alamo50
12-12-2006, 01:51 PM
These stars must be dealt, for their team's sake, and their own sanity
OPINION
By Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:31 a.m. ET Dec. 10, 2006
The NBA season is just over a month old, but already it might be over for a handful of superstars.
Anything can happen, of course. Lots of teams start out slow, then catch fire for some odd reason and turn a ghastly season into a marvelous one. In most cases, though, such scenarios are better left to the realm of wizards and tooth fairies. If you’re a superstar in the NBA and you’re the only viable option on a sorrowful team, it’s a queasy feeling that you’ll probably have for months.
Applicable quote No. 1, from Micheal Ray Richardson: “The ship be sinkin’.”
Applicable quote No. 2, from Bruce Springsteen: “When you’re alone, you ain’t nothin’ but alone.”
Here are five players who probably should call moving companies, but only after they call their own teams’ general managers and set the wheels in motion for a trade. These players won’t necessarily go anywhere. But they should. They should high-tail it out of town and take their services elsewhere, because where they are right now is Nowheresville:
Kevin Garnett
The rumors have been flying for some time about shipping the Minnesota Timberwolves’ superstar to the Lakers. But that might be more idle Internet chatter than reality. Still, it’s clear the man needs a change of scenery, and the T-Wolves need a change of direction; presently they’re under .500 in the demanding Western Conference and project to finish 10th or 11th and therefore lottery land again. Garnett in a Lakers uniform would be exciting to see, but T-Wolves VP Kevin McHale, a former Celtic, is loathe to send him to another team in the West, let alone his sworn-to-hate rivals.
But if Garnett-to-L.A. happens, it likely would occur because Lakers owner Jerry Buss and his counterpart Glen Taylor huddle over cocktails and make it happen. While the Lakers keep being mentioned in trade talks, the truth is there are other clubs out there with more to offer. He’d be great on a team that was one star away from serious contention and that had a surplus of talent to offer in a trade, like the Bulls. Garnett is the No. 1 target in trade speculation, but it seems much of it is because he owns a place in L.A. If you follow that logic, most of the NBA’s stars would be crammed onto the rosters of the Lakers and Clippers. But the time has come to move him. Even Garnett himself must look at the dead end he’s currently presiding over and realize that.
Stephon Marbury
Of course, if the T-Wolves keep Garnett in the fold, the other logical move would be to add talent around him. Marbury has an inflated opinion of his own talents. And the move to his hometown Knicks has not worked out according to his fantasy. Life is miserable there, and it figures to get worse. It’s time to send him packing. But where?
His bloated contract doesn’t run out until the 2008-09 season, so it would have to be a team that could make room for him under the cap and one that would provide an upbeat climate for him to resuscitate his career. A return to Minnesota and a reunion with Garnett might be the ideal answer. It would get Marbury out of the intense media glare of New York and back to the city where he began his NBA career with such promise in 1996. Marbury can still play, but he needs to be in a more positive environment. There aren’t many other possibilities for him outside of Minnesota. He’s a unique case and needs a special home, but Indiana or Houston could also work.
Allen Iverson
Woe is Allen. While he is loyal to his Sixers and would ideally like to spend his entire career in Philadelphia, the fact remains that his club will not make the playoffs again. He’ll continue to be a diva in an off-, off-, off-Broadway production. Of all the players in the NBA who should probably change uniforms, Iverson is the most overdue.
The Sixers, in fact, announced on Friday that they'll soon trade the guard.
Many players over the years who were at Iverson’s stage of their careers — he’s been in the league since the 1996-97 season, same as Marbury — have moved to a team and played a secondary role in order to win a title, from Bob McAdoo with the Lakers in ’82 to Gary Payton last year with Miami. And Iverson has a lot more superstar-level basketball left in him than those gentlemen.
By clinging to Allen, the Sixers were stunting their own growth as a franchise as well. He has 10-plus NBA seasons under his belt, which is a lot of wear and tear on a little guy. He doesn’t have too much time left, so his stock will start slipping soon if it hasn’t already. If the Sixers had hesitated, they’d blow a chance to remodel their club. He would probably perform best on a competitive team where he could still be a starter but not have to carry the primary load. He could even come off the bench under the right circumstances. That could be someplace like Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Toronto or Indiana.
Ray Allen
Surely someone out there could use one of the best — if not THE best — perimeter shooters in the game. Right now the 31-year-old Allen is stuck in Seattle, where the future of the team is in limbo. He’s having a fine season thus far, averaging over 25 points a game, although his shooting percentage is down slightly and he’s suffering from a bone contusion in his ankle. The Sonics are not that bad, but they’re chronically average and figure to stay that way.
Currently they’re under .500 and will probably not break into the playoff mix in the West. Allen is a terrific scorer but he’s not the kind of player who makes other players better. He would be more valuable, and have a better chance at a championship ring, if he pushed for a trade.
Then the Sonics could use whatever they get in a deal for Allen to build around young players, or to disintegrate altogether; either is a possibility at this point. Allen would be superb in a role similar to Michael Finley’s in San Antonio — only better. Some teams on the cusp with talented players to deal who could use a guy like Allen: the Clippers, Bulls, Pistons.
Paul Pierce
It must be abundantly clear by now that the Boston Celtics are going nowhere and will probably continue on that course for the foreseeable future. Pierce must know this better than anyone. He has been a Celtic since coming out of Kansas in 1998 and the club is no closer to adding a 17th championship banner to the rafters now than it was then.
Pierce signed a three-year, $59 million contract extension, which means he’ll be under contract to the Celtics for four more seasons after this one. He has said in the past that he wants to finish his career as a Celtic. But he also has expressed concern whether the team was on the right track, and whether the young players on the roster would ever develop. The team’s current 5-12 start should give him a hint that all is not well. Sebastian Telfair, Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and Leon Powe are not going to draw comparisons to the 1985-86 Celtics. Pierce would be wise to start mapping out an exit strategy now while his value is still high. He’s a tenacious competitor and a talented scorer who would fit well on any contender, including his hometown Lakers and Clippers but also the Bulls and Cavs.
Michael Ventre is a contributor to MSNBC.com and a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099209/)
OPINION
By Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:31 a.m. ET Dec. 10, 2006
The NBA season is just over a month old, but already it might be over for a handful of superstars.
Anything can happen, of course. Lots of teams start out slow, then catch fire for some odd reason and turn a ghastly season into a marvelous one. In most cases, though, such scenarios are better left to the realm of wizards and tooth fairies. If you’re a superstar in the NBA and you’re the only viable option on a sorrowful team, it’s a queasy feeling that you’ll probably have for months.
Applicable quote No. 1, from Micheal Ray Richardson: “The ship be sinkin’.”
Applicable quote No. 2, from Bruce Springsteen: “When you’re alone, you ain’t nothin’ but alone.”
Here are five players who probably should call moving companies, but only after they call their own teams’ general managers and set the wheels in motion for a trade. These players won’t necessarily go anywhere. But they should. They should high-tail it out of town and take their services elsewhere, because where they are right now is Nowheresville:
Kevin Garnett
The rumors have been flying for some time about shipping the Minnesota Timberwolves’ superstar to the Lakers. But that might be more idle Internet chatter than reality. Still, it’s clear the man needs a change of scenery, and the T-Wolves need a change of direction; presently they’re under .500 in the demanding Western Conference and project to finish 10th or 11th and therefore lottery land again. Garnett in a Lakers uniform would be exciting to see, but T-Wolves VP Kevin McHale, a former Celtic, is loathe to send him to another team in the West, let alone his sworn-to-hate rivals.
But if Garnett-to-L.A. happens, it likely would occur because Lakers owner Jerry Buss and his counterpart Glen Taylor huddle over cocktails and make it happen. While the Lakers keep being mentioned in trade talks, the truth is there are other clubs out there with more to offer. He’d be great on a team that was one star away from serious contention and that had a surplus of talent to offer in a trade, like the Bulls. Garnett is the No. 1 target in trade speculation, but it seems much of it is because he owns a place in L.A. If you follow that logic, most of the NBA’s stars would be crammed onto the rosters of the Lakers and Clippers. But the time has come to move him. Even Garnett himself must look at the dead end he’s currently presiding over and realize that.
Stephon Marbury
Of course, if the T-Wolves keep Garnett in the fold, the other logical move would be to add talent around him. Marbury has an inflated opinion of his own talents. And the move to his hometown Knicks has not worked out according to his fantasy. Life is miserable there, and it figures to get worse. It’s time to send him packing. But where?
His bloated contract doesn’t run out until the 2008-09 season, so it would have to be a team that could make room for him under the cap and one that would provide an upbeat climate for him to resuscitate his career. A return to Minnesota and a reunion with Garnett might be the ideal answer. It would get Marbury out of the intense media glare of New York and back to the city where he began his NBA career with such promise in 1996. Marbury can still play, but he needs to be in a more positive environment. There aren’t many other possibilities for him outside of Minnesota. He’s a unique case and needs a special home, but Indiana or Houston could also work.
Allen Iverson
Woe is Allen. While he is loyal to his Sixers and would ideally like to spend his entire career in Philadelphia, the fact remains that his club will not make the playoffs again. He’ll continue to be a diva in an off-, off-, off-Broadway production. Of all the players in the NBA who should probably change uniforms, Iverson is the most overdue.
The Sixers, in fact, announced on Friday that they'll soon trade the guard.
Many players over the years who were at Iverson’s stage of their careers — he’s been in the league since the 1996-97 season, same as Marbury — have moved to a team and played a secondary role in order to win a title, from Bob McAdoo with the Lakers in ’82 to Gary Payton last year with Miami. And Iverson has a lot more superstar-level basketball left in him than those gentlemen.
By clinging to Allen, the Sixers were stunting their own growth as a franchise as well. He has 10-plus NBA seasons under his belt, which is a lot of wear and tear on a little guy. He doesn’t have too much time left, so his stock will start slipping soon if it hasn’t already. If the Sixers had hesitated, they’d blow a chance to remodel their club. He would probably perform best on a competitive team where he could still be a starter but not have to carry the primary load. He could even come off the bench under the right circumstances. That could be someplace like Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Toronto or Indiana.
Ray Allen
Surely someone out there could use one of the best — if not THE best — perimeter shooters in the game. Right now the 31-year-old Allen is stuck in Seattle, where the future of the team is in limbo. He’s having a fine season thus far, averaging over 25 points a game, although his shooting percentage is down slightly and he’s suffering from a bone contusion in his ankle. The Sonics are not that bad, but they’re chronically average and figure to stay that way.
Currently they’re under .500 and will probably not break into the playoff mix in the West. Allen is a terrific scorer but he’s not the kind of player who makes other players better. He would be more valuable, and have a better chance at a championship ring, if he pushed for a trade.
Then the Sonics could use whatever they get in a deal for Allen to build around young players, or to disintegrate altogether; either is a possibility at this point. Allen would be superb in a role similar to Michael Finley’s in San Antonio — only better. Some teams on the cusp with talented players to deal who could use a guy like Allen: the Clippers, Bulls, Pistons.
Paul Pierce
It must be abundantly clear by now that the Boston Celtics are going nowhere and will probably continue on that course for the foreseeable future. Pierce must know this better than anyone. He has been a Celtic since coming out of Kansas in 1998 and the club is no closer to adding a 17th championship banner to the rafters now than it was then.
Pierce signed a three-year, $59 million contract extension, which means he’ll be under contract to the Celtics for four more seasons after this one. He has said in the past that he wants to finish his career as a Celtic. But he also has expressed concern whether the team was on the right track, and whether the young players on the roster would ever develop. The team’s current 5-12 start should give him a hint that all is not well. Sebastian Telfair, Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and Leon Powe are not going to draw comparisons to the 1985-86 Celtics. Pierce would be wise to start mapping out an exit strategy now while his value is still high. He’s a tenacious competitor and a talented scorer who would fit well on any contender, including his hometown Lakers and Clippers but also the Bulls and Cavs.
Michael Ventre is a contributor to MSNBC.com and a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099209/)