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Which superstars might be relocated?
By Chris Sheridan
A few folks in Philadelphia are clamoring for the 76ers to trade Allen Iverson, figuring they've already gone as far as they're going to get under the leadership of the diminutive scoring machine who has produced more than 18,000 points over the past decade.
In Minneapolis, the pulse of Kevin Garnett is being constantly checked, his level of satisfaction persistently gauged for a reading on whether his plan for long-term happiness includes staying with the Timberwolves for the rest of his career.
In New York, it was open season on Stephon Marbury before the travails of Isiah Thomas butted him out of the way, and in Orlando there's more smoke than fire surrounding Steve Francis, who's generating plenty of phone calls from opposing teams who are convinced he's available despite the Magic's insistence that they're not looking to move him.
The Paul Pierce trade talk has died down somewhat in Boston, but there's always the possibility the Celtics will decide to move forward without him if the right offer comes along. After all, it almost happened last June when Boston and Portland discussed a deal for a draft pick that would have been used on Chris Paul.
In a league in which players from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O'Neal have been dealt, it's often said that nobody is untradable. Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and LeBron James might want to dispute that theory, but the point is that almost anyone can be traded, and there's never a shortage of teams waiting to pounce when a top-echelon player is put on the block.
Today, ESPN Insider takes a look at several of the league's best players who have been mentioned in trade speculation this season and last season, assessing the plausibility of any of them being traded, including Iverson, Garnett, Marbury, Pierce, Francis, Jermaine O'Neal, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Rasheed Wallace and Kobe Bryant.
Allen Iverson
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $18.2, $20.1 and $21.9 million the next three seasons.
Would they move him? In a word, no. When the 76ers acquired Chris Webber and took on the final 3½ seasons of his $79.7 million contract, they locked themselves into taking a three-year shot with the tandem of Webber and Iverson. Webber's contract (he makes $22.3 million in 2007-08, his final season) makes him virtually impossible to move this season or next season, and Philadelphia's management believes there is no hope in trying to contend for the next 2½ seasons with a team built around Webber and the spare parts they could acquire for Iverson.
Paul Pierce
Contract status: Signed through 2007-08, making $13.8 million this season and $15.1 and $16.3 the next two.
Would they move him? The Celtics would have moved him in late June in a deal with Portland for Nick Van Exel and the No. 3 pick in the draft, but the deal fell through when the Blazers accepted Utah's offer of the sixth and 27th picks, plus Detroit's first-rounder in 2006. The much-rumored deal with Denver for Nene Hilario and Andre Miller was not as close to happening (as some believed), and Boston's Danny Ainge is now insisting that he plans to build around Pierce and newly acquired Wally Szczerbiak.
Kevin Garnett
Contract status: Signed a $100 million extension through 2008-09, but can opt out of his deal in the summer of 2007.
Would they move him? Only if Garnett approached Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and made a personal appeal to be relocated. Sources close to the Wolves say Garnett's future in Minnesota is secure for the rest of this season, but it's possible things could change over the summer. New Jersey and Chicago have the pieces to get a deal done, with the Nets having an edge if they'd be willing to trade Richard Jefferson after his base-year compensation status expires July 1.
Steve Francis
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $13.7 million this season and topping out at $17.8 in his final year.
Would they move him? The Magic have been fielding calls, with Denver the most likely destination if the Magic take back some combination of Andre Miller, Earl Watson and Nene -- or if the Nuggets decide to move Kenyon Martin, who also is being pursued by the Knicks in a deal involving Jamal Crawford. Several multi-team scenarios have been suggested as possibilities, and the Knicks would be willing to take Francis in exchange for Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and spare change if the Magic desired cap flexibility.
Kobe Bryant
Contract status: Signed for $136.4 million through 2010-11, but can opt out in the summer of 2008.
Would they move him? You never say never, but you're tempted to say never here. Year one in his L.A. reunion with Phil Jackson has been devoid of any public rifts, though it's hard to fathom Jackson's continuing to subjugate his ego while Bryant does as he pleases, when he pleases, with Jackson's offense. If Armageddon erupted and one of them had to go, right now it looks like Jackson would be the one shown the door. But he's almost family now around the Buss household, so you never know. It's only one major blowup away from becoming an issue.
Stephon Marbury
Contract status: signed through 2008-09, making $16.4 million this season, then $18.3, $20.1 and $21.9 million.
Would they move him? Even if the Knicks wanted to, who'd take him? He's been traded three times, and each of the teams that got rid of him fared better after he left. Marbury has also developed a reputation as a teammate who can be difficult to get along with, meaning the Knicks are likely stuck with him for three more seasons after this one.
Jermaine O'Neal
Contract status: Signed through 2009-10, making $16.4 million this season and topping out at $23 million in his final year.
Would they move him? One major reason the Pacers decided to trade Ron Artest was to placate O'Neal, their franchise player, so it wouldn't seem to make any sense to turn around and trade him, too. It has been suggested that O'Neal's value might never be higher, despite his recent groin tear, but it's hard to fathom Indiana's dealing an All-Star it has installed as its leader.
Vince Carter
Contract status: Signed through 2007-08, making $13.8 million this season.
Would they move him? If the Nets could get Kevin Garnett, they'd trade him, but they know they don't have a shot at Garnett until this summer at the earliest, and that's also when Richard Jefferson loses his base-year compensation status and can be dangled in front of the Wolves. While Jason Kidd was a subject of trade rumors last season, his contract makes him a bigger long-term financial risk than Carter, because Kidd's contract runs three more seasons at a total of $49 million.
Rashard Lewis
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, but can opt out in the summer of 2007.
Would they move him? Not now, but the SuperSonics might have to consider it a year from now if they're convinced he'll leave as a free agent. Lewis is due to make $10.1 million and $10.9 million in the final two years, but his new contract could total at least four times that amount if he were to go on the open market -- a pretty clear sign he'll exercise that opt-out.
Rasheed Wallace
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $10.8 million this season.
Would they move him? Not now, with the way the Pistons are playing and with the way Sheed is such an integral part of their team chemistry. But Wallace is owed nearly $40 million over the final three seasons of his contract, and the law of diminishing returns might necessitate the Pistons' exploring what they can get for him in the summer of 2007.
Put five Pistons in All-Star Game
Chad Ford blog
There's been a lot of debate about who the reserves for the All-Star team should be.
If I based it on individual accomplishments, my reserve team would look something like this:
West:
G: Tony Parker, Chris Paul
F: Elton Brand, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion
C: Pau Gasol
East:
G: Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd
F: Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh
C: Ben Wallace
However, this isn't a normal year. Although I'm happy with that reserve squad in the West, something about the reserves in the East bothers me.
Individually, these seven are the best the East has to offer. But the Pistons, the reigning power in the East, are changing every assumption about what's important in the NBA.
For the longest time, conventional wisdom on building a team said to get two superstars, preferably a guard and a big, and then fill the rest of the lineup with role players.
Detroit's building principle: Find totally unselfish players who put winning ahead of personal accomplishments. Pistons president Joe Dumars values chemistry over star power. Loyalty to team over marketability.
His team is the exact opposite of that of former teammate Isiah Thomas. The Knicks are trying to build a team on offensive firepower, potential and pizzazz. Instead of looking for bargains, Isiah tries to make a big splash with nearly every acquisition, no matter what the cost. He has double the payroll and half the wins, and almost none of the respect that Dumars has garned throughout the league.
Dumars is the smartest man in basketball, and he is commissioner David Stern's greatest hope to reclaim all that is right and good about basketball -- given Stern's stated desire to have teams built on the foundation of good management and teamwork.
And Dumars' rules for rebuilding have made many GMs rethink their strategies for success in the NBA.
That's why I think it's incumbent on the coaches in the East -- just this one year -- to do something extraordinary. To make a statement about the values they all claim to prize.
The coaches in the East should vote all five Pistons starters to the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves.
Clearly Billups and Wallace are almost locks to make it. But that's not enough. Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince haven't put up the individual numbers of Pierce or Carter, but they're just as integral to the success of their team as Billups and Big Ben.
What a message it would send to the kids at home about what we as hoops fans should really value. And what awesome TV it would make.
Could you imagine what it would be like when Flip Saunders (who will coach the East) pulled all five Eastern Confernece starters midway through the first quarter and replaced them with the Pistons' starting five?
How interesting would it be to see the best team play against the five best individual players in the West? For years we've been arguing that a lack of team play has kept the United States off the gold medal stand in international tournaments. Is there a better time to test the thesis than at the All-Star Game?
The fans will get their fair share of theatrics and slam dunks on Saturday. And let's face it, Saunders will play the East starters plenty, making for some high flying, up-and-down fun.
But the real entertainment would be when the Pistons hit the floor. Can defense, intensity and teamwork beat individual talent?
Those of us who still believe in the purity of the game would like to think it does.
It's up to the coaches, the ones who preach this stuff day in and day out, to show us that it does matter.
Do it for Dumars. Do it for the fans. But most important, do it for the game
Which superstars might be relocated?
By Chris Sheridan
A few folks in Philadelphia are clamoring for the 76ers to trade Allen Iverson, figuring they've already gone as far as they're going to get under the leadership of the diminutive scoring machine who has produced more than 18,000 points over the past decade.
In Minneapolis, the pulse of Kevin Garnett is being constantly checked, his level of satisfaction persistently gauged for a reading on whether his plan for long-term happiness includes staying with the Timberwolves for the rest of his career.
In New York, it was open season on Stephon Marbury before the travails of Isiah Thomas butted him out of the way, and in Orlando there's more smoke than fire surrounding Steve Francis, who's generating plenty of phone calls from opposing teams who are convinced he's available despite the Magic's insistence that they're not looking to move him.
The Paul Pierce trade talk has died down somewhat in Boston, but there's always the possibility the Celtics will decide to move forward without him if the right offer comes along. After all, it almost happened last June when Boston and Portland discussed a deal for a draft pick that would have been used on Chris Paul.
In a league in which players from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O'Neal have been dealt, it's often said that nobody is untradable. Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and LeBron James might want to dispute that theory, but the point is that almost anyone can be traded, and there's never a shortage of teams waiting to pounce when a top-echelon player is put on the block.
Today, ESPN Insider takes a look at several of the league's best players who have been mentioned in trade speculation this season and last season, assessing the plausibility of any of them being traded, including Iverson, Garnett, Marbury, Pierce, Francis, Jermaine O'Neal, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Rasheed Wallace and Kobe Bryant.
Allen Iverson
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $18.2, $20.1 and $21.9 million the next three seasons.
Would they move him? In a word, no. When the 76ers acquired Chris Webber and took on the final 3½ seasons of his $79.7 million contract, they locked themselves into taking a three-year shot with the tandem of Webber and Iverson. Webber's contract (he makes $22.3 million in 2007-08, his final season) makes him virtually impossible to move this season or next season, and Philadelphia's management believes there is no hope in trying to contend for the next 2½ seasons with a team built around Webber and the spare parts they could acquire for Iverson.
Paul Pierce
Contract status: Signed through 2007-08, making $13.8 million this season and $15.1 and $16.3 the next two.
Would they move him? The Celtics would have moved him in late June in a deal with Portland for Nick Van Exel and the No. 3 pick in the draft, but the deal fell through when the Blazers accepted Utah's offer of the sixth and 27th picks, plus Detroit's first-rounder in 2006. The much-rumored deal with Denver for Nene Hilario and Andre Miller was not as close to happening (as some believed), and Boston's Danny Ainge is now insisting that he plans to build around Pierce and newly acquired Wally Szczerbiak.
Kevin Garnett
Contract status: Signed a $100 million extension through 2008-09, but can opt out of his deal in the summer of 2007.
Would they move him? Only if Garnett approached Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and made a personal appeal to be relocated. Sources close to the Wolves say Garnett's future in Minnesota is secure for the rest of this season, but it's possible things could change over the summer. New Jersey and Chicago have the pieces to get a deal done, with the Nets having an edge if they'd be willing to trade Richard Jefferson after his base-year compensation status expires July 1.
Steve Francis
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $13.7 million this season and topping out at $17.8 in his final year.
Would they move him? The Magic have been fielding calls, with Denver the most likely destination if the Magic take back some combination of Andre Miller, Earl Watson and Nene -- or if the Nuggets decide to move Kenyon Martin, who also is being pursued by the Knicks in a deal involving Jamal Crawford. Several multi-team scenarios have been suggested as possibilities, and the Knicks would be willing to take Francis in exchange for Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and spare change if the Magic desired cap flexibility.
Kobe Bryant
Contract status: Signed for $136.4 million through 2010-11, but can opt out in the summer of 2008.
Would they move him? You never say never, but you're tempted to say never here. Year one in his L.A. reunion with Phil Jackson has been devoid of any public rifts, though it's hard to fathom Jackson's continuing to subjugate his ego while Bryant does as he pleases, when he pleases, with Jackson's offense. If Armageddon erupted and one of them had to go, right now it looks like Jackson would be the one shown the door. But he's almost family now around the Buss household, so you never know. It's only one major blowup away from becoming an issue.
Stephon Marbury
Contract status: signed through 2008-09, making $16.4 million this season, then $18.3, $20.1 and $21.9 million.
Would they move him? Even if the Knicks wanted to, who'd take him? He's been traded three times, and each of the teams that got rid of him fared better after he left. Marbury has also developed a reputation as a teammate who can be difficult to get along with, meaning the Knicks are likely stuck with him for three more seasons after this one.
Jermaine O'Neal
Contract status: Signed through 2009-10, making $16.4 million this season and topping out at $23 million in his final year.
Would they move him? One major reason the Pacers decided to trade Ron Artest was to placate O'Neal, their franchise player, so it wouldn't seem to make any sense to turn around and trade him, too. It has been suggested that O'Neal's value might never be higher, despite his recent groin tear, but it's hard to fathom Indiana's dealing an All-Star it has installed as its leader.
Vince Carter
Contract status: Signed through 2007-08, making $13.8 million this season.
Would they move him? If the Nets could get Kevin Garnett, they'd trade him, but they know they don't have a shot at Garnett until this summer at the earliest, and that's also when Richard Jefferson loses his base-year compensation status and can be dangled in front of the Wolves. While Jason Kidd was a subject of trade rumors last season, his contract makes him a bigger long-term financial risk than Carter, because Kidd's contract runs three more seasons at a total of $49 million.
Rashard Lewis
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, but can opt out in the summer of 2007.
Would they move him? Not now, but the SuperSonics might have to consider it a year from now if they're convinced he'll leave as a free agent. Lewis is due to make $10.1 million and $10.9 million in the final two years, but his new contract could total at least four times that amount if he were to go on the open market -- a pretty clear sign he'll exercise that opt-out.
Rasheed Wallace
Contract status: Signed through 2008-09, making $10.8 million this season.
Would they move him? Not now, with the way the Pistons are playing and with the way Sheed is such an integral part of their team chemistry. But Wallace is owed nearly $40 million over the final three seasons of his contract, and the law of diminishing returns might necessitate the Pistons' exploring what they can get for him in the summer of 2007.
Put five Pistons in All-Star Game
Chad Ford blog
There's been a lot of debate about who the reserves for the All-Star team should be.
If I based it on individual accomplishments, my reserve team would look something like this:
West:
G: Tony Parker, Chris Paul
F: Elton Brand, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion
C: Pau Gasol
East:
G: Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd
F: Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh
C: Ben Wallace
However, this isn't a normal year. Although I'm happy with that reserve squad in the West, something about the reserves in the East bothers me.
Individually, these seven are the best the East has to offer. But the Pistons, the reigning power in the East, are changing every assumption about what's important in the NBA.
For the longest time, conventional wisdom on building a team said to get two superstars, preferably a guard and a big, and then fill the rest of the lineup with role players.
Detroit's building principle: Find totally unselfish players who put winning ahead of personal accomplishments. Pistons president Joe Dumars values chemistry over star power. Loyalty to team over marketability.
His team is the exact opposite of that of former teammate Isiah Thomas. The Knicks are trying to build a team on offensive firepower, potential and pizzazz. Instead of looking for bargains, Isiah tries to make a big splash with nearly every acquisition, no matter what the cost. He has double the payroll and half the wins, and almost none of the respect that Dumars has garned throughout the league.
Dumars is the smartest man in basketball, and he is commissioner David Stern's greatest hope to reclaim all that is right and good about basketball -- given Stern's stated desire to have teams built on the foundation of good management and teamwork.
And Dumars' rules for rebuilding have made many GMs rethink their strategies for success in the NBA.
That's why I think it's incumbent on the coaches in the East -- just this one year -- to do something extraordinary. To make a statement about the values they all claim to prize.
The coaches in the East should vote all five Pistons starters to the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves.
Clearly Billups and Wallace are almost locks to make it. But that's not enough. Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince haven't put up the individual numbers of Pierce or Carter, but they're just as integral to the success of their team as Billups and Big Ben.
What a message it would send to the kids at home about what we as hoops fans should really value. And what awesome TV it would make.
Could you imagine what it would be like when Flip Saunders (who will coach the East) pulled all five Eastern Confernece starters midway through the first quarter and replaced them with the Pistons' starting five?
How interesting would it be to see the best team play against the five best individual players in the West? For years we've been arguing that a lack of team play has kept the United States off the gold medal stand in international tournaments. Is there a better time to test the thesis than at the All-Star Game?
The fans will get their fair share of theatrics and slam dunks on Saturday. And let's face it, Saunders will play the East starters plenty, making for some high flying, up-and-down fun.
But the real entertainment would be when the Pistons hit the floor. Can defense, intensity and teamwork beat individual talent?
Those of us who still believe in the purity of the game would like to think it does.
It's up to the coaches, the ones who preach this stuff day in and day out, to show us that it does matter.
Do it for Dumars. Do it for the fans. But most important, do it for the game
