Indiana Pacers Trade Brandon Rush to Golden State Warriors for Louis Amundson
by Nathan S. on Dec 18, 2011 1:01 PM EST
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PrintIn a surprising Sunday trade, the Pacers have agreed to send Brandon Rush to Golden State in exchange for forward Louis Amundson. Amundson averaged four points and four rebounds for the Warriors in 47 games.
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Win/Win
Rush gets more playing time/ Warriors get a young, contract yr player.
Admudsen gets a mentor (Foster) / Pacers get an active rebounder, athletic defender.
Man
practices are going to be insane at the 4/5 position. I fully expect bandaged bigs at points during the season.
This move won't make many headlines
but I think it continues to add toward the identity we’re building here in Indy. More hustling, banging, and guts. We add a 4/5 that can mix it up at the position where we are thinnest. We lose a guard that has clearly worn out his welcome and was doing little more than log-jamming the 2 spot. I have no problem with Brandon as a person, and wish him the best going forward, but he just wasn’t going to get it going here. He was one of the few players that didn’t really seem to respond to Coach Frank’s hiring, he just continued going through the motions.
by Abe the Hoosier on Dec 18, 2011 2:25 PM EST reply actions
Now Rush is the best defender on the Warriors
and the Pacers get another frontcourt body to throw out there
Pacers motto - "Never Easy"
Pacers = Thugs
So Thugs never have it easy = Thug Life
I love the Pacers. I love the Thug Life
by SpaceCowboy1984 on Dec 18, 2011 2:31 PM EST reply actions
Funny we sent our pot head to California where it's legal!
We’ll know for sure if he learned how to cheat the NBA drug test if he doesn’t get suspended again this year!
hahaha good one lol.
Rush will prolly start doing something that is illegal and worst then pot out in California. And what do you know, look who else is out in California Jamaal Tinsley.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 19, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions
I'm glad Rush was traded.
He was not a fit for the Pacers. But with that said I was just thinking that he has know for the last 2 years that the Pacers wanted him traded. Which I’m sure doesn’t leave you with a very secure feeling about your team. Maybe he will fit in better with the Warriors and his playing might improve.
Solid move
Gives Foster the season to teach the art of playing dirty. Can never stock up too many bigs
by GrangerSCK33 on Dec 18, 2011 3:59 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Trade bait
The Pacers do not need another forward, unless they think Pendergraph is going to have physical problems. I see this move as a way to line up some trade bait, perhaps not immediately, but by the trade deadline.
You know
In some ways you could say that with the David West signing too.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 19, 2011 3:09 PM EST up reply actions
Brush
Wish he was more agressive!! Some nights he looked great, then others just lost. Wish him the best though.
by the pac on Dec 18, 2011 4:54 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Disappointed
I kept hoping B. Rush would finally get it. His skill set seemed to be a perfect fit for our starting lineup at the shooting guard. But at some point, the organization has to make the move that is best for the team. We did need a big. Not that I was afraid of change, but I was hoping they would bring back McBob and keep Rush for the last year of his contract. Both players had limitations, but both also had upside with little risk involved.
by thomasezekiel77 on Dec 18, 2011 10:12 PM EST up reply actions
Right..."upside"
Wow. I mean, how long were we going to wait for Rush to realize his “upside?” I’m glad that fantasy about starting him can be put to bed…
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
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You were right...
They did decide to trade Rush. Now we can start George at the two. And our bench will be Hill, Stephenson, Jones, and Price. You see any 3’s in that group?
by thomasezekiel77 on Dec 19, 2011 1:25 AM EST up reply actions
This is gonna sound crazy...
But DJ actually played better at SF than Rush. DJ and Rush are listed at the same size and weight on the two sites I looked at. So, yeah… I think we can manage.
"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
- Jack Dempsey
by infinityzero.systemerror on Dec 19, 2011 2:29 AM EST up reply actions
Heh?
NO ONE on the team played as poorly as Rush did last year, PER-wise. You could literally pick an NBA-caliber player off the scrap heap at this point and he’s likely an upgrade at any position Rush is “capable” of playing. By the numbers, he was one of the worst per-minute players in the league last year, and during his multi-year spot starting stint was one of the worst starters, statistically, in history. Starting him is a proven failure. There are at least three viable 2-guards on the roster, counting George. Granger will play 35+ mpg, as he always does, and George will easily back him up. Hill is a better off-guard than point guard, so he’ll likely see more minutes at 2 than George will, and George will see ALL the minutes at backup SF, barring injury and foul trouble. This is the most successful rotation we’ve had in the past, and it will most likely continue to be the best rotation we have in the future.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
That is, making George our primary SF backup WHILE starting him at SG has been a succesful rotation for us in the past
Having Hill on the roster to take heavy SG minutes just makes it easier to accomplish, and makes it so we don’t have to play Jones except for situationally. I guess Hill’s ability to devote all of his time to 2-guard depends on DC and Stephenson being able to handle 100% of the PG role…up until this week I assumed they were going to get another combo guard so Stephenson wouldn’t have to be involved. But either way, George is ready for 30+ minutes, and Hill is versatile and experienced. In regular situations (not counting fouls, etc.) they, and Granger, are the best three wing players on our team and would see all of the minutes regardless of whether Rush was on the roster or not.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
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Playing small
This isn’t the 90’s 6’10 guys can guard the center position in todays NBA. I like the move it gives us 3 playable 4/5’s . Our problem is gonna be the same no perimeter scoring from the bench. Also someone answer me this with George starting @ 2 guard who exactly is our back up 3?
by GrangerSCK33 on Dec 18, 2011 5:06 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Hence the need for a Starting 2
Until then, DJones..
Could be Michael Redd short-term
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/989309-nba-rumors-indiana-pacers-in-the-lead-to-sign-michael-redd
But then again, bleacher report isn’t the most reliable source and according to bleacher report there seems to be 7 other teams interested in Redd. But either way we look at it Michael Redd and Greg Oden are clearly the Bob Sanders of the NBA which why neither one of them will get long-term deals even though Oden is already inked to a one year deal with Portland.
PS.
Redd and Jones will likely not be with the team after this season.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 19, 2011 2:45 PM EST up reply actions
Despite their similarities (youth,height,athletism,position)
Addition by Subtraction..
If possible (and I doubt it was possible and I wouldn't be surprised if Bird has tried this)
I’d rather trade Rush and Psycho T for OJ Mayo then re-sign McRob. But like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Bird has tried offering Memphis Psycho T & Rush for OJ.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 18, 2011 10:57 PM EST up reply actions
I dunno about that one
Bird did offer him to Boston in a Rondo trade. But then again Memphis likely wouldn’t have taken him and Rush for Mayo.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 19, 2011 2:46 PM EST up reply actions
What could have been
Amundson is a decent energy player, and I’m glad he’s on the team. Reports in Memphis are saying Darrel Arthur may be out for the season with an injury incurred during practice. I’ll bet you Memphis wishes the McBob and Rush for Mayo trade was still on the table. While Amundson will be a decent addition, I wish the Pacers and Grizzlies’ trade was still on the table too.
by Glenn A. on Dec 18, 2011 5:44 PM EST via mobile reply actions
mixed emotions on that one
It’s nice to see Memphis get some bad karma for being twats, but you have to feel for Arthur and I’d much rather have Mayo at this point instead of seeing them get screwed over. We definitely need some scoring off the bench at the wing position.
I like this guy
High energy kind of guy. I watched some Youtube videos of him and he seems to have a knack of blocking shots. The block party on Gasol and Bynum is a nice highlight. Welcome to Indy!!
BOOM BABY
Looks like the Pacers didn't get much for Rush
Sounds like they traded PPG for RPG. Oh well at least they didn’t trade for a nagging long-term contract like the ones of Mike Doneleavy & TJ Ford. And the trade should help both teams a little bit but not much.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 18, 2011 10:53 PM EST reply actions
Might be too cold in Indy for Amundson to ride his bike to work...
found this clip while looking for highlights (few and far between). Gotta feel like Nash and Grant Hill were holding back laughs.
I’m just glad Rush is finally gone. Never liked him as a player and I won’t be surprised when he’s out of the league in two years.
More like one year
After this contract is over it’s going to take someone desperate to sign him, unless he somehow resurrects his career for the Warriors.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
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Hope all he does is rebound
His shooting percentages (FT) and rebounding displays that we totally get the short end of this deal considering Brandon was a 13th pick and put up a little better numbers as well.
What are these "better numbers" people are talking about?
Rush didn’t disappoint because he was a lottery pick. Lots of lottery picks suck. He disappointed because he was bad. He’s a career 42% FG shooter who averaged more TO pg than apg in two of his three seasons. Based PER (per 82games.com) he was outperformed by his counterpart by an average of 4.2 PER at SG and 5.1 PER at SF over his three career seasons. We are literally losing NOTHING in this trade. The perception that he is a good defender is not based on anything other than the casual observation that he may have been a better defender than Mike Dunleavy (a difficult feat, that). His 40% three point shooting would be missed, if he were good enough to stay on the court for long enough to make a difference. His crunch time stats are worse (per 82games) than his regular stats in almost every category, and our team’s +/- full-game extrapolation last year was atrocious with Rush’s clutch stats spread out through 48 minutes. I’d rather have any NBA wing player alive than Brandon Rush.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
by LukeNukem on Dec 19, 2011 8:13 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
+1
"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
- Jack Dempsey
by infinityzero.systemerror on Dec 19, 2011 8:41 AM EST up reply actions
Glad Rush is gone, but can’t believe we couldn’t get more for him. Not a worry though, cause Rush would barely have played and Amund shouldn’t get that many minutes either.
And it's now my sig
by Bronn on May 17, 2011 4:56 PM EDT
I'm not complaining about the return
Need big depth as much as we need a scoring 2 off the bench, so an energy body works for me so long as he’s not thrusted into big minutes for weeks. Not to mention Rush has been involved in a trade that has fallen through at least four times. At some point, I’m okay with whatever.
hey, guys
Warriors fan here. I have a question about Rush:
How much time did he spend at the 3? Can he defend 3’s?
Also, feel free to ask me questions about Amundson (although, to be honest, I find him one of the least interesting players on our team from last season).
According to 82games.com
He spend 0% of his minutes at 3 last year. Now, they listed stats for those minutes, so I assume he played some there, it just didn’t equal to 0.5% of a percent or higher (or whatever their formula for rounding is). He was typically a 2, but I routinely saw him matched up with opposing 2s and 3s. Personally, I don’t think he tries hard enough to make the defensive impact that he’s probably capable of making, so I don’t guess it matters who he’s guarding; he’s likely going to disappoint and/or be outplayed for the majority of the time he’s on the floor because his effort is so inconsistent. As for ability and size, the short answer is yes, I think he probably can guard 3s. There’s just no evidence that he’s willing to play hard against them, or really against anyone.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
The play I'll remember Brandon for
Was the defense he played against LeBron James in a game against the Cavs in 09-10, where with the game winding down, Rush wasn’t giving an inch, and forced a dagger minded James into a really bad shot that didn’t go. I don’t know if I’d put him against threes routinely, but he can definitely compete.
He didn’t stand out as much last year defensively, but to call him the team’s best defender in 09-10 isn’t a stretch. Effort and interest will always be a problem with Brandon, but I don’t think there’s no evidence he won’t play hard defensively. If anything, that’s the side of the ball he will show up on (which really says something about his play on offense).
And to me it seemed most of his defensive struggles last year were specifically to do with some wtf coaching by Obie, including the Denver and/or Portland game where he was apparently told to play off of a hot Melo or whoever was killing us in Portland.
As for Amundson
I had no idea he was even on your team. The last time I cared about him was when the Pacers were trying to sign him as a free agent and he signed with the Warriors, I guess. But as a Sun he was energetic, though undersized. Kind of like a less offensively capable version of Tyler Hansbrough, with maybe slightly better rebounding. Sound accurate? If so, great. At least he’s breaking a sweat.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
he definitely tries hard
but…like…I try hard, and I suck, too.
The thing you will notice about him is how bad his hands are. He really has hands made out of stone, or really hard calluses or something. It’s unbearable watching him miss point blank shots so often.
It's impossible to be an effective NBA big with bad hands
Usually though, good rebounding (and Amundson does have great per minute rebounding numbers) goes along with decent hands. We’ll have to see. With any luck he’ll play about as many minutes this year as we assumed Rush was going to…none. Or spot minutes because of foul trouble/injuries. In that case it won’t really matter.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
About Rush
All I can tell you is his 3 point shot if very streaky. His rookie season as a Pacer he looked like a huge draft bust and was shopped around before the trade deadline then by the end of the year his shot looked streaky some games he would be money form the 3 pt. line other times he would look almost as bad as Stephen “Just Shoot Me” Jackson. Then his second year he was once again almost traded, but that trade didn’t quite make it before the deadline. Then Brandon Rush played his way out of being traded at the end of the year costing the Pacers a good first round pick. Then this past season Rush looked believe it or not looked worse then last season, was almost traded and in the playoffs looked worse at shooting then Mike Doneleavy who has been a bust at SG for the Pacers and didn’t play his way out of being traded as you can see. Maybe Rush can do good at the SF position, but I highly doubt it, or maybe he can play his way out of being traded, or maybe he can play his way out of getting signed with another team at the end of the season and actually do something for your team in the playoffs since he didn’t get in trouble this off season. That’s about the best your teams going to get out of Rush, since he likely won’t be any better at the SF position and 66 games may not be enough for Rush to play his way out of signing with another team.
by PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING on Dec 19, 2011 3:01 PM EST up reply actions
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