Did you know the NBA is run by fantasy owners now?

Originally I was intending to write my first blog on the NFL and NBA labor issues that seem to be plaguing sports fans lives right now, but that blog will have to wait until early next week. I was right in the middle of working on that blog the day that the Carmelo Anthony shoe dropped. The next day I sat down to write a quick 'winners and losers' blog in the Anthony deal, when my phone exploded with texts about the Deron Williams trade to the Net. So I waited that out and got ready to expand my post to an Anthony and Williams blog, but the NBA decided to jerk me around a little more with what seemed to be about 100 trades today. If you are even a passing sports fan who gets ESPN alerts, visits ESPN, Foxsports, or CBS Sportline on a semi-regular basis, you know that at least two out of every three teams was involved in a trade of some sort. ESPN was kind enough to provide this list of trades. Keep in mind that it only includes trades that happened within the last 60 hours. Missing from that list are the Williams and Anthony trade, and Anthony's was a three team trade with the Timberwolves.

Now every team traded for a different reason, whether it was to get younger like the Rockets, to clear some cap room like the Clippers, or because their hand was being forced like the Nuggets. What isn't being talked about too much for the casual fan, is how many of these trades were completed with the future collective bargaining agreement in mind. Again, I'll go into further detail about the NBA and NFL CBA's in the next blog. For now, though, what we are interested is how well the different teams made out  in all of the mayhem that was the week leading up to the February 24th deadline. Let's be honest and admit that the casual fan isn't all that interested in what happened to the bottom half of the league (sorry 'Wolves, Warriors, and Raptors fans) so I will restrain myself and only mention those teams which are already contenders or those who made themselves into contenders. 

I sat down to write this and realized that I would have to break my "try to keep it short and sweet" rule to cover everything critical, so for now I'm only going to cover the East, because that was where the most important moves were made. Part 2 will be up later, and it will cover the West which, on the surface, got robbed blind. 

The New York Knicks

Obviously no one can make too strong of an argument that the Knicks made a mistake in theCarmelo Anthony deal. They picked up a top-five talent in Anthony, who is only 26 and has never really pushed himself to realize his full potential during his time playing for the relatively kind Nuggets fans. Playing in Madison Square Garden for some of the most demanding fans in the NBA will push him to always play his best night in and night out. With Carmelo they got Mr. Big Shot Chauncey Billups who, even though he is 34, is still an excellent distributer and a good go-to guy for a buzzer beater. All of that is tempered by the fact that they gave up a lot in the deal. I know all of the players put together don't equal Anthony's talent, but he had made it clear that New York is where he wanted to be. If they had called the Nuggets' bluff and not made the trade, there is a good chance he would be there next year anyway, and for less money, and a much deeper team. That being said, I see the Knicks being a serious contender in years to come.

Grade B+

The Boston Celtics

I do not like the moves they made at all. I liked Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic when they were on the Thunder because they seemed to fit well in their respective roles. I don't think they will play poorly for the Celtics, but neither of them brings the ceiling that the two players the Celtics gave up had. Nate Robinson, love him or hate him, sat on the bench for most of the postseason last season, but when he was put in, he shot two huge 3's that led the Celtics to a game four victory, so he had proven value. Their big mistake though, was giving up Kendrick Perkins. He is two hundred and eighty pounds of very bad man down low for the Celtics. He was up for a new contract and they didn't want to pay him the increased salary he deserved, so they dumped his salary for a cheaper player. As much credit as I give KG for his defense, I will always believe that it was Perkins who really was able muscle Pau Gasol around.  He was not fantastic on offense, but the Celtics don't need points from him; just his size and his youth, and I believe come playoff time they will regret this decision.

Grade D

The New Jersey Nets

They are not contenders, but they have to be put on the list because they pulled off the sports crime of the year. I'm still not sure how I feel about the Nets' Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, but what I do know is that he is one shrewd businessman. He knew that the Nets had no chance to land Anthony, so he made the smart play and extremely overbid for him, forcing the Knicks to empty the cupboard in their trade offer. Then two days after Carmelo is traded (on the day he was to be presented in New York no less) Prokhorov pulls off a huge trade and landed a top three-point guard in Deron Williams for a drastically lower price than the Knicks payed for their star. The only downside is that Prokhorov is going to have to convince Williams to sign long-term so the quality deal is contingent of his future with the Nets.

A+ (for now)

Notable mentions with incomplete grades:

The Miami Heat made no moves. A. They had no real movable chips. B.  I think they might have been all dealt out from the summer. Look for them to make some moves in the off-season, because, as currently constituted, I don't think they will be able to win it all. they are still too small. 

The Magic are similar to the Heat in that they made their big moves earlier in the season and didn't have anymore tradeable pieces. I'm sure they would have loved to dump Gilbert Arenas on some poor team, but nobody is dumb enough to take him right?....Right Otis Smith?

.

The Atlanta Hawks made what could possibly be a good move, but it is unclear how well Kirk Hinrich will fit in with the other plays. He alone will not make them into a contender in the East, much less a Championship contender but it could end up being a good start to that goal.

The Chicago Bulls stayed pat and made no moves. Since they lead their division, are only four wins behind the Heat (who they play tonight in a huge game), and they just got their big rebounder Noah back, I'm alright with them not reacting to everyone else and making a move just for the sake of making a change. However, if they want to make their lives easier in the future, they really need to add upgrade at shooting guard to take 

some of the outside scoring load off of Derrick Rose.

Lastly, I hate to pile on poor Cleveland....but I must. Taking on Baron Davis was the dumbest move that anyone made during the time leading to the deadline. He had motivational issues playing for the Clippers, who are a team that seems to be on the rise. He showed up to training camp overweight when he had the chance to feed the ball to Blake Griffin. Does Dan Gilbert really think he is going to wake up one day and decide to care about playing for the worst team in the league? The team doesn't deserve him and the poor fans don't deserve him. 

F--

Part 2  dealing with the Western Conference will be up later, and if the NBA isn't your cup of tea I promise that the next few will be football related.

As always I welcome all comments, positive or otherwise either here or on my Facebook page.

Welcome: Did you know fan was short for fanatical

Greeting


You know, anyone can have a blog these days thanks to the internet. Everyone is able to put their opinions out on the web for any and all to see. With that capability the quality of the available reading materials is, on average, seriously diluted.  Now I make no claims to be any better or smarter than any other person in the blogosphere. However, what I am is a man who has devoted a portion of his busy life to understanding the intricacies of the sports that so many millions love to watch on a daily basis. Football, basketball, baseball, college, or pro, it makes no difference to me. I love each and every one equally, because they each provide a unique element that the others can't provide. Take the average fan who is a rabid follower of his or her teams and have them debate with me about their team and they will tear me apart. I have neither the time or the interest to study their little slice of heaven to even the smallest fraction of a degree that they do. What I offer, is a wealth of information on the sports in general, I know a lot about each and every team, but being an expert on one makes you less appealing to fans of other team. Secondly what I offer is perspective. As a fan I may personally think and hope that Peyton Manning will go down as the greatest of all time, but you will never hear me scream that from the mountain tops because there is no objective way to make that case. I research ever story exhaustively, and read and listen to hours of analysis. I used to be a landscaper, and for the 8-9 hours a day I would ride my mower, I would listen to sports podcasts the entire time(I'm well aware that that is a bit sad) for 3 straight years. So yest assured, while you may disagree with me, it will rarely be because I haven't done my homework and am factually incorrect.


 Now I will be open and transparent at the outset. I'm a Colts fan, I'm a Packers fan, I think Kobe Bryant is the best player in the game, and baseball isn't nearly as good when the Yankees aren't interesting. I congratulate Trevor Bayne on his unlikely win at the Daytona 500, but unless there is a story about a big wreck, I don't give NASCAR or open wheel racing a second thought. (Feel free to tell me why I should) Hockey is an incredibly underrated sport which is best viewed inside the stadium, which is what hurts it the most. However, with the invention of HDTV and the ability to actually see the puck, the TV experience has improved dramatically. Soccer is growing and way more underrated than hockey is, I understand that it appeals to certain demographics, but hop on board because at the rate ESPN is shoving it down sports fans' throat, it will grow quickly.


I hope to have a good time writing these blogs--maybe it will give you a different perspective on sports. If you do me the honor of reading my blog, you will disagree with me but don't shy away from it. There is little I love more than engaging in a good, light-hearted, but heated discussion on the merits of my opinions. I am not the coolest person in the world, but I'm up on popular culture enough that you will get some TV or movie references sprinkled in with your sports stories, and I'll try to not get too obscure. The blogs will not be long and unbearable. If you like the short writing styles of Rick Reilly or Jason Whitlock you might enjoy my stuff.


Hopefully I'll have my first blog up quickly(the life of a college student can be unpredictable).


Till next time.