(SportsNetwork. JJ Redick Jersey .com) - There were plenty of headline-grabbing transactions during the summer with all the major free agent news, highlighted by LeBron James return to Cleveland. We also had the big trade between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks that resulted in Tyson Chandler going back to where he played a huge role in the Mavs winning their only NBA championship. But there was one deal that drew very little attention and Im guessing not much of a reaction from NBA fans, but it surely has been a huge boost for a defending division champ and a trade that can only be called a major steal at this point. Thats what you call the deal the Toronto Raptors made with the Atlanta Hawks, as they traded a way-past-his-prime John Salmons and a second-round draft pick for Lou Williams along with 21-year-old center Lucas Nogueira. The addition of the nine-year veteran Williams has upgraded the Raptors bench significantly and gives them one of the deepest and most talented backcourts in the league. The 27-year-old suffered a torn ACL in January 2013 and is now only back to the player he was before the injury, and hes played a big role in helping put Toronto atop the East with a 19-6 record. Hes been more than weve expected, coach Dwane Casey said. I knew he was an excellent player, but you go in with reservations coming off the injury. Hes back 100 percent now from injuries. Hes fully healed. Hes stronger from it, so hes been a pleasant plus for us this year. In regards to Williams offensive game, Casey says hes a born scorer, but the big surprise has come at the other end of the floor. One area that was really highly unexpected was his defense, Casey said. Its huge. I was shocked. There were all these stories about, Hes a scorer off the bench, but hes been one of our solid defenders on our second unit - being in right position in the schemes, understanding schemes, being in the right place, pushing the ball as a quasi-point guard/ballhandler - but he has been a great teammate. Williams is averaging 14.6 points in 22.5 minutes per game, and even earned an Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor in November in helping the Raptors go 3-0. During that stretch, he averaged 23.7 points in just 22 minutes per game, which included a huge game in Cleveland as the Raptors routed the Cavaliers. He scored 36 points in 29 minutes, shooting 9-of-19 from the floor, including 3-of-8 on 3-pointers, and an eye-opening 15-for-15 from the foul line. The former second-round pick (45th overall) of the Sixers in 2005 has had five games of at least 20 points, and all of them have come in wins for the Raptors. Its amazing how he can go out there and run off the points he can in the short amount of time hes out there, said teammate DeMar DeRozan, who has been sidelined the last nine games as he recovers from a torn tendon in his left groin. The energy with the second unit is definitely amazing. Thats something that was lacking last year and we got a lot better this year and I think thats why were able to close out a lot of games this year that we couldnt last year. Williams presence has certainly eased the impact of DeRozans absence. The Raptors are 6-3 without their All-Star guard, with Williams doing his share to pick up the slack. In those six wins, hes averaged 17.6 points, including a pair of 26-point outings. The road back from his torn ACL was a long, grueling process for Williams, and one in which he wasnt sure hed ever be the same player. But those thoughts can now be put to rest. When youre sitting there and you have a cast on and wheelchair and crutches and cant lift your leg up, you cant ride a bike, you cant run, you cant jog, obviously theres going to be some doubt there, Williams said. Two years later, its great to see some fruits of the labor, to feel myself back to 100 percent, being back healthy and having some success. PARKER INJURY CHANGES ROOKIE RACE Speaking of a player tearing his ACL, what terrible news came out of Milwaukee late Tuesday night regarding Bucks rookie Jabari Parker. He will be out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee, which he suffered on Monday in Phoenix in a win over the Suns. Parker was the clear-cut leader for the NBAs rookie of the year, but now the award is up for grabs, in what is probably the weakest field Ive ever seen. I think the Chicago Bulls Nikola Mirotic has been the second-best rookie, and despite the fact that he doesnt start and play as many minutes (17.8 per game) as some of his competitors such as Andrew Wiggins (30.8 per game) and Nerlens Noel (30.4 per game), I think he deserves serious consideration for contributing to a winning situation rather than guys who may have bigger numbers but play for really bad teams. Amir Johnson Jersey .com) - Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is set to return Tuesday against Nashville after sitting out the past two games because of a minor upper body injury. Richaun Holmes Jersey . -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder. http://www.official76ersproshop.com/kids-allen-iverson-76ers-jersey/ . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks.Im going to write in defence of Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin, if only because there have been some recent attacks and, while I can certainly live with them being directed at Ovechkin, the analytical process ought to be better, particularly if its going to be a hit piece on the leagues leading goal-scorer. Yes, Im writing to defend a player that is on pace for a 59-goal season, when the second-best goal-scorer in the NHL this season, Torontos Phil Kessel, is on pace for 43. Naturally, I didnt think that Ovechkin would be a player that needed much defending, but hes taken some hits lately. Im going to largely ignore his contributions on the power play because its not in any dispute that Ovechkin is great with the man advantage and can make a difference even when he doesnt score. On one side of the discussion, we have the Toronto Star, with their Department of Hockey Analytics, and while there are plenty of flaws in Ovechkins game, they somehow determined that his goals-for/against percentage was the way to illustrate the problem. Never mind that goals for/against percentage is essentially measuring plus-minus. Ill get to that in a moment but, first, also peruse the Hockey News piece by Ken Campbell who, after Ovechkin was minus-5 against Columbus, decided that Ovechkin has to decide what kind of player he is. After all, Ovechkin was minus-17 on the season after that game. Whats odd about using plus-minus to denigrate Ovechkins contributions is that anyone doing serious analytical work in hockey has been against using plus-minus because it involves so many factors beyond an individual players control (not least of which are the contributions of nine other skaters and two goaltenders when the game is 5-on-5) and, generally, involves small samples because goals are relatively rare events. Its funny to find myself in this position, because I can be a bit of an apologist for plus-minus. You spend enough time around the game and that thinking can be pretty common, and when the sample is large enough, you can get a pretty decent list of players at both ends of the spectrum. (For example, heres the list of players with the best cumulative plus-minus since 2000, and here are the worst.) But, Ive at least learned that there are many other factors that go into whether a player is a plus or minus player, and they must be considered if youre going to attempt to pass judgment on a single season or, especially, a portion of a season. So, lets take a look at some factors that are at play to make Alex Ovechkin a minus-17. First off, the shooting percentage of others on the ice with Ovechkin at 5-on-5 is ridiculously low. His 6.3% is only ahead of fourth-liners Aaron Volpatti and Jay Beagle among Capitals forwards. The suggestion could be made -- and of course it has been -- that Ovechkin isnt making those around him better, but here are the 5-on-5 on-ice shooting percentages when Ovechkin has been on the ice for the past five seasons: 10.36%, 8.62%, 8.05%, 11.76%, 9.09%. Youre really going to have to dig for reasons, other than poor luck and ineffective shooters, to explain even-strength shooting effectiveness declining by 40% over last season, especially when Ovechkin himself is shooting 10.6% (18 goals, 170 shots) at 5-on-5. Taking away Ovechkins 18 goals on 170 shots, leaves the other Capitals to score eight goals on 242 shots (3.3%) with Ovechkin on the ice. Marcus Johansson, his most common left winger, has one goal on 51 shots. This undeniably effects plus-miinus, right? Of course it does. Joel Embiid Jersey. Give Ovechkin an average on-ice shooting percentage (say, 8%) and that is a difference of about seven goals. At the other end of the rink, Ovechkin is getting burned with a .909 save percentage at 5-on-5. Naturally, the argument will be that Ovechkins defensive play is what leads to that low percentage. Keep in mind, that percentage is well below career norms for him (.922 over the past five seasons, including this one) and ranks near the bottom on the Capitals roster. Use that typical save percentage, on 439 shots against, and that becomes a difference of 5-6 goals. So, why not take a look at where the shots are coming from with Ovechkin on the ice? According to Some Kind of Ninjas Shot Tracker, shots against the Capitals with Ovechkin on the ice at even strength, come from an average distance of 34.5 feet. In the previous five seasons, it has been 34.2, 36.6, 35.8, 34.6 and 35.9 feet on average. There can be an argument made, based on those average shot distances, that Ovechkins most effective defensive performances were in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 (the Dale Hunter season), but there really isnt a huge difference; goaltenders arent suddenly flummoxed by 34-foot shots when 36-footers are easy pickings. On top of that, best of luck trying to identify those particular seasons as anything close to Ovechkins best. Why? Because he scored 70 goals and 150 points in 157 games over those two seasons, producing the two lowest point scoring rates of his career. Yes, even lower than this season, when virtually no one else puts the puck in the net with him on the ice. Of course Ovechkin is not a defensive whiz, but that shouldnt stand as an indictment any more than it has for elite offensive players throughout the history of the game. Seriously, take a look at the Top 10 goal-scorers in the league, none of whom put the puck in the net like Ovechkin, and identify the ones that are notably strong backcheckers. Some are: Joe Pavelski, Alexander Steen, Patrick Sharp, but theres no reason to believe that right wingers Kessel or Corey Perry or Patrick Kane are doing brilliant work in the defensive end. Heres the thing: theyre all great players! Part of the trouble for Ovechkin is that the Capitals havent been able to win in the postseason, so he gets painted with the brush of failure for a whole host of team shortcomings. Thats what comes with being a superstar. This Capitals team is flawed. They rank in the bottom third of the league in Fenwick Close (measuring shot attempts, not including blocks, at even strength, with the score close), which is a good indication of team puck possession, yet Ovechkin has relatively solid possession numbers. If you want to break down a players overall contribution, and feel that you must use one statistic in order to do so (better yet, dont), then at least reduce the impact of others on the ice and look at the possession stats, because it wont matter that linemates arent finishing or that, for whatever reason, goaltenders arent stopping the puck. Shooting and save percentages fluctuate and while they affect perception -- just ask Tyler Bozak -- they dont get to the bottom of a players on-ice contribution, and so it is with Ovechkin this year, who is having a fine season, no matter what his plus-minus says. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '