-foot-10 Stewart, in the final year of a six-year, $24 million deal he signed with Toronto, was averaging just 10 minutes per game for Cleveland.

Ainge has been emphasizing an uptempo offense since taking over in May. This is Ainge's second big trade, having sent Walker and Tony Delk to Dallas in October for center Raef LaFrentz, swingman Jiri Welsch, forward Chris Mills and a first-round draft pick.

Williams, 31, is in his ninth NBA season and was one of Boston's top defenders. He spent his first two seasons as a pro with Boston, the next two with Denver and returned to Boston for the 1999-00 season. He was the Celtics' third-leading scorer, averaging 11.6 points with 4.5 rebounds.

Battie, 27, has been hobbled by knee injuries this season. The No. 5 overall pick by Denver in the 1997 draft is averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Brown, 22, was drafted with the 11th pick of the 2001 draft after two seasons at Okaloosa-Walton Community College. At 6-foot-7, he has been praised for his athleticism but has been a disappointment for the Celtics.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1686963

Personally i don't know much about these players but to me Boston wins out based solely on Ricky Davis having the "POTENTIAL" to be a good player. However after reading the article it also reminded me of the stunt Davis pulled to attempt to get a triple-double last season. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!! shooting at your own basket!!! What a disgrace!!!
I understand the trade in Boston's viewpoint but what does Cleveland gain from this? the article mentioned strong defenders but.... If they shopped around i think they could've gotten a better deal (Cleveland is in no hurry, perhaps a draft pick even?)

Note: Many thanks to ZooBox and VoteJello4pres for sending in simular articles about this trade.