No Blood No Foul

In a move that cleared a lot of salary, the Timberwolves shipped O.J. Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, and Greg Buckner to the Memphis Grizzlies.

In a move that added a lot of salary, the Memphis Grizzlies shipped Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Jason Collins, and Brian Cardinal to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Who won the trade? Memphis. But it wasn’t much of a victory.

First of all, O.J. Mayo is the prize of the trade. His rookie scale contract combined with his talent and potential mean he’s going to be a pretty good investment for the next four seasons. So, in that light, Memphis is the big winner of this deal.

However - Memphis had to take on some pretty ugly contracts to make this deal. Antoine Walker’s contract (nearly $9 million a year for three more years) is a joke. Marko Jaric’s contract is pretty pricey ($6 million plus for the next three seasons), and it’s hard to imagine he’ll be getting much run in Memphis behind Lowry, Conley, Crittenton, and Mayo. Of course, it’s likely that Memphis is planning to move one or more of their guards. Miami is interested in Mayo, and this deal might just be a prelude to an even bigger deal with Miami. Maybe Miami swaps Beasley for Mayo and some contract shuffling…

Minnesota did OK. They dumped Antoine Walker’s HUGE contract off on Memphis, and all they had to do is take back Brian Cardinal’s deal. That’s a win. Kevin Love, while lacking athleticism, is a solid passer and can contribute off the bench at a minimum. Minnesota also got Mike Miller in the deal - an elite shooter that can provide some leadership. Of course, just like Mayo in Memphis, Miller actually playing in Minnesota seems far from certain.

It’s important to recognize that Mike Miller is a very attractive piece for a championship contender, and since Minnesota is in rebuilding mode, Miller can be had for nothing more than draft picks and an expiring contract.

It seems a little to premature to make a true judgment about this deal. It’s a near certainty that Memphis will trade one or more of their young point guards in the next couple of weeks. The Nuggets, for instance, had expressed an interest in Kyle Lowry. However, my guess is by the time the sun rises O.J. Mayo will be playing in Miami and Beasley will be teaming up with Rudy Gay and Mike Conley in Memphis.

Why else would Memphis take on all this salary? If there’s one thing we know for sure, Memphis HATES salary. Just ask Mitch Kupchak about that one…

The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off the 2nd biggest trade heist of 2008 (after Pau Gasol).

Talk about your lop-sided trades. According to ESPN, the Milwaukee Bucks have shipped Yi Jianlin and Bobby Simmons to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Richard Jefferson.

Let me put it another way - the Bucks traded a soft PF (Yi) and an incredibly overpaid journeyman SF (Bobby) for a solid locker-room leader and All-Star (Richard).

You’re probably asking yourself how this type of deal happens. Simple. Kiki Vandeweghe. The same Kiki Vandeweghe that bid against himself when trading for Kenyon Martin. The same Kiki Vandeweghe that drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili. The same Kiki Vandeweghe that traded the rights to Jameer Nelson for Julius Hodge. Read the rest

Say what you will about Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson and his recent coaching hire, but I think ol’ Johnny got it right. Why pay top dollar when coaches don’t matter very much anyways?

While one could argue there are a few top notch coaches that could make ANY NBA team good, like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, and Gregg Popovich, it’s a tough make your argument stick. After all, each of those men enjoyed the services of elite players like Bill Russel, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Tim Duncan (along with a slew of other greats) during their most successful seasons. It’s true that no one wins without talent, but it’s hard to prove that coaches really make much of a difference. Read the rest

Now that we know Denver must trade Allen Iverson, here’s a list of potential ’sign-and-trade’ opportunities:

Cleveland - My personal favorite, A.I. and Lebron could play together in a way that Melo and A.I. never will. Lebron is a much better 3pt shooter and passer than Melo, opening up a lot more scoring opportunities for A.I. (and the rest of the Cavs) that simply don’t exist in Denver. Additionally, if Cleveland had A.I., their offense wouldn’t grind to a halt when Lebron went to the bench. Finally, A.I.’s defensive liabilities won’t be as significant in Cleveland as they are in Denver. Denver would gladly take Delonte West back as their PG of the future, and Cleveland has some attractive expiring contracts. Cleveland throws in a late first round pick and we’ve got enough to make a deal.

The Knicks - Anyone else think that A.I. would thrive in D’Antoni’s system? Read the rest

Boston closed out the Hawks yesterday in a game heralded by the media as “potentially the biggest upset in history.” While the Hawks definitely gave Boston a scare, the series was never that close. Boston outplayed Atlanta in every game - except for a few fourth quarters. Based on that experience, here’s what we now know about the Boston Celtics:

1. The Boston Celtics bench is no longer a weak point. Leon Powe, Glen Davis, and Eddie House have all proven that they can provide meaningful minutes. Add in Posey (a guy that’s good enough to start on a lot of teams in the league), and savvy vets Sam Cassell and PJ Brown, and you have a team that’s deep enough to go all the way. Kudos to Danny Ainge for acquiring those two vets, and kudos to Doc Rivers for bringing along the younger guys.

2. Rajon Rondo is still the weakest starter on the team, but his shortcomings will be minimized as long as Cassell is available off the bench. Rondo’s game is highly dependent on getting in the lane (something elite teams do a great job of stopping). Take that away from him and it throws off his rythym - offensively and defensively. Lucky for Boston, they’ve got a fantastic point guard coming off the bench in Sam Cassell, so it won’t be an issue.

3. Doc Rivers might cost Boston a championship. It’s clear to most observers that Doc can’t coach at an elite level. He doesn’t understand late-game management, and he has trouble understanding and exploiting match-ups. See games 3,4, and 6 of the Hawks series. Don’t get me wrong - Boston might be able to overcome their coaching handicap. Still, I think every remaining team in the playoffs has a better coach than Rivers.

4. The Celtics have trouble with teams that play at a fast pace with a lot of athleticism. Luckily, they won’t face any more teams like that this year, at least not until the NBA finals (if they make it that far).

5. The Celtics team chemistry is as good as any. A lot of commentators talk about the fact that Boston hasn’t played together enough to win it all, but I think that’s wrong. Look at the way the team has pulled together in tough games all year - they’ve got plenty of chemistry to go all the way.

6. Lebron James is going to give Boston fits. Imagine a stronger, faster, and more capable version of Joe Johnson tear-assing through the Celtic’s defense. Lebron is going to single-handedly terrorize the Celtics defense. Will his supporting cast be enough to put his team over the top? I don’t think so, but it will definitely be close.

7. Detroit controls Boston’s future. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Detroit is a better team than Boston. But will Detroit play like the better team in the conference championship? If every Detroit Piston is focused, and I mean totally focused, Detroit’s superior point guard play, bench depth, coaching, and experience should prevail. Boston’s bench is good now, but I’d still take the “zoo crew” over them. Having said that, Detroit did collapse last year against Cleveland. It’s going to be a great series…

I like Boston’s chances of reaching the NBA championship - I’d say it’s an even money bet.