Halftime Hype

It was a little less than two years ago, when the Los Angeles Lakers traded their garbage, primarily consisting of Kwame Brown, and gave up the rights to Marc Gasol in exchange for Pau. At the time, everybody had a different opinion. Greg Poppavich even advocated for the establishment of a trade committee. Of course, Kobe Bryant - and Lakers fans - were ecstatic. After years of mediocrity and having William "Smush" Parker as starting point guard, the L.A. squad made it to the NBA Finals. Memphis' owner regretted fiving up Pau for so little. In the process, most overaggerated how lopsided the trade was in favor of the Lakers. Surely, only time would tell.

Obviously, in the short term the Lakers benefitted tremendously. Kobe's offseason complaints about that proverbial "missing piece" ceased. Mitch Kuptchak, who was one step short from having Lakers fans show up to his office with pitchforks, was praised a hero. Even the Los Angeles Times writers had nothing to criticize (cough, cough, Plaschke). For those that don't remember, the transaction was made subsequently after Bynum was injured and things were going on a crash course. The team was losing games left and right. Pau put an end to that. Oh, and did I mention that Kwame Brown - the dude with the extreme butter fingers and quite possibly the biggest draft bust in NBA history - was gone? (see video above)

The move clearly didn't help the Grizzlies out that year. For one, Marc wasn't even around at the time. Secondly, with so many guards in the mix, there was barely any space for Javaris Crittenton, a kid who showed occasional glimmers of talent with the Lakers. I doubt Aaron McKie even played. First round picks didn't exactly console Grizzlies' fans. Regardless, while Lakers fans were breathing sighs of relief at the departure of Kwame, the Grizzlies fans had adopted a total disaster. In the end, though, the main transaction for each teams involved a Gasol.

Now, it comes down to who is a better player and if he fits the needs of his team. Pau, with plenty more experience than his brother, added dynamics to a Lakers team that lacked a true center. Bynum, still developing, is lucky to have an Olympian by his side in the post. Anyway, Pau also added range, nonexistent on the L.A. squad outside of Kobe and Fish. On the other hand, Marc added a threatening post-presence to the Grizzlies, who had perimeter duties taken care of by O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, and if need be, Mike Conley. Although, it's worth taking into account the position each team was in. The Grizzlies, who were undergoing a rebuilding process could afford to wait a season for Marc to emerge. In contrast, the Lakers had the clock against them after Kobe acknowledged his frustration.

What I'm trying to say is that contrary to the opinion of pundits at the time of the trade, the move was a win-win for both teams. Could the Grizzlies have gotten more from the Lakers? Absolutely. Was the deal a donation for the Lakers? Absolutely not. At the moment, Marc Gasol is averaging 14.6 points & 10.9 rebounds per game for the Griz. Right now, Pau is trying to come back from injury upon enduring season after season of international play. Prior to his preseason injury, Pau was averaging 18.9 points & 9.6 rebounds per game as a member of the Lake Show. Sure, those are better numbers than his younger brother, but all it takes is a season or two for that to change. Overall, the Lakers benefitted tremendously in the short term, but Memphis Grizzlies' fans shouldn't at all be disappointed by the "Gasol-trade."

Chalk is Cheap
I already tweeted this great headline, "chalk is cheap" but it's worth mentioning on the blog. Lebron may be the Most Valuable Player in the NBA. He may have the coolest kicks. He may have the most emphatic dunks. He may be the greatest thing that's happened to basketball since Kobe. But he is definitely not the best leader and has proved nothing and will continue to remain unjustified hype until he can take home a title. After all, chalk is cheap. I don't believe that the Cavs will win the championship next year, but at least they've elevated themselves to contender status. What everyone is waiting to see is how the two superstars will get along. Until this point, LBJ has never had to share the ball with anyone better than himself. How (much) will he facilitate with the acquisition of Shaq?

Danny Ferry said himself that this trade will wind up being a hit or miss deal - and I agree. I'm that Shaq won't be able to contribute anymore - even if he receives enough passes - just because he's closing in on retirement. It's not secret that Shaq isn't as beastly as he was several years ago. It's the fact that he may drastically hurt the team which Ferry should fear. When he came to Phoenix, the Suns were the best team in the Western Conference and subsequently missed the playoffs during Shaq's full year. You could attribute a drop in standings to the loss of Amare, but that's still no excuse for going from the penthouse to the outhouse.

In order to get some scoring from Shaq, though, the Cavs need a playmaker or more specifically, a passer, who can throw the ball into Shaq when he has position. Despite Lebron's high assist numbers, he is a scorer not a passer. Which means if and when the Cavs get hold of a passer, the point guard will have to find a way to appease the Big Aristotle and #23. My primary issue here is that even when Shaq was playing with arguably the best passer in the game and two-time MVP, Steve Nash, he was not able to take the Suns into the postseason. Last I remember, the Cavs wanted to win in the NBA Finals.

Also, as Shaq's previous teams have experienced, Mr. O'Neal has some fine print. Every time he moves on with another team, he doesn't technically move on for awhile. What I mean by this is that he never forgets to acknowledge all the shameful people in his past engagement (i.e. Kobe, Wade, Van Gundy, etc.). Make sure your players have thick skin, Ferry, especially that Mo kid, and make sure that they're out of the gym when Shaq is shooting free throws - you don't want them to learn bad technique.

Hego Turkoglu?
Having traded for Vince Carter, the Magic basically embraced the fact that Hedo's departure is imminent, especially since he opted out of his contract and had previously rejected an extension. What interests me in this deal is what the Magic sacrificed to get VC. They gave up on this year's playoff sensation, Rafer Alston, a somewhat effective big man who could possibly contribute more if he received more minutes, Tony Battie, and a promising mid-range shooter and a developing scorer, Courtney Lee. Although, in the end, this was at the worst a decent deal for the Magic. They needed someone who can create their own shot. In the Finals, we saw that the Magic didn't know who to turn to in clutch time. Imagine how much things would have changed if it were Vince Carter dunking that alley-oop pass in the final second instead of Courtney Lee missing it off the glass. Besides pick-and-rolls and Howard drawing double teams and kicking the ball out, the Magic couldn't design a complex strategy.



The only issue with this trade is similar to that of the Cavs: how will the ball be distributed among themselves? Vince Carter is currently surrounded by three other All-Stars in Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard. Each player has their own unique style and way of contributing, but in order to do so, they need the ball in their hands. Surely, the statistics of those All-Stars will decrease in the upcoming season. And when they do, how will the players deal with it? Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard still haven't reached the primes of their careers and are working to build a reputation. Even if Rashard Lewis is okay with a drop in numbers, will his two All-Star teammates acquiesce?

Plus, Vince Carter, just like Shaq, is no longer a young powerhouse in the game. We saw him fade out during his time with the Nets and I'm afraid this may be the last stop of his career. However, the Magic have given themselves a better chance of winning it all with this transaction and in the end that's all that matters.

Roundup of Draft '09



As expected the Clippers selected undoubtedly the best player in the draft, Blake Griffin, with the first pick. Something has to go very wrong for Blake to turn into the busts of Clippers' past, but as I was watching the best briefing in sports, Around the Horn, my favorite sportswriter, J.A. Adande, made a great point: the Clippers are already stacked in the front court. And "who's going to pass Blake the ball? Baron Davis?" If anything the Clippers should look for a shooting guard and get an upgrade over Steve Novak. Not that Novak is a bad player, because he's not (I was at the game to see him drain a game-winning three pointer over the Nets during the season), but there were some promising guards in this draft that the Clippers could have taken. Still, it's not too late to trade for one.

Memphis really did themselves a favor drafting Hasheem Thabeet. Regardless of what analysts may say, the Magic have given O.J. Mayo support in the front court and this could get them to the playoffs. I won't go as far as to say that he is the perfect replacement for Pau Gasol, but with a little more work, he could become a threatening presence in the league.

The big discussion of the draft emerged when the T-Wolved picked two points guards with at 5 and 6. How is that going to help them? Well, with Ruboi claiming that he won't play in Minnesota because it's "too cold" and his father saying that Ricky will stay in Spain for one or two more years, I quote Kobe Bryant when I write "Ship his [expletive] out!" As Jay Mariotti pointed out on yesterday's episode of ATH, the T-Wolves need to trade Rubio "while everyone still thinks he's hot." Give him to the folks in NYC, which qualifies as the big cities that Rubio is fond of, and get something in return. There's no way that Minnesota can keep both Rubio and Flynn, and Rubio has already expressed negative thoughts so you might as well deal him.

After the T-Wolves picked Flynn, Golden State disappointed everyone in the draft facility when they selected Stephen Curry. This is, without a doubt, a great selection by the Warriors. Having traded Jamal Crawford for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, the Warriors desperately needed a better starter. This pick at least gives them a great chance of securing a playoff spot and who knows, maybe the Bay Area boys will overcome the odds once again in a David vs. Goliath match-up (i.e. GSW vs. Dallas).

Kudos to the stars with their steal of DeJaun Blair in the second round. I was surprised to see him slip so low, even in mock drafts, after how much he impressed the nation with his play in Pittsburgh during the tourney. Nevertheless, you could say that the Spurs replaced Kurt Thomas and Oberto with this move, which is another reason to praise the minds of this franchise.

Also, congrats to the Sacramento Kings for the kosher selection of Israeli prospect Omri Cassipi at 23. The guy has long arms and will hopefully be a good representative of his country and restore confidence in the NBA's foreign players.



DARKO?!
In case you didn't hear the news, the Knicks traded cash and Quentin Richardson to the Grizzlies for Darko Milicic. Tim Cowlishaw made an interesting point yesterday when he said "I'm still figuring out what happened to Quentin Richardson's career." I don't know why anyone would trade specifically for Darko. This trade just confuses me and there's no question that Memphis is on the better end of this deal.

Rumors
Amare has been the protagonist of many rumors lately. He knows that too, just check his twitter. He has been mentioned in rumors sending him to Golden State, but at this point, I don't think the Suns can afford to degrade their team further. Which leads me to...

Steve Nash is waiting to see how the organziation will conduct business this summer before making a decision about a contract extension. If I were Steve, I would let them know very clearly that I'm gone unless they can make amazing happen and surround me with the talent I deserve. But then again, I'm not Steve Nash.

Yahoo! Sports brought this to my attention and I think it's worth mentioning: There is the possiblity that Jason Kidd could head to New York (interest is mutual), Portland, or Cleveland. If he went to Cleveland, the Cavs would have a strong chance of winning a title with Kidd, Lebron, and Shaq. It seems that the point guard is always the glue in these scenarios.

Ed-Note: Soccer!
USA Soccer has never looked this good. Some are calling the semifinal win over Spain the greatest victory in US soccer history. While Jim Rome of ESPN may be burning on how this win isn't that significant, I strongly disagree. Spain had gone undefeated in their last 35 matches! They hadn't suffered a defeat since 2006. Team USA now has some global attention, but they have to finish the FIFA Confederations Cup with a win in the final game against Brazil.

Many gave them no shot at winning against Spain and they proved soccer/futbol fans wrong around the world. But before we get too excited, Brazil is probably the most fluid team in the world and their mesmerizing passes and speed make them one of the hardest teams to match up with. USA has to remember that if they can beat the #1 team in the world, they are capable of beating anybody. The main issue will be defense. If Tim Howard doesn't have to make miraculous saves and the defense does a good job of clearing out, USA will have a chance at winning the game. That said, the offense must show up and a spectacular performance from Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore will be instrumental in a USA win. Make sure to root for these newfound underdogs tomorrow at 11 AM on ESPN.