I was hoping to hold off on talking about all these trades 'til next week's column, but what the hell ...
Jamison to the Cavs makes Cleveland a little more of a threat, but they aren't sure-fire champs this season. I think Lakers/Cavs in the Finals is a lock at this point, and that probably was the case before Jamison entered the LBJ fold. Still, Jamison is a guy that's going to put up good numbers when he's the primary scorer on a team, but he's not the Robin to LeBron's Batman. He's never been on a great team, never been passed the 2nd round of the playoffs, so in those crucial games when your under the brightest of lights and the pressure is on, is he going to be a guy that can step up when LeBron is suffocated by defense? I don't think so. On top of that, he's 33, and if the Cavs can't win it with him this year, you'd be hard-pressed to believe they can keep LeBron to make another run in the next few years.
Dallas probably made the best move acquiring Butler, Haywood and Stevenson for relatively nothing. They gave up Josh Howard and cap room, but even that's not enough to win the West. You look at their lineup and say, wow, Kidd, Butler, Marion, Nowitzki, Haywood ... what a starting 5! But in reality, Marion's only success was as a garbage player in Phoenix. Somehow he thought going to another team would allow him to prove his worth, a la Joe Johnson leaving for the PHO for ATL, but he was the product of a system. Without Nash, he's a nobody. Butler has reverted back to "the other player" in the deal that sent Shaq to Miami for Odom, and the guy that the Lakers sent to Washington for Kwame Brown.
I address these trades more in-depth than the other moves because these are the only teams who are relative contenders.
People genuinely have to know their role in a system to be successful, and neither of these moves are going to put these teams over the top because these players have yet to acclimate to their new teams. The Lakers are established champions, have been there recently, and will continue to shine when it matters most. I like the fact that someone has the nerve to say the Lakers are better without Kobe. The only thing that's better is the ball movement, and that's because the world's best player isn't on the court.
McGrady to the Knicks. PFFFT. Give him a month before that shoulder, or back, or knee tweaks and he's sitting on the sidelines ... again.
The Kings moving Kevin Martin is the dumbest trade in the past few years. He and Tyreke Evans, with a little more time, would have been a great backcourt, Now, in another couple years, they're going to be looking for another dynamite scorer, and wondering what the purpose of getting rid of him for Carl Landry was when they already have Jason Thompson. I just don't get the point of that move at all. They're flooding themselves with Fs and Cs, while their best guards now, aside from Tyreke, are Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia. Fucking bizarre.
