Big deal and some big conflict coming this evening

Best.

Deadline Day.

Ever.

Really, how cool was it with all the stuff flying around Thursday afternoon?

I sure don’t remember one better.

-

There were a couple of big surprises around the league but none bigger than Boston moving Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green.

I’m a big Green fan but, for the life of me, I cannot imagine what Danny Ainge is thinking in Boston and I can also imagine there’s some angst over there among fans, and players.

If I’m going into the playoffs banking on Shaquille O’Neal to be healthy, I’m taking a huge, huge gamble and I know there was no indication that Perkins would re-sign in Boston this summer but aren’t the Celtics in a “win now” mode?

Of all the deals, that’s the one that’s going to have the greatest impact on who wins a title this year, I think.

And all of a sudden, the Thunder is a lot bigger and a lot tougher and they might have made the greatest strides toward immediate success of any team out there.

Thanks to that trade, I think both conferences got a little bit tougher to win.

And, to me, that’s what trades are all about.

-

I cannot wait for this to happen tonight.

Steve Nash is leading the break and the fans are waiting for something magical to happen.

He lofts a brilliant pass just over the out-stretched hand of a Raptor defender and the joint goes crazy with cheers.

Vince catches it, dunks and the fans stop mid-cheer to boo.

This has the makings of one of the most conflict-filled evenings in the arena I can remember.

-

Know what comes now?

The period when players who weren’t traded, or couldn’t be traded, and even some who were, are waived or bought out or told to go away and we start a whole new wave of roster changes.

And two of our old friends might be on the move, it appears.

Jason Kapono is sure to be bought out in Philly, and it’s equally sure some team will find a need for a guy who can still make a three-pointer (I’m looking at Boston and maybe Miami) and the word filtering out of Indy is that TJ Ford would welcome a departure if he knew he had somewhere to go.

Now we’re not talking about stars here but we are talking about guys who can help teams with specific needs and if you thought players engineering their own trades was an angst-causing issue, think about a guy getting paid and then waived so he can go where he wants.

-

All right. I’m standing there looking at this poster for Sportsnet’s stepsister network (the one a bunch of you can’t see at the moment) and there’s a picture of Andrea with the big, bold statement:

Intense One

And I’m thinking (besides “What kind of seizure did Danny Ainge suffer?):

Are there no truth in advertising standards or laws in this country?

-

Okay, not much time left because we have to get in touch with the winners this afternoon but there are still MGD Best Seats to be had for Sunday’s game against Dallas.

Three sets of four and entering is easy as clicking here and following the instructions. And the math question isn’t too hard. I couldn’t get it, but it’s not too hard.

Entries have to close at 10 a.m. so if you get here after that, sorry. But I know we’ll have at least one more night before the season ends.

-

What’s up with the Suns?

This is up with the Suns.

-

I was standing outside the locker room the other night after the Bulls game, chatting briefly with one of the Henchmen and, of course, the talk was of James Johnson and his somewhat impressive debut.

But the fellow looks over his shoulder as he walks and away and says,

“Give the other guy credit, he did a good job.”

And he’s right.

Lost amid the new-guy-starts-immediately scenario was how well Sonny took the news.

Kid was a pro about it; not that I expected him to sulk or anything (although that has indeed happened with others in the past) but he played hard and well and smart.

And people in the office noticed.

-

Let’s get a quick one out of mail.

Q: Hey Doug. Do you think that there will be anything in the new CBA that will make it easier for teams to keep their star players? It seems that the way players are orchestrating trades to teams of their choosing is bad for the league.

Jeffrey G, London

A: All I can say is they better.

The league’s reputation, which wasn’t stellar in some circles to begin with, has taken a hit with all the shenanigans about player movement of late and it has to be addressed in the new collective bargaining agreement.

It goes hand-in-hand with the need for a change in the economic landscape so that all teams can truly compete but some mechanism that makes it possible for teams to keep their players without paying through the nose is much needed.

The Decision and the free agent summer were bad enough, the six-month-long Anthony crap put it over the top.

-

Of course nothing happened with the HOTH at the deadline, just as we’d expected. Not only didn’t they have a lot to dangle (Reggie Evans hasn’t played in months, Leandro’s been banged up) but Bryan made it crystal clear the other night he’s not about to take on anything that would disrupt the long-term plan, which is to finish out the year with this young group, see if he can do something around the draft with the $9 million or so left from the Bosh trade exception and make a good pick.

Might make the final 24 games like the first 58 but that’s how it’s going to be.

-

Just when I though there were some athletes who were nuts, Charlie Sheen helps me cast an eye to Hollywood and think: “Some of those people are certifiable.”

-

Mail? Here. Doesn’t seem like there’s much over there.

-

Okay, how many of you giggled at the Bosh 1-for-18 night against the Heat Bulls? Be honest. Almost all of you, I bet.

Oh yeah, there’s this, too: Bosh misses 17 of 18 shots, his team loses and he finishes plus-2. Guess he had a good game?

-

 

 

Comments

[Matt M]

And by Raptor Fans I mean people who watch every game so they can come on Doug Smith's blog the morning after to tell the world how tortured they are given that they hate being a Raptors Fan.

[doug]

@Kelsey i mean this sincerely not in a smart-ass way...you made me laugh so hard in your response to DMcCalgary when you said "How dare you mention Bargnani and Carmelo, Nash or Amare in the same breath!!!"..I put this on the end of it, "I fart in your general direction you english pigdog"..oldtimers will get it, the Monty Python connection...it made me laugh.....but in regards to DMcCalgary interesting you mentioned Iverson earlier, as years ago when he was in his prime i said to my friend as we were watching, "he's good but he will never win a championship, well maybe late in his career as a bit piece he might"..my buddy called me nuts, we proceeded as guys do to make a $50 wager on the spot....well so far it looks good for me as he hasn't officially retired...Howard to me is the same, he won't in my opinion win a championship unless he is a bit player on a team...I should see if my buddy wants to go double or nothing on that one actually I would let it ride...

[Jim Rootham]

@DMcCalgary

Of course the circumstances are different. That's the point. +/- tells you what the result was, not how it was achieved.

Asik led everybody for rebounds, I'd say he was effective.

[doug]

Bill Simmons sums up so well what I was trying to say earlier about the CBA and players moving, I guess that's why he's a writer and a dam good one...he's talking about Perkins in a must read column for any b-ball fan...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110225/part2&sportCat=nba

"You might remember LeBron and Carmelo getting excoriated for stabbing their respective teams in the back. You want to know why they didn't care? Because, deep down, they know that teams don't care about players, either. They probably witnessed 20 variations of the Perkins trade during their first few years in the league. Hey, it's a business. Hey, that's just sports. Hey, trades come with the territory. Isn't loyalty a two-way street? When a team does what's best for itself, we call it smart. When a player does the same, we call him selfish. We never think about what a double standard it is.

kudos to him and he's dead on...

[JP]

@Chris,
The reason the Sacremento and Boston trade happened was because Sacremento was under the minimum salary cap the NBA has. They had to add salary.

[Steve]

@Phil A thanks for the video .. so many good memories. Back when Vince and Tracy were raptors. Having Antonio Davis, JYD, Alvin Williams, a young Bosh, Dell Curry, and the others was nice to go back and see.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

So, have we taken our meds today, everybody? Buckle up, tonight's looking to be a tad schizoid.
Hmm, Bargs for Noah... good one. In a perfect basketball vacuum, Bargs has more tools. In a perfect sports psyche vacuum, Noah has more tools and DNA. In the real world, who else is on the team? Actually, those two playing side by side might get something done.
Perkins to OK... that's awesome, just not for Boston.
And @doug, just for the record, I'm not sure I could come up with a tune I like less than Kumbaya either. Puff the Friggin' Dragon maybe? Okay, and Ring My Bell. And You're So Vain. Oh yeah, and Sneaky Snake. There's my five. Have at 'er.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Kent]

@ doug. Dwight Howard can be the center piece of a championship team, any era, any league. His team took out Lebron's Cavs on its way to the NBA finals and was unlucky to run into a Lakers team on a mission. So here's a player that was 4 wins away from the championship two seasons ago and probably has 10 years left in his career, and you are making the prediction that he has no chance of winning one? If you win your bet, it will prove only one thing, that random predictions can sometimes can true.

[Anthony]

Let's look closer.... Noah for Bargnani - Noah has had injury issues every year, so that is a major issue. His 5 year salary is 2.1 million more per year then Bargnani. He has no offensive creativity or skill.

Let's be stoopid and then look at yesterday's game vs. Miami and have someone tell us how Noah shut down Bosh..... Really??? Bosh had many open looks and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn..... Bargnani posterized Noah on an up and under dunk Wednesday and put up 17 more points in a win..... Of course it was not Andrea only, just pointing out the ridiculous argument.....

BTW note that Noah was -11 vs. the Heat (worst on the team)..... Omer Asik out rebounded him and was +17.... Maybe we should push for him instead of Noah????

[The J]

Another interesting link about Chris Bosh's game last night:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=8937&cpage=1#comment-44393

They put it as the 24th worst game ever. I wont point out who took number 12. I don't think that would be looked at to kindly around these parts.

[doug]

@D Mac...good list...I would have to put on mine anything by KC and the Sunshine band...especially Shake your Booty.. Bay City Rollers Saturday Night...Wham Careless Whisper..Debi Boones You Light Up My Life and Kumbaya......

[Richard]

@Lorie

Regarding the Diva Quotient, it is still a work in progress but I would be happy to indulge your curiosity. My best explanation is that it's a new and unscientific measure (made up this AM actually) of the relative pain in the a$$ a given player can be to teammates/franchise/organization, if/when they are not the focus of attention or not cited constantly as one of the (or in extreme cases THE) main reasons for the success of teammates/franchise/organization.
The DQ is less a numeric value than an anecdotal assessment of the stories and headlines generated by the player, and generally leads to disruption, dysfunction or dismantling of the team or organization, and ends with said player being shipped out of town to attempt to preserve what is left of the stability of the organization.
Sorry I can't supply any more detail at this point but I'm sure we can all come up with a list of players who possess high DQs.

[Aditya]

bryan colangelo gave extensions or a contract to jason kapono and tj ford ....(both supposedly solid players),.... neither player can get off their bench... if you are giving a solid contract in the range of $6 million or above, they better be playing towards the end of their contract......

[Michel G]

"The Marquis Daniels Trade was confusing - the only thing I can think of is that it opened a roster spot for the Celtics - The Kings get cash - but give away a pick - There's doing a team a favour - but really can't see what in it for the Kings."

I think the 2017 pick is protected to the point that Boston will never use it. The Kings were doing the Celtics a favour. Doug, you knew that when you brought up Bargnani in that light you would cause this ridiculous banter. Lastly, Weems' role in the NBA is going to be coming off the bench scoring points. The man is a shooting guard, and given time, I think he can be really good in that role. I hope he stays in Toronto past this season.

[Aditya]

everyone's failing to mention that the celtics acquired a los angeles clipper future first round pick in the perkins transaction.....now only if i could find out which year it is for......(i have a hunch its the 2012 first round pick), it could prove to be decent....and NO ONE knows what the clippers future holds....the franchise is cursed....... i think its a shrewd move by danny ainge and the more i look at it, i think this is the exact kind of risk worth taking.

[doug]

@ Michael G...we all know why Doug put up that comment about Barg's...he's all about the numbers, he learned well as he's seen Bob McGowan at work..I don't see it as ridiculous banter I see it for me as killing time well I have been off with the flu...it's all in good fun and Doug has to stoke the fires as his numbers were down earlier in the year....Barg's is Doug's meal ticket right now...looks good on him...he sits back makes a few blog entries in the morning, a couple innocuous responses as the day goes on and shows the bosses the amount of hits he gets...good work I say...at least fans have a outlet, and Doug supplies it, he's witty, throws out stories and responds and reads entries (so he says)...so winners all around...all harmless and just good times...