In addition to their post-lockout, schedule-related bellyaching, NBA personnel now are required to muster surplus energy to handle another challenge.
Welcome to this year's riot of trade-deadline gossip.
Thanks to the magic of Twitter and the escalating power of strategic misinformation, it should be an entertaining two weeks. And even though about two-thirds of the league's franchises actually pulled the trigger on deals last year, this season could furnish even greater drama.
Reality alert: Very few of the more robust trade-deadline deals have resulted in major same-season impact. One of those involved Rasheed Wallace, who — after a cameo in Atlanta — was moved to Detroit, where he helped Larry Brown and the Pistons take down the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. Four years later, the Lakers took Pau Gasol off of the Memphis Grizzlies' paws; Pau wasn't enough to help LA move past the Boston Celtics in the 2008 Finals, but he did serve to boost Kobe Bryant's ring count the next two years.
Gasol, it should be noted, is one of the stars in this year's trade-deadline rumor party. Somewhat ironically, he's been mentioned in a swap scenario involving Boston that — unless the Celtics intend flipping him to a third party — seems cockeyed.
Anyway, Gasol reminds us that one lousy variable capable of freezing the Compelling Meter in our deadline watching is the new-and-fortified luxury tax. According to league personnel executives, its punitive power makes dancing into luxury-tax land seem as ill-advised as using the house-payment money to finance a Disneyland trip.
By the way, the phrase "ill-advised" reminds us that the star of 2011's deadline rubbernecking was Carmelo Anthony, whose quest to reach New York City eventually provoked Knicks king James Dolan to acquire him by sending four of Mike D'Antoni's top six rotation players to the Denver Nuggets. Actually, without that maneuver, the Knicks probably wouldn't have had a need to be rescued this year by Jeremy Lin . . . genius!
Even more interesting than 'Melo is the star of this year's chatter: Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. In perceived ability to move the interest needle, Howard is maintaining a slight lead over Clipper Darrell, who now qualifies as a restricted free agent.
OK, we all know where Dwight stands. One foot in O-town and one in Newark. But he also has an elbow in LA and a hand in Dallas. Right now, this appears to be one giant game of Twister.
In recent days, it has been reported that the Magic's big thinkers will not trade the potential unrestricted free agent because they still hope he'll end up re-enlisting in Orlando. Another report revealed Dwight wants his bosses to acquire Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, who also will be an unrestricted FA and — despite the youth-reminding properties of a new haircut — happens to be 38 years old.
A presumed deal with the Suns would seem to require the inclusion of Orlando four-man Ryan Anderson, right? Well, losing Anderson would make it tricky for Howard and Nash to make a playoff dent in Orlando, and Phoenix's attraction to another perimeter-oriented power forward would dim because its spread-the-court system would wither without Nash.
It also has been posited that Orlando is attempting to acquire Golden State Warriors volume shooter Monta Ellis, who for the past couple of years has been viewed as the lunch-box item (an apple, perhaps?) inspiring considerable cafeteria trade talk but failing to generate a swap.
Really, doing anything to increase the playmate level around Howard (for the purposes of inspiring his return) will be difficult because Orlando has little to offer in a two-teams-involved situation. Yeah, that's why Dwight sort of indicated he wanted to go in the first place.
"I think he'll give them (Magic) enough hope of him returning that they won't trade him," one league-employed personnel guy said of Howard. "From what I'm hearing around the water cooler, he wants to go to New Jersey but doesn't want to play for a team (Nets) that gutted itself like the Knicks did to get Anthony when they might have been able to sign him later. Even if he's playing them (Magic), they shouldn't move Dwight unless what they're getting back is a home run."
Right, why take back the salaries of players only good enough to prevent the Magic from becoming bad enough to land a high pick in the draft? It's also worth pointing out that the collective bargaining agreement's alterations have killed appreciable sign-and-trade door prizes (draft picks, trade exceptions) for the team losing its star. The CBA does continue the concept of a current team being able to offer its own free agent more simoleons than the hypothetical purchasing team, but the biggest chunk of that difference comes with the additional year (fifth) available. If Dwight goes elsewhere, he'll probably be spry enough in five years to make up that year as the first in a fluffy new contract.
Lining up as the first collision in what could be a chain reaction on the trade-deadline highway, Howard — if he isn't moved — could wind up in Dallas this summer with crony (and Nets free-agent-to-be) Deron Williams. To make this happen, the defending champions must find a taker for veteran Shawn Marion and the $18 million he's owed over the next couple of years. Good luck with that. The Mavs also would eagerly decline their team option to retain former Lakers celebrity Lamar Odom, who — according to a tweet delivered by a Dallas-area beat writer — could be moved to the Suns for Nash.
That tweet cited "word on the streets."
Let's go with the intersection of Crazy Street and Absurd Boulevard on this one. For starters, we're all aware that the Suns and Nash remain consistent in playing chicken on their relative futures: The Suns will keep Nash as long as he wants to be around and vice versa. Suns boss Robert Sarver wouldn't mind hiring Nash for two more seasons of chasing the caboose on the playoff train, and Nash has said sticking around would work if Sarver coughs up the necessary loot.
Sarver isn't wild about being the guy responsible for trading Nash — especially for Odom, who's in the midst of a career-wounding year. The Suns' managing partner would rather lose Nash to free agency — and attempt to use Nash's decision to leave as leverage against fan fallout — than make an unremarkable deal. But if considerable rebuilding assets become available in trade (and one of the Suns' bad contracts can be included), a deal might happen. So far, nothing has been close. That would include an Odom-infused transaction with the aging Mavericks, who traded their first-round pick to the Lakers (top-20 protected through 2017, which means it should be gone this June) and a trade exception to get Lamar. Any subsequent Dallas first-round picks figure to be pretty late — especially if Howard ends up working there.
Another item on Sarver's do-not-do list would be making any manner of multiteam trade that puts Nash in a Lakers jersey. That one made the rounds a few days ago. The Lakers, you may have heard, are attempting to find an upgrade at point guard without going deeper into tax purgatory. To that end, moving a skilled, 7-foot power forward such as Gasol really doesn't make much basketball sense unless an elite — and fairly young — playmaker came in return.
With the highly remunerated Gasol checking in at 31 years old, it also seems cuckoo for the Celtics — whose roster is ticking — to blow up things by using their top trading chip, Rajon Rondo, in a deal for Gasol. The Houston Rockets reportedly still want Gasol, but a third-team return such as Kevin Martin and/or Luis Scola doesn't seem like it'd be sufficient for the Celtics to give up Rondo. The high-maintenance Rondo may not excite Celtics management as the disagreeable face of the franchise's future, but he really can play.
The Lakers also need some wing assistance but reportedly turned down the swap of a sort-of-late-first-round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for talented combo forward Michael Beasley. In theory, the Lakers' veteran leadership could keep the previously troubled Beasley in reasonable line.
Alas, even though they presumably could make the deal by sending out the trade exception acquired by moving Odom to Dallas in December, it is believed the Lakers don't want Beasley enough to take on the additional tax-boosting salary. All rumored Gasol-salary-moving schemes are pretty good evidence of that.
Some suggested point-guard additions (Atlanta's Kirk Hinrich or Cleveland's Ramon Sessions) would be more tax friendly, if the Lakers can send salary out.
Another point guard whose disappointing play has generated talk is the Trail Blazers' Raymond Felton, who — before last year's deadline — was running screen-roll for D'Antoni in New York. Portland has the potential to be a landing spot for Rondo because the Blazers have interesting assets besides Felton. For example, three-man Gerald Wallace is a very good player who will be exploring the free-agent market this summer. His backup, the young and talented Nicolas Batum, will be a restricted FA who qualifies as something of a tease.
"He certainly has the tools to be way above average," a Western Conference talent evaluator said of Batum, "but we've never seen him as a top-two option on the Blazers before. That doesn't mean he can't be that guy; . . . it also doesn't mean he can, either. Someone may pay through the nose to find out, or the Blazers can ante up and see for themselves."
Portland, it should be noted, is another frequently listed destination for Nash. Chatterboxes believe it could happen if the Blazers put Batum on the table, but we're not sure if the Suns think the small forward from France would be worth the money required to keep him.
Worth keeping an eye on are the Utah Jazz, who may be more focused on revamping their backcourt than diminishing their surplus of baseline talent.
Phones also should be busy in New Orleans, where the Hornets again may look to move the expiring contract of talented center Chris Kaman. The possibility of a new ownership group may be a factor one way or another. One of that group's members is former NBA player and coach Mike Dunleavy, who has Clippers-related history with Kaman and future restricted FA guard Eric Gordon.
It's unknown whether Kaman and Gordon consider that a good thing.
