The Best and Worst Offseason Moves

This summer was certainly one of the most memorable off-seasons I can remember. With Kobe-Gate, MSG Follies and the revival of the Boston Celtics, the moves and non-moves made by many teams will resonate for years to come. Did Danny Ainge mortgage the Celtics' future to save his job? Did Kevin McHale do enough to guarantee himself another gig in Boston? Did the Lakers miss an opportunity to make themselves a top four team in the West? Did the Cavs do anything to suggest they were ready to make LeBron a fixture in the NBA Finals? Did the Magic pay too much for Rashard Lewis?

Here is my take on the smartest and dumbest moves made this summer:

Five dumbest

1. Miami Heat
Four seasons ago Shaquille O'Neal landed right in Pat Riley's lap. Best of all for Riley he didn't have to give up his team's best player to get him. Thanks to the gutless Dallas Mavericks (and a dumb foul by Manu Ginobli) Riley and Shaq rode the whirlwind that is Dwayne Wade to the franchise's first NBA crown. The Greasy One even managed to piece together a roster of role players who for a moment seemed to be the perfect compliment to D Wade and "The Big Fat Guy". Then, this past summer Riley decided to not resign the best three point shooter in the league Jason Kapono and let yeoman baller, James Posey slip away to another team in his conference. Who did Riley get to replace them? Why Smush Parker and Penny Hardaway of course. Although I'm not convinced that 'text-speech' is ready to replace the English language altogether, for Miami fans those moves certainly called for a WTF?!! What are Riley and the Heat getting for those brilliant decisions? 9 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds, while Posey and Kapono are both shooting over 50% from behind the arc for their respective teams. To their credit, the Heat did try to sign Charlie Bell. Unfortunately for Riley, the Bucks were not about to let a player leave their team and help another playoff contender in their own conference, like the Heat did.

2. Golden State Warrirors
So Nellie finally gets the type of players he really wants to run his madhouse system of basketball. That system calls for players to run, jack threes, look for ally-oop dunks from half court and play little to no defense. So what does he do on draft night? He trades one of the better three point shooters/dunkers in the game for a rookie who couldn't even get off the bench during crunch time for his college team. Baron Davis and Jason Richardson were the foundations for the Warriors as they were the two most dependable players night in and night out. Both also commanded the respect of other players in the league as well as the benefit of the doubt from NBA refs. Davis, Richardson, and Ellis with Stephen Jackson and Marco Barnelli coming off the bench meant that the Warriors essentially lost nothing when they went to their second unit. Rookie Brenden Wright is another Matt Barnes, only softer. Two weeks into the season the Warriors are yet to win a game. Brilliant.

3. Phoenix Suns
I know, I know, the Suns are 6-2 and leading their division right now. So what? The Suns can win 80 games this season ans it won't matter a bit if they run up on the Spurs in the post season again. Particularly because of one move they made which will haunt them come May. Letting Kurt Thomas go to Seattle for cash. Thomas will never be accused of being an offensive dynamo but what he did give the Suns was a big body to play against guys like Duncan, Diop, Yao or any other low post players opposing teams would throw at them. Thomas kept Amare Stoudamire from getting into foul trouble and to be honest he was a competent jump shooter within ten feet. But it gets worse, along with giving up Thomas, the Suns also gave up two first round draft picks. Unless they plan on having Grant Hill, their prized free agent acquisition d-up the opposing team's center, I don't see how they helped themselves.

4. Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are on this list not nearly as much for what they did during the off season but rather what they didn't do. What the Pacers did was sign Travis Diener and Kareem Rush what they didn't do was sign anyone that could really help their team. As this season progresses we will probably be forced to endure at least one more pouting session from Jermaine O'Neal who had suggested this summer that he would like a change of scenery. Specifically west coast scenery. I'd like to think that it was the Lakers that may have backed off any trade that would've sent either Lamar Odom and/or Andrew Bynum to Indy in exchange for O'Neal, but as O'neal himself pointed out, Pacer GM Larry Bird would certainly make any trades difficult by asking for too much. To be fair to the Lakers Odom and Bynum for O'Neal would've been too much because frankly, O'Neal is vastly overrated. Still he would've been much better playing alongside a player like Bryant who would've reduced O'Neal's expectation level and the Pacers really needed to move him and his contract if they  actually wanted to begin rebuilding. O'Neal is playing for his fourth head coach now and his beat season's came when he had Reggie Miller on the floor absorbing media and fan hounds. O'Neal is now looking for a way out and everyone knows it. So now they will get about half of his trade value when they move him (unless it's to the Knicks). Looking at the Pacers' roster you might actually believe they can compete in the Eastern Conference. But if that was really the case they would've kept Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington (who they craved sooooo badly three seasons ago). While Grainger is indeed an up and comer, this team has no heartbeat right now and bringing in Rush and Diener have done nothing to make Bird appear as though he has any plan for the near future.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves
I almost feel bad for putting Minnesota on this list because they actually got seven players for one in their blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston. Unfortunately, McHale's crew makes the list because of all the players they got in the deal, Al Jefferson is the only one of any real consequence. That being said, at least their commitment to rebuilding was evident, which is why they did not do as badly as the Pacers who should have been looking to do more (see above). Minny should've moved KG last season and caught everyone off guard. That would've sent GM's scrambling to come up with a deal. Instead they held on to the Big Ticket a little too long and had difficulty getting a great player in return. Signing Juwan Howard would've made sense if they had kept Garnett. The only bright spot was drafting Corey Brewer who will be the type of blue collar player that can help a team with the intangibles. Still, consider the list of players they could've gotten Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Amare Stoudamire, Andrie Kirilenko for example and it seems as though McHale only wanted to trade Garnett to Boston. Sounds suspect to me (and to Larry Bird as well).

Next Blog: Five Best moves.

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Slamfest

As we approach the upcoming NBA season it seems that everyone is giving predictions about who will win what come June. I decided to offer a few of my top tens, includung Dunkers, 3-pt shooters and blockers as I am yet to see a list on ESPN, FOX or anybody else for that matter that even resembles the truth. I look forward to your comments and arguments. Let's start with the dunk squad.

#10 Clyde Drexler

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for Drexler, most of his better dunks came while a member of the University of Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma squad. Drexler is most known for his gliding ability on the fast break which of course is how he got his moniker "The Glyde". What Drexler is not known for is posterizing players at game time which is why even though he was great at soaring he just barely cracks the top ten.

#9 David Thompson

You know that a guy has hops when most people have never seen him dunk and still rank him on their top ten lists. Unlike Julius Erving, Thompson never garnered much post ABA adulation. There is a rumor that Thompson once snatched a dollar bill off the top of the backboard. Although I've never seen the clip, having spent a lot of time in ACC country (Thompson played college ball at N.C. State) I've seen enough highlights to know that he probably could've done it.

#8 Spud Webb

When you are 5'7" tall and can do a 360 degree dunk you are supposed to get more credit than Webb has received. Webb was also a very good basketball player and he along with Mugsy Bogues paved the way for many players under six feet to get legitimate shots at making NBA rosters. If Webb had played in today's 'hands-off' defense NBA we would've gotten many more highlights. But his body of work, coupled with his size should place him on everyone's top ten list, period.

#7 Jason Richardson

How can a two time Slam Dunk Champion ( should be THREE time champion) not make everyone's list? Only four players have won the contest twice and three of them are on my list. Richardson has the body of work over his brief career to justify his making the list, especially because he has quite a few facials and alley-oops, prerequisites for being a truly great dunker.

#6 Julius Erving

While it may seem blasphemous to have Dr. J not cracking the top five, you have to understand that it's not his fault that he spawned generations who aspired to be like him or better. Erving was THE trend setter and his infamous pound over Michael Cooper will be forever regarded as one of the sweetest jams ever. Unfortunately for Erving, that dunk set off a frenzy among leapers to outdo the Doc and as you can see five players have managed to do just that.

#5 Shawn Kemp

For me, no's 5 thru 2 could be arranged in almost any order and you might not get too much of an argument. Kemp had rise that was unbelievable for a man of his size. While guys like Darryl Dawkins Larry Nance and Connie Hawkins, were all big men who could soar, Kemp could get the same moves into a dunk that players six to ten inches shorter than him could accomplish. The sheer power that Kemp displayed when he dunked was a marvel to watch. To hell with a dunk contest Kemp could break your arm IN A Game!

#4 Kobe Bryant

Kobe is actually underrated in most people's top ten list. It's part of 'hate' that Kobe gets from people on a regular basis, but if you look at the list of KB 24 victims of posterization they include Yao Ming, Ben Wallace, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and too many other so called 'great defenders' to mention. The only reason that Kobe is not number one is because if you really want to do a list with a a top ten, you can't have a #1 - #1a - #1b and #1c.

#3 Michael Jordan

While Julius Erving brought the dunk to another level, Jordan revolutionized it. Jordan helped create what I consider the most important aspect of anyone making a top ten list and that is the 'in-game' slam. Jordan invented 'posterizing' and while Erving make everyone go 'ooh and ahh', Jordan made everyone say daaaaaaammmmmmnnnn! His infamous dunk on Ewing, Starks and Oakley is still the standard for posterizing. When you abuse three players who were all-stars on their home court, in the middle of heated contest, it's obvious you are the chosen one.

#2 Dominique Wilkins

Nique' was like Jordan and Kemp rolled into one. He had the size and strength to take your arm off and he also had the finesse to weave his way through traffic or beat you down court on the break. Before the guy who is number one on this list came along, Wilkins was the one player who there really was no chance of stopping if he really wanted to jam one in your grill. The most frightening thing about Wilkins was his ability to soar over people who were patiently waiting for a rebound and cuff one over all of them.

#1 Vince Carter

There have been players who no team could stop if they really wanted to score (Jordan, Kobe, Bernard King, Larry Bird and a few others), but in my opinion there have only been two players who no team could stop from dunking whenever they wanted to. One was Dominique Wilkins and the other is Vinsanity. I do not understand how this guy is not number one on everybody's list. People like to talk about his jumping over seven-foot-tall Fredrick Weiss but to me that barely ranks in Carter's top twenty dunks. Carter can complete the 360 with ease and finish with either hand (or both) from either side of the floor, and all this in game time action. To further explain my point you need to watch the clip of Carter's game winning slam on the Rockets during the 1999-00 season. What you will see is Carter, 26 ft from the basket holding on to the ball as the clock counts down from ten. There is no less than 80 million dollars of Houston payroll standing around watching him watch the clock before with less than five seconds remaining he takes two power dribbles and as Stuart Scott would say BOOYAH, game, set, match. That is the essence of Carter's talent the fact that he is so physically gifted that if he wanted to he could dunk on every possession and there is nobody in the league past or present that could stop him. While other players have a top ten dunk list, Carter needs a top thirty just to fathom the type of dunker he was/is. Just like 007 "Nobody Does It Better".

All's well that ends well?

Could the Commish be ready to pull a Tony Soprano?

The die is cast;

The stage is set;

All the world's a stage

Lights, cameras, action!

Somewhere, right now, David Stern is holding Jerry Buss and James Dolan hostage at gunpoint. The scene is not pretty. In fact, I'm sure that wherever the three men are right now, Stern has the sublime aura of James Gandolfini as he keeps his "gat" pointed at the two owners who have caused him various assortments of headaches this past summer.

"You two will make this deal, or else!" Stern barks out.

"Or else? Or else, what?" Dolan ask smugly.

"Or else your teams will be picking from the bottom of the lottery for the next ten years!" Stern yells back.

"Hey?!" Buss chimes in. "I thought the lottery was luck of the draw?"

Stern gives Buss the same look that hot babes give Manute Bol at the club.

"Please." Stern spews.

The NBA Commissioner saw his share of bad press this summer, and even though the negative publicity wasn't directed at any of his own actions, his league almost headed into the upcoming season with fans giving him the old Ricky Ricardo...ju got a lot of splainin' to do.

The NBA's off season of discontent was highlighted by the Tim Donaghy betting scandal and was enveloped by Buss' DUI conviction, the tragic death of Eddie Griffin and last but not least Garden-gate, featuring the New York Knicks as a misogynistic professional frat house.

The Yi JianLian situation never really gained too much steam after Stern had Vice-President Dick Cheney point a few ICBM missiles at Hong Kong and threatened the Chinese government to ensure all Chinese nationals would hence forth be drafted by the NBADL.

Lucky for Stern, some real stars decided to suit up for Uncle Sam in the FIBA tournament (a.k.a. the Vegas massacre) and Boston Celtic legends and former teammates Danny Ainge and Kevin Mchale decided to show some Celtic Pride (and loyalty) to help put the Eastern Conference back on the map come NBA Finals time.

Suddenly NBA fans were more interested in Mark Cuban's dance steps than the integrity of NBA refs. More interested in what team will Kobe Bryant be playing for when he has his next 50 point game in the Staples Center, than how a player with the talent and promise of Eddie Griffin could so easily fall off our radar and into such a decadent personal abyss that cost him his life before most of even knew that he had a problem.

The season ending surgery to number one draft pick Greg Oden was worthy of only 2-3 days of ESPN leads, as compared to a normal ESPN news cycle of 2-3 agonizing weeks (see Joe Torre), so Stern was heading into this season mildly optimistic needing one more insurance run to ensure a great year in the media if not on the court. Especially because Garden-gate was still pursed on the lips of many sports writers just waiting for the first sniff of a sound bite concerning the immediate future of Thomas, Dolan and Phi Knick Phi.

Stern got lucky again. His old friend Jerry Buss knocked in a single in the bottom of the ninth when he told reporters at the Lakers training camp the he would indeed listen to offers for the only player on his team that could start somewhere else in the league.

Now all Stern needs is for Kobe to have one more outburst and Isiah Thomas can come in and save the day for Stern, the NBA, the New York tabloids and most of all NBA blowhards looking for another New York team they can love to hate.

If you think that Alex Rodriquez coming to New York was a big deal, wait until you see Jordan Kobe come to town.

(above) One good reason for Isiah to trade five Knicks for one Kobe

Kobe Bryant playing in the largest media center on the planet would be just the coup Stern salivates for in his efforts to wield Lord of the Rings like magic over the sport that is steam rolling towards soccer as the globe's largest participation sport.

While the idea may sound preposterous at first glance, think about this: If the Knicks were to send a package of say Jamal Crawford, Eddie Curry, David Lee, Randolph Morris, Nate Robinson and a future first round draft pick to the Lakers for KB 24, a couple of things would be accomplished for both teams.

The Lakers would be getting not only the Knicks' best player but quite possibly the Knicks' best three players in Crawford, Curry and Lee. (Well, three of four, now that they have Randolph, Marbury is only considered a great player in New York) Morris and Robinson are both attractive trade bait and of course you get the first round pick. That's only one draft pick short of the deal Minnesota and Boston completed in the Garnett deal but with the exception of maybe Al Jefferson, certainly better players across the board.

The matching salary issue could be resolved with this group or something very similar.

The NBA would have two of its three most popular players playing on the east coast in prime time television slots with the two of the biggest markets and historical fan bases actually talking about championships.

Isiah Thomas could reiterate to everyone about how this was his plan all along.

The Knicks would immediately contend for the Eastern Conference title, in fact it would take KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to keep Kobe out of the Finals (see Suns, Spurs and Mavs...while your at it throw Toronto in there as well). 

When LeBron lands in Brooklyn in two years, Stern will need surgery to wipe the perpetual grin off of his face.

Sure Lakers fans will be pissed off, but who cares when New York and Boston basketball games are selling commercial slots at record breaking prices and child labor camps in China are grinding out Kobe Bryant-New York jerseys 24 hours a day.

Stern will still have Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and a surging Utah market to satisfy west coast fans. The Kevin Durant Sonics will land in Vegas or Oklahoma City sometime in the next year, so Stern needs only one more feather in his cap before declaring himself the King of Sports.

Jordan Kobe in New York...Git-R-Done!

Dodgers....Smodgers the (soon to be) Brooklyn Nets

Williams Bryant James Boone Kristic

June 2008 - Completing the biggest single season turnaround in NBA history, the Boston Celtics defeat the San Antonio Spurs in six games to win the NBA Championship. Kevin Garnett is named Finals MVP.

July 2008 - While on Vacation in Australia, Kobe Bryant tells a Sydney reporter that he can guarantee that he'll never play another game in a Lakers uniform after the team lost 15 of it's final 18 games to finish 38 - 44 and out of the post season. Bryant reportedly says, I'll play in Europe before I play for the Lakers again. The Russian national team calls Bryant to ask if he would like to have dual citizenship.

August 2008 - In a blockbuster trade, the New Jersey Nets trade Vince Carter, Jamaal Magloire and Antione Wright to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Lebron James and Danny Ferry. David Stern announces that the Nets will be investigated for 'tampering' after hip hop mogul Jay Z tells a magazine reporter that the only reason the Nets signed Carter to a three year deal in 2007 was to be able to use his salary to get Lebron. Carter says he and other members of the Nets organization had already spoken James about this in 2007 and that it was in fact Carter's Yankee cap Bron-Bron was sporting during the 2007 ALDS.

September 2008 - Golden State Warriors guard Baron Davis tells reporters at the movie premiere of his film "Diddy Does It Again" (starring Shawn Combs and Davis as two cops trying hard to be Will Smith and Martin Lawrence), that he no longer wants to play in Golden State. This revelation comes two months after teammate Stephen Jackson stabbed rookie Brendan Wright in the parking lot of a strip club for not hustling to the VIP room.

September 2008 - The Nets complete their second blockbuster trade of the summer in a three team deal which sends Jason Kidd to Golden State, Baron Davis and Richard Jefferson to the Lakers and Kobe Bryant to the Nets. The Warriors make this deal even though Kidd has announced that he would be playing his final season in the NBA and really wanted to be near his northern California roots. Reporters from FOX Sports interviewed Stephen Jackson from a jail cell in Oakland where he said he was ecstatic about being able to stab play with Kidd on his farewell tour. Upon leaving Jackson's cell block the FOX Sports crew stopped by the cell block of Lakers owner Jerry Buss to get his comments about the trade. Unfortunately Buss was passed out at the time.

October 2008 - Rapper Snoop Dogg, now using his government name of Calvin Broadus, shows up at Lakers training camp for tryouts. Although Broadus is cut from the team during warm ups, he is offered the GM position which he turns down. Two days later Snoop takes over as GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

October 2008 - Inspired by Snoop's tryout, several more rap artists begin popping up at NBA training camps including Master P at the Hornet's camp, Nellie at the Bobcats' camp and Vanilla Ice at the Utah Jazz' opening practice. Rappers and former basketball players Chris Webber and Shaquille O'Neal each show up at Madison Square Garden to try out for the Knicks but are told by Knick's GM Anuka Browne Sanders that because of their sexists lyrics they are not welcome. When O'Neal asked Sanders which sexist lyrics of his was she referring to Sanders replied, "You know, the one where you say, I like a woman that loves a good man...roll her, pat her, put her in a pan". O'Neal is later hired by the NYPD and gives out more tickets in his first three months on the job than any other officer did for the prior year. When asked why he was so fond of issuing tickets to women wearing sensible shoes O'Neal mutters something about Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson.

November 2008 - After the Knicks begin the season 0 - 15 under head coach Herb Williams, Sanders hires Pat Riley to coach the boys in Gotham. Riley becomes the first head coach in any professional sport to coach his team from a retirement home, using an Xbox 360 to draw up plays and make substitutions.

May 2009 - The Brooklyn Nets, having set an NBA record with 77 wins against 5 losses, announce that after they win the championship they will secede from the NBA and tour the planet playing international teams using the new Rocafella 'bling basketball'. The new ball is encrusted with diamonds and all of the Nets players will now wear platinum 'fronts' during all games. After the Nets cannot find a court surface that can withstand the new ball's impact, the entire team retires and reappears three months later in a Dale Earnhardt commercial.

No, seriously, the players above will be playing for the Nets when they move to Brooklyn, count on it.

In fact buy your season tickets now.

Marion could be key to Laker success

Phil's new Pippen?

A while back I remember reading some reporter's opinion that Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge was pulling a fast one on his organization's fan base with insinuations that he was stockpiling young talent and draft picks to pull off a deal for a NBA mega star.

Although Ainge has been on the short list of many sportswriters take on the NBA's worst GM's, now that he has landed perennial league superstars Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to play alongside Paul Pierce in the Eastern Conference he is certainly having the last laugh.

Now, another NBA GM who has been lambasted for his alleged ineptness on how to build a championship caliber team, has a chance to improve his ball club by leaps and bounds and silence his critics and perhaps even silence them for quite a while.

Look like you know
what's going on

After a summer where several teams made moves that have bordered on desperation in efforts to piece together a squad that could try to offer themselves up as fodder for the San Antonio Spurs next June, Laker GM Mitch Kupchak may have just caught his flush on the river by standing pat and not falling into the trap set by the tirades of his current malcontent superstar Kobe Bryant.

The announcement by Shawn Marion that he has reached a point where he believes that he and the Phoenix Suns are probably better off severing ties at this point was amplified when he slid in the hint that he would welcome a move to the Staples Center to play alongside Bryant, a nine time NBA All-Star.

We've heard this before, in fact earlier this summer the Pacer's Jermaine O'Neal supposedly threw his hat into the 'Save Kobe" effort, as it appeared the Pacers' bread and butter player would welcome a change of scenery.

Kupchak and Pacers GM Larry Bird were both pretty stoic about the possibility of that deal actually materializing and it seemed as though both teams would just head into the upcoming season with melodrama hanging over training camp that could threaten each team's ability to field a motivated, cohesive unit.

Bryant's continual berating of Kupchak's performance as General Manager, which by way of implied logic also said in so many words, my "teammates suck", was certain to be the dominating story for the Laker's organization coming into camp.

Now, Kupchak's saving grace has come in the form of 'The Matrix'.

Many people questioned, and rightfully so, whether or not O'Neal would've improved the Laker's chances of moving deeper into the playoffs after successive first round exits and no major roster improvements.

Marion on the other hand should be exactly the type of player Laker's Head Coach Phil Jackson and the entire Lakers' organization needs to accomplish two goals, satisfy Kobe and improve their roster by leaps and bounds.

In Bryant's never ending quest to be the reincarnation of Michael Jordan, the primary component he has been missing is his own version of Scottie Pippen. A slashing, capable scorer and finisher who could match Kobe's defensive prowess. Bryant's recent experience in the FIBA tournament this summer has probably done leaps and bounds for improving his ability to be a team player and focus on winning as opposed to trying to dominate every aspect of the game.

Enter Marion, who is everything that Lamar Odom was supposed to be for infamous Triangle Offense, but never measured up to be. Marion and Bryant however would definitely raise the level of defensive pressure the Lakers could put on opposing swingmen and offer up another fast breaking, dunking, three point threat to go along with Bryant.

Marion, along with Luke Walton, who just signed an extension with L.A. earlier this summer, the newly reacquired Derek Fisher and the steadily improving Kwame Brown give Kobe the type of teammates who by now should understand their role in the system.

The return of Chris Mihm, Jordan Farmar and this summer's first round draft pick Jarvis Crittenton give the Lakers some promise coming off the bench and the rest of the non starters are already players who have their own particular specialties, mostly cheering Kobe on. 

Odom would have to be considered the biggest component in a trade with L.A. as far as the Suns are concerned, as he is essentially Grant Hill with younger legs, moderately healthy body parts and two more inches in height.

The player who helps match salaries and gives the Suns more depth at the guard position would be Sasha Vujacic, alternatively Brian Cook might be aother option the Suns could consider.

The Lakers need to figure out a way keep Andrew Bynum to give them depth on the block and plus a player like Bynum probably wouldn't mesh with Nash's style of play anyway. Although Bryant will probably have difficulty mending his relationship with Bynum after throwing him under the bus this summer, Like Kobe, Marion has given teams a little more leverage in negotiating for his services now that he has gone public with his wish to be traded.

Marion is actually a better fit for Kobe than Garnett anyway. Marion excels on the break and would allow the Lakers to push the ball of of defensive rebounds ( 7.4 per game of which will now come from Marion himself) as a well as provide Kobe a 'bail-out' when he finds himself double and triple teamed. Leaving Marion alone on the court for extended periods of time would be seriously detrimental to Lakers opponents and Marion would probably see his numbers and popularity increase, playing and winning, alongside the leagues' most watched player.

We might even see Kobe get that long overdue MVP trophy that Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki have been jacking from him recently. Most importantly, Marion would have an ax to grind against his former team if the Lakers should manage to run up on Phoenix again in the playoffs.

Marion, with his athleticism and court savvy, could be the player that manages to disrupt the Suns offense enough to keep them honest and with him being the absolute number two man on offense, he could have a monster series against his former mates.

As for the Mavs and the Spurs, Kobe has always owned both of those teams and has managed to impose his will on either ball club pretty regularly. Adding Marion to the mix only makes things easier for him.

Like Ainge, forces have conspired to allow Kupchak one opportunity to prove that indeed he had some master plan working in his head all along. Which is why he pretty much stayed quiet and took the high road during 'Kobe-gate'. Then again, maybe not.