NBA Blog

Before I talk about the All-Star game, I need to get one list out of the way.  The NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and in preparation of it, I made a list of names that could/should be moved in the coming days.  Some of the names I thought of were already dealt, including Darko, Vlad Radmanovic, and Kelvin Cato.  This is just a list of names to look for real soon.  Of course, some of these guys won’t go anywhere (but maybe they should).  I’ll start with some of the bigger names:

Steve Francis - obviously, with their plethora of guards after acquiring Carlos Arroyo, the Magic may be looking for takers of the Franchise.  He’s worn out his welcome in the Magic Kingdom.  He’s a great player, but a guy who shines at first, and then needs to be moved.  Much like…
Stephon Marbury - he doesn’t fit with Larry Brown, but then again, none of the Knicks do.  Starbury appears to be the most movable commodity not named Robinson, Lee, or Frye.  And it’s time for the Knicks to swallow their pride and try to move some of their vets, and Marbury should be first to go.  Follow trading him, by moving…
Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway - probably the most coveted commodity other than the young guns simply because his contract comes off the books.  He WILL be dealt real soon.
Kenyon Martin - his knees are becoming worrisome, and he’s proving that he cannot cut it in the West.  For his sake, he needs to move back East and try to become an All-Star again.  Or, he could move to a team that won’t need him to score much.  Maybe he could be traded for…
Lamar Odom - He simply just doesn’t fit with Kobe.  Moving Lamar to Denver would allow him to handle the ball while Earl Boykins runs around screens to get open.  This means that…
Andre Miller - becomes expendable.  He would help out a lot of teams.  Almost everyone could use some point guard help, including Minnesota because…
Marko Jaric - he simply isn’t working out in Minny, and the Wolves need to do something to get on the winnning track again.  Their previous trade didn’t help enough, and K.G. needs some more help to win.  One guy they dealt…
Michael Olowakandi - big name just because he was a #1 pick.  No other reason.  He doesn’t fit the Boston youth movement, and with an expiring contract he becomes tradeable.  Other big men may be dealt, including…
Nene - the one name wonder is on the outs in Denver, and despite being out for hte season, I’m sure a team would trade for him to acquire his Bird rights in order to re-sign him next season.
Troy Murphy/Mike Dunleavy/Michael Pietrus - Chris Mullin committed a lot of money to the first two, which makes them hard to move.  However, Pietrus is incredibly talented.  Can he do something in the last 30 games to make Dunleavy expendable?  The same goes for Murphy if Diogu can take his job.

Other names to look for include the following:
Marc Jackson - solid big man, doesn’t fit with the running Nets.
Raptors players - they may want to free up more money to re-sign Mike James and get another free agent in the offseason.  Maybe Al Harrington could play the small forward spot for them.  His ability to post up small forwards would allow CB-4 to knock down open jumpers at the top of the key. 
Joey Graham - great defender, solid rebounder at the 3, but he cannot score.  Toronto needs more consistency at the small forward.  I also don’t like starting Charlie V at the small forward spot.  I think he should win 6th Man of the Year next season.
Malik Rose - if the Knicks make some moves, I hope he is involved.  I hate the fact that he’s stuck in N.Y.
Reggie Evans - incredible rebounder on the outs in Seattle.  He’s gone this summer, maybe Seattle can get something for him before he bolts.
Flip Murray - can score, can’t handle the ball.  He’s one of those dreaded “tweeners”, you know scorer in a point guards body.  Think really, really, really poor man’s version of Iverson. 
Earl Watson - no one wants his contract, but a lot want him to play point guard. 
Tim Thomas - 6′10″ and versatile enough to play shooting guard.  He needs to play somewhere, and his contract comes off the books.  Somebody will want him, or the Bulls will buy him out.  Either way, he’s moving soon.
Michael Sweetney - imitation of Charles Oakley with more scoring and less defense/rebounding.  Perhaps I should call him a better version of Tractor Traylor.  Or maybe he really is Tractor Traylor.  Who knows?
Danny Fortson - crazier than Oakley.  He does rebound well, when he’s not getting kicked out of games.
Travis Outlaw - saw him a few weeks ago in Indy.  He’s certainly talented.  But he won’t get run when Darius Miles gets back.  (SIDEBAR:  By the way, I still love Darius Miles.  He rebounds and dunks extremely well, and has been coming into his own finally.  I hope he can stay healthy.  He’s still really young, and he looks a LOT like the early years of the Matrix, Shawn Marion.  Without the T-Rex jumper of course.)
Some Chicago Bulls - see below

Really big names to move:
Ray Allen & Paul Pierce - both are awesome, and both are stuck on terrible teams going nowhere.  Their teams need more than what they bring, which means both teams need several players and possibly picks.  Move them.  Both would work really well in Minnesota with K.G., but does Minnesota have enough pieces to make a move for them.  I know one team that has commodities and draft picks to spare, and that is the Chicago Bulls.  What will get a deal done?  Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, a couple of expiring contracts (Tim Thomas, Malik Allen, Eric Piatkowski, etc.) and theirs and the Knicks first-rounders.  That’s a lot to offer someone.

Phew, that’s a lot to look for, I understand.  Perhaps they all won’t be moved, but some of them most certainly will be packing their bags for new scenery.  I know, it’s like, if I throw enough names down, I’m bound to get some right, but I really think many of these guys will get dealt.

ALL-STAR GAME EXTRAVAGANZA:
Andre Igoudala got robbed in the Dunk contest.  He should have pulled the exacta with the MVP in the Rookie/Sophmore game and the Dunk title, ala Jason Richardson.  That behind-the-backboard thing was absurd.  Ernie, Charles, and Kenny should have waited to do their Greatest Dunk Ever contest until after that one.  It was ridiculous. 

I was disappointed in the All-Star game a little bit.  There were waaay too many turnovers.  Also, I hope that Yao doesn’t start next year.  He just doesn’t work in it.  I know Pau Gasol was sick, but he also looked completely out of place. 

Gilbert Arenas struggled again this year.  Maybe he’ll make it next year, so he will finally hit a jumper.

I know LeBron was the MVP and scored at will, but almost anybody can score at will in those games.  I wanted him to break out some absurd passes for us.  Even Allen Iverson passes the ball in the All Star game.

I love Ben Wallace.  He blocks two shots in a row, and airballs a free throw.  And he didn’t give a damn that he airballed it.  It was great.  I think that was the first airballed (is that even a real word?) free throw in the history of the All Star game. 

Memo to TNT:  I love it when players have a mic on them for these things because it’s fun to hear them joke around when there is no action going on.  But much like the NFL, when the action is going, they don’t say anything entertaining.  A couple of grunts from them isn’t enjoyable.  Only give us the good stuff, like Tim Duncan’s antics during dead balls.  However, now the rest of the league fans know what San Antonio people have known for a while: his game is boring on the court, but Timmy is a really funny guy. 

Phew, that was a lot.  I’m sorry to hit you with all of this at once, but it needed to be done.  I still want to talk about seeing Dave Chappell on “Inside the Actors Studio”.  If you didn’t see it, I’m really sorry you missed it.