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I am not following the logic. So 6 months ago, the best offer out of the Eastern conference was Channing Fyre and Francis. But somehow another Eastern Conference team is willing to trade Gerald Wallace for him now? You do know that Charlotte is in the East right? The fact was nobody is sure that trading Zach out of the Western conference was even on Blazers's agenda. They weren't expecting to contend at least in the first couple of years upon Oden's arrival, it is a bit of a stretch to say that actually cared about another team in the West get in their way with Randolph. To add to that, the West is so loaded anyway, with or without Randolph it would've been a hell of a path to get to the finals.
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For one thing, the Bobcats were focused on acquiring Jason Richardson. After giving up that $10 million trade exception, a deal involving Zach Randolph may have not been feasible from the Blazers perspective (who were interested in some financial flexibility). Another possibility may be the fact that the Bobcats did not realize the need for a player like Randolph until they started losing this season; I'm pretty sure they expected better results from the Richardson deal.
Although it is a common practice that I don't believe in, teams have shown that they prefer to move big stars out of their conference. The supposed rationale is that they do not want to have that same player play them 4 times a year and potentially make the franchise look bad. Most usually refer to Moses Malone and what happened after he was traded during the twilight of his career. We've seen this sort of rationale used a bunch of times including the Shaq trade, Garnett trade and McGrady trade.
None of their former teams had expected to be winning anytime soon after moving them either.
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The need is really a comparative term. The urgency that Toronto had to trade VC was comparable to the Knicks right now. Vince was tanking his own performance on purpose (somewhat admitted by vince himself on TNT) and he was making all sort of off court news that was hurting the team's image. Kobe's situation again is different than Zach's case. The Lakers are winning, the Knicks and Raptors aren't/weren't. If you are suggesting the Knicks tough this out and let Zach led the team back to prominence, then by all means.
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A Vince Carter playing half-assed ball is still better than any of the players they recieved. While the Raptors were losing, I doubt they expected to win anytime soon from the package of players they recieved. From that standpoint, I do not really see the situations being any different.
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If they can't pay Wallace, how can they pay Randolph who costs more. Again, Zach hasn't won anything anywhere. Sure that Wallace has been a loser as well. But why would you commit that much money for another loser? The risk vs. return just isn't good in this investment.
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I never said they can't pay Wallace. What I did say is that they are not going to be able to do so if they don't generate enough interest in their team to have fans come to the games. That is just common sense. Randolph is a big enough star and fit to help do that and win more games. The Bobcats are currently 21st in the league in offensive production; there is only a 2-3ppg average that seperates them from dead last. You really think a guy like Zach Randolph could not help bolster their offensive game especially when they already have some solid perimeter shooters?
P.S. just for the record, Randolph, Balkman and Morris works cap wise for Wallace and Mohammed. In that sense, especially considering that Wallace just signed a new deal, the Bobcats would not be losing money (they very well would be saving it).
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One would argue that the Knicks were better last season. But the idea of them not improving after getting Randolph would still raise a sign regarding whether Randolph can help a team win. Boris Diaw also came into camp out of shape the year Amare returned. You really have to question whether it was Amare or it was being paid that led to his regression.
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Would it really though? Like I said, this is a game of fits and I don't think one person questioned whether you could play both Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph on the same team; even I thought early on that it just wouldn't work.
Boris Diaw might have been out of shape but his game is predecated on skill moreso than athletic ability. With his physique and the system the Suns run, I doubt he'd have a hard time taking advantage of slower 4's and 5's. I think a more limited role was more key.
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If you watch the Bobcats, you would see that Gerald Wallace is their best defender on the perimeter and is their 2nd best defender overall. Either way, franchise player or not, he is an integral part of their franchise. As I said repeatedly, I just don't think any team would trade an important piece of their team for someone like Randolph.
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I've never questioned Wallace's defensive ability. Without a doubt, he's the best perimeter defender they got but the question is really whether they can be a good defensive team without him. I definately believe so because the Bobcat team is capable of really good defense with the players that they have. What the really need are scorers and no kind of player could make more of a difference in that sense than a post scorer who in turn provides opportunities for himself and his teammates by stretching the defense. You just can't get more integral than that.