Yawn day
This trade deadline got me excited, but then it put me too sleep. Usually around the trade deadline we get a deal that changes the landscape, but the deals that finally went down only were good for the bottom feeders – except for Orlando picking up Rafer Alston to replace Jameer Nelson. Alston should stabilize the team, but his shooting has been inconsistent and that was the strength of Nelson.
The thought of Amare Stoudemire or Shaquille O’Neal playing with LeBron James was terrifying if you are a Boston Celtic or Lakers fan. Tyson Chandler leaving the Hornets for Oklahoma City made teams in the West smile knowing if Chandler got healthy come playoff time he would have been a serious problem setting that high pick-and-roll for Chris Paul.
Those trades did not happen, although Chandler to OKC was rescinded due to a failed physical. I guarantee you Paul smiled and jumped around privately knowing he would have Chandler instead of Chris Wilcox.
The key now for the Hornets is… How will Chandler respond knowing they tried to ship him out to a very bad team?
I thought San Antonio would find a way to get Vince Carter, especially since Manu Ginobili will be out three weeks with a tender ankle, which puts their Southwest Division lead of three games in danger.
I also thought Portland would use some of their assets to find a veteran point guard or acquire Richard Jefferson, but now look for Brandon Roy to handle the ball even more – thus possibly wearing him down come playoff time.
Phoenix and Dallas made the big splash last year by acquiring Shaq and Jason Kidd. I guess the only team that has come close to making us say, “OK, maybe this could work” is the trade of Jermaine O’Neal for Shawn Marion.
Miami is 28-25 and presently 3 ½ games behind Atlanta for the fourth seed with one game left to play against each other this year. O’Neal gives Miami a very good post-up player and a excellent pick-and-pop person to run the two-man game with Dwyane Wade. If O’Neal can stay healthy, Miami becomes extremely dangerous as a first-round opponent.
Toronto gets Shawn Marion and I assume Bryan Colangelo is confident he can sign the Matrix when his contract expires this season, which will pay dividends on both ends of the court. It will not be enough to elevate the Raptors to the postseason, though.
I guess among the bottom feeders Chicago did the best job in picking up John Salmons, Tim Thomas and Brad Miller. Miller will give them a threat to score as well as provide veteran toughness and smarts. Salmons provides the Bulls a player that has size in the backcourt and a unique ability to find lanes to the basket, which with Derrick Rose gives them the best twosome in the league at getting to the basket – other than Ginobili and Parker in San Antonio. Tim Thomas is versatile, but he better hope the Bulls have forgiven him for not giving his all the last time he was in a Bulls uniform. Jerome James will go down as the biggest steal artist in the history of the game. Maybe the Bulls mascot can use him during timeouts as a prop.
I was intrigued by New York’s acquisition of Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox because neither player can make a jumper if you put a string on the ball and tied it to the rim. Hughes thinks he should be a big-time rotation player, but he shoots 41 percent from the field. On the other hand, he has a respectable 39 percent from the three-point line so maybe Mike D’Antoni is hoping that continues with the Knicks. Wilcox will find it to steal minutes away from the extremely consistent David Lee.
Sacramento has gotten worse and I am thinking that’s the intention. They picked up seven players and not one with the exception of Drew Gooden has a proven resume, although Andres Nocioni in my opinion will become a valuable player for the Kings eventually. Rashad McCants has talent, but seems to have no desire to work past 70 percent of his ability, which obviously drove Kevin McHale to rid himself of him. Ike Diogu is just hoping to finally get a chance to prove he can play or can’t play.
I really like the direction of Oklahoma City. They pick up a guard with size in Thabo Sefolosha, who should form a solid defensive backcourt alongside Russell Westbrook.
Minnesota picked up a big body in Shelden Williams to offset the season-ending injury to Al Jefferson. Too bad McHale can’t use Williams’ bride Candace Parker, who will be sitting courtside watching instead. Williams has been a huge disappointment and still haunts the Atlanta Hawks for taking him so high in the draft.
Houston gets Brian Cook and Kyle Lowry, but they are in serious trouble without Tracy McGrady and will not be the factor come playoff time I expected them to be.
Bottom line, as I said not one trade excited me and most definitely not one trade altered the course the season has been traveling to this point in the season.
The Celtics, Lakers, Cavaliers are still the cream of the crop and everyone else will need to go into the playoffs on a serious roll to change that perception.
The Nuggets, who are flying under the radar at 37-17, probably should have tried to find one more shooter, but why rock the boat? They have feasted on sub-.500 teams this year to the tune of 21-2 and are presently the No. 2 seed.
There are teams like the Suns and Dallas that did not make a move, but not doing so might give them the confidence to eventually start living up to expectations. The Mavericks are 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Suns have returned to their running style and averaged 141 points in two victories against the Clippers since the removal of Terry Porter.
Utah is the most dangerous team because they have battled injuries all year long and are just now starting to get healthy, proven by a huge victories against the top two teams in the last week.
In the East, the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks seem to be the only threats to negating a Celtic –Cavalier conference final. The Pistons are fading fast and seem to be backing their way out of the playoffs with five straight losses and four of them at home.
The best time of the year is upon us. My Chicago Cubs are back at work, the NCAA Tournament is a month away and the NBA season has turned the corner for the stretch run.
David Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:12 am
Dallas and Phoenix made big splashes last year and both were out in the first round of the play offs. Unless someone could have pulled off a Gasol for a bag of chiops trade like the Lakers did, standing pat is not so bad.
Fred Towes Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:14 am
A tad disappointed in today’s post, Eddie. This reads as the idle babble of a casual fan/fantasy sports aficionado looking for merry-go-round deals to exact for him/her-self cheap thrills & quick highs, rather than an appreciation of the stealth brinksmanship wielded by the likes of Rod Thorn, Kevin Pritchard, Sam Presti, RC Buford and, until recently, Joe Dumars. You mention last season’s whirlwind, rotisserie-ish deal. Of those, only the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol worked for the recipient club — and that transaction was so egregiously imbalanced as to demand some independent investigation to explore the true motives undergirding its approval by NBA headquarters. Prior that, what was the last “big” in-season deal that actually proved itself benefecial for the acquiring club — Vince Carter, four years ago? Rasheed Wallace in ‘04? (TAR . . . HEELS!!!)
Otherwise, the litany is bloody: you mention Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd from last season — and they are surely the best examples of ill-conceived in-season swaps — but what of Allen Iverson, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, multiple Anfernee Hardway “deals”, Jalen Rose, Ray Allen/Gary Payton (have either the Sonic-Thuder or the Bucks recovered from that marquee budget-slicing measure, six years later)?
Personally, I believe Alston to Orlando to have been an outstanding, and surprising, last minute deal just prior the trade finale: it seems a short term bonanza for the Magic’s Otis Smith, with long term benefit for the Rockets, and positive ramifications for the Grizzlies ledger (again). The transaction involved two playoff caliber clubs seeking to build rosters in historically sound fashion around an interior force combined with a steady (or developing in Lowry’s case) PG, and it could change the landscape of the postseason in both conferences: in terms of both seeding & qualification.
Srong deals wrought with such impact are few-and-far between in the Association, as they should be: most often in this game, the very best deal is the one left undone. You know this, Eddie as a player swapped in-season more than once during your own noteworthy career. As I suggested, I usually find your insights and analysis at this portal (and with the Phoenix Suns’ broadcast team — give my best to our fellow Cook County IL products, the Colangelos) quite strong, and was looking forward to your trading day take.
Not sure what happened here!?! Post-Phoenix All Star ‘09 hangover? I feel you, brother . . .
Peace,
MT
Michael Bennett Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:37 am
The Bulls probably made the best moves. Salmons and Miller put them in a position to make a serious Playoff run, which is vital to Derrick Rose’s development. I love how the Bulls are really treating the young Rose with respect and doing everything in their power to give him some respectable players to win.
I definitely wanted to see Shaq next to LeBron. DWade and Kobe obviously had their chance with Shaq AND WON RINGS, so I wanted to see if LeBron could do the same.
I disagree with the assumption that Alston will be a positive impact for the Magic. He’s a decent player. The TNT guys thought Alston would be as good or maybe better for the Magic shooters. One of the best things the Magic had going for them was the chemistry. And, their bench is still thin. They’ll go through tough times when Nelson is out. Alston will only provide some temporary relief.
Eddie - You should be excited that the Suns are a new-look team now. Those Clipper games are a sign of things to come. That team has been bottled up for over a half season. They’re gonna explode!
Fred Towes Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 3:25 pm
Michael Bennett,
Hate to be the one to break it to you, but you heard about young Mr. Stoudemire by now, I take it? The Fates . . .
Peace,
MT
Melvin Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 5:13 pm
I thought the Cleveland could’ve had used the expiring contract of Mr.Sczerbiak to add more talent to the team. And I despise the Trail blazers for keeping Raef’s super million dollar expiring contract… Pritchard is just a f-up retard
Omar Aberilla Said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:58 pm
I think Chris Wilcox will play center to either replace or back up Jared Jeffries rather than compete for minutes at the 4 spot with David Lee, which could be good stuff for the Knicks. Wilcox should thrive in an open court system employed by D’Antoni. I hope the Heat can sneak in the Eastern conference finals. O’Neal pt. II could be the final piece to them being Eastern contenders.
Losing Stoudemire for the rest of the season due to eye surgery is going to be tough for Phoenix, but they can rest easy if Shaq continues his resurrection. This situation would allow him to prove that he’s still got some magic left in the tank. He’s got the post to himself now, so we can expect to see glimpses of the Shaq of old on a regular basis.
Brian Boitono Said,
February 21, 2009 @ 7:24 pm
i was checking out the knicks boxscore. The DNP’s were wilcox, Curry, larry Hughes. if it was 2007 all of those guys were key parts of there respective teams. How is it possible that Donnie Walsh has cleaned up the mess Isaih left so quickly. I may be mistaken but in 2010 the only potential contracts still on the books will be Jeffries,Galo, Curry, chandler, D lee (if they sign him, which im sure they will try) and Robinson (ditto). So the knickerbockers are gonna be competitive for the rest of this season and next year. Then they are gonna be Huge on the FA market. They have some real solid players if they can get Lee signed for $8 or so. Chandler is gonna be a stud roll player and Galo looks like he will be decent as well. Match them up with a Good Pg i.e Nash and then a max level player- Bron Bron or Bosh and knicks are gonna be in a position to be a contender by 2010 and have the nucleus to be good for a decade after.
Matt Said,
February 23, 2009 @ 5:20 am
Has anyone watched Jermaine O’Neal play this year? The man seems like a true professional and genuinely good teammate however his game is weak. He showed flashes with the Raptors but never anything consistent. I think many so called “professional” analysis of the trade (the Reggie Millers, ESPN guys, etc.) are basing this trade on name recognition rather than ability or reality. For Miami’s sake I hope I am wrong.
Adrian Said,
February 23, 2009 @ 7:10 am
Wow interesting statements, let me start off by saying last years trade for Pau Gasol was a gamble for the Lakers. First of all what has Gasol done in getting his team 1 playoff victory? The Grizzles is whom i am speaking of? Also what if the Lakers would have gotten bounced in the 2nd round? Gasol makes 16mil which since the LAKERS are a tax team its costing them like over 30 mil for Gasol?? Why do you think the BULLS said no to the trade? It made no sense. And for the Grizzles they got an expiring deal. They were bad with Gasol because for some reason Gasol got NO CRITICISM for playing like Vince Carter played in his last days as a Raptor(no motivation). And the Girz did their homework and insisted on Marc Gasol…No one wants to do the Lakers a favor Mitch got the green light to take on salary from Dr Buss. I didnt hear anyone complaining about the potiential salary dump of Vince to the Spurs for BOWEN? OBERTO? GEORGE HILL???? All would be waived but maybe Hill….The NBA is a joke when it comes to player movement, movement is what makes football so appealing, I don;t want that kind of turnover, but I want deals! David Stern has done a wonderful job but please PULL THE PLUG ON THE WNBA assign each team a D League affiliate and allow player movement. The trade deadling is a mere salary dump now…..
Also Eddie when is someone going to point out the fact it’s very un professional to have all these leaks about trades. And why don’t fans hold these owners accountable. How do you expect Vince and his family to truly feel good about Jersey now? Forget what he says…This is not a country that tells the truth people say what they feel others want to hear.
Shawn Marion is another, and I know Eddie you have talked quite a bit about Shawn over the past couple of years. The rumors are crazy and taxing I can only imagine and for what???
How does Steve Kerr keep his job?? Hung Terry Porter out to dry..Well thats for another topic..Sorry. Eddie I listen to you all the time when i watch SUN games and I know they pay you to be optomistic but i can’t help but think why was Shaq and Amare not traded. Sarver Killed this team long ago by giving away Joe Johnson, RAJON Rondo, Nate Robinson, Rudy Fernandez, Stephen Hunter……Wasn’t Steve Kerr consulting then??? On the sly. Oh boy Kerr and Paxon are real Gems.
please Eddie or anyone enlighten me
kingsblade Said,
February 23, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
Adrian wrote:
“let me start off by saying last years trade for Pau Gasol was a gamble for the Lakers. First of all what has Gasol done in getting his team 1 playoff victory?”
This statement is absurd. No matter how little success Gasol had in Memphis he was obtained without giving up a single rotation player. How is that a gamble? Gasol could have been terrible and the it still would not have been a gamble because the worst case scenario is that the Lakers rotation wouldn’t have changed at all.
Dave Said,
February 25, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Hey Adrian,
Pau Gasol was able to make it to the All Star Game with the Grizzlies shirt, was drafted after Kwame Brown in the same year, is a FIBA World Champ and Olympics Silver medal and MVP, rookie of the year and played quite good in last year’s playoffs and finals, with just a few months to learn the system and join the team’s chemistry. What has Kwame done in his career aside from proving the fact that MJ cannot do other thing in basketball other than playing? You still don’t consider that a gamble? Last year’s final would have been Celtics-Spurs without Gasol, it ensured last and this year’s success by just giving up on Marc Gasol’s rights and kwame….GAAAAAAAAAAAMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Porky Said,
February 25, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
Celts get Mikki and will get Marbury.
The M & M’s strengthen the bench and will lead to another championship.
Sugar Ray is playing awesome, Rondo is now near-AllStar, etc.
Book it now.