Everybody and their mother has an opinion on the recent Marion for Shaq deal. Because of that, I'll try not to run on too long with this.

First of all, this deal was automatic for the Heat, I think everyone can see that. Even if Marion got injured tomorrow and never played a game in a Heat uniform, they come out ahead because they save about $10 mil on the deal and get Shaq's monster deal off the books. There weren't going to be a whole lot of takers for Shaq, and nobody would be willing to offer a player of Marion's caliber for him. Better player, better contract, easy trade to make.

For the Suns, of course, this is a completely different animal. This is, quite obviously, the not about these two players' current level of production. Marion has clearly been more productive in recent years, and he is a fantastic fit to the Suns system. No, this trade was about more than just what you see on the court. First, no matter what the two of them might say, this was about Marion and Amare not getting along. Marion has long been a tempermental player, but those in the know say that the Phoenix locker room has been particularly uncomfortable this season. So, not only do the Suns get rid of the dissenting party, but they bring in one of the most charismatic figures in sports, and a guy who has tons of championship experience. In terms of team chemistry, you can't make a much bigger swing than that. Second, the Suns are counting on seeing a better version of Shaq than the version the Heat have been getting. They're counting on O'Neal being extra-motivated by a chance to play for a title contender, and they also believe that their top-notch training staff can help Shaq in much the same way they've helped Steve Nash and Grant Hill play at a high level late in their careers. As an unintentional bonus, almost everyone in the media has been killing this trade and calling Shaq washed up. If Shaq still has anything left, that's good news for the Suns, cause an angry O'Neal is a motivated O'Neal, and as Shaq said today, "You just don't really want to get me upset. When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things -- like win championships."

All that said, was this a good idea for the Suns? Well, I was all set to pan this trade right when I heard about it. I've been as critical as anyone of Shaq recently, and by all accounts, it looks like this is a terrible fit. However, if you believe,as I did and as many within the Suns organization apparently did, that the Suns weren't going to win the title as previously constructed, and if they felt like they needed to get rid of Marion, then is this really all that bad? Chad Ford has an article on ESPN.com talking about all the other better deals that Phoenix could've gotten. However, consider this: you're Phoenix and you know you have a closing window to win a title; you've been punished by opposing post players again and again in the playoffs; you're the team that can't get over the hump, isn't it a decent risk to bring in the Diesel and hope that he can be motivated enough to turn back the clock? With all do respect to Chad Ford (whose work I love), if I'm the Suns I'd rather take a chance on getting a rejuvenated Shaq than make any of those other deals. This really is one of those rare trades that looks incredibly one-sided on paper and after a quick look at the statistics, but becomes a calculated risk when you consider the off-court impact.

Finally, what can we expect from Phoenix now? Well, you'll see a lot more of Boris Diaw, which is one of the reasons Phoenix could make this deal. With the acquisition of Hill, Diaw's minutes have been down this year, and he's a guy who can really help them on the offensive end. Obviously, Shaq is going to struggle against the pick and roll, something that he struggled with even in his prime, but Phoenix's hope is that he'll offset that by providing valuable defense on guys like Duncan, Bynum and Yao, and that letting Amare play more help side defense will improve his defensive play. Whether or not that is actually the case will likely depend on just how motivated Shaq is, and if he can turn back the clock a few years.

You know, I've tried to write this post like 6 times, and every time I just stall at the beginning and give it up. Maybe I'll actually get it written this time.

Anyway, we've hit the half way point of the NBA season. It's time to look back at what we've learned, as well as look forward to what we can expect from the rest of the season. With that in mind, lets take a look at some of the teams that I really missed on.

Memphis Grizzlies
Wow, did I miss on these guys or what? Strangely enough, a lot of what I thought would happen with them did happen. Rudy Gay really blossomed in his second year, becoming a potent scorer, J.C. Navarro has been one of the best rookies in the league and has had some truly spectacular shooting performances, and Mike Conley has played very well since returning from injury. They're actually a decent offensive team. However, where I was wrong was thinking that they would be an improved defensive team. Gay hasn't been much of a defender, even though he has all the tools for it, Kyle Lowry isn't having nearly as much impact as last year, and most importantly, Darko has been absolutely terrible. One reason I liked them so much was because an even slightly improved Darko would give them a much-needed shot-blocking presence in the back of their defense. Instead, Darko has, amazingly, been much, much worse than he was in Orlando last year. Of course, I also though 42 or 43 wins would get you into the playoffs out West, and that doesn't appear to be the case at this point. Oh well, they'll at least put themselves in good position to get Mike Beasley or DeAndre Jordan in the draft.

Chicago Bulls
I, like everyone else, have been pretty stunned by the poor performance of the Bulls. Now, to some extent we probably should've been able to see this coming. All the talk about a Kobe trade obviously had an effect on the young guys on this team. It was also painfully obvious that Ben Wallace was declining rapidly as a player. However, there's no way that anyone could've predicted the inexplicably bad play of the Bulls' young core players. To have one young guy regress when he should be improving is one thing, but for five guys under the age of 27? It's absolutely incredible. Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Duhon and Thomas are all having worse seasons than last year. We're not just talking about slightly worse either, we're talking about them being significantly less productive. 7 of the top 8 guys on the team (with Joe Smith as the exception) are shooting worse than they were last season. It's absolutely mind-blowing how the young Bulls have regressed. I think we're going to see the Bulls in the playoffs at the end of this season 1) because they're in the East, and as bad as they've been they're only a game behind the Pacers for the last playoff spot right now, but also because 2) it's absolutely unheard of for a team full of young players to take a huge step backwards like this, and I think they'll bounce back some and be respectable by season's end.

Portland Trailblazers
I actually kind of thought Portland would be better than most people thought they would, but I never thought they'd have this kind of success. The biggest shocker to me has been the extraordinary play of Brandon Roy. I'll be honest, I thought Roy was a really good player when Portland drafted him, and I thought he'd make a few All-Star teams and be a really good player, but I never thought he'd be this good, this fast. He has become the unquestioned leader of the team that has the best chemistry in the league. He does all the little things and he's a big-time clutch player, making big shots, big defensive stops and getting big rebounds. I'd be hard-pressed to name a player with a better hesitation move than Roy, he reminds me a bit of Nash in the way that he always looks like he's completely under control. Of course, the other big reason for the Blazers' success has been the brilliant coaching of Nate McMillan. This Blazers team has great chemistry, they run their offensive sets really well, and they use zone defenses as well as any team in the league. That's great coaching, McMillan has got this young team executing and believing in themselves.

Those are the teams that have really surprised this year, but we've also learned a lot this season about the league's elite teams. With that in mind, I'm taking another look at my list of potential contenders and cutting it down to size a bit.

My list from the preseason looked like this (in no particular order): Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Jazz, Celtics, Nuggets, Bulls, Suns

My list now (again, in no particular order): Spurs, Celtics, Pistons, Rockets, Nuggets, Lakers

So, why did I drop the teams I did?

Bulls are obvious, I'm not going to go over them

Jazz
They can't defend the post at all, and I can't bring myself to pick them in a conference with Duncan, STAT, Yao, Dirk, and now Bynum. You have to defend the post, and they can't.

Mavs
Gone unnoticed by basically everyone is the fact that the Mavs' defense has not been good this year. This team was 2nd in the league on offense and 5th on defense last year, this year they're 2nd on offense and 18th on defense. Add that to their playoff failures the last two years and this team screams "paper tiger" to me.

Suns
Hardest drop from the list for me. I love Nash and I think this team is tremendously talented. However, they're a worse defensive team than last year, and they aren't going to win a title that way. Amare continues to be a weakness defensively in the post, and Brian Skinner brings defense, but he doesn't have any offensive skills. Kurt Thomas was so great because he could both guard bigs and step out and hit the mid-range jumper, Skinner can't do that. I hate it, but bad defensive teams don't win titles.

You'll notice a common theme on why I didn't pick any of the previous teams. To put the importance of defense in perspective, there have only been 2 teams in the modern era who have won a title without a top 10 defense, and they were the '95 Rockets and the '01 Lakers (who don't even really count because they played great defense the year before and the year after and during the playoffs with essentially the same team, and obviously didn't care about the regular season this year). Moral of the story is that defense is really important.

You may also be wondering why the Hornets didn't make the list. Simply put, they don't have a bench. I would take their starting five against any other starting unit in the league, but they don't have the depth or the experience to make a deep run, especially not if anyone (read: Peja) gets hurt. I love the team, I love Chris Paul, they're a great story, but I don't think this is their year.

So, why the teams that I did pick?

I'm not going over the Spurs and Celtics, you all know why they're on that list.

Nuggets
They have two possible starters who are out indefinitely with injury (Nene and Chucky Atkins), Carmelo's production and efficiency is down significantly from his past two seasons, and they have a serious lack of three-point shooting. Still, they're 25-16 and first in their division. The reason is because Allen Iverson has fully embraced being a co-star with Melo and is having the most efficient season of his career, and because Marcus Camby takes this team from being a very bad defensive team to being a very good defensive team. If Atkins comes back healthy or they can add one more shooter through a trade, I think this becomes a very dangerous offensive team as well as a good defensive team, and that makes them a contender.

Rockets
They're the biggest stretch on the list and might not even make the playoffs. However, they're an elite-level defensive team, and they still have half a season to try and get McGrady to buy into Adelman's system. As I wrote back when I blogged the season-opener between LA and Houston, McGrady dominating the ball so much absolutely kills this offense, and they often look significantly better without him on the court. However, they've still got 40 games to work things out, and I think a McGrady easing his way back in after injury still has a chance to integrate himself into the offense. I think this team either takes off in the second half or they piddle along for a while before collapsing.

Pistons
I left them off in the preseason because I thought they were missing the tough, killer-instinct, underdog mentality that fueled their last title run. What I didn't count on was the Celtics getting off to a historical start and really lighting a fire under the Pistons to prove that they were the best team in the East. I honestly think that Boston's great start had a positive impact on the Pistons, that it lit a fire under them that they didn't have last year when LeBron trampled all over them in the playoffs. They're also getting fantastic bench production and they execute and exploit weak defenders as well as any team in the league. I still don't think they could beat the Spurs, but I think they could beat another team from the West if San Antonio doesn't make the finals

Lakers
This one comes with a caveat. I reserve the right to dismiss this if the post-injury Bynum we get isn't the same as pre-injury Bynum. LA has been a MUCH better defensive team this year because Bynum has been on the floor more, has become far less foul-prone, and has rebounded a lot better than last year. The bench and the contributions of Derek Fisher have been great, but Bynum is the key. He isn't an elite player yet by any means, but he has great hands and finishes well on offense, and he improves their defense exponentially. If he comes back playing as well as early on this season, the Lakers are a long-shot contender.

Well, this post has run on long enough, and I'm sure you're all tired of my wordiness. The last thing I'll leave you with is my MVP pick for the first half of the season.

MVP: LeBron James
 With all due respect to Kevin Garnett's fantastic work in Boston and Kobe's exceptional play and leadership (who 'da thunk it?), this isn't even close. Yes, I know about Boston's 33-7 record and how KG has gotten everyone playing great defense. I repeat, the MVP race is NOT EVEN CLOSE. Lebron uses more of his team's possessions than anyone outside of DWade, and his offensive rating this year is 12 points higher than Flash! He averages 30-8-7 with 2 steals and a block, and he shoots almost 50%. Lebron's AST% (an estimate of the percentage of his teammates' field goals his assists while on the court) is 6th in the league. 6th! He's one percentage point behind Deron Williams! It's not quite MJ numbers that we're talking about here, but we're getting close. LeBron is killing teams this year, and he's dragging a really bad team to a top 4 seed in the playoffs. He's the MVP, Period.

Alright, that's it for me, I finally got this post cranked out. I'll be sharing my opinions on the All-Star team next post, which should be pretty soon, so keep a look out for that.

I'm on a college basketball kick right now and I thought this idea would make a good post (for those of you who usually come here for stuff on the NBA, I'll be making a post on the Association pretty soon). I stumbled upon this question last year in an SI.com column, and I think it's pretty cool.

If you were to make an ultimate team of college basketball players, and you had to take one player from each class (one frosh, one soph, one junior, one senior, and one of any class), what would your team look like?

Now, there are a few things to remember about this. First of all, sometimes you're going to have to sacrifice a player who you might have otherwise put on because it's more important to get another guy of his class in at a different position. Second, we're not necessarily looking for the 5 most talented players, I don't need 5 guys who average 20+, we're trying to put together the best TEAM.

I came into this with a basic plan of how I wanted the team built. I want players who can play defense, shoot the ball, and who don't turn the ball over much. Having shooters is especially important in college basketball because zones are much more prevalent than in the NBA. You also see a lot more full-court pressure in college, making it more important to have players who can handle the ball without giving it away. Lastly, I wanted, as much as possible, to have 5 good free throw shooters, so as not to have a weak link that could be easily focused on.

Alright, we're going to build from the base up, starting with the best freshman in the land, and probably the most talented player in the nation.

PF - Michael Beasley, Kansas State, Fr
He's the nation's 5th leading scorer, he leads the nation in rebounds, he's scored 30+ five times, he's topped 20 rebounds twice, and he's had double digit boards in every game. He does all that while shooting 56% from the field, 71% from the line, and 35% from three-point range. Not only that, but he often looks like he isn't even trying. The game comes so easily to him that there are times when he isn't even using all his tremendous athletic ability and he still dominates. For example, I watched him play against a good Oregon team and he didn't even look particularly athletic, he wasn't facing up from outside, getting out on the break, or dunking over people. What he was doing was winning the position battle every time down the court and either sealing his man and finishing, or ending up with great rebounding position. He finishes through contact as well as anyone in the nation, taking the hit and still finishing with a soft touch. Beasley is dominant when he isn't trying, and he's transcendent when he's giving full effort.

C - Jason Thompson, Rider, Sr
The most underrated player in the country, and it isn't close. After being one of only three D1 players to average 20-10 last year (along with Kevin Durant and Nick Fazekas), and he's been even better this year. I've watched him a few times this year, and both times I came away amazed that NBA scouts aren't more excited about this guy. He's got an NBA body, strong post moves, and perimeter skills that few 6-10 guys have. He'll kill you on the blocks, he'll kill you on the glass, and he'll kill you facing up from mid-range. On top of all that, and this was one of the big reasons for his selection, he's one of the nation's premier defenders. He was named to collegeinsider.com's All-Defensive team last year, and he did a great job on Beasley earlier this year, holding him to 13-10 on 5 for 11 shooting. Not only does he block a ton of shots, but he plays great fundamental defense too. For this position, I wanted to get someone who could defend and rebound to complement Beasley, and my first thought was Joey Dorsey. However, Dorsey isn't an offensive force at all, and I just couldn't take the horrific FT%. I also thought about Roy Hibbert, but he isn't the versatile threat that Thompson is and isn't as dominant a rebounder.

PG - D.J. Augustin, Texas, So
Now we get to the really tough decisions. There were any number of players that I could've put here, and compelling arguments could be made for all of them. UNC's Ty Lawson, Kansas' Mario Chalmers, MSU's Drew Neitzel, Marquette's Dominic James, and Virginia's Sean Singeletary all made this a difficult choice. In the end, the final decision finally came down to Augustin versus VCU's Eric Maynor (you might remember him from when he dispatched Duke in the tourney last year). Maynor has been brilliant this year, and we know he's clutch after seeing him clinch games down the stretch last year. However, Augustin has to be the pick here. He was underrated last year playing in the shadow of Kevin Durant, and he has been nothing short of brilliant this year in leading a very surprising Texas team to much more early success than was expected of them. He has shown the ability to distribute and manage a game, he's shown the ability to defer to another star player, and he's shown the ability to take over on his own. If you're looking for a point guard, it doesn't get much better than that in my opinion.

SF - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis, Jr
When looking for a junior to fill the G/F spot, there are really only 2 choices, CDR and Kansas' Brandon Rush. Now, while Rush is a fantastic player, he is starting slowly after an offseason injury, and he just isn't in the same class as Douglas-Roberts. CDR is the driving force for the country's best team on both ends of the court, and he has really stepped his game up this year. He's one of the premier slashers in the nation, getting to the rim seemingly at will, and he can finish with either hand, as well as having a very good floater in the lane. Defensively, he's one of the best lockdown perimeter defenders out there. He doesn't rack up a lot of steals or blocks, so it doesn't show up in the box score, but his strength and defensive fundamentals make him a really tough matchup.

SG - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt, Sr
I really wanted to put Washington State's Kyle Weaver here, but he and Douglas-Roberts are just too similar, and neither are very proficient shooters. Foster, on the other hand, does not have that problem. He may be one-dimensional, but what a dimension it is. Foster was a good shooter last year, but he's been absolutely unconscious this year. He's shooting a blistering 51% from behind the three-point arc, and has easily been college basketball's best shooter this season. He runs off screens really well, and he has a high, behind-the-head type release that makes his shot very tough to contest. It was a tough choice between Foster and Davidson's Stephen Curry, but Foster has just been too good. He may not bring a whole lot else to the table, but you can be sure nobody is going to try and throw a zone at this team with Foster out there.

Coach - Tom Izzo, Michigan State
With all due respect to the wonderful jobs that Mike Krzyewski (Duke), Tony Bennett (Washington State), Sean Miller (Xavier) and Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) are doing, Izzo's coaching this year has been nothing short of brilliant. I watched his Michigan State team put on an absolute clinic against my beloved Wolfpack, running them out of the gym with brilliant off-the-ball screens and near-perfect execution to get wide open shot after wide open shot. He has seamlessly integrated an infusion of younger talent with his older, veteran guys and has really gotten the most out of his players. He's been a coaching icon for years now, but this season has been some of his best work.

There you go, let me know what you think about my picks. Remember, it's ok to disagree with me as long as you don't mind being wrong.

I'm convinced that there are very few things in the basketball world more depressing than being an N.C. State basketball fan. For the uninitiated, let me give some background. State's history includes the man who basically started the ACC (Everett Case), one of the 5 greatest college basketball players of all time (David Thompson), 2 of the most iconic NCAA championships ever (Thompson's '74 team ending UCLA's run and the '83 Cardiac Pack), the first player ever to tally 1000 career assists (Chris Corchiani) ,and one of the most famous personalities in the history of college athletics (Jim Valvano). Thompson and teammate Monte Towe basically invented the alley-oop while at State, and the strategy of fouling at the end of close games was popularized largely by Valvano (who used it to great effect in the miracle run of '83). Up through the 80s, the Wolfpack were a perennial ACC contender and a national power. The original Tobacco Road rivalry was, in fact, not Duke and UNC, it was State and Carolina. However, my beloved Wolfpack have fallen on hard times since Valvano left the program. A once proud program has ranged from awful to mediocre over the last 15 years, we've watched our rivals dismiss us and our athletic department apparently be happy with an occasional appearance in the top 25. Now, you're probably thinking "a lot of teams would be happy with a few top 25 appearances, what's this guy whining about?" Well, most teams don't have the history State has, and most teams also don't play in the shadow of two colossi of the college basketball world, Duke and UNC. Why am I bringing all this up? Well, this year I thought would be the year. The Wolfpack returned all but one starter from a team that had finished on a great run last year, almost winning the ACC tournament and making a run deep into the NIT. Not only that, but we added stud recruit J.J. Hickson (the best recruit the Pack have brought in in decades) to a roster already loaded with talent. New coach Sidney Lowe (the point guard for the '83 title team) had done a fantastic job last year managing a team that was picked to be last in the ACC and really only had 6 players for most of the year. This was going to be our year, how could things possibly go wrong? Well, I should've known better, as a State fan, something can ALWAYS go wrong. Through 13 games this year, a team that has every reason in the world to be hungry has looked complacent, and the result is that they've lost to New Orleans and ECU, gotten absolutely embarrassed by Michigan State on national TV (the worst basketball game I've ever seen a team play, and that's saying something), and trailed at the half to both Presbyterian College and Western Carolina (a combined 5-28 record). I've lost faith in this team, and we haven't even played a conference game yet. I'm fully expecting to see us get beat by 40 at UNC to open the ACC season, and we'll probably be NIT-bound again this season. Oh well, there's always that old fallback that State fans have been using for the last decade, "We'll be better next year." (I promise, we will be).

Other College Basketball Thoughts

- One thing that constantly irritates me when I listen to and read college basketball analysts is the idea that Tyler Hansbrough is the leading candidate for national player of the year. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the way Hansbrough plays. He's a self-made player, not exceptionally gifted but works harder than almost anyone, and he's the kind of guy who I'd love if he didn't play for the Tarheels. I wouldn't have any problem with Psycho T if he weren't a media darling, but the fact is that he's the single most overrated player in America. I fail to see how you can name a player the national player of the year if he is the third most important player on his own team. Make no mistake, other elite teams are FAR more scared about Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington than they are about Hansbrough. His game is based entirely on effort, he doesn't have great post moves (no matter what the talking heads may try to tell you) and he isn't a very good athlete. As a result, Psycho T struggles against high-level teams that have athletic big men. Point in case, against UNC's 4 toughest opponents so far (Davidson, Ohio State, Kentucky, Clemson), he has averaged 13.25 PPG on 35% shooting. Hansbough's 22 PPG average looks gaudy, but he's done most of his work against inferior competition and he plays on one of the nation's highest-scoring teams. He's also not a good defensive player outside of his ability to rebound the ball. I've read several analysts saying that Deon Thompson and Alex Stephenson need to step up their interior defense to give Hansbrough some help, but the fact is that he just isn't a very good defensive player. Again, don't get me wrong here, Hansbrough is a very good college player, and I respect how hard he works, but there's no way he should be leading any player of the year discussion.

- For those of you who haven't seen them yet this year, Davidson is legit. I'd be shocked if they don't win some games in the tournament. Stephen Curry is absolutely an NBA player sometime down the read, as a sophomore he already has a great understanding of how to use screens both off the ball and off the dribble, and he has one of the quickest releases I've ever seen.

- A lot of teams are going to pass on D.J. White in the next draft, and I think they're going to regret it. He absolutely dominated a good Georgia Tech frontline, and he's already got the versatile game to be effective as an undersized PF. I'm just gonna go ahead and commend the team that picks White in the second round right now.

- Speaking of Indiana, Eric Gordon is all kinds of good. Right now, I'd take him over almost any player in the nation. He can get his shot off against anyone, but he's also really strong going to the rim. He's got that extra gear in the open court, and you're not stopping him once he gets his shoulders past you. I've watched Gordon, Rose and Mayo this year, and Gordon was by far the most impressive of the three. With Gordon and White, along with underrated freshman Jordan Crawford, the Hoosiers are a team that could have a legit shot at making a run deep in the tourney.

- Can someone please tell me how Memphis isn't the number 1 team in the nation? They've played at Oklahoma, at UCONN, USC on a neutral court, Georgetown (the most impressive win of the season by any team), and Arizona and they're 13-0. Seriously, it's ridiculous that they aren't the unanimous number 1 right now. I know it might seem like I'm knocking on UNC right now, but that's not it. I don't know if Memphis will end up being the nation's best team, but there is absolutely no arguing that they have played a MUCH harder schedule than the Tarheels right now, and have a lot more impressive wins.

- Not really a college basketball thought, but more a thought about basketball in general. One of the things that really irritates me is that officials don't ever call the switching pivot foot anymore. Footwork on the catch has become almost inconsequential, because players are allowed to slide and switch their pivot foot with impunity. This video really stood out for me lately as a particularly egregious no-call (at about the halfway mark, watch where Pierce's left foot starts and where it is before he takes his first dribble). Course, that reminded me of this classic video.

Well, we're just over a fourth of the way through the NBA season, and we've seen enough to get a pretty good look at which areas contenders need to strengthen in order to improve. We are also past the Dec. 15th date that allows free agents signed over the summer to be traded. With all that in mind, I turn to one of ESPN's greatest ideas, the Trade Machine, to come up with some logical deals that probably won't happen, but should. Some will be based around big-name players, and some will simply be role player swaps.

So, lets get this started with everybody's favorite trade rumor, Jason Kidd. Now, everything coming out of the Nets organization indicates that he isn't on the trading block, but that's no fun, so lets assume he is. It would be a logical move for a team that is on the decline and not playing well at all this year. Kidd is making $40 mil over the next two years for a team going nowhere, so if you can shave salary and bring in some young pieces with him, you've done a pretty good job. However, Kidd's $20 mil salary makes him very difficult to trade, and there are really only 3-4 teams that have the combination of young players and contracts to bring him in. I outlined a longshot Denver deal in this blog a few posts ago, but these are all probably more realistic trades.

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Dallas: receives Jason Kidd
New Jersey: receives Devin Harris, Erick Dampier, Trenton Hassell and an '08 first rounder

That would be the bare minimum of the deal, with Dallas maybe throwing in another first rounder. The problem for this deal is that Dallas doesn't have any large, expiring contracts to match Kidd's salary, so New Jersey would have to be willing to take back Dampier's terrible deal. Harris is a tempting target, but I think we can do better than this.

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Miami: receives Jason Kidd
New Jersey: receives Dorell Wright, Jason Williams, Daequan Cook, Smush Parker, Alonzo Mourning, and an '08 first rounder

That's more like it. The Nets would be bringing in 2 solid young players and 3 expiring contracts that would end up saving them a bunch of money and freeing up cap space. The Heat, who seem hell-bent on trying to remain contenders, would immediately have one of the league's top backcourts and could take one last shot at making noise in the playoffs. Of course, Miami would be completely mortgaging their future by trading away all their young assets, but with Shaq getting $60 mil over the next 3 years, it's pretty well mortgaged anyway, might as well take the shot while you've got it. We're not quite done though, there's one more team that desperately needs a veteran point guard, and has plenty of young assets to offer.

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Atlanta: receives Jason Kidd
New Jersey: receives Shelden Williams, Marvin Williams, Tyronn Lue, Salim Stoudamire, and Zaza Pachulia

The Hawks would be dealing from positions of strength in order to shore up their one big weakness. A starting lineup of Kidd, Johnson, Childress, Smith and Horford would be good enough to play with anyone in the East, and bring some much-needed excitement to a near-dead Atlanta franchise. The Nets would pick up a good young big and a SF oozing with untapped potential, along with some contract relief. They could probably get an '09 draft pick out of it too.

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Trying to put deals together, you realize why the Nets seem so reluctant to trade Kidd. The market for him is really small, and they most likely won't be getting very good value on the trade for him. Of all of these, I like the Miami trade best for the Nets, but who knows which way the Heat organization is moving right now. Anyway, since we just talked about an Atlanta trade for a point guard, lets move on to another, more feasible deal.

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Atlanta: receives Andre Miller
Philadelphia: receives Marvin Williams and Tyronn Lue.

The Sixers are in full-rebuild mode, and the first order of business should be to move the one veteran on their team who has real trade value. The obvious destination for Miller would seem to be the somewhat-surprising Atlanta Hawks, who desperately need an experienced point guard if they want to keep up their success and make a playoff run. Williams is a good player, but the Hawks have a huge excess at the SF position, and can afford to trade him to address their weakest position. As for the Sixers, they get a tremendous talent who would combine with Andre Iguadola to give them one of the most athletic young wing tandems in the league.

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After reading this article a while back, I've started thinking about possible trade scenarios for Ron Artest. I know that Artest is certifiably crazy, but don't you have to take a look at him if you're a contender trying to add toughness? I mean, his contract is one of the best values in the league, he's super-intense (to a fault), wants desperately to win, and is one of the game's best defenders (and he's strong enough to defend almost anyone at any position). You need a team with a strong coach and a definite alpha dog, but he can definitely be a great acquisition. That leads me to this next trade.

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Lakers: receive Ron Artest and Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Kings: receive Kwame Brown, Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic and an '08 first rounder

Honestly, I love the idea of this trade. The Lakers seem like the perfect destination for Artest. They desperately need defensive intensity, and between Artest and Bryant, they'd definitely have that. He's also a versatile scoring option who is a matchup nightmare for most opponents. He would certainly respect Phil Jackson, and there would be no doubt who was the alpha dog on that team. It just seems like a fantastic match to me. In return, the Lakers agree to take on Reef's dead-weight contract, and the Kings get tons of cap relief, a first rounder, and a solid young player in Turiaf.

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These last two trades don't have the big names, but I think they're interesting in that they plug holes on contending teams.

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Utah: receives Kurt Thomas and Bostjan Nachbar
Seattle: receives Paul Millsap, Gordan Giricek, Ronnie Price, Jarron Collins
New Jersey: receives Kyrylo Fesenko and Mouhamed Sene

The thinking behind this was that Utah is a fantastic offensive team and very close to being a contender, but they've had two main problems this year. The first problem has been their interior defense, which just isn't very good. Okur and Boozer are both pretty poor defenders, and you're not going to win the West without post defense, there are just too many good interior scorers. The answer to this is Thomas, who defended Tim Duncan as well as anyone in last year's playoffs, and brings a veteran presence to that frontline. The second thing that has killed the Jazz so far is their lack of shooters. Portland has absolutely suffocated them twice by going into a zone and daring them to shoot, and you can bet that they'll see more of that in the future. Enter Nachbar, a deadeye perimeter shooter who has struggled a bit this year, but has great range and a quick release. For Seattle, they give up Thomas' expiring contract and the disappointing Sene, but they gain Millsap, who has been a force off the bench for the Jazz, and promises to have a very strong career. The Nets, instead of watching Nachbar leave over the summer or overpaying for him, get the promising young big Fesenko, and the athletic but rawer than raw Sene.

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Boston: receives Sergio Rodriguez
Portland: receives an '08 second rounder

As we witnessed during the fourth quarter of the Pistons game, the Celtics have a severe lack of ball-handling behind Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. With the two of them out of the game, Detroit went into a halfcourt trap and immediately ran off 6-8 points as they completely disrupted Boston's offense. Rodriguez would give them another guy who can handle the ball who at least has been around the league for a few years. For Portland, it's obvious that Rodriguez isn't cracking into their point guard rotation, so they would be getting back the second rounder that they traded to Boston, and they'd be saving about $1.6 mil (they're over the luxury tax, so his salary counts double).

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Well, there you go. Some exciting trades, some not so exciting. We probably won't see any of them because, as Bill Simmons so aptly puts it, this is the No Balls Association, and most GMs have no backbone. Anyway, feel free to chime in with any trade ideas you've got  in the comments.