Darius Shipped West

The Cavs sent Darius Miles to Portand for point guard Jeff McInnis and center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. Like the Ricky Davis trade, this is about building a team that allows LeBron to continue to develop. I think it's a fine trade, especially considering that Miles was unlikely to be resigned by the Cavs. McInnis is a good pickup as he's probably a nice upgrade over Kevin Ollie, who he'll split time with. The trade should guarantee the Cavs win more than the 14 games they won in the season's first half. And I'm starting to really like the players on this team. It's not hard to visualize the next draft adding one more piece and next offseason bringing in a couple productive veterans, all of which should help the team make the next step to being a solid playoff team in the East.

UPDATE: ESPN Insider has a very detailed commentary on this trade. Definitely check it out. I don't know that it changes my overall opinion of this trade -- I still think it is a net plus -- but it does make me wonder about 1) whether McInnis will really be here after this season, and 2) if Paxson could have gotten more by trading Miles earlier as the article suggests. My guess is that Miles' overall dissappointing play but him on the trade-able list, and his continued flakiness pushed him over the edge. For the most part, I'm down with Terry Pluto on this one. People in Portland are sure what to make of the trade either.