This is an occasional series called the NBA Status Report, sponsored by our good friends at Stan Van Gundy's Used Auto Sales and Collarless Shirt Emporium. In case you're unfamiliar with Stan's work, here's a clip. Mr. Van Gundy, full time Magic coach and part time used car pitchman, will offer his opinions on things in the NBA by relating them to a used car on his lot. Take it away, Stan.
Alright, friends, part II. Here's where Stan takes a look at everything else that happened at the trade deadline and offers my not-so-humble opinion. Lots to do, so let's jump right into it.
The Big Deal - Cavs/Wizards/Clippers Trade
Do you know what I like more when making trades? Moxie. Testicular Fortitude. Gumption. This trade is absolutely LOADED with it. First, Cleveland acquires the one piece they needed to become a complete matchup nightmare---a guy who can slot into the 4/PF spot and stretch the floor, not unlike my man Rashard Lewis. If Ilgauskas comes back to them, like most expect, then Cleveland will probably have too many bodies not to be the odds-on favorite. Though, I would love to meet up with them again in the playoffs. I'll put Marcin on Z and we can have the Eastern European White Guy Ballet when it comes to gettin' rebounds. Stan's about winning, sure, but Stan is also an entertainer!
Speaking of moxie, the LAC put it all on the table. They're got cap room in the biggest FA class ever. They are making a run at LeBron, no doubt. This has to be one of the great dream scenarios for the NBA. A cross town rivalry with Kobe. Bright lights of LA. A megasuperstar drawing in tickets for one of the most laughed at franchises in all of sports. Hell, this could entice even Donald Sterling to spend money! The Clips would no doubt give LeBron carte blanche to pick his coach and his teammates. Talk about laying it on the line! The summer shopping season just got more interesting.
As for Washington, they did what the Clippers did, only less so, and have slightly less space to use and a much less attractive roster. Overwhelming "ehh" for them.
Chicago trades John Salmons to MIL for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander AND
Chicago trades Tyrus Thomas to CHA for Flip Murray, Acie Law IV, and a draft pick of unknown date and time
I lumped these two together to make one point about Chicago: they want to bring Dwyane Wade home. The net effect of these two trades is that Chi-Town can now pursue its most favored son since MJ. Would Dwyane want to come back home? Certainly never hurt anyone. Will he? Stan's going to go on the record and state that Dwyane Wade WILL sign with the Bulls in the summer. When you're a big kid and you can fulfill your dreams that you had in your youth with your future all but set, it sometimes proves too tempting to overcome.
Interestingly enough, Chicago seemingly is going to let both Milwaukee and Charlotte (CHARLOTTE!) pass them for playoff berths. They'll all be competing for perhaps the same 6-8 slots with Toronto, but do not be shocked if Chicago misses the playoffs directly because of the players they traded to these other franchises. Like the LAC, Chicago's making a big gamble on Wade over summer, something that is SVG approved, much like our 5 yr, 60,000 mile powertrain warranty on any of our fine selection of used cars. I'm so confident you'll want one of our cars that I'm gonna throw on a brand-new warranty on a used car. Talk about balls! Stan's got 'em and so do you, but you shouldn't need to use 'em when selecting one of my vehicles.
Finally, the draft pick in this deal is quite curious. John Hollinger notes that because of the rule that states a team can't dump its first rounders in consecutive years, Chicago may not realize the pick for quite some time. Paraphrasing, he notes that Charlotte owes a 2010 pick to MN. Because it's a lottery-protected pick, if Charlotte makes the lottery the next year, then that pick also goes to MN and Chicago is holding the bag until 2013. However, their 2011 pick is also conditionally owed to someone, so if that's realized, the Bulls are waiting until 2014, and so on and so forth. You'll never get this kind of confusion at Stan Van Gundy's Used Auto Sales.
The T-Mac Trade: New York, Houston, and Sac-Town
T-Mac goes to the Knicks to help clear cap room for NY's run at LeBron and Bosh/Wade (his mammoth contract expires at the end of the year). They also land Sergio Rodriguez, who is the kind of point guard needed for Mike D'Antoni's system (think a Steve Nash type, though not as good, obviously). I know I said earlier that I like gumption in deals, but this current bid by the Knicks kinda scares me. The supporting cast for the potentially two max free agents coming in is rather...bare bones. It's like buying a base level car; sure, it's a car but where the sizzle? If their gamble doesn't pay off, the Knicks will take a long time to recover. Longer than they were on pace before? Maybe.
Sacto sets themselves up with a great PF in Carl Landry. This ought to help overcome their frontcourt scoring woes. More importantly, this gives SAC some cap room for maybe a run at Joe Johnson, a taller PG with some awesome passing skills. You can then move Tyreke Evans to SG and hey, you've got yourself a little team going there.
Houston grabs Kevin Martin, an SVG favorite, and reinforces their depth at PF after trading Landry away by getting 1st rounder Jordan Hill to back up Luis Scola. They also grabbed two assumedly lottery picks from the NYK (unless the Knicks land the #1 pick this year...that's protected). They did all this while lowering payroll. Unbelievable. I thought Zeke Thomas wasn't GMing in NY anymore?
Winners of the Trade Deadline
Cleveland
Houston
Dallas
Seattle (yes, Seattle, not where they actually play)
Losers of the Trade Deadline
Phoenix
San Antonio
Phoenix again
Well, that concludes my analysis on the trade deadline. I'll try and make another appearance. I've always wanted to analyze the NCAA tournament so hopefully PLS lets Ol' Stanny try his luck there. Remember, here at Stan Van Gundy's Used Auto Sales, we stack 'em deep and sell 'em cheap. If you didn't buy from me, you paid too much, WAAYYYY TOO MUCH. Stan Van Gundy Used Auto Sales: Doin' Whatever it Takes To Earn Yer Business! Have a good one!
Great line about the Eastern European White Guy ballet. "Stan is about winning, sure, but Stan is an entertainer!" Really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Cleave has Jamison, there is no way on Earth they aren't going to win the whole thing. Bron, Shaq, Twan and Z are unstoppable regardless of who is the starting PG.