FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

Last night Lebron James showed why he should be the NBA MVP dropping 50 points and 10 assists on the hapless New York Knicks. Most of the Garden chanted “MVP!” in the last minute of the game - one over zealous Cavaliers fan even ran onto the court to let Lebron know how much he loves him. How sad is it that the best and most loved person in the Garden is on the other team? How sad is it that this is usually the case every night?

Being the true NBA statesman that he is Lebron had this to say after the game. “I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building and it’s overtaken of how I could ever dream about. To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world, it was a dream come true for me. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled over the Knicks 119-105 as the Knicks drop to 18-43. Outside of Lebron the Cavaliers got 15 points from Damon James and Devin Brown added 14 as the Cavs one their 3rd straight game.

The Knicks were led by Jamal Crawford who pout in 25, Nate Robinson who put in 24 and big soft Eddy Curry who added 20. The Knicks dropped their 4th game in a row as fans still wonder how Isiah Thomas still has a job. Seriously. How does Thomas still have a job? His team hates him. The star player he fought Larry Brown over (Stephon Marbury) is banned from MSG. The Knicks just keep losing and to make it worse even though they have no shot at the playoffs Thomas doesn’t play his young talent. Thomas has proven over and over again he is the worst basketball coach and executive, now the Dolan family have proven they are the worst team owners.

Ugh. I hate being a Knick fan right now.

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.