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I have to say, as I say every year, I'm very disappointed with all that DIDN'T happen this trade deadline. Sure I picked about 50% of the trades that did end up happening, but a few teams have left me perplexed with their movements.
Time for a bit of exploration!
Philadelphia: Make no mistake, this season was supposed to be a NOW season in Philly. They were pretty sure, after drafting Jrue Holiday and having a healthy roster, that they had assembled a young core with a virtuoso of savvy veterans such that they would be thrust into the throngs of Eastern Conference contention.
How wrong they were!
A case of "too many cooks spoiling the broth" in Philly and it only took about 2 games before team-mates started rubbishing other team-mates etc. So what do you do?
You bring in Allen Iverson of course, in what can only be described as a move of "Jedi" proportions.
If you don't get it here's the scenario: you have two power forwards trashing each other while one is supposed to be mentoring the other, a centre who can/will/wants to comment on anything/everything, two point guards playing as shooting guards, a small forward playing as a point guard, and a new offensive system that requires large amounts of practice to get your head around, even if you had a Phd in basketball.
Confused?
It's ok - they were (are?) too. So, to alleviate this, what do you do? Bring in AI who is all of those problems rolled into one individual!!!
I'm sure they saw him wander into practice (not to actually practice of course, just to look about or something...) and thought "Oh well it could be worse."
Sadly though AI wasn't the end of this (I bet that's been written a million times before...) and at the trade deadline Philly acquired Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson from the Milwaukee Bucks for a can of tuna, Royal Ivey, and a years supply of industrial earplugs (apparently the silence in the stadium is deafening). I mean don't get me wrong, Jodie Meeks is great and will one day be one of those guys who can't be given an inch of space outside of 15 feet but Philly now have:
- An aging PF who refuses to mentor the young PF...
- A young PF who refuses to play alongside the aging PF...
- A centre with a contract-to-mouth ratio of 1...
- A certified star who must be wondering what he did wrong in a past life to deserve this... (I bet he thought it was all easy-streets after they got rid of AI.... and now it's come full circle!! I expect him to convert to Taoism any day now...)...
- A former star who thinks the universe is plotting against him...
- A future HOF PG if only he could get a mentor and some decent development...
- Thaddeus Young...
- 27262782 shooting guards that somehow get PG eligibility in fantasy even though they're hardly ever there...
- A coach with a rigid system who must now be thinking he inherited a completely illiterate team as clearly no one has read the play book.
When I see something like this, I have a knee-jerk reaction to think "hit the abort button," which is why I'm surprised to see Philly having done little to nothing in the way of making waves before the deadline. If there was ever a time to get value for Iggy, or to ship Sammy-D with someone else this was it. And personally, I would have blown the whole lot up if possible, got as many expiring contracts and picks as I could, and just played the youngsters. Then start PROPERLY rebuilding next season with Meeks and Holiday at the core (I really think Holiday could be something if he's nurtured the right way).
Denver: Memo to management - George Karl REALLY has cancer; it's not a smoke screen for your cheapness!!!
Never before have Denver needed to make a move so badly. Never before have they sat idly by and watched their direct rivals improve exponentially. If I were a gambling man I would put money on Denver right now as their odds would have ballooned after how Portland, Utah and Houston have come back to the field.
But that doesn't mean I think they're good enough - on the contrary I now think they're worse off than last year. Two reasons for this - Chris Andersen and the Lakers/Blazers/Jazz.
Firstly to Andersen, who has clearly lost his mojo - I mean he played without product in his hair the other night - what the hell? I'm no expert on Gen-Y psychology but when a "hardcore emo" doesn't wear his product it usually means there's something up.
And Andersen is their only "energy big" coming off the bench to backup the aging starters. If trouble strikes, or even Nene /K-Mart get into foul trouble, Denver's B-squad is no longer a daunting prospect. As for the Lakers well they were caught off guard last year.
Biased?
Nope (Spurs fan)... I just know Phil Jackson and he won't let that happen again. He'll be doing his research now on how to beat Denver specifically should they cross paths again. Make no mistake; Phil Jackson is the Sun Tzu of coaches.
The Blazers and Utah have improved radically as well - Camby almost makes the Oden/Przbylla losses negligible and will fit that tempo perfectly. Not too mention he has a history of playing with Miller (we all forgot that didn't we!), so I'm tipping at least 3 alley-oops a game. Furthermore, the talk out of Rip City is intensifying that Oden will return just before the playoffs (ala Bynum last year), and with Camby helping him along it wouldn't be unreasonable to now say that Portland have the best defensive front-line in the NBA.
Utah on the other hand is finally playing in unison and seems to have a plethora of talent that we've never seen before. CJ Miles will light up the second half with Brewer now gone and is more flexible than Brewer anyway. D-Will, Boozer, Milsap, AK-47, Korver - they can pretty much hurt you any way they like and have momentum like never before.
Ok, I know what you're thinking, and yes I think they'll choke when it matters as well... but as far as Denver are concerned they just lost significant ground to two teams in their DIVISION, which could mean an early playoff date with one of them, or the Lakers.
But why were Denver so inactive???
Stuffed if I know. They had some contracts and options to trade as well as picks, and with Tyrus Thomas sitting there waiting for someone to come knocking they could have easily had him. But they didn't and if you believe the rumours it was everything to do with front office, and nothing to do with the team. Oh well Denver, you just went from lock for the #2 seed to a middle of the road playoff team and likely first round exit.
Yes K-mart is playing well, but don't let that deceive you because if you rest on your laurels the others run past, and that's exactly what's happened here.
But there is one happy story to come out of the deadline... well two really... well three actually so I'll give you my B+ or above grades for certain teams:
Washington: B+ straight up.
Their goal was simple and they achieved it. They get a free trial run of J-Ho, money money money, time to play their other young talent, and picks/considerations to get more young talent. Did I mention Al Thornton? Yeah they got him too. And they're one-from-one since the trade. Out-tacular!!!
Milwaukee: A
What a bunch of conniving buggers these Bucks are!!!
Firsly Salmons, then some expiring contracts and draft picks. Yes I think they'll go a little further into the playoffs than most expect. They got help for now, valuable in a weakened Eastern Conference.
 Sacramento: AA++ Easily the biggest winner in my mind for the trade deadline.
I thought they might move K-Mart, but that they'd get absolute crud in the end... and probably ANOTHER shooting guard or something in return.
But to get Larry Hughes' contract, Joey Dorseys contract, and the 6th man of the year?
They have done amazingly well.
And finally the Kings can go back to it being Tyreke's team, like earlier on when they were winning. Is Landry going to play well? You bet - that chip on his shoulder will be massive.
"What do I gotta do Houston - get MVP for you to show some love?"
Poor kid - at least he'll get time to shine in Sacto with their plethora of "jump-shooting bigs".
Charlotte: A+. Again, Larry Brown has proven his ability to bring in talent at the opportune moment.
Tyrus Thomas won't blow away the box scores in Charlotte, but he will make them a defensive powerhouse in the East, if not the league.
G-Force + TT + Mohammad/Diaw/Chandler = your opposition shooting jumpers all night. That is the second awesome move he's made this season and slowly Charlotte have gone from complete obscurity, to a legitimate 5th seed with a real shot at shaking 4th the way Boston have played of late (tho' either way: right now? Charlotte beats Boston in any 7 game series).
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