NBA Trade Deadline Deals: Melo, Deron Williams & More
One of my favorite times of the year is now upon us. Yes, it's NBA trade deadline week and blockbuster deals are dominating the sports headlines.
While the flames from the Carmelo Anthony deal are still smoldering on the East coast, the New Jersey Nets just added one of the premier point guards in the league in Deron Williams. The move was both bold and brilliant.
Unlike Melo, Williams actually makes the players around him better. Brook Lopez, who has been in a funk for the better part of the season, will definitely benefit from Williams joining the team. Deron's arrival will also likely lead to other established players flocking to New Jersey/Brooklyn in the near future.
Is there risk involved for the Nets if Williams opts out of his current contract? Sure, but look for Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov to sell DWill on being the face of the franchise for the next decade. Nets fans shouldn't worry. Williams won't be able to make more money elsewhere and he'll probably be a Net for a very long time.
Did the Jazz get fleeced? Far from it. Devin Harris is a solid (although oft-injured) point guard and Derrick Favors has a lot of promise. In addition, two high first round draft choices are headed to Utah including the Nets unprotected pick in the draft this June.
Will there be more deadline deals? Absolutely, but none will eclipse the blockbuster Nets and Knicks trades of the past 48 hours. Smaller names like Gerald Wallace, O.J. Mayo, Andre Miller, Andrei Kirilenko and Hasheem Thabeet are just some of the guys likely to find themselves in new cities come tomorrow afternoon.
As a...gulp...Clippers fan I'm certainly hoping center Chris Kaman also finds a new home. Man-child DeAndre Jordan is ready to take the reigns as the Clippers starting center and it's time for Kaman to go. According to the ESPN Trade Machine the salaries match for the following deal to go down: Kaman and forward Rasual Butler to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Byron Mullens and the expiring contract of seldom used swingman Morris Peterson.
The trade gives the Thunder a bona fide presence in the paint, and makes them a legitimate playoff contender this year. Come on Clips...get it done.
Posted by San Diego Sports Guy at 2/23/2011 1:21 PM 
Categories: NBA
Tags: Utah Jazz Deron Williams Nets Prokhorov
Categories: NBA
Tags: Utah Jazz Deron Williams Nets Prokhorov
"Did the Jazz get fleeced?"
You can't rape the willing. Once Jerry Sloan punched out, you knew this was coming. In other words, even if you don't like what the Jazz got in return, or even if the Jazz weren't going to get these guys, Deron Williams was going to be on the first bus out of town.
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All things considering, it was a pretty good haul for the Jazz (especially with the Nets pick being unprotected).
It was also the right move for both teams. Props to Prokhorov and Larry Miller's son for making the trade.
p.s. I was also happy to see that "Sources" and "Sources close to the situation" were left out in the cold without getting wind of the deal.
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In one sense, all these blockbuster deals is good for the NBA. 'Melo going to the Knicks and making that team relevant again is undoubtedly good for the league.
But as the league's rich get rich, the poor get immeasurably poorer and we now have a number of teams that won't even sniff the playoffs for a very long time.
How long do you think it will be before teams like Toronto, Washington, Cleveland, Sacramento, Minnesota and heck, even Detroit and Charlotte are even somewhat decent.
I can't help but wonder if we're on the verge of contraction.
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We are clearly on the verge of contraction, in fact, one could make an argument that the players are doing that for us when the stars congregate on a select group of certain teams. It may not be a "feel-good" situation for the small-market teams, but the idea that leagues should have parody is a complete sham.
Look at the 1980's in the NBA. Know how many franchises made the NBA Finals? Five. Out of the ten Champions in the 80's, know how many weren't the Celtics or the Lakers? Two; the 76ers in '83 and the Pistons in '89 - nad they both had to beat both the Celtics and the Lakers to be Champs. Know what else you can say about the 80's? It was the pinnacle of popularity for the NBA.
Look at the English Premier League, the world's most popular sports league. In it's 20 years history 44 different franchise have competed in it. Know how many have won it? Four.
Even the NFL, which loves to bleat about parody does a poor job of following the model. In the AFC, 7 of the last ten Championship Games have been won by two franchises; Pittsburgh and New England. The NFC, on the other hand, defines "parody" by having 10 different franchises win the last 10 Championships Games; the NFC has been represented by 11 different franchises in the past 15 Super Bowls. However, The NFC has a 6-9 record in those 15 Super Bowls.
The point is there is no benefit in having a league with 30 mediocre teams. It is so clear that a model that has 6 great teams, 12 mediocre teams, and 8 terrible ones will be more successful than one that boasts "parody."
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Agreed. A model with 6 great teams, a half dozen terrible ones and the rest mediocre is definitely the best (and most intriguing) way to go.
This year's deadline certainly didn't disappoint. A few semi-big trades took place right at noon...including OKC dealing Jeff Green to the Celtics and Mo Peterson to the Bobcats.
Props to OKC GM Sam Presti. I've been critical of him in the past but he stepped up to the plate this week and hit a couple huge home runs.
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