I Wanted Ron Artest and I am Dumb Sometimes
Since last season, I have always suggested that the Cavs would do well to acquire the services of Ron Artest. My thoughts on the subject were that he plays some of the toughest defense in the NBA this side of Bruce Bowen, and he has the ability to score and rebound better than probably anyone else on the Cleveland roster that doesn’t have the first name of LeBron. My problem is that I never updated my opinion after the blockbuster trade that brought in Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and (wait for it) Ben Wallace.
I am as dumb as they come. Take a look at the two people involved in catalyzing the ugliest incident in NBA history.
Oh yeah! Ben Wallace and Ron Artest got into a fight. According to some sources when Artest was lying on the scorer’s table right before he got the beer rained down on him he was yelling to Ben Wallace, “You can suck my balls!”
Uhh, yeah, so maybe the Cavs shouldn’t try and mend that fence by bringing Ron Artest in to be a teammate of Ben Wallace.
My bad.
And because I have been such a bad boy with updating this site lately because of an impending move to the country, I should probably also comment on Daniel Gibson’s resigning. I love this for a lot of reasons. First, Daniel Gibson has earned the right to earn his contract in the NBA. He has progressed from being a second-round draft pick to one of the better spot-up 3-point shooters in the NBA. He finished 5th in the league in percentage last season.
At the same time, he and his father (who helped handle negotiations with the Cavs) realize that he is like a BJ Armstrong, or Steve Kerr and didn’t try and hold up the Cavs for every last penny, pretending that Daniel was some kind of superstar in training. They got him a really nice 4-year $21 million deal that can reportedly be worth more if Daniel reaches incentives. This is a really fair deal for both sides.
As an NBA fan, I wish I could feel this way about more deals that players sign in the NBA.
The NBA is Out Of Control
There are a whole lot of weird things going on in the NBA right now, and it just doesn’t feel right. It is crazy enough to have guys get traded at the trade deadline and have guys reshape the way a team works, like what has happened in Cleveland, Phoenix and Dallas. Then on top of that, there are all these tertiary transactions that are taking place which all seem to be effecting the playoff races going on, and it seems anti-competitive.
Here are the things that come to the top of my head.
- Brent Barry gets traded, cut, and then re-signs with the team that traded him to begin with, the San Antonio Spurs.
- Sam Cassell gets bought out and gets to go to the Celtics who have been talked about as a potential suitor for months.
- Theo Ratliff gets cut and gets to join the Pistons for the league minimum.
- Chris Webber gets bought out the year before this by the 76ers and promptly joins the Pistons.
- Dallas uses a retired playe, Keith Van Horn, to get a deal done that brought Jason Kidd into their lineup.
Now, I guess these are all technically legal under the rules the way they are set up. It just doesn’t seem right that contending teams can get players who were making a lot of money without giving anything up and then not having to pay the incoming players any significant amount of money.
I don’t know what the answer is, but why, exactly do the Celtics deserve the services of Sam Cassell? Why exactly, do the Pistons get to pick up a big man late in the season, two consecutive years in a row? Finally, how is it that someone can be part of a trade, and a short time later end up back with another team? This calls into question the validity of the games and has clear implications on the playoffs.
I feel like maybe the trade deadline needs to turn into a bigger deal so that these cuts, waivers and roster moves can’t be made up to the playoff roster deadline. Having the time difference between the two deadlines only opens up these types of inexplicable roster moves that seem shady, at times.
