Ben Golliver (and Kevin Pritchard, I guess) would have us think that a lopsided trade would have something to do with cap space and salaries. Suddenly, they want to turn this into some kind of technical term.

Sorry, lopsided trades are simply like this:

Paul Gasol to the Lakers from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and a couple of draft picks. Or Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson.

THAT’S what a lopsided trade is, folks.

Tweet This Post

In all the fuss about Kevin Pritchard not getting votes, I forgot to comment on this. Denver’s Mark Warkentien, a former Blazer guy, was named the winner.

How silly. They ignored the guy who engineered a deal that turned one team from an also-ran into a legit contender. That guy, of course, was Joe Dumars, the once-respected genius running the Detroit Pistons. Yeah, I know it was all about cap space. Sure. But look, the guy gave up Chauncey Billups, a player still good enough to, by himself, turn Denver’s season around. And Dumars, for that kind gift, also took A.I. off the Nuggets’ hands — a player who was pretty much useless.

Sorry, cap space be damned, that’s just a ridiculous trade. Fans who bought tickets to see the Pistons play this season deserve a refund along with a written apology from Dumars. That deal cut the heart right out of the Pistons.

And so Warkentien wins the award? For what, agreeing to a lopsided trade that ANYBODY would have agreed to do? I don’t think so. Give it to Joe for getting the Nuggets, who arguably weren’t going to be good enough even to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, into the conference finals.

Tweet This Post

One thing that Kevin Pritchard will probably begin to deal with this summer is an imbalance on his roster. I’m talking about age.

It’s just not functional in the long term to have so many young players on one roster. And I’m not talking about inexperience on the floor, either — that’s a different sort of problem. There are a few other concerns all that youth brings.

First, all young players want to play. They want to show what they can do to ensure their place in the league. Then once they find a rotation spot, they want to start. They want to play big minutes. And then they want big money. Look, it’s how it works. I don’t blame them at all. They’ve worked hard all their life and they now have their one chance to be compensated for it.

Eventually, the Blazers cannot offer great chances for young players to prove their mettle. There are too many young players ahead of them already who have done that. There aren’t enough minutes. The result of that can be disconnected and disgruntled players. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blazers deal away their first-round pick and some of those seconds this year. They just don’t need another youngster, unless it’s a long-term project or someone they can stash in Europe for a while.

The best makeup of a roster is a blend and the Blazers haven’t had that. Ideally, you want veteran starters backed up by a pack of hungry kids looking to build a career. Or young kids, backed by a bench of smart veterans who know their role and are looking to not only win a title but mentor young players along the way. Usually, you get some sort of combination of those things.

Portland has the young starters, guys who figure to be around for quite a spell. Now is the time when Pritchard will begin to assemble the cast of veterans behind them. Oh, a veteran impact player would be fine, too — a guy who could do what Chauncey Billups did for the Denver Nuggets. There just aren’t a lot of those available.

I’d just caution Blazer fans not to be too attached to all their young guys because some of them are going to be gone very soon.

And I haven’t even mentioned the problems, going forward, with all these young players wanting big contracts at the same time and what that’s going to do to the roster, in regard to the salary cap. If, for example, you’re eventually going to give max contracts to Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge (let alone Greg Oden), you’re not going to have a lot of room for everyone else.

It’s just something to keep in mind as we head toward the offseason.

Tweet This Post

Well, me, actually. No, I didn’t say 53 or 54 wins – I didn’t pick a number of wins. But what I did do is pick the Trail Blazers to win the Northwest Division, which they almost did.

My problem was that I didn’t realize the Detroit Pistons would be stupid enough to hand Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for the right to take that Iverson guy off their hands. Man, did that ever change the way the whole Western Conference shook out. Billups was good enough to get Denver a division title and to keep Portland from winning it. Without that deal, the Blazers would be champs for sure.

Anyway, just for fun you can go back and read my season preview, written in October, right here.

Here are the money paragraphs:

 How good will they be as a team? I think playoffs for sure. They’re simply too talented not to be among the top eight teams in the West. If Oden finds himself by the end of the season and everyone stays healthy, they’re going to be a factor in the playoffs.

Don’t forget, this is a team that knows how to play the Lakers and the Jazz. The Blazers gave both those division champs fits last season and I expect they’ll do it again. So, in summary — I think Portland battles Utah for the division title right to the end. And shocks everyone by winning it. I know nobody’s saying that, but I just honestly believe they have more overall talent than the Jazz.

Tweet This Post

He’s resting a tender elbow. Now that changes the matchups a little, doesn’t it? Look for a couple of big nights from Chauncey Billups.

For the season, Anthony is shooting 42.0% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range for 20.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.96 steals per game.

Tweet This Post

The general manager of the Pistons certainly knocked the Northwest Division out of kilter when he gift-wrapped Chauncey Billups for the Nuggets and allowed them to flush Allen Iverson.

I was one of the few people who picked Portland to win that division, believing the Blazers to be deeper, bigger, better-shooting and just overall more talented than the Utah Jazz. The Nuggets, with A.I. floating around gunning up shots, weren’t really a factor in my mind. Oh, a decent team, but I doubted they would make the playoffs.

Since the trade, I haven’t seen Denver in person. But on the tube, they look pretty legit with Billups scoring, spreading the ball around and getting them organized at both ends of the court. This was a serious leadership boost for the Nuggets. I’ve always felt George Karl needs a commanding presence at point guard more than a lot of coaches. He kind of lets his teams go on offense and gives the point guard a lot of responsibility for the outcome.

Billups is fully capable of accepting that task. And now, as well as the Blazers are playing, it’s going to be tougher to win the division with two good teams to beat. I believe Portland is still better than Denver — again, bigger, stronger and deeper. But it’s going to be a real war now.

Thanks again, Joe. I mean, it’s OK to mess up your own team but why did you have to put your fingerprints all over our season out here?

Tweet This Post

All you have to do to see Billups’ value to the Nuggets is to watch the Pistons without him. A.I. is a big dropoff for Detroit, which is 6-6 since he arrived. The real value of that trade to the Pistons now is only the cap space they’ll gain when and if Iverson walks after the season.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets are a different team with Billups on the floor. They’re suddenly defending a little bit, sharing the ball and playing with some direction. Billups is one of those players you don’t really appreciate until he’s gone. And I really cannot believe Detroit made that trade. It has changed the dynamics of both conferences.

Tweet This Post

Everyone is reporting that Allen Iverson is on the way to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb. Both Billups and McDyess have had previous stints with the Nuggets.

Incredible to me that Iverson, at 33 years old and with all the mileage on him (he’s averaged 41 minutes per game during his career!), can still command that kind of talent in a trade. It’s so hard for a player of his size (listed at 6-feet, 180 pounds but looks smaller than that) to last a long time in the league, given the pounding he’s taken.

I’ve always loved how hard he plays and at this point of his career, he’s seemed to accept that he’s never going to average big numbers again. Still, that seems like a lot to give up to bring him to a team that was doing pretty well without him.

Tweet This Post