The Toronto Raptors got a couple of pieces from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a veteran with a contract that will be bought out. Numbers Game looks at the deal that brings Lou Williams to the Raptors. The Raptors Get: SG Lou Williams and C Lucas Nogueira. Williams, 27, has been a productive scoring guard off the bench for much of his career, but he struggled last season, posting his worst Player Efficiency Rating (PER of 14.24) since his rookie season of 2005-2006. Williams shot 40.0% from the field, including 342% on threes, his worst in both categories since 2008-2009, so hes not exactly at peak value. Three times in his career, including in 2012-2013, Williams has averaged better than 14 points per game, yet hes come off the bench in 500 of his 554 career games. Hes a perimeter player who is taking fewer two-point shots. Last season, Williams took 4.3 twos per game, compared to 3.9 threes and his 3.0 free-throw attempts per game was his lowest since 2006-2007; these are signs of a player who isnt getting to the rim. Defensively, Williams is below average; a shooting guard in a point guards body, he doesnt have the physique to handle stronger guards, nor the height to deal with bigger guards. Williams does have quickness and can use that to his advantage but hes consistently rated as a subpar defender. Despite those limitations, Williams can be a useful second-team gunner and theres room for that in the Raptors rotation. Williams is going into the final year of a contract that pays him $5.45-million in 2014-2015. Taken with the 16th pick in last summers draft, Lucas Nogueira is a skinny 7-footer who, as might be expected, has potential as a shot blocker, but the Brazilian they call "Bebe" is considered raw, not unlike the Raptors first-round pick in this summers draft, Bruno Caboclo, who also happens to be Brazilian. Playing in Spain for Estudiantes last season, Nogueira put up 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in 16.0 minutes per game. He turns 22 this summer and could still use time to develop, but is a nice upside play for the Raptors. Nogueira has a contract with Estudiantes that runs through next season, so that will give him additional time to round out his game before worrying about how he might fit into the Raptors plans. The Hawks Get: SF John Salmons. Salmons is a 34-year-old swingman whose best days are well behind him. He hasnt shot 40% from the field in the past two seasons, and shot a career-low 36.3% from the field last season on his way to scoring 5.2 points per game, his fewest since 2004-2005. Hes showing the wear and tear of playing 874 career games. Salmons can still knock down a three, but hes no longer quick enough to get to the basket, nor is he quick enough to defend wings effectively. This could very well be the end of the line for Salmons. The value to the Hawks is that Salmons has a $7-million contract that only requires a $1-million buyout, leaving the Hawks with lots of room to maneuver as the NBA free agent market gets into full swing. Carmelo Anthony, Luol Deng and Lance Stephenson could be among the more appealing wings that the Hawks may try to lure with more than %15-million in salary cap space. This is a case where the Hawks got what they were after, increased cap space, and the Raptors got a few assets in return for providing it. Williams offers some immediate help, and is a trade chip with an expiring contract if the season goes awry, while Nogueira presents some upside for the long run. As it stands today, the Raptors are a better team for having made this trade. 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. Joe Maddon Jersey . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Carlos Zambrano Jersey .5 million. University officials released the term sheet signed by Harsin Wednesday, the day the former Broncos walk-on player and Boise native was named the successor to Chris Petersen, who left for Washington last week. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-sammy-sosa-jersey/. He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. Javier Baez Jersey . - The Jacksonville Jaguars are leaning more toward playing injured quarterback Blake Bortles against Tennessee on Thursday night. Greg Maddux Jersey . Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent.The Edmonton Oilers took a bold approach to free agency, giving money and term to a couple of fancy stats darlings. Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne.. The Oilers Get: LW Benoit Pouliot, D Mark Fayne and D Keith Aulie. Pouliot, 27, has been a hockey nomad, bouncing from team to team in recent seasons, but hes been pretty good at each stop along the way. While playing for four different teams (Montreal, Boston, Tampa Bay, N.Y. Rangers) in the past four seasons, Pouliot has put up strong possession numbers in each stop and hes been a pretty effective goal-scorer in limited time. He had a career-high 36 points in 80 games for the Rangers last season. The issue that crept up with Pouliot, and was particularly notable during the Rangers Stanley Cup run, was his alarming tendency to take offensive zone penalties and that lack of discipline can be frustrating but, in the grand scheme, Pouliot has been drawing more penalties than he takes. He has good size and plays enough of a physical game to get under the skin of the opposition from time to time and Pouliots willingness to go to the net could give him a shot at a 20-goal season if he ends up playing a bigger role in Edmonton. Where Pouliot fits with the Oilers is a bit of a question. He looks like a third-line left winger -- thats the role that hes handled effectively -- and the Rangers do have enough talent on the right side that they could have some decent offensive production out of their third line. While Pouliot is lauded by those who appreciate advanced stats, most would do a double-take before signing any third-line winger to a five-year contract. Maybe five years and $20-million was the cost of doing business, but that does seem like a serious commitment, particularly if there isnt room for Pouliot among the Oilers top six forwards. The Rangers have some holes to fill up front, and knew that they would not be abble to get him re-signed at market prices, especially when the Oilers were willing to spend at this level.dddddddddddd Fayne is a 27-year-old defenceman who has good size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and plays a sound defensive game, something that is sorely needed in Edmonton. There were two defencemen in the league who played tough opposition, started more shifts in the defensive zone yet finished with a better shot differential per 60 minutes than Fayne. One was Zdeno Chara and the other was Faynes frequent partner, Andy Greene. The interesting part of that possession success is that, last season, Fayne was the weak link in that pairing -- Greene had much better possession stats (54.2 Corsi%) without Fayne than Fayne had (47.2% Corsi%) without Greene -- but that was a flip of the year before, when Fayne was at 57.2% without Greene and Greene was 54.4% without Fayne. Ultimately, Fayne has been a reliable defensive defenceman who should upgrade the Oilers and, signed for $14.5-million over four seasons, hes not unreasonably priced if he can handle top-four minutes in Edmonton. The Devils have some young defencemen on the way up, including Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, that can take over some of the minutes that Fayne had been playing. 25-year-old Keith Aulie is a 6-foot-6 defenceman who has played 136 career NHL games, but has been crushed in possession terms, over his four NHL seasons. Hard to imagine that hes anything more than a spare part, even for the Oilers. While Pouliot and Fayne arent marquee names, they have been quietly solid players for several seasons. While the Oilers went long on Pouliots term, they were aggressive to acquire a couple of players that ought to make them more competitive. 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. 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