Around The NBA...11/22/08/ The Trade Offs.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

*The New York Knicks comsummated two major trades in an attempt to clear up enough room down the road to be able to land a top free agent or two in the Summer of 2010.

The cross river/swamp New Jersey Nets Co owned by Rapper Jay Z, are also tentatively scheduled to move to Brooklyn from the Meadowlands that year as well and are also trying to get under the cap to attract some stars.

Expect GM heavyweights Rod Thorn of the Nets to battle the Knicks VP Donnie Walsh in the next few days to see which team can get in the best shape financially to lure one of the prizes of that free agent class that Summer.
I hope I got their individual titles right...but you know who they are.

But cap room does not always mean a player will come to you town if the situation is not right like the direction, committment and composition of the roster.
Money and the size of the market is not always the factor in deciding where a player will go. Pre-arranged shoe deals, personal friendships and endorsements all factor in.
With Lebron it might come down loyalties in working with Jay Z and or leaving Co Owner Usher and his hometown Cavs, or going to Brooklyn or staying in Manhattan?
In fact, since Lebron is the ultimate frontrunner it might even come down to where CC Sabathia ends up with the Yankees or not as to where LeBron goes!? He was with him in Cleveland and he is pushing for him to come to New York...coincendence? I think not....

But there has to be the right coach in place, the right system, the right supporting cast, and the right city and family considerations a player may have and a organizational wide committment to winning an NBA title, not just talking as you see here!

New York, Cleveland, New Jersey, and some others are getting in good shape to provide most of these so far. But one year the Bulls and another team had a lot of cap room too and no one had wanted to go there at all...the legcy of Michael Jordan was too hard to follow perhaps?

Anyways lets move on:

In other news around the NBA...

*Portland is now primed to take off once Greg Oden gets settled in and can stay healthy for a decent stretch here. Some impressive wins have already come there way.

As quiet as it is kept, this team is another place one might consider in 2010 when Darius Miles and LaFrentz's deals are gone (you have to max Aldridge?) and Pryzbilla's deals nearly ends....

*Memphis if you ask me will be a more desirable place to land over all of these teams once Marco Gasol, OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay are settled! If I am Amare Stoudamire...I might...

The squad will be scary good real soon. This is how you trade well, and scout well internationally (Gasol's) and DRAFT WELL with your lottery picks, and develop players and play them to their talents and to star players rather then to a 'system' people!

Both ways can work. You can put players into a system and that can work for all of them, or you can play a team to a Superstar or Star players strengths and play off them as some teams do very well...like the Cavs, Heat, Magic, and Spurs.

*The Nerve of You Mike!: In New York as reported by the Journal Sentinel Knicks coach Mike D had the audacity and the nerve to ask Stephon Marbury to play tonite against the Bucks' (which I as a fan wish he had...Steph to me is great...) after sitting him down and establishing that he was not a part of their plans anymore!

What a joke. I don't blame Steph or his agent in saying no! The Knicks were shorthanded with only 7 players and now they call on him when they need him in a pinch!? Please...

Steph in effect said, 'hell no we won't go...hell no we won't go..." LOL. But in all seriousness what he he got hurt? Many of you will malign this descision by Marbury, but I don't.

But if I was in his situation and D'Antoni asked me to play, . . . I would have been a man and I would have swallowed my pride and I would have played. But that is just me. But I am not him and I can see why he did not.

Ok I am done for now...

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

* In Detroit one has to wonder how long it is before they start to implode on Coach Michael Curry.
I for one think Richard Hamilton is pissed off for them trading his runningmate Chauncey Billups no more then 3 days after they inked him to a new 3 year deal...

Now Hamilton will look for any small slip up to blow out of proportion so he can point back to the absence of the heart and soul of the team (Billups)is gone.

The better the Nuggets do with Billups the more ticked off Hamilton will become with the Pistons woes. Indirectly he is attacking Allen Iverson.

I think RIP might be trying to get out of Detriot my friends...His heart is not in it and he feels betrayed from what I gather. Ah, business is a messy business.
Stay tuned.

In other news: I hope Billups' replacment a good young player in his own right Rodney Stuckey is okay from that bodyslam he took from Shaq Diesel the other night...Wow! Now that must of hurt..
Ouch!

*In LA I want all of you to see what a difference Zach Randolph will make for a player like Chris Kaman's game just like Elton Brand did for those you Zach haters out there.

Kaman and Bogut are similiar in some ways although Kaman has a more active basketball motor then Andrew and maybe runs the floor better. But A. Bogut won't be as good as he can be until we get him a stud PF next to him to help him out.

I am one who see both the contracts of RJ and Redd come off in 2010 if I am correct and I am in prayer mode for a run at Amare Stoudemire come that Summer on my Bucks' wish list...Ah, dream on I guess?
I hope this trade spells more time for rookie Eric Gordon...

*The Atlanta Hawks are reeling a bit as they wait for max player Josh Smith to return from injury...
I hope it is not one of those deals where Josh signs a deal and now all of a sudden he is always hurt or not showing up every night to play hard?

Please tell me that is not him and I am wrong about him and that is not the case. But I see that all over him...a big tease who gets paid and stops working.

Tell me that is not him and my guy Andre Iguodala...please. I want to be wrong on this at least 60% of the time.

Teams are no longer taking them for granted now and it will be interesting to see how a young team can rise to the level of true contenders or just pretenders.

*I expect more trades to come. But look at this. Look how many 'star players' have been moved all in the first month of the season if not the first two weeks instead of at the deadline of in July!?

Very curious why a lot of these deals were not done earlier or whether they will dry up around the deadline where we only see expiring contracts moved...?

Interesting.