The NBA trade deadline passed with a flurry of typical deals. Not player-for-player but player-for-cap space and washed-up vet-for-good-for-nothing young guy.
The Grizzlies picked up Ronnie Brewer for nothing. The Blazers added Marcus Camby for not much. The Cavs got Antawn Jamison for bubkus. The Celtics got Nate Robinson for the amazing Eddie House and bit players. Dallas was gifted Brendan Haywood in their swap of Josh Howard for Caron Butler. Tyrus Thomas and Theo Ratliff went to the Bobcats in exchange for Acie Law and Flip Murray going to the Bulls. The Bucks picked up Johnny Salmons for Hakim Warrick and the criminally bad draft pick Joe Alexander.
And, of course, another team is taking a flier on Darko Milicic: the biggest bust of all-time. This time it's the most clueless GM in the NBA: David Kahn of Minnesota who in addition to making a flurry of "house-cleaning" crappy trades this summer also somehow flubbed the gift of Ricky Rubio. This moron traded Mike Miller and Randy Foye for Washington's draft pick so that he'd have two picks in a row. Somehow, Rubio fell to him at no. 5. He drafts Rubio and then he drafts Johnny Flynn. Rubio is so pissed by this move to draft two PGs that he immediately flees to Spain and signs a three-year contract. Kahn somehow flubs wooing him back to the US. So, the Wolves now have Milicic and Flynn instead of Rubio, Foye, and Miller or Rubio and Stephen Curry. This guy is a complete moron. But I digress...
The Knicks, Rockets and Kings made an actual trade. New York gets Sergio Rodriguez and Tracy McGrady (who may be a shell of his former self); Houston gets Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill and picks; and the Kings got Carl Landry and Larry Hughes.
I really believe that the Knicks pursuit of maximum cap space is a humongous and, ultimately ridiculous and probably stupid, risk. Right now six teams have a chance to land LeBron or Wade or Bosh, and the Knicks can land two of the three (you could also add Amare, Boozer and Joe Johnson to that carousel). No one is going to sign with the Nets in their right mind. The Clippers have a solid roster but their organization is dysfunctional. They could get a lesser free agent, but not a superstar. The Wizards are a total wreck. No way anyone of value signs with them. The Heat are solid and they could pair Wade with, say, Bosh. I'd say there's a possibility for improvement there, though their roster besides Wade is abysmal. The Bulls have a budding superstar in Derrick Rose, the have a decent supporting cast, I could see a top free agent going there.
So what about the Knicks? I just don't see them landing their dream of LeBron and Wade or Bosh. Who will those guys play with? Danillo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler? Who will run the point? Chris Duhon? I could definitely see someone like Amare Stoudemire running to the Knicks, but what's the appeal here? To leave a good situation for LeBron for a rebuilding one?
The Knicks have no 2010 draft pick, Houston can swap 2011 picks with them, and no 2012 draft pick--and they just gave Houston their 2008 pick (Jordan Hill). They have mortgaged their future. They have mortgaged their team. For the past two seasons they have not given a hoot who is on their squad as long as they can shed salary.
But there is no good reason for LeBron to leave a good situation for a team in shambles. And why would Wade leave Miami for NY when Miami can sign him and another superstar just like New York can? D'Antoni is a great coach, but the team has no future, no assets, it's a scorched earth strategy that has a strong chance of backfiring.
Where will the 2010 free agents go? First of all, a good half of free agents sign back with their old teams. I don't see a compelling reason for LeBron to leave Cleveland unless he hates it there. Most people would hate it there, but he happens to be from Akron so he doesn't mind living in the dregs of the rust belt. LeBron would leave Cleveland if he thought he had a strong chance of winning a championship somewhere else. The only two options I could see being even semi-realistic are Miami (where he could play with Wade) and Chicago (where he could play with Rose). Cleveland IS an aging team without much star power, but they are also a very strong defensive team and they could be much-improved with Jamison.
Wade might flee the Heat after this dreadful season where his top sidekicks are the stoned-out Michael Beasley, the corpse of Jermaine O'Neal, and the guy who was traded four times this summer: Quentin Richardson. Chicago would make sense as a destination for him.
Bosh could leave the Euro-raptors since he's been surrounded with soft players in Toronto and the team is solid but not a contender. He could go to Miami or Chicago or, I guess, maybe New York. The thing is, why go to New York when you can play with Wade in Miami or Rose in Chicago and actually win games?
So, New York, like Washington, like NJ, like the Clippers, has created cap space supposedly to sign a huge name--but it probably won't happen. Is it worth mortgaging your future for Amare Stoudemire? I don't think so. Amare is great, but I wouldn't dump all of my assets for him. The Clippers do have a great roster, I should note, and should be an appealing destination, but I just can't take them seriously. They did dodge a bullet with Elton Brand, though.
Now, to our Sixers, who gave a big fuck you to fans when they made the blockbuster trade of Royal Ivey and Primoz Brezec for Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson. Oh yeah, and we threw in our second-round pick. Meeks is a fine player. He can shoot. He can score. In itself, the trade is not too bad.
But, the trade speaks to the fact that the GM is completely ignorant of the state of the team. This team is a middling lottery team with a big payroll. Iguodala is commanding superstar money, when he's more like Caron Butler than Kobe Bryant. Elton Brand is our power forward for the next 4 or 5 years when it is clear that today he is finished as an NBA starter. Sam Dalembert continues to bumble around. Willie Green and Lou Williams continue to fill spots. Youth is not given the chance to see the floor while the god-awful Eddie Jordan runs our team--replete with crap like the ghost of Allen Iverson, 3-point skills champion Jason Kapono, and "long and fast" Rodney Carney--into the ground.
Just like George W. Bush not acknowledging the chaos in the first few years of the Iraq war, Stefanski seems to be ignorant to the mess he created. Dare I say it: even Larry Brown couldn't clean this up.
This is a team that, were I GM, should be building on youth. That should have become obvious very quickly this season when it was apparent that Brand still sucks. Start Speights, Young and Holiday. Start freakin' Meeks. Acquire draft picks. Be the next young team--like Portland or Chicago or Memphis or Oklahoma City were--that in a few years will be somebody. Don't be another one of these middling Miamis or Milwaukees or Torontos that have no future and no present.
To see your GM paralyzed is to wish for Billy King who, at least and to his credit, would do something.
The Inquirer reports that Stefanski likes the roster, but doesn't like the result. So why not fire Eddie Jordan and see what you can get out of this year's version of Tony DiLeo or Chris Ford? No. Paralyzed. Rather see Jordan crush Thad Young's spirit more with his nonsensical rotations or bury Marreese Speights on the bench or continue the sham that we're running the Princeton offense with, wait for it, Allen Iverson and Andre Iguodala.
More than anything this team needs direction: a plan. Stefanski does not seem to have one.
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