Thursday, February 14, 2008

The NBA hot stove league

First came the stunning fleecing of the Grizzlies by the Lakers, made all the more shocking because Mitch Kupchak was the one doing the fleecing. Then came the blockbuster Shaq for Shawn Marion deal, which seemed to be incredibly one sided in favor of Miami by everyone except Shaq and everyone Shaq was able to convince. Now Jason Kidd may or may not be going to the team the drafted him, which is on hold because the very mediocre Devean George and his "small" $2.4 million salary has blocked the deal. But he may be doing Dallas a favor.

Why did Phoenix felt the need to trade a 29 year old averaging 16 and 10 this year for a 35 year old averaging 14 and 8 this year? And throw in their backup point guard and go over into luxury tax territory to do it? When they were a couple suspensions away from the Championship last year? The reason I root for the Suns versus the rest of the NBA elite is because they play a nontraditional brand of basketball, and now they feel the need to trade one of their big three for a center with an unmovable contract.

In response, the Mavs overpay for a traditional point guard, trading all their roster flexibility and maybe their best young player (Devin Harris) for another unmovable contract. More and more I'm convinced this is the Lakers' year, thanks to the maturation of Andrew Bynum, and even more impressively, Mitch Kupchak.

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