- May 23, 2012
- 15,756
- 14,535
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- Tottenham Hotspur, New Orleans Pels
Hello, and welcome to a very special NBA week.
Special not just because it's the last week before the All-star break. And special not just because we're recovering from the fallout of the trade period. But special because you, as the reader, will get an exclusive peek into the pressure that comes with beating the deadline and meeting expectations.
The following is a recorded transcript between an unnamed, overworked NBA previewer and an anonymous Bigfootytyrant moderator. I'm pretty sure overworked NBA previewers and NBA GMs suffer roughly the same amount of stress on any given day. One just gets paid more, that's all.
Writer: I love what I see
Writer: Yes. Yes, I would.
Writer: Uh huh. Yes I would.
Writer: Nothing there? Just exactly what would interest you? A preview the size of a paperback novel? More pictures of Taylor Swift?
Writer: Yeah I have, and yeah, I do. Why?
Writer: No, uh... he's a good editor.
Writer: Hey, don't worry - I've got enough for a great new idea for this week's preview. It's about the craziness of the trade deadline. It's big.
And so on that masterful, non-contrived segue, welcome to this week's comprehensive review of the NBA's non-epic trade deadline, a review that was carefully thought out and in no way thrown together in an ad-hoc manner in order to beat another, more pressing, deadline.
Here we'll break down the trades, shifting through the futile, the convoluted, the pointless and finally the downright depressing. It'll be fun, I promise!
I can't lie to you about your chances... but you have my sympathies.
Buddy Hield to the Sixers: a trade that makes sense in every way, but for one important, bittersweet detail - Embiid's knee injury. This was exactly the kind of low-risk, high potential reward move a championship contender should make, but it won't matter a jot unless the big guy can somehow find a way to get back to 100% health before the playoffs. Providing more spacing around Paul Reed just doesn't have the same gravity to it.
Pat Beverley to the Bucks: like Philly's move, one that makes perfect sense, and one that comes at a low cost (Cam Payne and a 2nd - meh). However expecting a 35 year old journeyman to lift your alarmingly sagging defence single-handed is quite the leap of faith. And that's before we ever touch on Milwaukee's chance of advancing in the playoffs under Doc Rivers' watch...
Daniel Gafford to the Mavericks: again, a move that makes sense structurally, as the Mavs are one of the worst rebounding and shot blocking teams in the league. Derrick Lively has had an impressive rookie season, but it's too much to ask for him to hold down the position for 48 minutes. So why the doubt? Well, the Mavs purchased the pick used to land Gafford via the Thunder, who now possess the right to swap picks with the Mavs in 2028. I reckon the Thunder are poised to be a 50-win team for the next 5-6 years. The Mavs? Well, they'll go as Doncic goes - possibly literally. Speaking of the Mavs...
It can get you in a lot of trouble, thinking - I shouldn't do so much of it.
P.J. Washington to the Mavs: the Grant Williams experiment is over, with the similarly priced but more reliable Washington heading to Dallas instead. Good, right? Well, no, not exactly - cleaning up your own messes is hardly the sign of an optimal front office, or the best use of assets. And about those assets - the Mavs now owe their 2027 (basically) and 2029 unprotected firsts to Charlotte and Brooklyn (Kyrie trade) respectively, while owing the Thunder (2028, Gafford deal) and Spurs (2030, Williams deal) unprotected pick swap rights. Plus they still owe the Knicks their first this season from the Porzingis trade. That's a lot of assets spent and a lot of trading for a roster that's isn't appreciably better than the one they had three years ago. Still, they're better for now, so baby steps.
Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Raptors: I mean, I guess there's nothing technically wrong with spending a late pick in a weak (2024) Draft to pick up a couple of rotation pieces. It's more the overall plan, or lack thereof, that should worry Raptors fans. We probably won't know how the Siakam and Anunoby trades pan out for a couple of years, but at the very least it's arguable that Masai Ujiri should have dealt Siakam and VanVleet a year ago, when they would have held more value. And now, for the second year in a row, they've spent a first round pick acquiring role players (Poeltl in 2023). I guess Agbaji's young, and Olynyk is Canadian, so... hooray. It's hard to get away from the conclusion that Ujiri has overplayed, and over-thought, his hand of late.
Quentin Grimes, Simeone Fontecchio and Mike Muscala to the Pistons: if the Raptors are guilty of over-thinking and over-valuing their roster, I don't know what to call what the Pistons have done. Holding on to Bogdanovic that long, just to end up with Grimes and some 2nds? Trading a 2nd to land a 28 year old Simeone Fontecchio from a team that is arguably more advanced in their rebuild than you are? Spending assets, money and time on Marvin Bagley, only to pay Washington yet more 2nds just to take him off their hands? Technically the roster balance looks a little better now, but... yikes.
Thank you, thank you... we try to do our best.
Royce O'Neale to the Suns: the Nets paid the Jazz the 28th pick in the 2023 draft for O'Neale 18 months ago, and farewelled him to Phoenix this week for the princely sum of three future second round picks. Are three seconds better than a late first? I genuinely don't know. Of course in 2022 the Nets were all-in, whereas in 2024 they're rebuilding in a post-superstar wasteland, so it makes sense. But these two trades were the epitome of a bureaucratic paper-pusher justifying his salary through pointless busywork... and probably enjoying it.
Doug McDermott to the Pacers: ever get the feeling some GMs do trades just to look busy at work, a la George Costanza? Indy's trade day was a little like that. They moved Buddy Hield and his expiring contract to the Sixers, but in the same deal they landed Dougie McBuckets and his expiring contract in return. In doing so, they reduced their compensation gained from 3 future second round picks to merely 2 future second round picks. Out goes a 31-year-old three point shooting specialist on an expiring deal, and in his place arrives a 32-year old three point shooting specialist on an expiring deal. Applause!
Spencer Dinwiddie to the Raptors: without wanting to pick on the NBA's northern outpost, no deadline day trade got a bigger giggle out of me than this one. Former free agent signings Schroeder and Young out, Dinwiddie in. Of course there was logic to this move, as Schroeder has an extra year on his deal, hence Dinwiddie immediately being bought out and waived. Still, talk about the ultimate trade in nothings between two teams stuck in no-man's land. Or if you like, a mildly exciting accounting exercise.
Monte Morris to the Wolves: at least there was logic to the Dinwiddie/Schroeder deal. The rebuilding Pistons paid the Wizards a second round pick for Monte Morris in July, only to turn around six months later and trade him to Minny for... a second round pick. A brilliantly executed plan. If anyone can tell me what exactly that plan was though, I'd be ever so grateful. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if a machine that goes 'ping' is running Detroit's front office.
This is what happens when you're not economically viable.
Danuel House to the Pistons: pretty straightforward, this - the Sixers dumped House on the Pistons to duck under the luxury tax, while also giving themselves both the wriggle room and the roster spot needed to sign any veteran point guard who might be bought out... cough Lowry cough.
Kira Lewis to the Jazz via Indy and Toronto: poor Kira. The former Pels lottery pick was unceremoniously dumped by his erstwhile employer for the express cynical purpose of avoiding paying the luxury tax this season. It set in motion a chain of events that sent him first to Indiana, then to Toronto in the Siakam trade, and finally to Utah in the Olynyk deal. So not just the humiliation of being dumped, but also being left stranded in Salt Lake City. Sorry, Kira.
Cory Joseph to the Pacers: speaking of humiliating, we all know that most salary dumps involve an asset being sent to sweeten the medicine, right? Well in Joseph's case, Indiana obviously thought so little of the upcoming 2024 Draft that they not only accepted mere cash from the Warriors to help lessen their tax bill by taking Joseph, but actually GAVE the Dubs one of their many 2024 seconds in the process. If I were Joseph, I'd legitimately be offended. Although I'm not being paid $3.1 million not to play basketball, so perhaps not. Come to think of it, I'm probably not economically viable either.
Robin Lopez to the Kings: the luxury tax bill cares not for brotherly love, apparently. On the plus side it does mean Robin can spend less time with Doc Rivers, and more time doing the things he loves. By the way, the Bucks now own the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis. I kinda hope they bring him over, if only to hear the commentators say his name one day.
Coming up:
Monday - Fancy Celtics/Heat or Thunder/Kings? Too bad if not, cos that's all she wrote for today.
Tuesday- GOTD is in LA, where the Clips battle the Wolves for leadership in the West. Elsewhere the Bucks host the Nugs, and the Cavs take on Philly.
Wednesday - Suns/Kings has playoff ramifications, while Magic/Thunder could be interesting. Will the Bucks/Heat game wake one of them up?
Thursday - The Dubs host the Clips hoping it's like old times. Elsewhere the Kings pay the Nugs a visit, while the shorthanded Knicks head to Orlando.
Friday - We hit the All-star break with a predictably lean offering. Jazz/Dubs is at least theoretically important.
Enjoy your week of meaningful hoops before the banality of All-Star week kicks in. Don't forget to hit 'like' if you, uh.. like what you see. And if you wanted bigger, well - just remember it's personality that counts.
Special not just because it's the last week before the All-star break. And special not just because we're recovering from the fallout of the trade period. But special because you, as the reader, will get an exclusive peek into the pressure that comes with beating the deadline and meeting expectations.
The following is a recorded transcript between an unnamed, overworked NBA previewer and an anonymous Bigfooty
Writer: I love what I see
Writer: Yes. Yes, I would.
Writer: Uh huh. Yes I would.
Writer: Nothing there? Just exactly what would interest you? A preview the size of a paperback novel? More pictures of Taylor Swift?
Writer: Yeah I have, and yeah, I do. Why?
Writer: No, uh... he's a good editor.
Writer: Hey, don't worry - I've got enough for a great new idea for this week's preview. It's about the craziness of the trade deadline. It's big.
And so on that masterful, non-contrived segue, welcome to this week's comprehensive review of the NBA's non-epic trade deadline, a review that was carefully thought out and in no way thrown together in an ad-hoc manner in order to beat another, more pressing, deadline.
Here we'll break down the trades, shifting through the futile, the convoluted, the pointless and finally the downright depressing. It'll be fun, I promise!
I can't lie to you about your chances... but you have my sympathies.
Buddy Hield to the Sixers: a trade that makes sense in every way, but for one important, bittersweet detail - Embiid's knee injury. This was exactly the kind of low-risk, high potential reward move a championship contender should make, but it won't matter a jot unless the big guy can somehow find a way to get back to 100% health before the playoffs. Providing more spacing around Paul Reed just doesn't have the same gravity to it.
Pat Beverley to the Bucks: like Philly's move, one that makes perfect sense, and one that comes at a low cost (Cam Payne and a 2nd - meh). However expecting a 35 year old journeyman to lift your alarmingly sagging defence single-handed is quite the leap of faith. And that's before we ever touch on Milwaukee's chance of advancing in the playoffs under Doc Rivers' watch...
Daniel Gafford to the Mavericks: again, a move that makes sense structurally, as the Mavs are one of the worst rebounding and shot blocking teams in the league. Derrick Lively has had an impressive rookie season, but it's too much to ask for him to hold down the position for 48 minutes. So why the doubt? Well, the Mavs purchased the pick used to land Gafford via the Thunder, who now possess the right to swap picks with the Mavs in 2028. I reckon the Thunder are poised to be a 50-win team for the next 5-6 years. The Mavs? Well, they'll go as Doncic goes - possibly literally. Speaking of the Mavs...
It can get you in a lot of trouble, thinking - I shouldn't do so much of it.
P.J. Washington to the Mavs: the Grant Williams experiment is over, with the similarly priced but more reliable Washington heading to Dallas instead. Good, right? Well, no, not exactly - cleaning up your own messes is hardly the sign of an optimal front office, or the best use of assets. And about those assets - the Mavs now owe their 2027 (basically) and 2029 unprotected firsts to Charlotte and Brooklyn (Kyrie trade) respectively, while owing the Thunder (2028, Gafford deal) and Spurs (2030, Williams deal) unprotected pick swap rights. Plus they still owe the Knicks their first this season from the Porzingis trade. That's a lot of assets spent and a lot of trading for a roster that's isn't appreciably better than the one they had three years ago. Still, they're better for now, so baby steps.
Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Raptors: I mean, I guess there's nothing technically wrong with spending a late pick in a weak (2024) Draft to pick up a couple of rotation pieces. It's more the overall plan, or lack thereof, that should worry Raptors fans. We probably won't know how the Siakam and Anunoby trades pan out for a couple of years, but at the very least it's arguable that Masai Ujiri should have dealt Siakam and VanVleet a year ago, when they would have held more value. And now, for the second year in a row, they've spent a first round pick acquiring role players (Poeltl in 2023). I guess Agbaji's young, and Olynyk is Canadian, so... hooray. It's hard to get away from the conclusion that Ujiri has overplayed, and over-thought, his hand of late.
Quentin Grimes, Simeone Fontecchio and Mike Muscala to the Pistons: if the Raptors are guilty of over-thinking and over-valuing their roster, I don't know what to call what the Pistons have done. Holding on to Bogdanovic that long, just to end up with Grimes and some 2nds? Trading a 2nd to land a 28 year old Simeone Fontecchio from a team that is arguably more advanced in their rebuild than you are? Spending assets, money and time on Marvin Bagley, only to pay Washington yet more 2nds just to take him off their hands? Technically the roster balance looks a little better now, but... yikes.
Thank you, thank you... we try to do our best.
Royce O'Neale to the Suns: the Nets paid the Jazz the 28th pick in the 2023 draft for O'Neale 18 months ago, and farewelled him to Phoenix this week for the princely sum of three future second round picks. Are three seconds better than a late first? I genuinely don't know. Of course in 2022 the Nets were all-in, whereas in 2024 they're rebuilding in a post-superstar wasteland, so it makes sense. But these two trades were the epitome of a bureaucratic paper-pusher justifying his salary through pointless busywork... and probably enjoying it.
Doug McDermott to the Pacers: ever get the feeling some GMs do trades just to look busy at work, a la George Costanza? Indy's trade day was a little like that. They moved Buddy Hield and his expiring contract to the Sixers, but in the same deal they landed Dougie McBuckets and his expiring contract in return. In doing so, they reduced their compensation gained from 3 future second round picks to merely 2 future second round picks. Out goes a 31-year-old three point shooting specialist on an expiring deal, and in his place arrives a 32-year old three point shooting specialist on an expiring deal. Applause!
Spencer Dinwiddie to the Raptors: without wanting to pick on the NBA's northern outpost, no deadline day trade got a bigger giggle out of me than this one. Former free agent signings Schroeder and Young out, Dinwiddie in. Of course there was logic to this move, as Schroeder has an extra year on his deal, hence Dinwiddie immediately being bought out and waived. Still, talk about the ultimate trade in nothings between two teams stuck in no-man's land. Or if you like, a mildly exciting accounting exercise.
Monte Morris to the Wolves: at least there was logic to the Dinwiddie/Schroeder deal. The rebuilding Pistons paid the Wizards a second round pick for Monte Morris in July, only to turn around six months later and trade him to Minny for... a second round pick. A brilliantly executed plan. If anyone can tell me what exactly that plan was though, I'd be ever so grateful. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if a machine that goes 'ping' is running Detroit's front office.
This is what happens when you're not economically viable.
Danuel House to the Pistons: pretty straightforward, this - the Sixers dumped House on the Pistons to duck under the luxury tax, while also giving themselves both the wriggle room and the roster spot needed to sign any veteran point guard who might be bought out... cough Lowry cough.
Kira Lewis to the Jazz via Indy and Toronto: poor Kira. The former Pels lottery pick was unceremoniously dumped by his erstwhile employer for the express cynical purpose of avoiding paying the luxury tax this season. It set in motion a chain of events that sent him first to Indiana, then to Toronto in the Siakam trade, and finally to Utah in the Olynyk deal. So not just the humiliation of being dumped, but also being left stranded in Salt Lake City. Sorry, Kira.
Cory Joseph to the Pacers: speaking of humiliating, we all know that most salary dumps involve an asset being sent to sweeten the medicine, right? Well in Joseph's case, Indiana obviously thought so little of the upcoming 2024 Draft that they not only accepted mere cash from the Warriors to help lessen their tax bill by taking Joseph, but actually GAVE the Dubs one of their many 2024 seconds in the process. If I were Joseph, I'd legitimately be offended. Although I'm not being paid $3.1 million not to play basketball, so perhaps not. Come to think of it, I'm probably not economically viable either.
Robin Lopez to the Kings: the luxury tax bill cares not for brotherly love, apparently. On the plus side it does mean Robin can spend less time with Doc Rivers, and more time doing the things he loves. By the way, the Bucks now own the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis. I kinda hope they bring him over, if only to hear the commentators say his name one day.
Coming up:
Monday - Fancy Celtics/Heat or Thunder/Kings? Too bad if not, cos that's all she wrote for today.
Tuesday- GOTD is in LA, where the Clips battle the Wolves for leadership in the West. Elsewhere the Bucks host the Nugs, and the Cavs take on Philly.
Wednesday - Suns/Kings has playoff ramifications, while Magic/Thunder could be interesting. Will the Bucks/Heat game wake one of them up?
Thursday - The Dubs host the Clips hoping it's like old times. Elsewhere the Kings pay the Nugs a visit, while the shorthanded Knicks head to Orlando.
Friday - We hit the All-star break with a predictably lean offering. Jazz/Dubs is at least theoretically important.
Enjoy your week of meaningful hoops before the banality of All-Star week kicks in. Don't forget to hit 'like' if you, uh.. like what you see. And if you wanted bigger, well - just remember it's personality that counts.
