Tuesday, April 29, 2008

To Trade or Not To Trade

That is the question. And I think we have our answer.

Never before has ONE mid-season move created so much residual impact as the Pau Gasol trade that went down earlier this year. That one trade resulted in two legitimate Western Conference Title contenders (as previously constructed) to make major changes to their lineups. In what I like to call the "Drastic Overreaction", Dallas ditched up and coming PG Devon Harris for aging J Kidd and the Suns (who were one game away from winning the West last season) gave up Shawn Marion for aging Shaquille O'Neal. Both trades were done in order to win NOW. How'd that work out?

On a day when two teams punched their tickets to the Western Conference Semifinals, it was the guys who DIDN'T make the big trades that came out victorious. Both the Suns and the Mavs had their title hopes thwarted last night with first round exits. Oops.

And as the Temptations said so eloquently, what becomes of the broken hearted? The Mavs will no doubt part ways with the Little General (Coach Avery Johnson) as Cuban and he have not seen eye-to-eye for awhile now. And his ability not to get them out of the first round the past two seasons does not bode well. Add in to the mix that he clearly was not all too thrilled with losing his groomed PG Harris for the older Jason Kidd and you have a recipe for distaster. Would getting rid of Avery be the right move?Unfortunately for the Mavs, ever since they lost in the NBA Finals in 2006 (only the third time that a team lost in the Finals after winning the first two games) they have struggled mentally to regain that confidence in the playoffs. Last season they became only the 3rd team to lose as the #1 seed to an 8 seed in the first round. That's the wrong side of history again. And now they are out again in the first round this year. I think Avery is a very good coach but this team is scarred mentally and there does need to be some changes made. Personally I wouldn't get rid of the coach but can he co-exist with the veteran Kidd and give him more responsibility over running the team? IF Kidd is going to stay and Avery remains the coach, then there will need to be some serious team building exercises in this off-season. Trust Falls anyone?

And how about the Big Cactus? Shaq promised that the sun would rise in Phoenix when he arrived but it seems that he got the rising thing mixed up with the setting thing. He appeared to be rejuvenated arriving in Phoenix and moving better than he had been in Miami but he still showed in the Spurs series that his lift and movement are considerably down. I never thought I would see the day when Shaq couldn't throw down a dunk right around the basket. Tough to watch. His inability to play D on the pick and roll (standing at the basket when your guy sets a ball screen for Tony Parker at the 3 line is NOT an effective strategy) was a major factor in the Spurs scoring at will. His enormous contract is going to be hard to move so I think he will be a Sun for awhile meaning get used to the new look Suns.
Does that mean D'Antoni is out? His preferred style of play requires athletes that run fast and score even faster. Shaq doesn't exactly fit into that mold. Something has to give here.

So what have we learned kids. Making a move for the sake of making a move; not smart. Don't mess with a good thing. Should be an interesting off-season for these two clubs.

And now we are left to watch more Spurs basketball this post-season (thanks a lot Phoenix).

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