NBA Excelsior #3
In one of the most transaction-packed months in recent memory, the phone lines of NBA general managers league-wide were ringing off the hooks with teams jonesing to swap stars. Less than one week removed from Deadline Day 2008, NBA Draft guru Eric Satterwhite changes hats to tell you how it went and how it is.
NBA Excelsior Edition III 2008
The trade gusts have come and gone in the NBA with a phalanx of players relocating to varied franchises, giving observers and fans alike a surcharge that front office timidity league wide is a thing of the past. In the November 2007 edition of NBA Excelsior I documented how Celtics leader Danny Ainge faced the mirror and revamped the Celtics from doldrums to first place with his gutsy trades. The article also mentioned how Ainge did something most GMs do not do and that’s take bold aggressive action. Well that scenario is no longer the case as NBA leader’s played salary cap chess allowing NBA Excelsior to chime in a few trade moves with open looks executed off the pick and roll.
Pop goes the Grizzlies
“Beat LA” is the universal cry of NBA fans whenever the Lakers hit the road and that six-letter two-word utterance reached its greatest zenith when the Lakers were hypnotizing the league with Magic Johnson fast breaking across NBA America in the 1980s. The “Beat LA” standard is back in vogue especially after Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak broke bread with Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and agreed to swap the skills of Pau Gasol for the expiring contract of Kwame Brown, rookie guard Javaris Crittenton and the rights to Pau’s kid sibling Marc Gasol. Former NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Star Gasol in Lakers attire has caused huge disdain amongst varied NBA leaders as Spain’s best NBA player’s pronounced skills have blended splendidly with the Lakers cast. One of the most invective critics of Kupchak’s alleged checkmate over the Grizz’ has been Spurs Head Coach Greg “Pop” Popovich. “What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension,” said Popovich. “There should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense. I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I’d like to elect myself to that committee. I would have voted no to the L.A. trade.” In hip-hop vernacular Pop would be classified as a “hater”. There is no NAFTA in the NBA meaning that free trade is ALL GOOD. Memphis GM Wallace responded to Pop’s tarts and other league wide rips as just, “pillow talk”. I guess the sleeper should have slept because the sleeper just woke up and that would be the Los Angeles Lakers who plan to blow up.
Action Shaq-Sun
Shaquille O’Neal has left the sun of Miami for the Suns of Arizona as first time GM Steve Kerr basks in his acquisition of “Wilt Chamber-neezy”. The debater’s perspective of wondering if Shaq can adjust to Coach Mike D’Antoni’s wide-open system is missing the alley oop, it’s D’Antoni who must adjust to O’Neal. Kerr who has had some contention gaining a foothold on the Suns with D’Antoni’s blessing has full leverage now as he attained the troubled O’Neal while unlinking Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks who will attempt to lower the Heat’s number of lottery balls for Draft Day 2008. Good luck! O’Neal who is still a low post presence and a guaranteed force in the playoffs has been injured and undergoing personal issues as he endures a public divorce that has publicly listed some of his gargantuan monthly expenses. Yet Shaq will regenerate in the desert and any lineup that features former MVPs in O’Neal and Nash, flanked with All-Stars Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill, is a major adversary. The balance of the Suns fun and gun attack has shifted and it’s up to Coach D’Antoni to make it work while slightly altering his approach.
Ferry Good?
Cavalier GM Danny Ferry pulled up to his player personnel chessboard and moved his rooks to help protect King James by acquiring Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago while pawning Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle. LeBron James, the NBA’s best player in 2008, is “amped” up with Ferry’s ferrying of new personnel in hopes of the Cavs having a fairy tale of a finish that would encumber a NBA championship. Ferry’s decisions have sent an urgent message to Coach Mike Brown and that is, “Get it done.” Brown’s coaching will be under intense scrutiny, as his skills of leadership and ability to merge a coachable talent-laden roster, will not yield to any alibi from Cleveland’s fan base. The Cavaliers should work it out since Mike Brown has basketball genius in LeBron James. Ferry’s moves were made to win it all…now. We shall see.
Triple Net Effect
Jason Kidd received his request to triple-double his game out of the Meadowlands and return to his NBA roots down in Dallas. The Nets’ Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright were packaged to the Mavericks for four active players, two future first round picks (2008 & 2010), three-million in cash and one “semi-retired” player to make the financials jibe. Keith Van Horn the retired player in question attained a four-million dollar contract from the Mavericks and is being rewarded for some karma he performed in a past life. Nets Boss Rod Thorn who graciously accepted Mark Cuban’s cash insurgence of three-million dollars to lessen the load of Van Horn’s newly minted contract which is a jackpot of a deal for a player that will not suit up considering the NBA season is already half over. The Dallas/New Jersey arrangement was a triple net boon to New Jersey which shall set up a nice future while the Mavericks have lost their 12-man roster depth balance. The Mavericks zeal to attain Kidd is a sheer reflection that the blow Golden State inflicted on their organization by ousting there 67-15 squad from the first round a year ago is still embedded in Dallas bone marrow deep. There is one assured winner in this trade and that’s the smiling Keith Van Horn.
Quick Hitting Trade Notes
Sacramento moved Mike Bibby from his long-time perch as the Kings’ most clutch performer to Atlanta for three expiring contracts and Shelden Williams. Kings kingpin Geoff Petrie freed up cap space and wisely kept Ron Artest. Bibby and his crew, Team Dime, will enjoy the ATL. Bobby Jackson rejoins former coach Rick Adelman who has Houston flying high. Bonzi Wells and his tough guy persona are in New Orleans where all the Hornets community service efforts are translating into an NBA-best record in the West. NBA Excelsior wants to commend the Hornets for their proactive love for still-hurting Hurricane Katrina sufferers, and for representing all that is good about genuine fellowship. Knicks embattled executive Isiah Thomas who promised moves galore was noted for not making any moves suggesting that the Barnum and Bailey circus of a Knick season is headed for the guillotine with no one spared including interns. This just in, the newly-formed NBA Stop Trade Committee has ruled the trade sending Kurt Thomas to San Antonio was rejected by trade originator and Stop Trade Committee member Greg Popovich.
Pau Gasol Photo Credit: ICON SMI
