FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

Big news came out just before the NBA trade deadline - not as big as Shaq going to Phoenix, Gasol going to the Lakers or Kidd to the Mavericks, but it could have major implications in the weak NBA eastern conference. The trade involved 11 players and three teams, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were the obvious focal point of the trade.

The 11 player trade involved the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Seattle Supersonics. The Cavaliers got Lebron James help inside and outside with the acquisition of center Ben Wallace and forward Joe Smith from the Bulls and forward Wally “World” Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West from the Supersonics. To get Lebron his supporting cast the Cavaliers traded guard Larry Hughes, forwards Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons, and guard Shannon Brown to Chicago and forwards Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall to Seattle.

The Cavaliers will also get the Bulls 2nd round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The Supersonics will get guard Adrian Griffin from the Bulls as part of the trade.

Cleveland G.M. and former Duke Blue Devil, Danny Ferry was able to put this deal together just before the 3 p.m. trade deadline. This trade is by far the biggest trade he has been able to pull off and might be a last-ditched effort to keep Lebron in Cleveland and prevent him from jumping in a couple years to the Nets (Jay-z + Brooklyn + Lebron = awesome).

So what exactly are the Cavaliers getting? Well with Wallace they are getting a defensive force down-low. Wallace has averaged 8.8 rebounds and 1.60 blocks per game - Wallace is not a scoring threat as he is averaging only 5.1 points per game. Some feel that Wallace’s best days are behind him, his recent numbers are below his averages - for most of his career he has averaged double digit rebounds. Szczerbiak is another role player who can shoot it from behind the arc. Wally is averaging 13.1 points per game and is shooting .428% from 3-point land.

Again, is this enough to push the Cavaliers over the edge and keep Lebron in Cleveland? I don’t think so, how big of an improvement is Wallace over Drew Gooden? Enough to help them beat the Lakers, Suns or Mavericks? I don’t think so. To me this was a desperate move to do something, anything, to try and make their star happy.

Dwight Howard’s superman dunk at the 2008 NBA Dunk Contest has created a flood of people emailing us with their favorite dunks / dunkers. Most are not good enough to post onto the site (this is not a NBA Dunk Blog) but the latest video is to good to pass up - Michael Jordan’s 10 Best dunks.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting this afternoon that Chicago Bulls (16-24) forward Luol Deng is going to sit out a “significant period of time due to his sore left Achilles tendon. Deng had missed three Bulls games earlier in the month due to the same injury and ended up sitting this past Saturday in the win against the Detroit Pistons.

When asked about his star player’s injury and how long he could be out for Chicago Bulls interm coach Jim Boylan wouldn’t comment on how many games Deng would miss. However, Boylan did say that he expects the amount of time Deng will miss will be weeks, not days. Boylan said on Saturday that the injury Deng sustained has been nagging him and the main concern is to get him back to 100%. The injury to Deng just adds to the list of problems the Bulls have faced this season so far, the Bulls are already without injured guard Chris Duhon.

Deng, the former 7th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, is averaging a career high 17.9 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 47.8% from the field.

The Chicago Bulls might have expected a better showing in their first game since the firing of Scott Skiles - but then again they were playing the San Antonio Spurs. Assistant coach Pete Myers, who played in the NBA for 8 seasons, was the interim coach for Chicago in a game that has been more the norm then the exception for Bulls.

The Spurs, who are dealing with a good amount of injuries this season, beat-up the Bulls 94-79 and led by as many as 25 points. The Bulls were plagued my inconsistent and uninspried play - problems that have defined this team all year. There is no question that the Bulls have talent, but they are just not playing well together. The Bulls need to find a permanent coach to lead this team down the right path, that person is definitely not one of Skiles assistants and I do not agree with the Bulls management on waiting until the season is over.

The Spurs were led by Tony Parker who scored 28 points while the Bulls were led by Joe Smith who put up 19 points, 11 rebounds and had 2 blocks.

The Chicago Bulls had enough of the talk about how good their team is, but just aren’t living up to their potential, by firing their coach today. Scott Skiles led the Bulls to a 9-16 record this year, a disappointing start considering they have made 3 straight playoff appearances and have a very young and very talented team that was expected to compete for the Eastern Conference championship.

“Hardly a day goes by that I don’t demand accountability and stress results,” Skiles told the Chicago Tribune earlier “Today was my day to be held accountable.” You have to feel for the guy since he was fired on Christmas Eve…they could have at least waited a week or so. The Bulls didn’t make any announcement as to whom would replace Skiles as coach, GM John Paxson did say that they probably wont hire a new coach until after the season ends and have assistants Pete Myers or Jim Boylan lead the Bulls for the rest of the season.

Hmmm, the Bulls lose and they fire their coach…the Knicks lose and what happens to their coach Isiah Thomas? Nothing.