Let's assume the news is true, and the Wolves are indeed, as is being reported by ESPN and other outlets, trading Mark Blount and Ricky Davis to the Heat for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien and, perhaps most importantly, at least one future draft pick. This is a classic addition by subtraction deal. I have been arguing for Mark Blount to be renounced since the Garnett trade. He laid down like a dog after the all star break last season as blatantly as any human being in a Timberwolves uniform ever laid down. The emergence of Theo Ratliff as a viable force in the middle, the ability of Jefferson to slide over to center, and now the arrival of Doleac, a classic banger with a midrange J (who should ease the fear of unloading Juwan Howard if McHale isn't done trading), made Blount irrelevant as a niche talent as well as dislikeable for his anti-industry.

Ricky Davis likewise has issues, thoroughly discussed here and elsewhere on numerous occasions. He has a marvelous and multifaceted set of skills, and Miami is a good place for him to go, what with Shaq and Wade as the abiding 1-2 punch and a taskmaster like Pat Riley patrolling the sidelines. I suspect that trio plus Ricky's impending contract expiration will give the Heat an invaluable, utilitarian third wheel. But in Minnesota, Pretty Ricky was destined to either be unhappy with his playing time or totally retard the team's rebuilding efforts by hogging minutes and turning on the talent spigot whenever he felt like it, which has been about 60-70 percent of the time the past two seasons; just enough to engender a little faith and then dash it away.

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Put simply, good riddance to a pair that had about a 99 percent chance of hurting rather than helping the long-term prospects for this franchise had they stayed.

The additions and the current situation are less exciting. To lose Blount, the Wolves essentially had to obtain Antoine Walker. I don't know who is accurate here, but Shamsports.com has Blount and Walker both with contracts with team options for 2009-10, with Walker getting about $2 million more per season than Blount's bloated deal. In his espn.com report on the rumored trade, Marc Stein claims that Walker has one year less if the option isn't picked up. Walker is obviously more talented. While the salary situation is comparable to Blount, the personality issues are akin to Davis, in that when he's Walker wants to play, he can be a generous and synergistic teammate--he was a key cog on Miami's championship team throughout the postseason two years ago, and was a worthy complement to Paul Pierce for a few years of overachievement in Boston. But when 'Toine doesn't feel like playing D, he can sabotage rotations with disarming rapidity. And when he decides he's going to launch anywhere from 6 to 10 treys in an evening, he can short-circuit an offense like nobody's business. He also isn't going to be doing jumping jacks over the notion of moving from glitzy Miami from a legit contender to the frozen tundra to nurture the nascent Wolves for the next two years. In other words, the Wolves may have traded two sure-fire problems for another, slightly more expensive, problem.

The other two guys in the trade, Michael Doleac and Wayne Simien, are bangers, pure and simple, fulfilling Kevin McHale's smashmouth recipe with copious amounts of elbow grease. How many 6-9, 260 pound guys does it take to box out the Western Hemisphere? McHale is trying to answer that question. On the plus side, the contracts of Doleac and Simien are both up at the end of this year (Simien has a team option).
Last, but certainly not least, the draft pick, or picks, is crucial here. Even if Miami finishes well enough to make it up toward the end of the first round, it will ease the sting of the inevitable year Minnesota must fork over their own pick to complete the Cassell-for-Jaric trade.

Final thoughts on this first take: Miami has entered the arms race for the Eastern Crown. Davis is both insurance for Wade, who is iffy physically, and a potentially potent part of the future in Florida, provided he can keep his head screwed on straight. If he contributes big, he can command a pretty nice deal at the end of the season, and Miami, who are already committed to $35 million for Shaq and Wade alone over the next two years, will pay it to keep the contention going.

Meanwhile, this deal isn't as much of a salary cap breather for Minnesota as you might expect--none actually, if you consider that Walker and Blount are a wash, and ditto RD versus Doleac and Simien.

Finally, all this talk about a 2-for-1 trade to shed contracts wound up being a 2-for-3 trade that adds more bodies. Are more trades on the horizon (like Howard)? It would be nice to see this squad flip some of their extra pieces to Atlanta for one of the Hawks' caddies for Acie Law, either Speedy Claxton or Tyrone Lue. If that doesn't happen, well, would this squad renounce Antoine Walker? Because he's the new contract albatross (nudging out Marko Jaric) on the roster now. I don't think the other shoe has dropped yet.