What I could never understand was how teams would play the whole season knowing full well they could not match up with the elite teams, yet refused to shake things up. Much has been written on this very topic, with General Managers afraid to mortgage the future for current success. All in in '08 is a refreshing look at the deals that shook up a league that is up for grabs.
Pau Gasol, 2010 second-round pick for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, and 1st round picks in 2008, 2010
Lakers: A trade can be measured by the opinion of their competition. In other words this was a great trade. Pau is a Euro big man that fits well into the triangle offense. When, and if, my man crush Andrew Bynum gets healthy, they will have a formidable front line to get all Kobe's rebounds. Now, if they could just find a way to get Odom to play like a guy who has a lot of talent. Pau is under contract for another three years, so the future is bright in L.A.
Memphis: Do they care anymore? I guess if you aren't any good you should concentrate on trading salary for picks, although I feel late first rounders are more of a crap-shoot than franchise builders.
Van Horn, Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, DeSagna Diop first-round picks in 2008, 2010 for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright
Dallas: The team needed an infusion after suffering demoralizing defeats the last two years in the playoffs. Does adding a slow, offensive minded point guard help them against Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash? Devin Harris used to guard the other teams top perimeter player, so the result should be interesting.
New Jersey: If only they could have traded Vince Carter to the Knicks. Getting a younger floor general and Diop is a step in the right direction, but Richard Jefferson needs more help.
Shaquille O'Neal for Shawn Marion, and Marcus Banks
Phoenix: In a perfect world they would have picked up Garnett last summer for Amare Stoudemire, but the owner would not pick up the luxury tax (unlike Jerry Buss doing so to get Gasol.) In a near-perfect world they would have traded Marion for Marcus Camby, a great defender and rebounder who can run the floor. In the current world, they traded Marion for a slow and old center who put them over the cap anyway. The real winner is the owner who now has another marketable star to sell plenty of jerseys and increase other revenue to make up for the luxury tax hit. In the end it doesn't matter, because Phoenix can't guard anybody.
Miami: Shawn Marion clearly wanted out, and Marcus Banks wasn't getting any time behind Nash, and Barbosa (Brazilian Blur is a great nickname). Next year looks promising with Wade, Marion, and Michael Beasley.
Ira Newble, Adrian Griffen and Donyell Marshall to Seattle; Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delante West and 2009 second-round pick to Cleveland; Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown to Chicago.
This is a handy breakdown.
Seattle: Received expiring contracts to prepare for a sure move out of town.
Chicago: Dumped Ben Wallace's horrible contract for another one in Hughes.
Cleveland: Danny Ferry is doing his best to keep LeBron James in Cleveland after his contract expires in 2010. Good luck. At least they now have a rebounder, and a shooter to lighten the load.
In unrelated news:
Man-ologue recommends that you know the answer before you ask the question.
13 comments:
I have to agree that the Lakers got the deal of the millennia getting Pau Gasol, although I'm sure Kwame Brown's deaf and blind fanbase will sorely miss him in LA. I still don't see them going as far this year as everyone says, Gasol and Bynum have less postseason experience than Kobe's broken pinky finger. I think it's a terrible trade though, mostly because I'm a Kings fan and I'll never get over '02.
One of the boring topics I study in school is person-organization fit, which basically means that despite how talented an employee is, if there's not a good fit between them and the way of doing things in the organization, things won't work. On that overly-drawn-out note, why on earth did the Suns trade for the NBA's version of Grimace?
My gut tells me that the Mavs aren't going to win a title anytime soon, but signing the Dad from Ugly Betty (tonyplana.com) may improve their chances.
Thank goodness for the gunslinging GMs in the league today, the snowglobe shakeup of '08 makes life much more interesting.
I second everything that Ryan just said! Word!
What if I want to post a comment, but I'm not a man? Am I still allowed to?
I didn't read the post, will probably never read one- until you post about baseball. But, I do like the manly background. Even in purple.
Of coarse you can comment! The more the merrier.
Ryan, I didn't know you were a Kings fan. What do you think of their moves? I thought they might trade Artest.
You all forgot to breakdown the move that started all the moves and the best move of the year in regards to wins and losses. Korver for Giricek and a draft pick. The Jazz used to have a huge hole at the 2, now they have 4 guys that could PT with any team in the league. Brewer starting and Korver closing is a pretty combo.
Ryan, have the Kings changed their marketing slogan to, "Kings Basketball!! Come watch us shoot free-throws all night!! Ridiculous, I dont even bother watch the Jazz play them anymore. 50 FTs to the Jazz's 24? Ridiculous, NBA officials have a lot of growing up to do. (I could continue with this obscure Norm Macdonald and Dirty Work movie reference, but i am not sure anybody would get it but me)
I think Korver was a great pickup. I was going to put an Ashton Kutcher pic up to see if anyone could tell the difference, but forgot. The Spurs getting Kurt Thomas was also important for them.
Jessica, you can comment whenever you want. Man-ologue celebrates diversity as long as it revolves around the universe of sport.
I'm definitely bummed about them trading away Mike Bibby, it basically signals the end of the era. But who knows, maybe Vlade will give up chain smoking and flop his way back onto the team. I hate trading for cap space too because it reminds me that the business trumps the game. I would say that the Maloofs and Petrie historically have known what they're doing--but I think what they're doing here is getting ready to move to Las Vegas.
I didn't mention the Korver trade b/c I thought it was Ashton Kutcher punking the Wasatch front. Turns out they did get a good shooter, and their current team is good enough to go deep in the playoffs.
By the way, I'd love to root for the Jazz (AK-47 is the coolest nickname in sports), but their fans drive me crazy. Yes, Jordan did push off, but it's time to move on.
So, will you post the scores of your nephew's and niece's games? Kidding. It's cool that you're doing this, kinda funny. Are you an ESPN wanna be? A SI writer in the making? You picture is the funniest part. You did lose me the first sentence, I don't really like READING about sports, but watching them is great. Post some pics on Ady and I'll read (almost) anything you write.
I've got a comment to add to everything that Ryan and Brad have mentioned...Korver can do whatever he wants and play for whoever he wants because he's HOT!!!!!
He did push off. Stupid NBA. How sweet would it be to have an NBA team in Las Vegas? Would you still be a Kings fan?
If you would like you can hop on the Jazz bandwagon. Me and a couple of my buddies have vowed that in 53 years when the Jazz win the NBA title we are full-scale rioting in the streets of Enterprise, UT. You are welcome to help us.
I'd be an even bigger Kings fan because I lived in Las Vegas.
I don't know if I'm ready to join the Jazz bandwagon. The only NBA action I get are Clippers and Bulls games on Friday nights. And err'body knows thats when I hit the clubs.
Professional sports wouldn't fair very well here. There are too many drunk, stupid, belligerent people keeping the real sports fans who care about the game from attending. After what happened here with the All-Star Game, we'll never get a team.
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