Win/Win trades that could actually work

Published by http://www.dailybasketball.com/ on 24/06/2008

Link: http://www.dailybasketball.com/2008/06/24/winwin-trades-that-could-actually-work.html

Most trades in the NBA produce a winner and a loser. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. I propose 4 blockbuster trades that could be beneficial for both teams.

I haven’t just plucked these names out of the air. These trades actually do work under current salary cap restrictions.

BULLS get: Lamar Odom
LAKERS get: Ben Gordon (assuming he signs 1 year

qualifying offer), Andres Nocioni

BULLS get: Elton Brand, Brevin Knight
CLIPPERS get: Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas

CHI: These blockbuster trades would give the Chicago Bulls a team that is capable of contending in the East next year. The benefits are obvious. Young, quick, long, athletic, together with the solid low post force of Brand. Put this all together and you have a situation that is tailor made for Derrick Rose’s hometown Chicago debut.
Projected starting 5 (PS5): Rose, Deng, Odom, Brand, Noah

LAL: This is the big one. For me, Lamar Odom just doesn’t have it. Toughness, grit, performing under pressure, he always seems to come up short. Gordon is a flat-out scorer (18.6 ppg) who could thrive in the triangle alongside Kobe. Nocioni’s three point shooting at the small forward position would provide a more balanced line-up next to Gasol and Bynum, but crucially, his toughness would be huge for the Lakers. Therefore, this trade would allow the Lakers to fill the two holes that were exposed in the 2008 NBA Finals; toughness and a reliable second scoring option.
PS5: Gordon/Fisher, Bryant, Nocioni, Gasol, Bynum

LAC: In the strong Western Conference the Los Angeles Clippers must rebuild around exciting 2008 rookie Al Thornton. This trade would be a good start. Gooden’s expiring contract will give financial flexibility going forward, and Hinrich and Thomas will add to their young and promising nucleus.
PS5: Hinrich, Eric Gordon (draft?), Thornton, Gooden/Thomas, Kaman

BLAZERS get: Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner, Ian Mahinmi
SPURS get: 2008 1st Round Pick (no. 13), Travis Outlaw, Jarrett Jack, Martell Webster,

Channing Frye

POR: For the Portland Trail Blazers this trade would catapult them into the top tier of the Western Conference as an immediate contender. Enough said.
PS5: Blake, Roy, Ginobili, Aldridge, Oden

SAS: Firstly, I want to stress the point that this trade would not have been necessary if the Spurs hadn’t traded away the rights to Luis Scola. But as they did, they need to get younger and quickly. Therefore, the obvious choice for trade is Ginobili because his scoring can be replaced. This trade would inject much needed youth and athleticism into the line-up, as well as more scoring options. In a year or two, the Spurs should be back in contention with a more balanced attack.
PS5: Parker, Webster, Outlaw/Bowen, Oberto/Frye, Duncan

CAVS get: Vince Carter, Trenton Hassell
NETS get: 2008 1st Round Pick (no. 19), 2009 1st Round Pick, Anderson Varejao, Eric

Snow, Damon Jones

CLE: The King finally gets a legitimate running mate in Carter. His scoring is exactly what the Cavaliers need.
PS5: West, Carter, James, Wallace, Ilgauskas

NJN: Lets face it, Vince Carter did not deserve a 4 year $61.8 million extension last summer after choking in the 2007 playoffs. The New Jersey Nets are going nowhere with him as their franchise player, so they must get value for him now before his skills diminish further. This trade would greatly assist the Net’s rebuilding effort by clearing cap room (Snow and Jones’s expiring contacts) and adding young pieces in Varejao and a pair of first rounders in 2008 and 2009 (ex. Brandon Rush or Chris Douglas-Roberts?). It would also allow them to take a high risk/high reward player with their No. 10 selection, perhaps Anthony Randolph, DeAndre Jordan or Danilo Gallinari.
PS5: Harris, CDR (draft?), Jefferson, Varejao, Krstic/Boone

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Pacers must overhaul roster

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* This article was written in May 2008

Some teams take the long route by rebuilding with youth (ex. MIN/SEA), others look to add a few new pieces to reach the playoffs (ex. PORT/GS) and some are searching for that one last player to complete their championship puzzle (ex. UTAH/CLEV). And then there is the Indiana Pacers, seemingly doing neither.

The Pacers do not have a franchise calibre player to build around. They don’t have a collection of young players that would offer hope for the future. Nor do they have a group of veterans that would make any significant difference between winning and losing. The Pacers are a team made up of players that are either a) grossly overpaid in relation to their talent, or b) not talented enough to get the job done. The only exception to this is Danny Granger.

Danny Granger is a terrific young player that is gradually becoming a star in this league. However, his style of play is more suited to that of a complimentary role on a successful team. He would therefore be most effective when used as a team’s third option, á la Lamar Odom with the Lakers.

Besides Granger, the core of the team consists of Jermaine O’Neal (2 years at $44m), Mike Dunleavy (3 years at $29m), Troy Murphy (3 years at $33m), Jamaal Tinsley (3 years at $21m) and Marquis Daniels (2 years at $14m). Mike Dunleavy is probably the most useful player of the bunch, but his salary indicates that he should be a viable second or third option. However, his talent would be best utilized as a fourth or fifth option. Both O’Neal’s and Murphy’s salary are atrocious as they don’t produce nearly enough, O’Neil because of injury and Murphy due to a lack of talent.

So what should they do? Apart from Granger, I believe they should explore trade opportunities for the entire team. History has told us that no one is untradable in the NBA (ex. Larry Hughes, Ben Wallace, Shaq), even so, unloading these players and their contracts won’t be easy. The reality is, these players will not fetch young talent in return, but may bring back expiring contracts or second round draft picks. If I were sitting in Larry Bird’s chair I would be content with this strategy as a means of rebuilding. The sooner they realise they must take one giant step back in order to move forward, the better. One thing’s certain, the status quo of consistent mediocrity is unacceptable.

Their pick in this year’s draft is crucial (No. 11). They cannot afford to select another player who fails to produce and must not risk the pick on a project type player (ex. DeAndre Jordan, Kosta Koufos or Donte Greene). Rather, they should be looking at players who can contribute immediately, or at the very least in two or three year’s time. DJ Augustin, Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush or Chris Douglas-Roberts would fit the bill and team with Danny Granger to form a solid foundation for the future.

If they are successful in unloading the majority of their bad contracts, make no mistake about it, the next two to three years will be extremely tough and require tremendous patience. But such a process is necessary if they wish to rebuild this team. Who knows, a couple of high draft picks in 2009 and 2010 could put them back on track with a collection of young, talented players who possess the right attitude to succeed, and in the process win back the Indiana faithful (ex. Portland).

One thing is sure, they cannot go on blaming the Ron Artest incident as a reason for their woes, but instead must immediately get on with the job of rebuilding this once proud franchise. Larry Bird, it’s time to earn your pay check.

Stephen A. Smith - Heart Over Head?

Published by http://www.dailybasketball.com/ on 20/06/2008
Link: http://www.dailybasketball.com/2008/06/20/stephen-a-smith-heart-over-head.html

ESPN’s resident NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith could never be accused of ‘sitting on the fence’. He is opinionated, passionate and forthright when discussing issues that relate to the NBA. But just how accurate are his predications?

During his segments on ESPN’s Sportcenter, NBA Shootaround and the halftime show, Stephen A. often berates other panelists for having an opinion different to his own. He tends to talk in a manner that suggests his opinion is fact and the only one that counts. But during these rants, I can’t help but cast my mind back to three of his predictions, that were not only cringe-worthy at the time, but downright embarrassing today.

Prediction 1
At the 2006 NBA Draft, Stephen A. heavily criticized (ridiculed almost) Portland Trailblazers GM Kevin Pritchard for making a series of draft day trades that netted them LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. Today, these two guys are arguably the best players to emerge from the entire 2006 draft (along with Rudy Gay), and would both be in the top 10 most promising young players in the league. They form the foundation of a Blazers team (along with Greg Oden) that will, barring major injury, contend for a title in the coming years.

Prediction 2
At the 2007 NBA Draft, upon hearing that the New York Knicks traded for Zach Randolph, Stephen A. went on to proclaim that the Knicks would drastically improve and be a contender in the East. At the time I thought, “what planet is this guy living on?” Zach Randolph has never helped a team in the win column, is a poor defender and has had numerous off-the-court and on-the-court issues. Not to mention that they already had a guy on their roster who was eerily similar (Eddy Curry). Yet Stephen A. proclaimed him to be the savior of the Knicks, even though his price tag was $60 million over four years, further constricting them financially. In a long line of bad trades, this was another terrible trade for the Knicks. I don’t need to remind anyone how this situation turned out.

Prediction 3
Prior to the 2007/08 season, when asked who he thought were NBA title contenders, Stephen A. confidently predicted the Denver Nuggets. On what basis, I am still not sure. The Nuggets were beaten easily by the Spurs in the first round of the 2007 Playoffs (4-1). The only additions to their roster were Chucky Atkins and an injury plagued Kenyon Martin, hardly enough to get them by the elite teams in the West. I found it beyond belief that a person with Stephen A’s basketball background could predict that a team such as Nuggets, who are totally deficient defensively, could win the NBA championship, especially when it has never been done before. In my opinion, he grossly overestimated Carmelo Anthony’s ability to do what was necessary to lead his team to victory.

Look, I don’t expect media analysts to be 100% accurate with their predictions and in fact, I do believe that most of what Stephen A says is bang on. However, being way off the mark with the above predictions does make me question his credibility at times.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike the guy, in fact I love his passion for the game of basketball. However, in this instance with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, I believe it demonstrates that on occasion Stephen A’s heart rules Stephen A’s head.

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