Nothing's Been Assured in this off-season of JKidd,
Kobe, Carpetbagger Brown and the rest.
The NBA (Nothing's Been Assured) This Off-Season
Another summer, another NBA player brought up on criminal charges. The more things change the more they stay the same.
This season will be just like every other one, where all will be taking aim at the same thing we are. As much as we don't realize it at times while we reflect on our second straight trip to the NBA Finals, there is basketball outside of the great state of New Jersey. It doesn't necessarily mean that it is good basketball, but NBA basketball nonetheless. How we fare against the rest of the world of basketball determines whether or not we get back to the Finals for a third straight year and quite possibly the promised land. We should take the time to see what has been happening in the world of the NBA and how that may affect our beloved Nets. And lets not forget, how our beloved Nets will affect the NBA.
Oh loyal Netsfans, let us not forget that there are 28 other teams in the NBA.
I will try not to devote so much time to the most important offseason move in the entire league. We all know what that was Netsfans. In the end, our fearless leader stayed true to his team and acknowledged the most important part of not hitching up the wagons and heading West when he said in the end 'You only have to play one of them.'
Them being the Western Conference foes who have gotten the best of us the past two seasons. Wisely, staying put Jason Kidd knew that the path to basketball heaven is much easier when furthest away from the Left Coast.
And can you blame him? Have you seen what's been going on out there? Madness I tell you. Sheer Madness. Like how there will be four future Hall-of-Famers on the same roster in Los Angeles next season. The 2003-2004 is probably going to be a once in a lifetime team, mostly because two of them are still in their basketball primes, Shaq and Kobe (more on our pal Kobe later). And let's not forget about the other two Hall-of-Famers, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. I'll dispell the myth that the four superstars won't get along well on the same court. Payton is there more for his defense to prevent vastly overrated point guards like Mike Bibby from torching the Lake Show and earning completely nonsensical long term extensions. Malone brings his fu-man-chu mustach to LA to be a third scorer and prevent teams from attacking Shaq with everyone including the team mascot. And think about it, even at age 60 and his lifetime supply of Rogaine, Malone is still one of the top 10 legit power forwards in the NBA, hands down.
But let's not hand the West over to LA too quickly. It may be hard to believe but, the West may actually be deeper, better, and scarier than last year.
The defending champion Spurs quietly have quitely gotten much better this year, even without the wooing the services of our fearless leader. The Spurs wisely did not throw their money all over the place, but spent on Rasho Nesterovic, Robert Horry and Anthony Carter. That and they got Hedo Turkoglu and Ron Mercer in a three-way trade with Sacramento and Indiana FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!! So not only are they the champs, they are deeper, and more talented than last year. Oh, and they still have some guy named Duncan, remember him Netsfans?
The third team that you have to throw into the mix are the T-Wolves of Minny. What a job they did this offseason. Amid all the rumors of KG to our beloved Nets (and I was secretly praying it would happen, and it still might) Kevin McHale finally gave Garnett a supporting cast worthy of going deep into the post season. Sam Cassell goes to the Wolves finally ending the Joe Smith fiasco that cost the team about 30 #1 draft picks. Getting the Kandi man was an absolute steal. Legit 7 footers who were former #1 overall picks in their mid-20s who can get better are not THAT easily attainable. Add those two along with Wally and Troy Hudson and you have yourself a damn good roster on paper. And to top it off the Wolves got Sprewell in the trade that I have now officially dubbed "The Fatal Four-Way."
This trade deserves a paragraph of its own. I damn near fell out of my chair when I heard about this "blockbuster." So, lets do like I did and break the trade down. The winner of this deal is the T-Wolves getting Spree, but not by much. Spree is just about headed toward the twighlight of his career, especially for running swingmen and he is saddled with a pretty bloated contract. That and to front offices he's like the elementary school student who just refuses to give up sniffing glue, harassing the class hamster, or handing out wedgies. Just plain exhausting to keep under control. Doesn't sound like much of a winner, but on court there are few with Spree's drive and playmaking ability. Spree was one a few positives on the Knicks last year and always put his best effort on the court even when the team on the other side of the river was dozens of games under .500. Spree's energy will be the best part of that trade for the Wolves.
Then of course you have the flip side, our very own orange colored stepchildren, the New York Knicks. I'll try to keep this short, but I doubt that I can accomplish that. I find it absolutely hilarious that anyone in their right minds would covet and want to trade for Keith Van Horn. I could go on and on about this but all I'll say is Scott Layden has to be the single worst GM in the history of sports. I have no idea how David Stern hasn't yet entered this mess and said 'Enough's enough'. Personally, I think the Commish has lost a grip on things since the lottery fiasco of '85. Aside from that, not only has Scott Layden made the Knicks progressively worse, they are guaranteed to be horrible for at least another 5-6 years based on all the idiot contracts they have on that team. KVH just adds to that guarantee.
Yeah, Philly got Glenn Robinson out of the trade. Big Deal. The Sixers are nearing the Blazers in headcases on a single NBA roster and I promise that Iverson and Robinson will end up hating each other by January and will doom Philly to the 7th or 8th seed in the East. Atlanta pretty much got nothing out of the deal, and that's ok because only about 12 people really care about Atlanta Hawks basketball.
So, quickly back to West. The Lakers have 4 HOFers, the Spurs are deeper, the Wolvers are more talented, and the Kings and Mavs are still good regardless. (I'd go deeper into the Brad Miller trade, but there is really no point. Brad Miller was only good because he played amongst the East's "elite" group of centers. I have a feeling Miller's new contract will mirror that of former teammate Austin Croshere's now that he's in Sacto.) Throw in Portland who can't run with the West, but is still better than 13 of 15 teams in the East and Houston who can only get better with Francis and Yao and you can clearly see why Jason Kidd had some pretty good foresight.
Comforting we only have to deal with one of them in the Finals. And I'll go out on a limb in August and say we are making the Finals because, quite frankly, we play against other teams in the East, and in the words of a great fellow New Jerseyan, comedian Rich Vos, "They Stink!" This why I will only briefly cover our feeble Eastern competitors, but with one hate-filled tangent at the end.
New York - hahahahahahaha, oh man that was funny, the Knicks...competition...excuse meahahahahahahahahahaha
Orlando - All of the sudden T-Mac has a frontcourt with Drew Gooden and Juwan Howard. Not to worry, they're still nowhere's near taking our beloved Nets of our Atlantic Division perch, but they could bump Philly down a notch. Speaking of...
Philadelphia - What a mess this team has become. Loaded with contracts the size of Jared before his Subway diet. Not to mention dealing with more headcases like Glenn Robinson and resigned Derrick Coleman to go along with Allen Iverson. Their core is older players, and now a vastly overpaid Kenny Thomas. This team has made absolutely no progress in the last two years. No wonder Larry Brown bolted town. (more on that later)
Boston - There was no better feeling for me in the world than watching K-Mart just laugh and shrug his shoulders when Antoine Walker tried to get into a verbal boxing match with him in the playoffs. It can't be good for 'Toine to know that his career is now defined as being Kenyon Martin's bitch.
Washington - Ok, they got Arenas. Now put him in a backcourt with Jerry Stackhouse and you still get 13 other players who wouldn't crack a starting roster anywhere else.
New Orleans - Always that team you say 'Watch out for them this season.' Well I've been saying that for years and I've given up saying it. This team won't be any more than a 4 or 5 seed in the East, ever.
Indiana - I'm going to make a bold prediction and say that this season is Reggie Miller's swan song. Oh, Reggie, the Finals hardly knew ye. Oh, and Isiah Thomas is still coaching them, no worries here Netsfans.
Which brings me to the Detroit Pistons. While our Nets handled the Pistons quite easily I couldn't help but figure that something was amiss in Detroit and we should've been treated to a better showing in the Eastern Conference Finals from them. From what I gathered, the Chauncey Billups injury hurt more than the team let on, and the lack of a presence near Ben Wallace was a disasterous combination for the team.
So, for the Pistons to solve the problem, the team hopes freak ankle injury doesn't occur again to Billups and bolstered the middle with Elden Campbell and #2 overall pick Darko Milicic. In those two moves alone the Pistons are instantly better than they were last season. But fear not Netsfans, because while the competition in the East Finals may be better this year, one intangible that will keep the Pistons out of the Finals is none other than new head coach Larry Brown.
Mark my words Netsfans...THE PISTONS WILL GO NOWHERE WITH LARRY BROWN AS THE HEAD COACH. I detest Larry Brown. I debate with myself constantly over who is the more overrated head coach, Brown or Phil Jackson. Why Larry Brown has lasted this long in the NBA is beyond me. All the guy has done with the past two teams he has coached is inherit good situations, improve the team a little if at all, and then make a bunch of unnecessary moves, and leave town when the going gets tough. He did it in Indiana and Philadelphia and he'll do it in Detroit too.
Exhibit A - In Indiana he inherited a team that included Mark Jackson in his prime, Reggie Miller when he was one of the top 5 scorers in the league, Rik Smits when he had two healthy feet, and a menacing Dale Davis and a young Antonio Davis. That team was great. But Larry Brown couldn't coach his team past the Knicks in 94 and couldn't coach his team past Orlando in 95 when Shaq was only in his second year and 50 pounds lighter and Penny Hardaway was only a rookie. They couldn't get out of the first round in 96 and when the team didn't make the playoffs in 97 he bolted. But not before Rik Smits feet virtually disappeared, Jackson was sent off to Denver, and the team was left with the choice to keep either Dale Davis or Antonio Davis (which turned out to be neither, no thanks to Brown, but a swave move by Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird to get Jermaine O'Neal).
Exhibit B - Larry Brown gets way too much credit for reloading the Sixers. Iverson was already there and everyone already knew how great he was going to be. Billy King made the deal to bring in Tim Thomas for Van Horn (thanks Billy...) and to ship off Stackhouse for Ratliff and McKey, knowing full well that AI couldn't possibly share a backcourt with Stack. So what did Larry Brown get in his first year there, a young core of solid NBA players that included Iverson, McKie, Ratliff, Snow, and they still had DC, and Joe Smith (who would move on to greener pasteurs) That to me sounds like a pretty decent lineup to enter into. Just let them develop roles on the team and all will be well, right? Of course. So all Larry Brown had to do was sit back and wait for 2001 when the East became a mess for the team to come into its own. Then, it all hit the fan. He trades Ratliff for Mutombo and his insane contract to try and compete against Shaq in the Finals (we see how well that worked), He refuses to resign George Lynch, the team's best defender as well as Tyrone Hill, the team's best post player. Then trades Mutombo later for Keith Van Horn (Thanks Billy!!) and poor Todd MacCulloch who may never play pro ball again. Clearly, a stroke of genius by Brown and Co. Allen Iverson is now no younger than he was before an no closer to having any resemblance of a team that might get him a title.
And now he's in Detroit having been handed an excellent situation, great scorers, defenders and a monster prospect in Milicic. Detroit will be out of the postseason in 4 years, Netsfans and Brown will once again leave a team to find another that has a better situation. Mark my words. You heard it here first.
Quick Nets Notes And Personal Tidbits
I wonder if Jason Kidd had mentioned in negotiations that he would only resign if the PA Announcer at Continental would stop butchering his name and making idiotic nicknames for everyone else.
I love Zo, As a fan Zo and I have had a full circle love/hate relationship. And now I love him again on my beloved Nets. I hope $20 million contract for a healthy kidney isn't too much en route to a title.
Lucious, welcome back friend. I know you could've gotten more money elsewhere, but you are loyal and know that you are a key cog with a true winner. You're efforts have not gone unnoticed and you are one of the most underappreciated players in the entire league.
This K-Mart contract nonsense will blow over real quickly. 9 out of 10 times when players start asking for trade demands or anything ridiculous like that, it just goes away after a while. Same thing here. Bottom line, he's still under contract with the team, and if he wants max money, he'll have to earn it this season, under contract, no matter who he plays for.
This Kobe thing is a real unfortunate mess Netsfans. Kobe should have been the guy to carry the torch this year after MJ left, now thats no guarantee. Kobe was Michael spitting image and was the first guy in line to lead the new generation in the NBA. Not trying to say if anyone is guilty or not, or make any judgments, but this is horrible no matter which way you slice it. It is bad for the NBA, who desperately needs an image makeover that 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' would have lots of trouble with. It is bad for businesses who now have been reevaluating how celebrities and athletes are used for commercial endorsements. It is bad because it takes instances like this to see how mass media is exactly like vultures in the desert, waiting for their pray to take their last gasp of air. It is bad because Eagle Creek, Colorado will profit from this whole mess. It is bad because people like Mark Cuban now have a forum in which to voice their irrational and unwanted opinions, such as 'This is good for the NBA.'
11 weeks until the season starts Netsfans. Enjoy the dog days of summer.
- SwampDragon2
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