2008 Woodie Awards
Church's Influence on Sports
The NBA is making trades
David Church
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Opinion
Pau Gasol became a Laker, Shaquille O'Neil became a Sun and Jason Kidd a Maverick?
I don't think so. After watching ridiculous trade after trade, I was happy to see Devean George take responsibility and end what looked to be the biggest steal of the season. The trade should eventually go through because George will give in to the pressure of the "boos" by Dallas Maverick fans and the media and Jerry Stackhouse will need to find a new team once he gets cut.
Personally, I am sick of seeing trades like those above. Even the Michael Bibby trade to the Atlanta Hawks was a steal for the Hawks. This appears to be the trend that is going on in the NBA this year.
Whatever happened to trading a young player who has three years left on his initial contract and first and second round draft pick for this superstar. No instead, we are getting trades for superstars for guys who have expiring contracts in the off-season and maybe a pick if you're lucky.
When looking at these trades you can see the big picture. In the Lakers trade, you see an immediate payoff for the Lakers and a possibility for a good payoff for the Memphis Grizzlies who received three players and two first round picks.
The Lakers now are a major contender with the addition of Gasol. Gasol gives Kobe Bryant the help he had been asking for during the off-season. Now the only thing tampering a great playoff run by the Lakers is Kobe's pinky.
Then when looking at the Suns-Heat trade, it is hard to understand what the Suns were thinking. I know Shawn Marion wanted out, but Shaq is not the answer. Like most people in the world, the question is why? You are taking Marion out of the picture, making Amare Stoudemire take his game up a level with Marion gone. The Suns are eventually adding a much slower, older oger who doesn't fit the offensive scheme the Suns play.
We are going to see Shaq playing 20 minutes a game, averaging ten points and six rebounds per game. We are also going to see the Suns go from 109.8 PPG to 98 PPG. With Shaq, the Suns are going to slow their game down and get less touches of the ball. So unless they raise their shooting percentage, they are going to score less.
Finally there is the Bibby trade. Bibby is going to the Hawks who are on the bubble for the final playoff spot. With Bibby, the Hawks will be in the playoffs and it will be on Bibby to carry the Hawks deep into the playoffs.
In return, the Sacramento Kings get four expiring contract players and a second round pick. This will give the Kings a chance to go fishing at the free agency this off-season.
As for Kidd, he will be in a Mavericks uniform by the deadline. But it won't mean a thing, because despite all these teams making key trades, the San Antonio Spurs are getting healthy.
The Spurs have the most dominant big man in the game in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili is getting stronger and stronger with his game and Tony Parker will be returning to the lineup. These three guys are the reason why I am picking the Spurs to repeat for the NBA championship again.
Any comments or questions can be sent to churc009@csusm.edu or pride@csusm.edu.
I don't think so. After watching ridiculous trade after trade, I was happy to see Devean George take responsibility and end what looked to be the biggest steal of the season. The trade should eventually go through because George will give in to the pressure of the "boos" by Dallas Maverick fans and the media and Jerry Stackhouse will need to find a new team once he gets cut.
Personally, I am sick of seeing trades like those above. Even the Michael Bibby trade to the Atlanta Hawks was a steal for the Hawks. This appears to be the trend that is going on in the NBA this year.
Whatever happened to trading a young player who has three years left on his initial contract and first and second round draft pick for this superstar. No instead, we are getting trades for superstars for guys who have expiring contracts in the off-season and maybe a pick if you're lucky.
When looking at these trades you can see the big picture. In the Lakers trade, you see an immediate payoff for the Lakers and a possibility for a good payoff for the Memphis Grizzlies who received three players and two first round picks.
The Lakers now are a major contender with the addition of Gasol. Gasol gives Kobe Bryant the help he had been asking for during the off-season. Now the only thing tampering a great playoff run by the Lakers is Kobe's pinky.
Then when looking at the Suns-Heat trade, it is hard to understand what the Suns were thinking. I know Shawn Marion wanted out, but Shaq is not the answer. Like most people in the world, the question is why? You are taking Marion out of the picture, making Amare Stoudemire take his game up a level with Marion gone. The Suns are eventually adding a much slower, older oger who doesn't fit the offensive scheme the Suns play.
We are going to see Shaq playing 20 minutes a game, averaging ten points and six rebounds per game. We are also going to see the Suns go from 109.8 PPG to 98 PPG. With Shaq, the Suns are going to slow their game down and get less touches of the ball. So unless they raise their shooting percentage, they are going to score less.
Finally there is the Bibby trade. Bibby is going to the Hawks who are on the bubble for the final playoff spot. With Bibby, the Hawks will be in the playoffs and it will be on Bibby to carry the Hawks deep into the playoffs.
In return, the Sacramento Kings get four expiring contract players and a second round pick. This will give the Kings a chance to go fishing at the free agency this off-season.
As for Kidd, he will be in a Mavericks uniform by the deadline. But it won't mean a thing, because despite all these teams making key trades, the San Antonio Spurs are getting healthy.
The Spurs have the most dominant big man in the game in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili is getting stronger and stronger with his game and Tony Parker will be returning to the lineup. These three guys are the reason why I am picking the Spurs to repeat for the NBA championship again.
Any comments or questions can be sent to churc009@csusm.edu or pride@csusm.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kyle Trembley
posted 2/19/08 @ 1:36 PM PST
While I agree that Shaq is probably going to give Phoenix something like 20 minutes, 10 points, and 6 boards a game, I think this analysis misses the entire point of the trade. (Continued…)
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