Other than the NBA Draft (because nothing can top it), the NBA Trade Deadline is one of the top 3 most exciting times of the season. For the record the playoffs and All Star weekend round out the top 3 in some order yet to be determined.
With this spirit in mind I have come up with a few trades that not only make a bunch of sense for both teams but also work under the salary cap rules.
*** Side Note on recent NBA trade rumors***
Yes the Cavs will get either Jamison or Murphy.
No I don't think Amare or Monta are getting traded by February.
Yes Toronto has to trade Bosh if they can get Bynum back. No I don't think it will happen. Yes I think a healthy C's team would have a field day with the soft interior of Bosh and Pau.
Trade #1
Minnesota Timberwolves trade Al Jefferson to the Utah Jazz for Carlos Boozer (ec) and the New York Knicks unprotected #1 pick this year.
Although he is saying all of the right things Booz is probably leaving the Jazz this summer. Big Al moves into the starting lineup with Milsap and they have AK47 and Okur coming off the pine. This gives the Jazz a very flexible and potent front court. Minnesota has already leaked they aren't sure if Big Al and KLove can coexist but having the Knicks 1st round pick and cap relief is a decent haul. I know the Knicks are playing well enough to knock them out of the John Wall sweepstakes but I still think they miss the playoffs and give Sota another lottery pick. Besides, Minnesota will have one of the worst records anyways and their own shot at John Wall. Can we say bye bye Ricky Rubio?
Trade #2
New York Knicks trade Eddie Curry and Danillo Galinari to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Etan Thomas (ec) and Nick Collison
This might be one of the few ways to get rid of Curry and clear some cap room. Unfortunately they are giving up the Rooster and taking back Collison who has another year left on his deal at 6M. This will shave 4M off the Knicks cap to try to get them to their goal. OKC pres Sam Presti could swallow up the extra 4M Curry makes over Collison next year if it means getting another potent scorer to go with the young crop he has already collected.
Trade #3
The Chicago Bulls trade Tyrus Thomas (ec) and John Salmons to the Portland Traiblazers for Steve Blake (ec), Travis Outlaw (ec) and Jerryd Bayless.
Portland has been killed by injuries and a guy like Ty Thomas could be a nice stopgap for this season to help with a playoff push. Salmons will add nice depth behind Roy as well. I also believe if they could resign Thomas at a decent price he would be the PERFECT backup behind Oden and Aldridge next season. On Chicago's end they get a ton of cap relief going into this offseason as well as one of the best young bench scorers in Bayless. If Chicago wants to be a player this offseason this will help with Salmons off the books.
Trade #4
The Dallas Mavericks trade Josh Howard and Erick Dampier to the Philadelphia 76ers for Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert.
This is purely a cost cutting move for the Sixers. Both Dampier's and Howard's contracts are team options for next season so in theory the Sixers could cut 24 million and try to build around Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday, Marreese Speights and Thaddeus Young. AI2 is a definite upgrade over Howard and Dampier and Dalembert are about a wash. This would boost Dallas on both ends of the floor and push them closer to legit title contender status. Ideally Philly would probably want a young piece or draft pick back (which Dallas has neither) but it might be worth it anyways.
Trade #5
The Sacramento Kings trade Kevin Martin and Beno Udrih to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Brian Cardinal (ec), Mark Blount (ec), Nathan Jawai (ec) and the rights to Ricky Rubio.
This one is a bit of a stretch but SacTown obviously plays better with Tyreke as alpha dog and Rubio is the perfect sidekick to Evans in the backcourt. This also gives the Kings more cap flexibility by dumping Udrih's contract. Minnesota get's the backcourt scoring punch they need in Martin as well as a strong backup PG to help Johnny Flynn. Like I said this is a bit of a stretch but I think in the short and long term this makes both teams much better.
Well there you have it.
Let me know if you have any other suggestions, if you think I'm an idiot or just the genius my mom always told me I was.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Dunk Contest Field = Huge Disappointment
Look, I have no issue with the contestants in the field: two-time defending champ Nate Robinson, Gerald Wallace and Shannon Brown (my early favorite to win) can all get up with the best of them. They can dunk and certainly have some highlight reel moments that are resumè-worthy. But, there are no household names in the contest - and that is what makes the dunk contest interesting.
For the last three years, we at least had Dwight Howard in the contest (who easily shattered the notion that big men cannot hang in a dunk contest). And I'd argue that the last two years of the contest have been more memorable just BECAUSE Dwight Howard was in it (whether or not he won it is irrelevant, in my opinion). This year, no Dwight. LeBron James teased us for literally a full year when he said he was going to be in the contest. Mind you, LeBron has done that windmill power dunk for his entire career, but this is easily the most popular player in the league. His inclusion would have made the contest worth watching; in fact, I'd be willing to say that it would be the most viewed contest of all time. The field gets announced... and no LeBron. Either Andre Igoudala or Josh Smith, both borderline All Stars and prior dunk contest participants (Smith won in 2005 and Igoudala probably should have won in 2006), are at least recognizable to the casual basketball fan. Neither are participating.
Both Robinson and Brown play in huge markets and can dunk, but don't play nearly enough for the hype machine to get rolling on this thing. Nate plays 23 minutes a night - this includes his banishment to the bench for a stretch of 14 games. Brown averages 18 minutes a contest. Wallace is easily having the best season of his NBA career, but unless you follow basketball closely you might not know what team he plays for (CharlotteHornets Bobcats).
What's crazy though is that I can remember contests from over ten years ago. Mike won back to back in 1987 and 1988. Look at the cast he beat: Dominique Wilkins, Gerald Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey (and this was "young, lemme rip the rim off the basket" Jerome), and Terence Stansbury were ALL highlight reel worthy dunkers in their day. Not only do I remember MJ's dunks, but I remember what he had to beat too. They were great contests that people still talk about. Kobe won in 1997 - and it was memorable. Here we have a brash high-schooler participating in the contest, and he was pulling off dunks with ease that other cats were using to WIN contest as recently as two seasons prior. Vince Carter won in 2000 - and I am convinced that half of the other contestants (Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis) might have won the contest in other years had they participated. Their only hurdle in 2000 was Vince Carter. Some hurdle considering he put the contest into another stratosphere (and might have raised the bar waaay too high in the process!) - and I'm not shocked that they didn't participate again. Why? They couldn't do any of the dunks that Vince had done. I can think of other guys who won (Jason Richardson and Desmond Mason had some serious dunks), but when they did those dunks and versus whom? That's hazy. I vividly remember 1987 and 1998. I vividly remember 1997. I vividly remember 2000. And, I remember Dwight Howard from the last 3 years.
The league is trying though. A dunkoff at halftime of the Rookie/Sophomore game between Eric Gordon of the Clippers and DeMar Derozan of the Raptors is a new idea (and WAY better than having players spin a wheel to determine what dunk they're supposed to do). But exactly how many dunks will these guys be able to come up with? Are they going to recycle dunks for the real contest? Why not have all five in the real thing from the jump if you are asking them to dunk in the first place?
I'm not looking for an entire revamp of the competition. Dunks are still the exclamation point of any basketball game. But with guys people don't know, and the guys we do know sitting on the sideline, the contest lacks that exclamation point. Period.
For the last three years, we at least had Dwight Howard in the contest (who easily shattered the notion that big men cannot hang in a dunk contest). And I'd argue that the last two years of the contest have been more memorable just BECAUSE Dwight Howard was in it (whether or not he won it is irrelevant, in my opinion). This year, no Dwight. LeBron James teased us for literally a full year when he said he was going to be in the contest. Mind you, LeBron has done that windmill power dunk for his entire career, but this is easily the most popular player in the league. His inclusion would have made the contest worth watching; in fact, I'd be willing to say that it would be the most viewed contest of all time. The field gets announced... and no LeBron. Either Andre Igoudala or Josh Smith, both borderline All Stars and prior dunk contest participants (Smith won in 2005 and Igoudala probably should have won in 2006), are at least recognizable to the casual basketball fan. Neither are participating.
Both Robinson and Brown play in huge markets and can dunk, but don't play nearly enough for the hype machine to get rolling on this thing. Nate plays 23 minutes a night - this includes his banishment to the bench for a stretch of 14 games. Brown averages 18 minutes a contest. Wallace is easily having the best season of his NBA career, but unless you follow basketball closely you might not know what team he plays for (Charlotte
What's crazy though is that I can remember contests from over ten years ago. Mike won back to back in 1987 and 1988. Look at the cast he beat: Dominique Wilkins, Gerald Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey (and this was "young, lemme rip the rim off the basket" Jerome), and Terence Stansbury were ALL highlight reel worthy dunkers in their day. Not only do I remember MJ's dunks, but I remember what he had to beat too. They were great contests that people still talk about. Kobe won in 1997 - and it was memorable. Here we have a brash high-schooler participating in the contest, and he was pulling off dunks with ease that other cats were using to WIN contest as recently as two seasons prior. Vince Carter won in 2000 - and I am convinced that half of the other contestants (Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis) might have won the contest in other years had they participated. Their only hurdle in 2000 was Vince Carter. Some hurdle considering he put the contest into another stratosphere (and might have raised the bar waaay too high in the process!) - and I'm not shocked that they didn't participate again. Why? They couldn't do any of the dunks that Vince had done. I can think of other guys who won (Jason Richardson and Desmond Mason had some serious dunks), but when they did those dunks and versus whom? That's hazy. I vividly remember 1987 and 1998. I vividly remember 1997. I vividly remember 2000. And, I remember Dwight Howard from the last 3 years.
The league is trying though. A dunkoff at halftime of the Rookie/Sophomore game between Eric Gordon of the Clippers and DeMar Derozan of the Raptors is a new idea (and WAY better than having players spin a wheel to determine what dunk they're supposed to do). But exactly how many dunks will these guys be able to come up with? Are they going to recycle dunks for the real contest? Why not have all five in the real thing from the jump if you are asking them to dunk in the first place?
I'm not looking for an entire revamp of the competition. Dunks are still the exclamation point of any basketball game. But with guys people don't know, and the guys we do know sitting on the sideline, the contest lacks that exclamation point. Period.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
All Star Time
The NBA All Star Game is about a Month away, being played in Jerry Jones' fun house in Dallas this year. The All Star ballots have been out for a while now and America needs to stop voting like morons (TMac and Ivo? Really?). Not only would those two hurt the game that everyone is excited to watch, it also takes away a pretty cool opportunity from some people that should be there. Without further ado I'm going to break down my votes for the East & West All Stars, Dunk contest, 3 point shootout, skills competition and rookie soph game.
Skills competition:
This is basically the point guard showcase so we might as well treat it as such. Let's see returning champ Derrick Rose compete against Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and rookie standout Brandon Jennings. A little bit of the old guard, a little bit of the fresh faces and the best PG in the league. Sounds good to me.
Three Point Shootout:
This event has been lacking in recent years and that has a lot to do with the guys they have shooting the rock. Danny Granger and Rashard Lewis are volume three point shooters not traditional marksmen. My choices for this event would be Steve Nash, Jason Kappono, JJ Reddick, Anthony Morrow, Eddie House and Deaquan Cook (since I guess we need to bring back the defending champ).
Dunk Contest:
LeBron James, Josh Smith, Nate Robinson & DeMar DeRozan ... Done and Done!!
Rookie Squad:
Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Omri Casspi, DeJuan Blair, Johnny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Ty Lawson, James Harden, Jonas Jerebeko and Tyler Hansborough.
** They are a bit undersized but this class is very backcourt heavy**
Sophs Squad:
Derick Rose, Eric Gordon, Micheal Beasley, Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, OJ Mayo, Russell Westbrook stick from last year and I would replace Oden and Rudy Fernandez with Jason Thompson and Danillo Galinari.
(Oh and the Sophs are much much better)
And Now for the Main Event (starters in italic)
East All Stars:
Guards: Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce
Forwards: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Josh Smith, Antwan Jamison, Gerald Wallace
Centers: Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez
Hardest Omissions: Danny Granger, Derrick Rose, Ray Allen, Mo Williams
West All Stars:
Guards: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Monta Ellis
Forwards: Tim Duncan, Kevin Durrant, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph
Centers: Amar'e Stoudemire, Pau Gasol
Hardest Omissions: Carlos Boozer, Al Jefferson, David West, Chauncy Billups & Melo from the starting lineup.
Make it Happen David Stern!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Skills competition:
This is basically the point guard showcase so we might as well treat it as such. Let's see returning champ Derrick Rose compete against Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and rookie standout Brandon Jennings. A little bit of the old guard, a little bit of the fresh faces and the best PG in the league. Sounds good to me.
Three Point Shootout:
This event has been lacking in recent years and that has a lot to do with the guys they have shooting the rock. Danny Granger and Rashard Lewis are volume three point shooters not traditional marksmen. My choices for this event would be Steve Nash, Jason Kappono, JJ Reddick, Anthony Morrow, Eddie House and Deaquan Cook (since I guess we need to bring back the defending champ).
Dunk Contest:
LeBron James, Josh Smith, Nate Robinson & DeMar DeRozan ... Done and Done!!
Rookie Squad:
Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Omri Casspi, DeJuan Blair, Johnny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Ty Lawson, James Harden, Jonas Jerebeko and Tyler Hansborough.
** They are a bit undersized but this class is very backcourt heavy**
Sophs Squad:
Derick Rose, Eric Gordon, Micheal Beasley, Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, OJ Mayo, Russell Westbrook stick from last year and I would replace Oden and Rudy Fernandez with Jason Thompson and Danillo Galinari.
(Oh and the Sophs are much much better)
And Now for the Main Event (starters in italic)
East All Stars:
Guards: Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce
Forwards: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Josh Smith, Antwan Jamison, Gerald Wallace
Centers: Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez
Hardest Omissions: Danny Granger, Derrick Rose, Ray Allen, Mo Williams
West All Stars:
Guards: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Monta Ellis
Forwards: Tim Duncan, Kevin Durrant, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph
Centers: Amar'e Stoudemire, Pau Gasol
Hardest Omissions: Carlos Boozer, Al Jefferson, David West, Chauncy Billups & Melo from the starting lineup.
Make it Happen David Stern!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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