Straight, No Chaser!

Hardcore Commentary on Professional Sports....from a Die-Hard Fan

Straight, No Chaser!

By Mark Thomas

Waiting for Superman….to be Traded!

What’s up people, and welcome back! Today I’d like to discuss the NBA free agency moves. Not all the moves, just the ones that I think are extremely interesting.

Let’s start with the Dwight Howard debacle, I mean trade.  “D-12” was one of my favorite players in the league. His fun-loving personality was something that the game was missing after Shaq retired.  Now, his soft spoken, wimpy, and indecisive demeanor is annoying!  I’ve lost a lot of respect for the guy.  Had he been a man and said “I want a trade” and stuck to his guns, I wouldn’t have a problem with him. Howard’s flip-flopping on wanting a trade and then lying about wanting coach Van Gundy fired was it for me! 

Anyone that knows me knows I can’t stand LeBron James. My dislike for LeBron is not centered on the way he left the Cleveland Cavaliers, but why he left!  He went to another man’s team to win a championship instead of having that final piece brought to him on his team. That shows a lack of heart!  That shows that he doesn’t want to be “the man”. That “decision” was contrary to the thought process of every basketball purist who likes to see great talents compete against each other. When asked about the LeBron situation, the great Magic Johnson summed it up best: “We didn’t think about doing anything like that because that’s not what we were about. From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird.”

If you want to see how real men play basketball, watch the Dream Team documentary.  These guys didn’t even want to be on the same team in practice!  Patrick Ewing didn’t want to be on David Robinson’s team because he wanted to show him who was the best center in the game. Charles Barkley also made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want to be on the same team as Karl Malone when he stated, “I wanted to show him I was the best power forward in the world”.  I’m sorry. I digress. Back to D-12.  I can’t stand the way Dwight is leaving Orlando.  If you want to go, go!  No one can argue with your decision to play elsewhere.  We can have opinions, but it’s your life, dude. All I ask is that you be a man about it.  Make a decision, stick with it, don’t drag it out, and have some balls! 

Let’s move on to the Lakers and Steve Nash.  I think this would have been a great move if the terms of the trade and contract extension weren’t so stupid. If you didn’t get that, I’m saying this was just a stupid deal. Could I look back on this article in a couple years and realize that I was completely wrong?  Sure!  Will that be the case?  It’s highly unlikely.  Nash is/was an awesome talent, and may still have a little in the tank, but you signed a 38-year-old with a bad back to a three year deal worth $27 million!? Did they legalize crack in L.A.? Nash initially injured his back in Dallas in 1999. As someone who’s had back surgery, I can confirm that it doesn’t get better with age.  Nash will begin the 2012-2013 season as a 39-year-old. Does anyone see him playing at the age of 42?  Better still, does anyone see his contribution at age 42 being worth $9 million?  The Lakers gave up four draft picks, two in the first round and two in the second round.  Granted, the Lakers should be a playoff team, no question, so we aren’t talking lottery picks here. However, they have to start thinking about life without Kobe Bryant. Giving up four future draft picks is an indication that the Lakers are more interested in the here and now and a future of lottery picks after Kobe retires. I wonder if you can buy reversible Lakers jerseys with L.A. Clippers on the other side.  I’m just asking.

Now, as a die hard New York Knicks fan, I hate to even acknowledge the existence of an NBA franchise in the state of Boston, let alone give them any credit. Still, I like the moves they made, thus far, in the free agent world -- with the exception of the three year deal for Kevin Garnett.  I don’t think they should have given KG $34 million, especially at his age.  I like the resigning of Brandon Bass and Jeff Green. I also like the drafting of Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo. I couldn’t stand Sullinger as a college player. I thought he was overrated, and it was evident that scouts agreed because “Sully” slid to 21^st in the draft.  Nonetheless, I like the draft pick anyway because when you have KG and Bass, there is no real rush to play him and he can learn from some pretty good power forwards. Jesus Shuttlesworth is no longer in Boston, but they replaced him with Jason Terry, which was a really good move.  What you lose as a result of Ray Allen’s departure you compensate for by adding Terry, minus the injuries. My Knicks will still beat the breaks off of Boston this season!

Last, but certainly not least, are the deals made by my beloved New York Knickerbockers. I’m not so thrilled with all of their moves, individually, but collectively they have avoided doing something that was a staple in the Knicks organization, and that was overpaying players that were well past their prime. We signed Jason Kidd to a three year deal worth $9 million.  He’s not going to start, or play huge minutes, and we don’t need him to.  As far as I’m concerned, Kidd is an assistant coach with a jersey. I’d pay $9 million for that as an owner, and I would invest in a driver for him. I’m just saying. We’ve let “The Lin” go -- thank God -- when in the past we would have resigned him. Lin played in 35 games and started 25. What he did in those games did not justify giving him $25 million!  That’s $1 million per start!  If he pans out in Houston, it’s our loss. But I don’t see it happening.  Lin played some really good games against some really bad teams.  He played well against some good teams that were horrible on the road. Beat it Lin! Enter Raymond Felton, who played very well as a Knick, and I hated to see him go.  He will excel in the pick and roll/facilitator role, and his contract, three years for a total of $10 million, works perfectly.  We’ve also brought back “Mr. Brittle”, the one and only Marcus Camby, who has managed to stay healthy, for the most part, since leaving New York. Camby will sign a three-year, $13.2 million contract with the final year partially guaranteed. Not done yet!!!  The Knicks resigned Steve Novak to a four-year, $15 million contract, and J.R. Smith signed a two-year, $5.6 million contract. If you take a hard look at these acquisitions, and the fact that the Knicks dumped Toney Douglas, who was making $2 million, Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan, who were making $762,195 each, we are golden!! Again, we’re not golden for the players that were signed, but for not spending a fortune to overpay players like we have in the past. Come to think of it, we might still be paying Allan Houston and Luc Longley!  (Laughing) 

Later!

Mark Thomas is a former New York City resident now living in North Carolina.