Dan P
When does pleasure outweigh business in sports?
Immediately after I
wrote a piece detailing a “Kevin Garnett
to the L.A. Clippers” deal, I was made to look foolish by
the recent twist in Danny Ainge's thought
process as now it looks like KG is staying put with Paul Pierce for the remainder of their NBA tenure.
I thought it was
impossible to conceive how a team would pass up trade value on a soon to be 37
year-old (in May) with 3 years left on a deal that will pay him close to $35 million.
That the fact that KG had helped the Boston
Celtics to a title in 2008 was already in the rear-view mirror. And
not to mention even the Suns dealt Steve
Nash to their long-time nemesis, L.A.
Lakers, simply because they couldn't pass up three, first rounds picks.
Seriously, owner Robert Sarver
LOVED Steve Nash and HATES the Lakers.
So why the change of
heart by Ainge? Why the nostalgia for a player that wasn't drafted by the
team and has still spent more years playing for the Minnesota T’Wolves (12) than the Celtics (6). Much ink was
spilled before the start of the season about how Rajon Rondo wanted to make the Celtics his team;
that it was time to grab the reins and ease the burden of its aging stars.
But Ainge's refusal to deal Garnett for youth, undercuts that notion and
brings back something else nostalgic: pride for greatness and love of the game.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact Ainge played in the NBA or
maybe the spirit and energy of KG is too special to let leave the locker room
for good.
Either way, it helped
remind this hack writer that sometimes making a deal for the sake of dealing
isn't always the best. I remember feeling the same way about Michael Jordan, and even now I would
love to see if MJ, at age 50, could come back just to prove he still has it (He’s
at least good enough to
beat Michael Kidd-Gilchrist—Ed). It's irrational for the Celtics to
pass up any opportunity and yet it never felt more right.
I'm really sick of Dwight Howard (I second that motion. Head
coach, Gregg Popovich would be counted as the third vote.—Ed).
I'm tired of his clean-cut, “smile first” persona that, by now, real NBA
fans know is a load of $#*&.
First let me get
something off my chest: I do believe Howard about the health
of his back and that he is nowhere close to 100% (He looks “smaller” than he did
last year with Orlando. Then again, it could be the hideous purple and yellow
that the Lakers wear that make him seem “smaller,” less dominant, this season—Ed).
Secondly, I do believe
playing with Kobe Bryant takes a
certain kind of mental toughness and that at times, Kobe has raked Dwight over
the coals unfairly (You
can read a bit about that, here—Ed). Finally, I do believe
Dwight is salvageable and is the future of the Lakers and they would be
wise to keep him, no matter what.
That being said, he is
a bonehead of the highest caliber and is really ruining his best years
with his lackadaisical behavior and refusal to understand how he fits
into another team's system. For as much as he and Stan Van Gundy didn't like each other, Stan built a system solely around
Dwight. One center down low and four perimeter shooters to take 3's
on kick-outs from the post (Shaq 2.0?—Ed). Dwight
flourished under this system and became the league's best center, yet other
than one NBA Finals appearance
(2009), always came up short. He got what he wanted in a trade to LA (Although,
according to most “experts,” Howard has wanted to really play for the Brooklyn
Nets all along—Ed) and despite his animosity towards SVG, he still
wants to play like his days in Orlando.
NEWS FLASH, Dwight! That isn't going to happen in
the Kobe/Mike D'Antoni tenure so get
used to it!
(Dan P actually
believes that Pau Gasol is the better first, “big-man” option over Howard. Read
his analysis, here—Ed)
The Lakers are the
Lakers so they will weasel themselves out of this mess, but with the oldest
backcourt in the NBA (Nash/Kobe) and a ton of money to cut from payroll in fear
of the looming luxury tax increase, it looks bleak for the Lakers to really add
the pieces Dwight thinks he covets.
The Return(?) of Derrick Rose
I know I write too
much about the Chicago Bulls (You
can never write too much about the Bulls—Ed), but this is the league's
all-time, youngest MVP and genuine
NBA superstar, so it deserves another look.
The hot topic
surrounding Derrick Rose is not if, but when will he come back to playing NBA
games. He made it clear to reporters last week that he will not come back
until he
feels completely healthy and is 110%. To this day, I still don't know
what that cliche actually means regarding athletic prowess but hey, it always
looks good in print.
Should Derrick Rose
miss the whole season? Unfortunately, there is no right answer, but I am
inclined to have a theory. I've written previously that the Bulls will do
anything (short of transforming themselves into
the Sacramento Kings—Ed) to avoid this year's luxury tax, which
currently they would have to pay if they stood pat. This, of course, is
the horrible idea of trading Carlos
Boozer for Andrea Bargnani,
which doesn't even make sense financially, let alone in basketball terms.
What if Derrick Rose
returning this season would embolden management to scrap this idea of selling?
I could only think of Rose's ACL this whole time and what it would mean
if he came back too soon: a fear I still have. I know there will be rust
in limited minutes, but if he came back looking like his old self, it would rev
Chicago into overdrive (Think Ricky
Rubio, Dirk
Nowitzki and John
Wall, but with a better team—Ed) and perhaps be enough to convince management
to stay aggressive. This team has looked much better than I thought was
possible without Rose and the East
is still a wasteland (sans the Miami
Heat) of mediocre rosters (And even the Heat are full of mediocrity
outside their “Big 3”—Ed).
I would love to see
the Bulls trim some fat off their salary cap, but I wish it would be anybody
but Bargnani. I would have liked to see
them acquire J.J. Redick: A
knockdown, three-point shooter. In 31
minutes per game Redick is posting 45/39/89 shooting percentages for a really
bad Orlando team. At 28 years old and on the final year of his deal that
pays him $6.1 million, he may be affordable.
Unfortunately, a Bulls’ division rival has beaten them to the punch:
Atlanta has pulled out of talks with Milwaukee for Josh Smith, two sources say. Bucks have agreed to acquire J.J. Redick from Orlando.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) February 21, 2013
Rats! I'm looking foolish, once again!
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