Here It Goes Again, OK Go (2006)

Oh, What Could Have Been

In the last 24 hours we witnessed a preview to what the NBA Offseason provides. Draft implications, new logos and uniforms and just the overall shaking of the NBA and many fans' foundations. In this entry, I am going to run through the three recent trades that occurred, the rumours surrounding Rajon Rondo and finally the re branding of the Philadelphia 76ers. First of all, lets look at the deals that went down:

Spurs Receive: Richard Jefferson

Bucks Receive: Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto

Analysis: Obviously a CAP shedding move by the Bucks. Like I said back in my Unphenomenal Swagger Of A Champion entry, I am not a fan of teams surrendering talent and thus their immediate future just to make some financial gains for the following free agent period. The Bucks loss of a legitimate inside/outside scoring option is the Spurs gain, who will now pose one of the scariest rosters in the league, with Parker, Jefferson, Ginobili, Duncan and to an extent Drew Gooden. If the Spurs can sign another scoring or defensive big man in Free Agency like Rasheed Wallace, then the Lakers will once again have a legitimate threat.

Pistons Receive: Fabricio Oberto

Bucks Receive: Amir Johnson

The Pistons receive a nice big man who on a good night can provide 10 and 10...make that a really good night. The Bucks appear to be making their natural progression back to mediocrity.

Wizards Receive: Randy Foye and Mike Miller

Timberwolves Receive: No. 5 pick in '09 Draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov

Ok, so lets weight this together. The net worth of Thomas, Songalia and Pecherov is pretty much zero. So I am going to look at this as Foye and Miller for the 5th Overall Pick. The Timberwolves now have consecutive picks (5th and 6th), and depending on who is available, they could make a real impact in the draft. The Timberwolves had obviously finally given up on Roye, so this move can be seen as a step in the right direction for the franchise.

What do the Wizards gain? They now have a legitimate point guard who can either back up a healthy Arenas, or take over the starting role if Arenas were to fall to injury again. Miller also provides a solid scoring option behind Butler.

Moving on. It was revealed that the Boston Celtics made a trade offer to the Detroit Pistons along these lines;

Celtics Receive: Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince

Pistons Receive: Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen

I can see why the Pistons rejected it. No doubt that Rajon Rondo would be a massive upgrade over Rodney Stuckey, but Ray Allen for Hamilton and Prince? C'mon, Dumars isn't that stupid. Prince can be called the the Pistons MVP (with Billups gone), and Hamilton is far more consistent than Allen. Ok so no harm done, but what I question is why in the blue hell are the Celtics shopping Rondo around? The only reason I can see is that they are testing the market to define what he is worth, as the likelihood of him being stubborn during new contract negotiations is high. Unfortunately, I can see Rondo being traded on Draft Night, taking him away from the team where he developed so strongly would be a disappointment for many. Watch this space.

Finally, as I previwed yesterday, the Philadelphia 76ers announced yesterday that they were going retro, changing their logo back to what they used from 1978 to 1997, with a secondary logo, wordmark and jersey set being released later on in the year. Great move by the organisation. The logo (and I am sure the jerseys) will look clean and sharp, but better than the bland jerseys and rather cluttered logo they have been using for the last twelve years.

Until next time.

TSM