- Feeling bad for Josh Smith.
- It was real easy for me to delight in the madness that was Josh Smith being cut from the Detroit Pistons. I found it crazy to see the Pistons literally pay a player to go play for someone else with nothing in return...well, we all thought nothing. Since he's been cut, the Pistons are 7-1, with their one loss coming against the East's best team: the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks were on their own 6 game winning streak so it's not exactly surprising to see the Hawks come away with the W but the Pistons did make it close, losing 106-103. But back to Smith. I just feel bad that this guy was the target of so many articles recently, none of which likely painted him in the best light. Whether or not he can turn his attention off to that sorta thing is of no importance since you just can't ignore the Pistons record in the past eight games. They won only five out of twenty-three games earlier in the year and you just know Smith saw his former team win game after game after game without him on the roster. It must be demoralizing and just mentally straining to try and ignore what the pundits and analysts are talking about. But remember, he will be paid about $20 million by the Pistons through the next couple years plus whatever the Rockets will be paying him...so can we really feel bad?
2. Can the Pistons be ignored?
- 7-1 in their last eight games finds the Pistons firing on all cylinders. Their most notable wins in that span came against an injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers squad, the Dallas Mavericks, and the San Antonio Spurs. They're next games will be against the Nets, Raptors, Pelicans, Pacers, Sixers, and a rematch with the Hawks. Honestly...I see them, at worst, going 3-2 in that stretch. If they don't go 4-1 I'll be surprised. They should be able to close the gap between the Nets and Heat if they keep their play strong for the rest of the year. With this in mind, the Pistons need to beat up on the Heat and Nets in their remaining match-ups...but they only play the Nets once more making that all the more important. However, they will play the Heat three times. If they can go 4-0 in these games...which will be tough, then I think they're a lock for playoffs.
3. The Knicks/Cavs/Thunder trade.
- Not sure what to think about this trade still. I'm writing this on the afternoon of January 10th which found the Knicks losing at home to the Hornets 110-82...and it wasn't even THAT close. At one point the lead was stretched to forty. Are you kidding me, Knicks? Regardless, the Knicks shipped Iman Shumpert and JR Smith to the Cavaliers, who sent Dion Waiters to the Thunder, who then sent Lance Thomas and a pick to the Knicks. The Cavaliers also sent out Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk to the Knicks who promptly waived both of them as well as Lance Thomas and their own Samuel Dalembert. Since then, Thomas and Amundson have been resigned under 10-day contracts with the Knicks. The Thunder got a chucker who didn't get along with Kyrie last year and doesn't appear to have a good relationship with LeBron this year. He's also been the victim of too many vines depicting him standing open in the corner, jumping up and down and waving his hands in the air to get the ball from 'Bron only to be denied and frozen out of the games. I don't think this trade moved the needle much for the Cavs yet. More recently the Cavs then traded for Timofey Mozgov from the Nuggets to replace the injured Anderson Varejao. I would say that the Cavs won the week had I seen their roster improve but I don't think it has. Yes, talent-wise they are better but there's just too many guys on that roster who need the ball in their hands to be successful. I like Shump, I like JR...but I don't like them occupying the same roster as Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Matthew Dellevadova, James Jones, Mike Miller, or Shawn Marion...all six men have logged time as the SG this season. In the end, the Knicks cleared a ton of cap space with their wheeling and dealing so I give the nod to the Knicks in this one as they're clearly building to the future.
4. The Celtics/Suns swap and the impending Celtics/Grizzlies/Pelicans (?) swap.
- Yesterday evening the Celtics sent Brandan Wright, acquired previously in the Rondo trade from Dallas, to Phoenix in exchange for a first round pick and a trade exemption. This trade doesn't necessarily hurt the Cs as Wright did little for the team in his short stay in Boston. It appears that he was never meant to be a fixture in Boston despite some analysts suggesting that he was the best "get" for Boston in the Rondo trade. Phoenix should benefit as their defense with hopefully improve without limiting their fast-paced up and down offense.
- Onto the impending Jeff Green trade. Last night the Celtics couldn't close a deal in time for it to be official with the NBA so we will all wait until Monday when the league offices open again to see what has officially been agreed upon. What we know is that Memphis has been looking to upgrade their SF position and Boston's Green seemed to fit the bill. Decent, expiring contract plus talent seems to work in the Grizz's favor in regards to Green. Memphis and Boston looked to include a third team into the trade however, which is likely to have caused the delay.
- In this trade, Memphis will sent Tayshaun Prince to Boston and Quincy Pondexter to New Orleans. New Orleans will send Austin Rivers to Boston and Russ Smith to Memphis. Boston will send Jeff Green to Memphis. Green will fill a need in Memphis while Prince will be nothing more than an expiring contract in Boston. For Boston, nabbing Rivers may be what they're excited most about. They'll have the rest of the year to evaluate him and, honestly, I think Stevens is going to work well with young players like Rivers, Marcus Smart, James Young, Tyler Zeller. No, Boston may not win many more games this season but these young guys will be fun to watch.
That's all for today everyone. As always, thanks for the views and comments are always welcome.
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