I’ll touch on what the deal means for the Suns first. Vince is an expiring contract, Phoenix wants to rebuilt, retool, whatever you want to call it, even more after this season, so acquiring VC’s expiring contract for Hedo’s ugly one makes sense. The suns also got a first round pick out of the deal as well. As much as I loath Vince Carter, and think it’s impossible to win on a team where he’s your number one or number two guy, I like this trade. They made a mistake with acquiring Hedo in the off-season, they fixed it.
Now onto Orlando…
Magic GM Otis Smith clearly has no patience, and wants to win now, even though he’s trying to do so with lesser pieces. I’m not sure they can re-create the chemistry they had with Turk in their deep run from 08-09; the underwhelming small forward spent his salad days in Orlando, averaging almost 20ppg in 07-08. I guess Otis Smith thinks he’s a different player in Orlando than he is in other cities, he believes he just fits there. It’s a huge risk considering that if it doesn’t work this season, there’s no way your moving his contract with three more years left on it, and no GM will be dumb enough to be fooled a fourth time by the Big Turk.
The Magic clearly got more talent coming back – they also picked up Jason Richardson (the best current player in the deal) and Earl Clark, the Suns got Martin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus as well as that first rounder.
Even more shocking news coming out of Orlando is the deal to get Gilbert Arenas for Rashard Lewis. Otis Smith thought Gilbert needed a change of scenery and that will make him into the player he was. Big, big mistake. Contract wise, moving from Rashard to Gilbert, it goes from bad to worse, Rashard makes 22.5 million for the next 2.5 years, but there’s an opt out clause after next season if he doesn’t reach certain expectations, which will be easy to do if you bury him quickly, Gilbert’s got four years left at 80 million, and if a 50 game suspension plus gun charges can’t get you out of that contract – nothing can. It’s the closest the Wizards can get to an expiring contract for Gilbert. But more troubling about ol’ Gil, is he looks out of shape, his work ethic has always been a little questionable as well. I think the investment is a little too high risk at that price.
So Orlando’s starting five could look like this: Jameer, Gil, J-Rich, Turk, Dwight. Hmm. Not one I would want to go to battle with the other top teams in the East with come playoff time, and one that will be hard to overhaul if it doesn’t work out.
Carmelo wanting desperately out of Denver:
I’ll be shocked if he winds up in New York. Denver smartly turned down an offer that would have given them Landry Fields (who I love, great hustle player) Wilson Chandler, and Anthony Randolph, who I really thought was going to blossom in New York, showed serious flashes in Golden State, but isn’t really getting an opportunity with the Knicks. Either way it kind of reminds me of the (pardon me I’m going to cross sports for a moment) the Joe Thornton trade out of Boston, for three marginal players. Boston clearly was the big loser. So would the Knicks be in this deal for that exact reason. If New York wants him, they’re going to have to wait until the summer, which is a definite possibility regardless of a trade. The deal that makes the most sense if your Denver is New Jersey, they can offer Favors plus four number one picks. It means Denver won’t win this year, despite being in the thick of things in the West. It’s time for Denver fans to start laying the boo’s on Melo, it doesn’t look like he cares about winning, he’s more worried about his image and what market he’s in.
If anyone thinks Melo’s going to Chicago, your dreaming. The only deal that would make sense would be Deng, Taj Gibson, and 2 first rounders (which wouldn’t end up being lotto picks for Denver, sour deal) which wouldn’t be enough to entice the Nuggets. Any deal involving Joakim I would hang up the phone instantly. Between Noah, Boozer and Taj down low, they get after it, hard to score against. I don’t think there’s any team in the league that can match up well against the Bulls up front, and I wouldn’t mess with that.
I can never remember so many non sports or basketball fans have a vested interest in a team, or a pre-Christmas regular season game, it’s fun. I get to ramble about basketball all day to people who really don’t care, but for some reason, care about this. I have a friend who has never watched a basketball game from start to finish in her entire life, but for some reason had to stay late at work to see if Lebron would in fact throw out the “white powder” as she put it, or if a fan would actually do what the entire city of Cleveland really wants and whip a car battery from the cheap seats at him. I guess it’s the same as when I used to sit for 10 minutes and watch bad daytime soap opera’s that my mom had on,
“hey! who’s that guy with the eye patch?!? He has the real paternity test hidden in his pocket! How can people stand for this!? Wait… what am I doing watching this?”
That’s all it takes for someone to get into something that normally they could care less about; a villain, and for the first time it looked as though Lebron liked it, and it made him a better player then the level he’s been playing at of late. All it took is just took the boos from the city he spit on for him to make something of the negativity.
Having said that, the Cav’s did look as though they were kissing James’s non-existent rings last night; no rough stuff, no posturing- they essentially laid down and took it. Not the effort the fans were hoping for.
Now onto things some more interesting topics:
Is Brandon Roy done as an elite player?
His minutes have gone up of late, and he`s playing full minutes in the second half of back to back`s. Which is a big deal. His numbers look decent as of late too (18-3-2), but anyone who`s watched the team run isolation plays this year to him knows somethings missing, specifically his first step. He`s had the last of his meniscus removed from both his knees, meaning Roy`s playing bone to bone. Even if there is pain moving forward, it`s no longer possible for him to have surgery. His career is a vase teetering on a mantle. A guard with no athleticism who has a max contract tied up until 2014 is a scary notion for that franchise, and especially not good for a fan base that`s seen this story a few times (see: Walton, Bill; Oden, Greg; Bowie, Sam). I don`t see it as possible for him to re-invent himself as a spot shooter, that`s never been his game. He does however have an extremely high basketball IQ, and can contribute in other ways on and off the court, but don’t expect longevity, or any more “I can’t believe I just witnessed that!?” moments.
George Karl closes in on win #1,000
I have really fond memories of coach Karl growing up, the Sonics were my favorite team to watch as a youngster, and one couldn’t think back on the Supersonics most formidable years without remembering George Karl standing and screaming on the sidelines, or sitting in the familiar hand on his chin with the “WTF just happened” expression on his face. He now has the pleasure of coaching a team with arguably the highest degree of difficulty in the NBA; he has to deal with Carmelo “One Foot Out the Door” Anthony, JR Smith, who attended five high schools before lying about going to the Tar Heals and then turned pro (always a good sign), Chris Andersen, and K-Mart, who once mocked Alonzo Mourning for having a life-threatening disease. So yea, you get the point, if anyone can keep ego’s in check, which is the biggest hurdle coaching in the NBA, George is only second to Phil Jackson. Win number 1,000 will be especially sweet considering he missed half of last season, including the playoffs, battling cancer for the second time. It would be nice to see this Nugget’s team can keep their play going of late (5 straight W’s), keep Carmelo around until the summer, and make a run in the playoffs for coach Karl.
Russell Westbrook is becoming the man in OKC
The fact that it’s a legitimate question to ask if he’s the best player on the Thunder is extraordinary. Since KD’s been out, Westbrook has gone on to average 30 points all while shooting over 50%, and really highlighted it against New Jersey in the triple OT game where he scored all 13 of their points in the last frame, personally willing them to victory. Westbrook does it all, he can pass, he definitely can score (6th in PPG), and let’s not forget he was the Pac-10 defensive player of the year at UCLA. He was quick to take the reins when Kevin Durant went down with an injury, and it will be interesting to watch how the dynamic plays out when KD come back shortly from injury.
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago last week and had some interesting things to say about the Miami Heat’s stumble out of the gate, plus the state of their coaching situation. Phil said that he felt there could be another “Van Gundy situation” in Miami with the Heat struggling to string together wins under current head coach Eric Spoelstra, and that the players would demand to have general manager Pat Riley take over the coaching reigns just as he did to Stan Van Gundy back when the Heat won their first and only championship back in 2006. Van Gundy fired back saying Jackson’s statements were “inappropriate and ignorant.” If you remember, Van Gundy and the 2005-06 Heat team which featured a young Dwyane Wade and a spry Shaquille O’Neal also stumbled out the gate, leading Van Gundy to resign from the head coaching position, after citing personal reasons for his departure. It is commonly known that Riley forced Van Gundy’s hand to resign and it was rightfully so. The same must be done for the Heat to win, now. With all the personalities and talent that the Heat boasts Eric Spoelstra is not the right coach, Riley is the right coach. The Heat don’t need an X’s and O’s coach, they need a wily mentor like Riley who’s won championships and knows what it takes to lead them to the Promised Land. Miami has the talent to win multiple championships; however, talent means nothing when they can’t play together. Time for Pat Riley to force the hand once again, though, I doubt this time Spoelstra will get the cop out deal that Van Gundy got. There will be no “personal reasons” in this break up, just a flat out pink slip for a job not done. No wonder Van Gundy thought Jackson’s remarks were “inappropriate and ignorant.” Because he knew it was true.
Speaking of the Heat…
Things have been downright awful for Miami to start the year. The team is currently 10-8 with very little cohesiveness amongst them. First off, they can’t guard opposing teams point guards. That’s basically due to the fact that Lebron has been handling the duties as the Heat’s point guard and has a heck of a time trying to guard players who are at least eight to 10 inches shorter than he is. Secondly, when the ball isn’t in Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh’s hands, they don’t play well off the ball. Wade especially has been hurt by this. Wade is averaging close to 22 points per game which is a far cry from 25+ he’s averaged throughout his career. Yes, we all expected the big three’s PPG totals to all fall once they joined forces, but Wade is a scorer, and take that out of his game, and you’ve basically stopped him. Lastly, would the real Chris Bosh please stand up! Bosh seems to have forgotten how to rebound once he went south for the winter. Bosh’s rebound totals are down a whole two boards from his career average. There have been nights where he’s been non-existent on the glass. That can’t sit well with the Heat’s brass.
Don’t forget there is still a ton of basketball to be played this year, and yes, these are veteran players who know how to play the game, but for some analyst’s (including myself), to have believed that this team could flirt with the ’95-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in a season, well they (we), were way, way off. The way the Heat are playing now, they’d be lucky to win 50 games. They should count there lucky stars that they’re not in the West because they would barely be holding on to a playoff spot, let alone being breathed in the same breath of that legendary Bulls team.
Last call!
Thanks to my man The Angsta for dropping this on my Facebook page. Derrick Rose is a beast who can break you off. Just asked Kings guard Tyreke Evans. Enjoy!
It has been a long time from 2002, when Lebron was only the second high school player in recent history to dawn the cover of Sports Illustrated. Kevin Garnet was before him, but you’d have to go back to Felipe Lopez to find the next Jordan on the iconic cover (November 28, 1994 to be exact). Technically, Lopez had already signed with St John’s University, but The Big East schedule had not started yet so I technically labeled him as a high schooler at that point. Rumors of this Kid named James (A.K.A. The Chosen One), which was given to him as far back as middle school. This is also the player that NBA Scouts and experts claimed that he could have played in the NBA his junior year of high schoo! Lofty hype created from an early age is probably where all the hate against him began. “Who does this guy think he is?”
“Who anointed this kid as The Chosen One or The King?”
I don’t know exactly who started this hype machine, but I can tell you who didn’t start it. Lebron James! At least not verbally. The majority of fans and foes have automatically named James as the one who originated all the nicknames he has today. The thing that Lebron is guilty of is adopting them as his own. Someone once told me that “the best nickname is the one someone makes for you”. Unlike some athletes today who have named themselves (these players will remain nameless for now). Names like: The Iceman, Pistol Pete, Mr. Clutch, The Magic Man, Mr. Basketball, Dr. J, Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Air Jordan, His Airness are timeless! Names like CB4 (Chris Bosh), CP3 Chris Paul, and Bad Porn (Corey Maggette) are just lazy.
It seems like yesterday that we were watching this young talent meet and exceed all the hype that was put upon him. Since his decision to go to St. Vincent/St. Marys and passing on the local high school everyone wanted him to go to is probably what started some of these critics. Few players in the last 20-30 years have had as much hype from the ninth grade to the present, and been able to keep up with it like the Lebron has. In some cases, he has exceeded expectation. Only in the NBA title department is Lebron James lacking. The concept of “The One Man” team is adopted by all team and player fanatics that either have no clue or refuse to acknowledge the old saying that it takes a village. A lot of fanatics really believe that you can pull a one man title run like Danny Manning and the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks did in their run to an NCAA title that year. People always forget that not only did Manning have quality players with him; he also had the Legendary Larry Brown as a coach. Magic Johnson replaced an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, and put on a Herculean performance. While he scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists the Lakers beat the 76ers by the score of 123-107. Here is a good question for the one man team fanatics. If Magic scored 42 points (34 percent of the total scoring), who scored the rest of the 123 Laker points? A little know fact is that Jamaal Wilkes scored 37 points in that game. Wilkes was actually the second leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs behind Abdul-Jabbar. Rarely do we here about Wilkes. Why? My theory is the one man team syndrome.
What happen to the love from way back from videos like this:
Or this:
I’ll have more on this in Part 3 of this article series. I will leave you with this. A lot of people believe he should of made the decision depicted in the next video, than the one he made to go to Miami. Enjoy!
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