Kidd returning to Dallas, per the WWL

Man, I can't believe Cuban has gotten desperate enough to pull the trigger on this. This probably will make the Mavs a bit better THIS year (although that's hardly certain--aside from Harris,losing Stackhouse also really hurts), but it will DEFINATELY make them worse in coming years.

This deal's a success only if the Mavs win the title this season, anything short of that and its just plain stupid.

 

Mavs and Nets deal again:

Antoine Wright to the Mavs for a draft pick.

Couldn't this have been tacked on the original deal, or was it salary cap issues?

 

You think a starting five of:
PG - Fisher
SG - Bryant
SF - Odom
PF - Gasol
C - Bynum

and a bench of:
Jordan Farmar, Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Trevor Ariza and Rony Turiaf

isn't any better than No. 6 in the West?

Why don't you take a sip from the reality pool yourself? How is that not one of the top two or three teams in the West, especially when you factor in the experience of Phil Jackson on the bench?

 

I think it'd be even more hilarious if Utah, New Orleans or someone else who declined to join the mid-season arms race ended up winning the West. Those are the teams I'm now cheering for come springtime.

 

Trip,

So you are saying the Lakers are going to come out of the West as a 3 seed. I think the Nuggets can bruise and batter Los Angeles in a seven game series. Camby could shut down Bynum or Gasol, who ever he guards and Martin can at least slow down the other. Iverson and Anthony easily trump Bryant and Gasol for points.

Same thing with the Jazz. Williams is tons better than Fisher, Brewer is coming of age and I am not saying he's a Kobe by any stretch of the imagination. Carlos Boozer can defend in the blocks against Gasol and Okur can at least slow down Bynum. It will come down to the bench and I don't think the Lakers can catch fire at the right time.

 

I'll give you the Jazz Rump, but the Nougats? Martin is a SHELL of his former self and a healthy Bynum, Gasol ... hell, maybe even Kurt Rambis ... they'd all have their way with him. I like AI against Fisher, and while I'm not a Kobe fan, he's a better defender than Anthony and at the end of the day he wins that battle. The Nugs could give them a decent run, but I doubt it.
In the end, none of it will matter because San Antonio is still the one team that consistently plays team ball on both ends of the floor.
Spurs out of the West, Pistons out of the East and every single city outside of San Antonio and Detroit will be bitching about another "boring" NBA Finals.
Too bad, so sad, tell your mom, tell your dad.

 

Nov. 29 -- Lakers 127, Denver 99
(The Nuggets were completely healthy; No Laker starter other than Bryant scored more than 12 points, but seven Lakers scored in double figures).

Dec. 5 -- Lakers 111, Denver 107
(Allen Iverson scored 51, Carmelo Anthony added 26, but only one other Nugget was in double figures and, again, the Nuggets had a healthy starting five. The Lakers won with Chris Mihm in the starting lineup.)

Jan. 21 -- Lakers 116, Denver 99
(Four of the five healthy Nuggets starters were in double figures, as well as reserve Linas Kleiza, yet the Lakers with Kwame Brown at center and Odom out of position at power forward, win going away.)

Nov. 4 -- Lakers 119, Utah 109
(All five healthy Jazz starters were in double figures, as well as Milsap off the bench; the Lakers with Kwame Brown and Rony Turiaf starting, win going away).

Nov. 30 -- Utah 120, Lakers 96
(Kirilenko posted a triple-double and Deron Williams scored 35; only three Lakers scored in double figures, in the second game of back-to-backs, after beating the Nuggets 127-99).

Dec. 28 -- Lakers 123, Utah 109
(Five Laker starters in double figures, including current reserve Trevor Ariza, and Jordan Farmar off the bench scored 14. A healthy Jazz team only got 6 points from Williams, 4 from Okur and 9 from Kirilenko.)


I'll only add that the addition of Gasol only makes the Lakers that much better.

I was only tossing my opinion that the Lakers are the best team in the West, when healthy. But you telling me to come back to reality followed by telling me how you doubt the Lakers would survive against the likes of Denver and Utah is rich with irony.
My reality is at the top of this post.

 

Can't argue with those numbers.

One word of caution for everyone who gets psyched up about NBA trades though ... keep in mind that this is February and the NBA regular season is meaningless. If you can't win when the chips are down (Nuggets, Nets, Rockets, Mavs, Raptors, Suns (for the most part), Wizards and any other pretender I'm forgetting) then all this talk is really futile.

 

Agreed. We've only gotten a glimpse of Gasol integrating with the Lakers and so far, so good (though they still have the Bynum dynamic to add). Who knows how Shaq and Kidd are going to integrate with their new teams. They could be a ton better or a ton worse.
I've been hesitant to say anyone's better than the Spurs, but I've watched them a lot lately and Parker's injury problems and age are making me think they're at the end of their run.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Shaq make his debut in Phoenix. It's like a science experiment gone wild. Hahaha.

And, Rumple ... I don't want it to come off like I'm disrespecting Denver or Utah. Both are good teams and I think the Jazz will be top 3 in another season or so (with the Lakers and Hornets) in the West. Bottom line, there's so much talent in the west, I can't wait for the playoffs.

 

Total panic move on Cuban's part.

Yeah, Harris is hurt and J.J. Berea couldn't play in the D-League, but there were other (much cheaper) point guard options out there. Cuban's going for it all, but at a terrible price for the future.

Mavs fans, enjoy this year and next. Because the 2010s are gonna be another full decade of suck.

 

Its not going to matter who has the best record. It's going to be Detroit vs. San Antonio

or whoever Detroit blows it against in the conference finals against San Antonio

 

Great statistical analysis piece by John Hollinger. Harris has actually been outplaying Kidd this season.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=KiddDeal-080213&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dhollinger_john%26page%3dKiddDeal-080213

I reiterate, this is a terrible move for Dallas.