Even though the basketball action itself is on hold, there's still plenty going on to keep handicappers and die-hard sports-fanatics on the edge of their seats. The NBA trade season is in full swing, with players coming and going, teams gambling on whether or not the deals they make will turn out to be good ones, with fans bracing themselves on one hand preparing for the worse, and hoping for the better on the other hand.
Yes indeed, just how important a few inspired trades may turn out to be was extremely well illustrated last season. Take the KG deal, that not only turned the cellar-dwelling Celts into contenders, it sure enough landed them the title too. Other deals can go extremely sour for one of the parties involved. If they do however, it is also true that the worse a trade looks for the fans of one of the teams the rosier it will appear for the fans of the other team involved.
Take the in-season trade between The Grizzlies and the Lakers that sent Pau Gasol to L.A. While the Grizzlies fans were expecting something substantial in exchange for their all-time best player, all they got was essentially small change. While the two first-round draft picks ceded to them by the Lakers for 2008 and 2010 might be something valuable for the future, rights to Marc Gasol and Aaron McKie plus some money on the side was certainly not something any Grizzlies fan would’ve settled with.
Anyway, what's done is done, there's not much use in crying over spilt milk. Let's instead take a look at the newest player moves and try to stitch together a few team predictions for next season based on them.
While the Suns have stuck by their view that last season's Marion-for-Shaq trade was something absolutely necessary for the team to assert a respectable presence in the post, their recent signing of Matt Barnes could be a sign that the Valley executives are backtracking on their decision.
Barnes will probably bring Marion-like explosiveness and athleticism to the Suns' "O", which means the management is probably looking for alternatives to get that up-tempo run-and-gun thing going again, this time with The Big Cactus as an alternative to fall back upon. Will the Suns be contenders next season? They probably will. Shaq's presence has indeed healed up some of the Achilles’ heels of the team, however with a roster laden with aging superstars, (Nash, Hill, Shaq himself) only the future will tell if they're able to indeed keep up with the cream of the Western Conference, which is indeed bulking up too. Ron Artest will join T-Mac for next season in Houston. The deal appears to be nailed down, as the lone star team will send guard Bobby Jackson, another player (as yet unknown) and a 2009 first round draft pick to Sacramento in exchange for him.
The LA Clippers will also be a team to watch next season. After the trade-sensation involving Baron Davis, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, it became obvious that the re-shaping of the Clippers would be a complete process. Sure enough, the “other” LA team went on to acquire Brian Skinner from the Suns, added Marcus Camby from Denver, as well as Mike Taylor, Ricky Davis and Jason Hart. The Clippers' most recent move was the signing of free agent Jason Williams, a 10-year veteran guard who played in Miami for three seasons (including 2006 when the Heat won the title).
The team reconstruction is also in full swing in Miami. After last season's fiasco, the Heat are keen on filling up their roster with young players like the recently signed Yakhouba Diawara. Dwayne Wade who sat out most of last season with an injury looks to be back in shape (if his Olympics performance is any indication in this respect) and second overall draft pick Michael Beasley is also a nice addition. With a question mark over Shawn Marion, the Heat still looks to be a much improved team compared to last season.
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Yes indeed, just how important a few inspired trades may turn out to be was extremely well illustrated last season. Take the KG deal, that not only turned the cellar-dwelling Celts into contenders, it sure enough landed them the title too. Other deals can go extremely sour for one of the parties involved. If they do however, it is also true that the worse a trade looks for the fans of one of the teams the rosier it will appear for the fans of the other team involved.Take the in-season trade between The Grizzlies and the Lakers that sent Pau Gasol to L.A. While the Grizzlies fans were expecting something substantial in exchange for their all-time best player, all they got was essentially small change. While the two first-round draft picks ceded to them by the Lakers for 2008 and 2010 might be something valuable for the future, rights to Marc Gasol and Aaron McKie plus some money on the side was certainly not something any Grizzlies fan would’ve settled with.
Anyway, what's done is done, there's not much use in crying over spilt milk. Let's instead take a look at the newest player moves and try to stitch together a few team predictions for next season based on them.
While the Suns have stuck by their view that last season's Marion-for-Shaq trade was something absolutely necessary for the team to assert a respectable presence in the post, their recent signing of Matt Barnes could be a sign that the Valley executives are backtracking on their decision.
Barnes will probably bring Marion-like explosiveness and athleticism to the Suns' "O", which means the management is probably looking for alternatives to get that up-tempo run-and-gun thing going again, this time with The Big Cactus as an alternative to fall back upon. Will the Suns be contenders next season? They probably will. Shaq's presence has indeed healed up some of the Achilles’ heels of the team, however with a roster laden with aging superstars, (Nash, Hill, Shaq himself) only the future will tell if they're able to indeed keep up with the cream of the Western Conference, which is indeed bulking up too. Ron Artest will join T-Mac for next season in Houston. The deal appears to be nailed down, as the lone star team will send guard Bobby Jackson, another player (as yet unknown) and a 2009 first round draft pick to Sacramento in exchange for him.
The LA Clippers will also be a team to watch next season. After the trade-sensation involving Baron Davis, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, it became obvious that the re-shaping of the Clippers would be a complete process. Sure enough, the “other” LA team went on to acquire Brian Skinner from the Suns, added Marcus Camby from Denver, as well as Mike Taylor, Ricky Davis and Jason Hart. The Clippers' most recent move was the signing of free agent Jason Williams, a 10-year veteran guard who played in Miami for three seasons (including 2006 when the Heat won the title).
The team reconstruction is also in full swing in Miami. After last season's fiasco, the Heat are keen on filling up their roster with young players like the recently signed Yakhouba Diawara. Dwayne Wade who sat out most of last season with an injury looks to be back in shape (if his Olympics performance is any indication in this respect) and second overall draft pick Michael Beasley is also a nice addition. With a question mark over Shawn Marion, the Heat still looks to be a much improved team compared to last season.
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