The Erie BayHawks have agreed to trade their leading scorer and 2009 1st-round draft pick Donell Taylor to the Idaho Stampede for Mike Gansey. Ironically, Gansey was Erie's top pick in last year's draft, but he opted to play overseas instead.
The trade is a major shakeup for the BayHawks, who have started this season a disappointing 4-9, including a 1-5 record at home.
Taylor currently leads the team in scoring at 18.7 points per game, which is good for 17th in the D-League. Taylor also averges 6.2 rebounds and is second on the team in 3-point percentage. The biggest struggle for Taylor has been ball control as he's averaged just 2.8 assists with 3.5 turnovers per game on the year. Most recently, Taylor was benched for the majority of a game Erie won over Bakersfield, playing less than 10 minutes after getting the start.
As for what Erie is getting in return, Gansey is a different player than Taylor. He's more perimeter-oriented and staked his claim as a 3-point marksman during his college years at West Virginia. This season, however, his numbers are negligibly better than Taylor's from behind the arc. He's shot 14-39 (35.9 percent) from 3 compared to Taylor's 35.7 percent. 5-14
I'm a fan of Gansey, and I called for Erie to draft him again this year. I also understand Erie's desire to bring in a shooter—heck, I've been calling for it for weeks now—but with Gansey converting 3s at a rate no better than Taylor, I don't totally understand the thinking behind this deal, unless there's something more to it. Gansey is a good player, but there's a reason he went in the sixth round to Idaho whereas Taylor went in the first round to Erie. Gansey has started just one game for the Stampede; Taylor has started all 13 for the BayHawks.
But it's official. This is a straight-up one-for-one swap. It's definitely a gamble on Erie's side, but at 4-9, I guess they felt they needed to take a chance and mix things up a bit. If Gansey can be the hot hand from outside that they've lacked much of this season (save for Ivan Harris' 5-10 performance on Tuesday), maybe it'll be the spark they've lacked.
The other angle on this trade is the idea that maybe the BayHawks are looking at the possibility of addition by subtraction? Taylor is the leading scorer on the team, but that comes at a price. He's taken 227 shots this season. Jackie Manuel is next on the list at 166 FGA. While Taylor is talented, he's also got something to do with some of Erie's bad offensive habits, namely the contested, pull-up jumpshot from just inside the 3-point line.
Just as the addition of Cliff Clinkscales has helped facilitate ball movement for the Erie offense, the subtraction of Taylor may do the same. He's a skilled scorer, but at what cost? There's no stats to back it up, but just from watching the team, I can see that the ball does tend to stick when he's in there. If Erie can find a way to replace his scoring—and I don't expect that it'll come from Gansey alone—perhaps a new, fluid offense will develop. If not, well, they were only 4-9 with him anyway.
Erie won't play the Stampede until March 13 when they travel to Idaho. In the meantime, good luck to Taylor and welcome Mike Gansey. I'm skeptical of this trade for sure, but I understand why Erie felt compelled to shake things up on the final day of 2009. Here's hoping 2010 has brighter days ahead for the BayHawks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment