Colangelo deals Marion, frees cap space

Devean George, upon learning he can't veto the trade

Last week Bryan Colangelo brought in crazy eyed Hedo Turkoglu. This week he’s working to free some space to bring in some more help. Colangelo teamed up with the Dallas Mavs, Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic to complete a four-team deal last night, sending Shawn Marion and Kris Humphries to Dallas and picking up Devean George and Antoine Wright. Toronto also technically picks up Turkoglu from Orlando in a sign-and-trade, meaning they have their $5.9 million mid-level exemption to work with. The deal also allowed Marion to sign a five-year, $39 million deal — more than he was able to have picked up if he’d just signed as a free agent.

George, who famously exercised his “Larry Bird rights” last year to block Dallas’ original Jason Kidd trade (and subsequently shot 0-for-10 that night), must not be able to block the deal this time around. I always kind of thought of George as a pear-shaped loser, dating back to his days with the Shaq-era Lakers. In ten seasons, he’s never shot over 41% from the field or averaged more than 7.4 points. Oh well, that must mean he can play a little D. From what I’ve seen of Wright, he doesn’t have much of an offensive skill set either, so hopefully he provide some toughness as well. He’s likely to start at the two with Anthony Parker on his way to LeBron land.

Most importantly, the trade gives Colangelo a little more room to work with this summer, which means restricted free agent Carlos Delfino is most likely on board again after playing overseas in ’08-09.

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