The J-Rich trade revisited. I miss Raja

(AP Photo/Rick Havner) The Bobcats will host the Suns on Friday Night (5:30 PM) in Charlotte in the first meeting since the trade that sent J-Rich to Phoenix for Raja Bell and Boris Diaw. I am happy Steve will have a chance to meet Raja, just a couple of nights after meeting Mike D’Antoni.

The teams come to the game in very different states of mind. The Suns lost 4 of their last 5 games, inluding a couple of stinkers in Boston and NYC, while the Cats have won 4 of their last 5 games with the only loss coming against the Spurs in a very close game they could have won.   

Since the December 10th trade the Bobcats are 10-7. They were 7-16 before the trade, now they’re contending for a playoff spot in the low lands of the Eastern Conference-

Boris Diaw is playing well (13.6 points, 5.2 assists, 7.1 rebounds per game) while Raja is being Raja (12.1 ppg) with some very convincing performances lately. Both Boris and Raja took some time in Charlotte to make an impact, but they’ve definetly made the Bobcats a better basketball team. Right kind of players for their system.

The Suns are an identical 10-7 since the trade, and Jason Richardson is averaging 15.7 points per game (down from his Charlotte production) and shooting .465 from the field. Somewhat I feel like the positive effect the trade had on the Suns was short term and cooled off very quickly.

You could think that this trade was good or bad for the Suns, I don’t think it’ll change the Suns destiny, but I don’t think it really improved the team either. It added a good offensive player who is not fitting in the system while it took away some depth and defense.

I miss Raja.

Yours truly, Steve Fan 

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