Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Logical Conclusion

We can now safely say that we just witnessed the three craziest weeks of the modern NBA trading era. Today's big deal was the insane icing on the cake. But there were plenty of other tidbits thrown in that involved favorites like Bonzi, Gerald, and Primo. And if you're not beside yourself with befuddlement there's probably something wrong with you. Every contender outside the Celtics and Pistons made a significant move. And if you consider Juan Dixon significant that means the Celtics were the only team to stand pat. That's not a judgement, just a fact. And it's stunning.

Moves like the Kurt Thomas deal yesterday and the Mike James deal today are somewhat typical deadline deals. But Cleveland, Dallas, Phoenix and L.A. all decided to majorly shake up their teams fifty games into the season - and all four are hoping their gambles will push them to the Finals. In the recent past things like chemistry have often been cited as being huge impediments for in-season blockbusters. But February 2008 has been the ultimate refutation of this conservatism. Never mind that many of those conservatives might be right...

The result of these three wild weeks leaves us with a league I suddenly don't know. How can you seriously gauge contenders when everything is so new and no adjustments have been made yet? I mean the Lakers look great - but can I trust that greatness? Cleveland might have just punched a darkhorse ticket to the Finals - or dug themselves a grave. How are you supposed to know??? You need to be more than just Kreskin or John Hollinger to come up with these kind of answers. There is zero sample size to work with. For most whiny NBA fans like me, who bemoan the lack of trades, we have just received our comeuppance. I have to be careful with what I ask for.

1 comment:

Hamilton said...

Man, Gerald Green takes one step closer to complete bust-dom. Houston will be his third team in three years; just terrible, especially considering that as a youngster he's probably been given a higher margin of error to begin with. I guess he could still put it together but it looks less and less likely... too bad, he could have been somebody.