The NBA pulled off a huge five-team trade where the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies did most of the trading and used the New Orleans Hornets, Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics as conduits for the trade. The biggest names changing hands are Jason Williams and Antoine Walker going to Miami and a bunch of Heat role players (Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, Qyntel Woods) being sent to Memphis, New Orleans and Boston, respectively.
I'm not sure I understand this trade. Jason Williams has carefully crafted his reputation as an all-score, no-defend point guard that couldn't get off the bench during the fourth quarter of games. Antoine Walker isn't much different; he's a shoot-first, ask questions later type who plays his game 20 feet from the rim and never met a three-pointer he didn't like. How else to explain a power forward with a career shooting percentage of .414?
The Heat were right in analyzing last year's team and coming to the conclusion that it was really a lot of Dwayne Wade, a little bit of Shaq and nothing else. They realized that when Wade went down in the playoffs they were sunk, so they were right to try and find some more pop in their lineup. But in making this trade, acquiring two of the more selfish players in the NBA, what have they achieved? Shaq has shown throughout his career that he hates sharing shots with more than one person. Wade is flourishing as the best all-purpose backcourt player, capable of driving, shooting, passing and running the offense. Will Shaq and Wade be able to co-exist with Walker and Williams? I honestly don't think so.
Oh sure, it didn't cost the Heat anything in terms of players so there is little downside risk that the roster isn't improved, at least on paper. But all of their moves -- signing Shaq to a $100M extension, bringing in Walker's $53M, extending Haslem for another $31M -- make them an expensive team that might not fit together on the court. Given the poor state of the Eastern Conference, only the Indiana Pacers are better than the Heat in my book. But I think the Heat will find out the hard way why this is Walker's fourth trade in three years and why Williams has never quite been good enough to get important minutes. I think the Heat will regret this one, even if their roster is now the envy of fantasy basketball fans everywhere.
PS - Someone explain to me why everyone's patting Shaq on the back for taking a "pay cut" by signing his five-year, $100M deal? He opted out of $31M for next season and took the security of four more years. Overall, he's grossing an extra $69M. I don't see the pay cut thing in play here. There was the story that he willingly changed his deal from five years, $125M down to the current $100M but that's not a pay cut, that's part of a negotiation he had with the Heat where he's getting something out of it on the back end. There is no free lunch in sports; don't ever bet on an athlete's generosity. That's just the media putting a favorable spin on a guy they love. If it were someone they hated (like TO), they'd show the stuff that was left out of the story too.
6 comments:
I agree that while the fantasy stats of the Heat improved I'm not sure the overall team did. I thought the Heat's weakness in the playoffs was its frontcourt. Relying on a healthy Shaq and Zo (Haslem is undersized) to control the boards is a risky proposition. Walker and Williams don't add much in the boxing out and rebounding department.
Well, the Heat did pick up Posey who's always a great reliable player to have. Not sure how Jason Williams works out exactly, but I think anything's better than Damon Jones. And yes, I realize Damon Jones is probably the Cavs best bet at point guard, but I still don't like him. Walker doesn't help with rebounding at all obviously, so this team will still be "boxed out and rebounded" as Cohen says when they play the Pistons. But, the Heat did turn Eddie Jones into 3 players essentially, because Butler & Woods never played, so kudos to them for that I guess.
It's not what they turned Eddie Jones into, it's what they did to their team. Like I said, there was no downside in turning a cruddy Eddie Jones into two (or three, if you count Posey) better players. The risk is in the players they've added. Walker and Williams are about as bad as teammates can be. Walker hated being the fourth option in Dallas two seasons ago. Williams loves shooting when he's on a one-on-four about as much as he loves turning the ball over.
Damon Jones isn't a good player but he could nail threes and stretch defenses when they were closing in on Shaq or all over Wade The Heat are only better on paper (at least in my opinion).
Oh my... I just messed my pants... Walker is making $9 million per year for the next 6 years. As much as I like Posey, that's just absolutely atrocious.
Yep, you said it. I think the Heat really screwed this one up. There's an interesting theory out there that says that Riles made this big splash so that when he fires Stan Van Gundy next week, it'll just be a blip on the radar.
By the way, adult incontinence is nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to the best of us. Just ask Vivek Acharya.
Post a Comment