Free Write Saturday: Where Is The Love?

This is a Free Write from my buddy Jordan, I enjoyed it immensely.

Minnesota Timberwolves O.J. Ma… Kevin Love? In one of many draft day trades made by the Timberwolves franchise in the past decade, this may be the best move in franchise history aside from drafting Kevin Garnett 5th overall in the 95’ draft. The Wolves sent the 3rd overall pick, O.J. Mayo, along with Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner, and Marko Jaric to Memphis. In return the Wolves received the 5th pick (Love), along with Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins, none of whom are currently wearing Wolves’ jerseys with the exception of Love. One could even argue this trade is one of the better trades in any sport within the last five years. (Best in the past decade: A.J Pierzynski for Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser, another article).


The primary measurement of the success of this trade and the most obvious - Love is an All-Star and Mayo is primarily a role player. Secondarily, and what I like to call the nuts and bolts of the trade (no pun intended); the Timberwolves were able to fill the roster with quality players, while obtaining miscellaneous draft picks and cash. Just as important as what the Wolves were able to obtain; the Wolves were able to jettison forward Antoine Walker, guard Greg Buckner, and former overpaid trade bust ($25.25 million over four years) guard Marko Jaric. (For what it’s worth, I loved the Jaric trade that brought him to Minnesota for no other reason than his capabilities in NBA Live 05’. I liked this trade so much that I purchased (aka “requested”) his jersey for Christmas...“Straight Cash Homey(dotnet)”!).

And finally; there is the “want” factor. Players “want” to play in Miami, L.A., Boston, New York, Dallas and Chicago. Other cities are less appealing. A locker room full of players that only “want” to play in the “big” markets can be a recipe for disaster. Being a fan of both the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, I’ve had the luxury of being on both sides of the market spectrum. Entering the 08’ draft, many draft junkies projected that the Wolves were going to take Mayo with the 3rd pick. Rumor on the streets, however was that Mayo wanted no part of playing in Minnesota (For all of you Bucks fans out there this hits home a la Brandon Jennings) so Minnesota made the best of the situation and traded Mayo minutes after drafting him. Now you have a player in Kevin Love that may not have Minnesota on the top of his list, but is willing to embrace the opportunity presented to him.

Kevin Love has brought Timberwolves fans a sign of hope, or has he simply tainted our vision with his point and rebound stat line? Attending his last game completed with a double double (March 11th against the Utah Jazz) fans, including myself, were cheering after every single Love rebound as if he hit a half court shot. Love’s point and rebound stat line became more important than the score itself. When Love reached the double-double mark at the free throw line the crowd gave a standing ovation and headed for the exits. But wait, the Wolves were blowing the Jazz out of the water, which is about as rare as women giving George Costanza the “it’s not you, it’s me routine!"

The argument that his impressive streak is tainted is both preposterous and naïve. Are Blake Griffin’s dunks less impressive because the Clippers aren’t winning or is Deron Williams not a top three point guard because he’s a Net? Nope. Alright, so the Wolves haven’t been winning games, all the more reason why 53 consecutive double-doubles is astonishing because the opponent’s primary goal will be to stop Kevin Love since a victory is highly probable. The mental toughness it takes to go out each night and play at the top of your game on a team that has been out of playoff contention for some time warrants some appreciation.

Kevin Love isn’t going to make SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays every night like Blake Griffin, but he does all of the little things that we as fans take for granted. Could hundreds of players jump higher and run faster than Love? The answer is undoubtedly “yes”, but how many actually produce what the 6’ 10” (with three inch heels) Love does? The answer is very few. Kevin Love may not play in New York or L.A and is certainly not a member of a “Big Three”, but is every bit of an asset to this league as any other NBA player.

Perhaps Minneapolis will open a new club in his honor, titled 30/30 club?

-Jordan

Breaking Down The Melo Trade From All Angles

The New York Knicks knew they had to get this done. The fans worried that the Knicks will screw this up like they usually do, but that didn't happen. Finally, the Knicks have Melo. I am glad because this story will be dead by Friday and we can move on to beating a dead horse on another issue, joy.  If you need the details, here they are.

I like the deal for the Knicks.  Any time there is a player who is arguably one of the 10 best players in the NBA and is available, you have to find a way to pull the trigger.  Melo will work very nice with Amar'e Stoudemire, and honestly, I still think this is Amar'e's team, not Melo's. But it will be interesting to see if there is any conflict in the first month. The Knicks can spread out the court like Mike D'Antoni wants to, but they aren't as much of a run and gun team. Chauncey Billups will slow up what they really wanted to do with their offense, but I think D'Antoni is a good enough coach to make adjustments to his system.  I like Billups because I know he will not try to be the first or second scorer rather a guy who passes/penetrates to find guys like STAT and Melo.  

People are so worried about the Knicks bench, and that is puzzling to me because it's well-known that D'Antoni doesn't keep a deep bench. Unlike a lot of systems, the Knicks really do not need to have a bench. Maybe they will pick up somebody if they can figure out the salaries but I am okay with having Toney Douglas as their sixth man. He is a great energy player off the bench  Additionally, they have guys that have been valuable contributors for other teams in NBA such as Kelenna Aziubuke and Roger Mason Jr. 

As for the Nuggets, they are clearly in a rebuilding stage of their franchise. George Karl will probably retire after this season, Melo is now gone, and I have a feeling they aren't done dealing this deadline. Kenyon Martin has a big expiring contract at 16.5 million, and if the Miami Heat could figure out a way to get him, it would be over.  When I loaded up the ESPN Trade Machine, it would have to be a three-teamer but the Heat could use a physical guy like Martin off their bench. J.R. Smith will be dealt without question and I think New Orleans Hornets is his destination because they asked the Milwaukee Bucks about Corey Maggette for scoring purposes. The Nuggets need to find a player who will want be a career player for Denver and not head back east like Melo did to them. This will be a transition period for the Nuggets, but I expect them back in a couple of years.

It's like the Timberwolves were the nerds of this deal,  They wanted to feel cool and popular, therefore General Manager David KAAAAAAAAAAAHN decided to get involved.  He did lure a huge expiring contract and man in Eddy Curry, but traded away a young player with potential in Corey Brewer who in my opinion is getting slept on in this deal.  Also Kevin Love has to deal with Curry, Anthony Randolph, Michael Beasley, and Darko Milicic. That is more dysfunctional locker room than any season of Bad Girls Club. I wish K-Love luck.

I will be shocked if the Knicks are higher than a five seed come April. I do think they push Atlanta out of the five spot, but I do not think this team is better than the big four of Orlando, Chicago, Miami, and Boston. It will be good to have Madison Square Garden rocking during the playoffs, and who knows maybe the Knicks get to the second round where they will try to take out one of the big dogs. Only a matter of time before they become one unless Jimbo Dolan screws it up. Knicks fan will ignore that last sentence for now at least.

-Charlie.

The National Carmelo Nightmare Is Over

Carmelo Anthony finally got traded.  We will give you the details tonight, and someone will have their overall thoughts on the trade for all parties involved come tomorrow. If you want to be a part of the post tomorrow, feel free and leave a comment on what you think of the first NBA blockbuster of the deadline seasons.

KNICKS GET:
SF Carmelo Anthony, PG Chauncey Billups, SG Anthony Carter, C Shelden Williams SF Renaldo Balkman SF Corey Brewer

NUGGETS GET:
SF Danillo Gallinari, PG Raymond Felton, SF Wilson Chandler, C Timofey Mozgov, 2014 first round pick, two second round picks, and 3 million in cash.

T-WOLVES GET:
SF Anthony Randolph, PF Eddy Curry

-Charlie.

Before You Declare A Winner...

In the aftermath of the Kevin Garnett trade every sportswriter, blogger, and watercooler guy has jumped in to declare a definitive "winner" and a definitive "loser" in the deal. The thing is though, it is way too early to make such a determination. I am not suggesting that we need to see how Garnett plays with the Celtics. My hesitation involves the two most underrated assests involved in the trade; the two first round picks.

The "future first round pick" in the NBA is the equivalent of the "player to be named later" in baseball trades. The pick usually remains unnoticed until the draft comes around, at which time everyone says "Man, how are the Bulls picking 9th this year?" (If you were wondering, the answer to that question is the Eddy Curry deal with New York.) Not only will the Timberwolves have the Celtics pick (probably somewhere between 14-20), but they also get their own first round pick back that they had traded to Boston in the Ricky Davis deal. If the Wolves are as bad the next couple of years as some people think they will be, that pick very well could turn out to be a top 5 selection, which could completely change the complexion of the Garnett trade.

For the sake of fun, here is a look at the top ten players that were selected with picks that were traded before the draft;


10. Ron Artest
Drafted: #16 by the Bulls in 1999
Pick From: Phoenix Suns

9. Michael Finley
Drafted: #21 by the Suns in 1995
Pick From: LA Lakers

8. Antoine Walker
Drafted: #6 by the Celtics in 1996
Pick From: Dallas Mavericks

7. Emeka Okafor
Drafted: #2 by the Bobcats in 2004
Pick From: LA Clippers

6. Shawn Kemp
Drafted: #17 by the Sonics in 1989
Pick From: Philadelphia 76ers

5. Detlef Schrempf
Drafted: #8 by the Mavericks in 1985
Pick From: Cleveland Cavaliers

4. Shawn Marion
Drafted: #9 by the Suns in 1999
Pick From: Dallas Mavericks

3. Scottie Pippen
Drafted: #5 by the Sonics in 1987
Pick From: New York Knicks

2. James Worthy
Drafted: #1 by the Lakers in 1982
Pick From: Cleveland Cavaliers

1. Charles Barkley
Drafted: #5 by the 76ers in 1984
Pick From: LA Clippers

I have to admit, it is pretty interesting that there are some repeat offenders on this list. The Clippers traded away Charles Barkley and Emeka Okafor, the Cavs traded James Worthy and Detlef Schrempf, and the Mavs traded both Shawn Marion and Antoine Walker. If one of the first round picks from the Garnett trade turns out like one of these, perhaps the Wolves will come out looking a lot better than people are giving them credit for right now.

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The Kevin McHale Comedy Hour

I'm sure all of you remember the trade the Celtics made on draft night, sending Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and Jeff Green to the Sonics in exchange for Ray Allen. The merits of this deal were widely debated by both Celtics fans and the media. Was it wise to trade such a high draft pick for a 31 guard with bad ankles? Would adding Allen make the Celtics a contender in the East? At first it seemed that everyone would have to wait until the season to see the results of the trade, but something happened today that confirmed that the trade was a bad move by the Celtics. So what happened? The deal was given the worst kiss of death it could have possibly received; the NBA's worst GM, Kevin McHale, said he liked the move:

“The Eastern Conference has a lot of bad teams in it,” said McHale. “As a matter of fact, they sent a bad team (Cleveland) to the NBA Finals. I mean, the top teams in the East wouldn’t fare very well in the West. It’s been like that for a while. Miami came in and won, and then you had Detroit win a couple of years ago, but, you know, in a seven-game series anything can happen.”

As such, McHale thinks it’s quite possible that getting Allen from Seattle could produce results beyond the general expectation.

“I think Ray Allen is going to help,” McHale said. “Ray Allen can flat-out shoot the damn ball. He’s a game-changer in the fact that he can get it rolling on the offensive in a big way.

“He and (Paul) Pierce at the 2 and 3 are potentially as potent as any twosome in the Eastern Conference. The 2 and 3 are key positions in our league right now.. . . So they’re going to be strong at two positions you really need to be strong at to score in our league now.”

Just so you know, this quote pretty much made my day. It is almost as if Kevin McHale sat down last night, channeled Steven Colbert, and decided to say the most audacious series of things that popped into his mind. So lets go through his marvelous quote, just to make sure none of the finer points of hilarity are missed;

The East Sucks: Kevin decided to start off with the standard cliche of "The East is bad, the West rules the NBA". While this was indeed true last year, as McHale himself points out the East has won some championships in recent seasons. Also, McHale completely ignores the fact that a number of Eastern teams other than Boston have made substantial upgrades this offseason (Orlando, Charlotte, New York) or are coming off a season riddled with injuries (New Jersey, Miami, Washington, Milwaukee). Therefore it is by no means a sure thing that merely adding Ray Allen will vault the Celtics above the 14 teams that were better than them in the East last year.

Ray Allen Can Score! Yay!: McHale must think that offense is the greatest need for the Celtics, since his main praise of the trade was that Ray Allen can shoot. This is indeed true. The Celtics already have a fair number of scorers however, in Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, and Gerald Green. That offense-first attitude is likely way the Timberwolves gave up nearly 100 PPG last season despite having one of the greatest defensive players in the league in Kevin Garnett.

The 2 And 3...So Key: The best part of McHale's rant has to be his assertation that "The 2 and 3 are key positions in our league right now". Well, yeah...but are they any more key than say center, a position from which Tim Duncan and Shaq have essentally ruled the NBA since Jordan left? Are the 2 and 3 more important than the point guard position? Please. Try this on for size. Pierce and Allen are All-Stars at SG and SF. So if given the chance, would you take them over a duo of Chauncey Billups and Dwight Howard? Gilbert Arenas and Shaq? Jason Kidd and Amare Stoudemire? Chris Paul and Yao? Please. Having All Stars at the 2 and 3 didn't exactly work out so great for Denver last year, and there is no certainty it will work out for Boston either.

Perhaps the greatest part about McHale's rant is that it highlights exactly why he is a terrible GM. He would rather try for talent at the swing positions (See: Ricky Davis, Rashad McCants) than get a solid player at point guard or center. He values scoring over defense. He puts more value on quick fixes (See; Mark Blount, Davis, the Joe Smith debacle) than actually developing young talent through the draft. Above all else however, McHale's rant stood out as perhaps the funniest thing I have read all week. For that I am thankful to the old guy.