No Blood No Foul

Amare is going get moved this month – here’s why:

1. Phoenix can win almost as many games without Amare as they can with him. If you saw Phoenix and Dallas play last Thursday, you know that Phoenix has a bunch of scrappy young athletic bigs that can shoot and finish. I’m not saying they’re better without Amare – no chance – but they’re not much worse is he leaves town.
2. Phoenix could lose Amare this summer for nothing.
3. Phoenix can’t afford Amare if he decides not to opt out. Phoenix needs Amare off the books this summer if they want to make some moves and make their team better without going over the luxury cap.
4. Phoenix can still get under the luxury cap. If Phoenix can trade for a talented young PF while also reducing salary by about $3 million (possible), they might consider trading Channing Frye to a team with a trade exception (hello Nuggets!) to get under the cap. This would be HUGE financially.

Here’s the trick for Phoenix: whatever move Phoenix makes, it has to be viewed as part of a bigger plan to get better. If Steve Nash decides Phoenix is throwing in the towel and asks for a trade, Phoenix becomes a less talented version of the Golden State Warriors. Here are the possibilities: (more…)

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. (more…)

It’s been said that Jason Kidd recently requested a trade through his agent, adding to the wild trade rumors that get NBA fans so excited every winter. I’ve spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out where Kidd would, could, or should go, and I’ve drawn a big zero. Unless it’s a three team trade, I don’t see any way that Kidd leaves NJ before the trade deadline. Most contending teams would have to nuke their current rosters to make a deal for Kidd, and the resulting chaos might ruin the team. However, there is a possible trade partner, and they’re just up the street…

Jason Kidd to the NY Knicks for Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford. (more…)

As we all know, December 15th is an important date as far as making an NBA trade is concerned. By rule, it’s the first day that free agents signed during the summer can be traded. Typically, this flexibility opens up a lot of trade possibilities and triggers some shuffling. So, without further delay, here’s my list of the ten NBA players most likely to be traded beginning Dec. 15th. (more…)

I’m putting my basketball analysis cred on the line and boldly predicting how the eastern conference playoff picture will look in about 6 months. While I’m nearly 100% confident in my picks for the west, I’m not entirely sure about any of these teams. With the exception of Detroit and Chicago, every other team on this list could fall out of the big picture. The truth is that most teams in the East aren’t that good, and teams that aren’t that good tend to be inconsistent. Anyways…

1) Detroit Pistons – Expect Flip Saunders to improve Detroit’s offense, and look for their bench to rival many teams starting squads. (more…)

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