Foiled in its longstanding attempts to move Samuel Dalembert and/or Elton Brand, Philly has apparently come to realize that its best shot at a shake-it-up move is convincing one of the risk-taking/big-spending teams out there – such Houston, Dallas and Cleveland – to absorb the four years and $56.3 million remaining on Iguodala’s contract after this season.

via Nets pulling brakes on Harris trade talk? – TrueHoop Blog – ESPN.

I objected to the size of Iguoadala’s contract when it was pushed, but he really has become quite the productive player. That’s what’s so baffling about the Sixers. They should be good. Maybe not great, or even ‘good’ but good enough to compete for the playoffs at least. But man, they’re really not.

Dalembert and Iguodala for Tracy’s expiring is a dream deal for both sides. The Rockets get a center, one who’s been killing it this season, an actual, real life, not-Chuck-Hayes-pretending-he’s-tall-enough-to-ride-this-ride, center. And they get an impact scorer at the three spot, meaning Battier moves to the bench as a defensive expert some nights, and on tougher nights, Ariza comes off the bench as scoring specialist. It loads up the Rockets. It wouldn’t make them a title contender, but it pushes them past the rest of the Western middle, and might mean home-floor in the first round. Their advanced numbers are good outside of the plus/minus from this year; Dalembert ha his highest PER’s in the last four years, and a 21% TRR, while Iguodala’s slipped a bit on all fronts, he also hasn’t had a point guard to work with.

For Philadelphia, you get another guy to put buckets in seats, and more money off the cap next year. You’re back to a rebuilding squad, still have some young assets, and can commit to a new approach versus trying to hiccup your way back into just being mediocre instead of bad.

HP Trade Proposal Rating: 4 Rick Bucher tanning sessions out of five.

NBAstuffer.com – NBA Road Trips and Home Stands Visualization.

Click for the big enchilada.

Notice San Antonio is pretty redish even after the Rodeo trip. Denver’s got a rough trip ahead of them, and Charlotte and Memphis have some hard times in their immediate futures, but long home stands towards the end. Nice.

nba_heatmap_revised.png (PNG Image, 545×861 pixels).

Conclusions: Wow, LeBron was good last season. Dwight Howard, too. The end.

Vince Carter was shaking his head “no,” before the question was even finished.Returning to the NBA Slam Dunk contest — even in the name of raising funds for charity — at the urging of Shaquille O’Neal was not something he would consider.

“No. Dwight Howard can do it,” Carter said after Wednesday morning’s practice. “Nobody should feel obligated to do anything they don’t want to do.”

via Carter Says No to Shaq’s Dunk Contest Idea — NBA FanHouse.

You know what’s weird? People that know Carter? LOVE the man. LOVE. He’s constantly involved with charitable stuff. He’s talked about as a good teammate.

And man, I still don’t like the guy. If I ever meet him, I’m sure I’ll walk away impressed and then feel bad for all the times I’ve call him a douchebag.

But come ON, Vince!

A simple, “I would, but I’ve had too many injuries and my team and I are struggling too much right now for me to put distractions on us.” would do. Or how about making light of himself:

“Man, do you see how often I get injured? I’m so old I’d end up breaking my hip in a dunk contest, and no one wants to see that.”

How about going for the ol’ “I can’t dunk that well anymore, I’m over 30. If you want to have a layup contest we could do that” ?

But no. He opts for “No one should have to do what they don’t want to do.” Which a completely true statement and I full endorse the idea. But GOOD GOD, you come off as such a whiny little $%^$ when you say that, VC! Nevermind the constant “OH NOES! MAI HAMSTRUNGS HAF TEH PAINZ!” every time you step on the floor, or the dogging it in Toronto, or the swallowing possessions whole for the Magic, who were, you know, good before you showed up. Couldn’t you just handle this in a way that makes you seem like less of a Veruca Salt clone (the character, not the band)?

I’m sure Carter is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. But the dude he plays on television isn’t really a villain, he’s just the annoying guy on LOST you hope gets eaten by the smoke monster.

As for those teen-aged girls, Buss has long dated hundreds of them, usually only once or twice each, and then collected their photos in albums. He has not been above boasting about his conquests to some media and associates, which has led California newspaper columnist Scot Ostler to offer that the owner is clearly a case of “arrested development.”Buss and his elderly friends gather in his owner’s box at Lakers games with their young dates, a sight that’s increasingly hard for Jeanie Buss, the owner’s daughter and Phil Jackson’s girlfriend, to stomach.One Lakers insider contends that only in Los Angeles could a team owner get away with such antics and basically get a free pass by the media.

via Buss Has Put Up Some Numbers By Roland Lazenby – Lakernoise.

via TrueHoop.

Wow. Just…

Just wow.

Someone should really start a new blog: www.skeletonsinnbaownersclosets.tumblr.com.

Standing at seven feet two inches above concrete in the game of basketball is always, no matter who, what or where you are, a good thing.  Offensively where the objective is putting the ball in a circular iron ten feet from your shoe strings, having arms that would make Rapunzel’s man jealous are rarely frowned upon.  On the other end, sending attempted floaters back into a shooter’s forehead with the same ease it takes to strike a moth will make one coach smile and the other shudder.

Indiana’s second year big man Roy Hibbert, whom they acquired from Toronto before he’d ever played a game, is slowly but surely making good of his 7’ 2” frame.

In the four years I’ve watched the 23-year-old play basketball, the one word I’d most easily identify with him would be timid. Timid on the block laying the ball in instead of smashing it through the rim which he is more than capable of.  Naturally you’d expect him to be a larger Marlo, hanging on the block, but thanks to the Princeton offense that was instituted at Georgetown, Hibbert spent most of his time in the high post where he became a pretty good passer and was able to develop a surprisingly respectable shot.

Now that he’s in the league you can’t be mad at the range he’s garnered, but the nervous, even cowardly play around the basket had to stop.  Throughout December he’d been showing flashes of improvement and less of the anxiousness he’d become known for in his brief spotlight time.

There was the 20 points dropped on Brook Lopez and then a week later 20 and six blocks against Tim Duncan. A few days ago we had a season-high 27 points against New Orleans.

A new founded toughness that could and would make others fear him instead of vice versa is starting to take fold and no moment paints the portrait better than his last trip to Orlando couple of weeks ago.

Trying to fight through a pick set by Hibbert, journeyman Matt Barnes grew frustrated and forcefully knocked him to the ground.  If reading that you question how the spindly Matt Barnes could knock anyone over, albeit a giant like Roy Hibbert, the Magic guard would agree, as a look of disgust formed on his face.  Looking down at the fallen Pacer who he’d suspected of flopping, Barnes did an Iverson/Tyronne Lue step over and began to walk in the direction of his basket.

Using his high quality Georgetown education, Hibbert noticed the embarrassingly blatant disrespect, jumped up and crowded the suddenly sheepish Barnes. This moment was more important than any other in the game and possibly Hibbert’s entire career.

Forget about the game high 35 minutes logged, the game high 26 points against Dwight Howard (who fouled out in 28 minutes and made two baskets), or the fact that this all came on the road against one of the NBA’s better teams.

At 7’2” there’s no doubting his serious physical advantage over nearly everybody (he’s three inches taller than Orlando’s Superman), but with a guy like Hibbert it’s what’s beating in his chest that matters the most. Hibbert stood up for himself as a man in a man’s league. If this was a turning point for the youngster it’s a scary revelation for every other coach in the league.

Especially when you consider how tall he is.

I think that Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin playing together is not the issue with the Kings problem during this bad stretch. Sure, the Kings are 0-3 since Martin came back but their team problems existed way before this. The Kings haven’t been great during the last month. Their inside presence has been nonexistent. They’re relying way too much on perimeter scoring and adding Kevin Martin to the team doesn’t negatively affect this team at all.

If anything, the problem isn’t with Martin’s reinsertion causing issues with Evans’ role. The two of them are fine together. The problem is that the rest of the team isn’t stepping up to join the party. The Kings need to force the issue with getting Kevin Martin comfortable again. Once he is back in his usual Kevin Martin scoring groove, the Kings can then start working on him deferring to Tyreke Evans, which I’m sure he’ll be happy to do. He’s not a number one guy and I don’t think he’d argue with that. Everybody knows Tyreke Evans is the future of this franchise and Kevin Martin fits in perfectly with his style of play. Martin doesn’t have your usual scoring ego that we’re used to seeing.

via Cowbell Kingdom.com – A Sacramento Kings Blog.

I saw pieces of the Kings before Martin went down, a lot when he was out, and only scraps and tidbits since Martin came back. So I’m going to defer to Harper and Ziller, for the time being. I’m fine with patience. Here’s why I have concerns, and have had them since Reke showed up as an alpha dog.

Part of is because I can’t buy into Martin as the go-to guy. If I were a Kings fan? I’d be sold. And I’ve seen the guy do things that cause jaw drops and lots of “Wows.” Yet, even though he’s listed at 6-7, I’ve always felt like Martin was small. I know this to not be the case, but it’s a prime example of why we need to look at facts. Or it’s a prime example of how I need to go see the eye doctor. There are players that play big and are small, and players that are small and play big. That’s a pretty “your-crappy-weekend-columnist” line, but I’m more talking about frame and feel, not heart and determination. And for scorers, I tend to go for the guys with some junk, not in the trunk, really, but up on the front fenders. And Evans? Dude sometimes looks like he’s got Road Warriors shoulder pads on, and he’s a rookie.

I’m also a believer in eye tests, when things get really convoluted. When you’re brought with something really simple in this league, like “Dwight Howard does not make enough of an impact on the offensive end,” I immediately start looking at what’s actually going on. (If you’re curious, it’s “the Magic somehow started to believe that the only way they could win was how they won in the playoffs, by shooting the lights out from the perimeter, but completely forgot that what created their rhythm was their inside-out game, dependent on Dwight getting touches”) But if something gets really complex and confusing, I try and take a step back and give it a simple look over.

Not to get too far off track, but the Kobe Bryant clutch issue is much the same. I’ve long held that Bryant wasn’t that good in the clutch. Everyone talked about it, so I checked the numbers two years ago when I found 82games.com, and my suspicions were largely confirmed. And this year it’s a popular debate. “Man, he’s so clutch!” versus “Well, actually, the numbers say not so much.” And the answer, I’ve come to understand, lies in the middle. Because even with observation bias, I can’t deny that I’ve seen Bryant hit a ton of game winners this year. The secret is that Bryant gets the ball a lot in key situations, and he misses some. But he almost never misses “the game winner.” And while there’s truth to the fact that if he does, we don’t remember it, it doesn’t alter all the other ones he hits.

The point, to bring this back round, is that an eye check of Martin and Evans’ skills, games, and bodies creates concern. Martin wants to be a go-to guy, a leader, the alpha. Evans is the alpha. He creates for his teammates (which everyone completely ignores when trying the asinine “he’s not a point guard!” argument- an argument that’s based solely on “what? he scores a lot? NOT A POINT!”), he gets to the rim, he hits big shots consistently, and he leads comebacks. He can take a game over, just as Martin can. But a difference this year has been his success in converting those take-overs into wins.

Additionally, I don’t see how you can’t look at what Evans has accomplished with the rest of this team (Casspi deserves a huge amount of the credit as well), and not think about “What if we ditch Martin for a boatload?” Martin would draw a ton of offers on the open market. He’s an elite scorer at the two-guard spot, and those are hard to come by. The Kings could pillage a desperate team for picks and young pieces, maybe snag a big.  Throw Kevin Martin in the water and just see what bites.

But then, of course, I return to Ziller and Harper. And I see what Presti has done with OKC simply by not doing anything. Perhaps it’s best to know what you do or do not have or before attempting to trade gold for silver.

ESPNForsberg via Twitter.

That would be Kevin Garnett, the Big Ticket, El Tigre Monstruoso, practicing in 5-on-5 drills. I said this weekend that the injury seemed to be reminiscent of last year where he was held out, and held out, and held out, and then just out. It would appear that rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Be afraid, Eastern foes. Be very afraid. Unless you’re the Hawks, who can apparently beat them with or without him. But other than them, be afraid!

However, bringing this up kind of underscores the real issue here. The Wizards know that Gilbert Arenas is not a totally rational actor in the same way most NBA players are. They knew back in 2008, when they offered him a max contract in hopes he would take back less because they were worried he’d flip out if he was offered less and go sign somewhere else for the mid-level exception. Let’s assuming the goal here is an amicable breakup that allows the Wizards to move on as quietly as possible (if that wasn’t the goal, then the Wizards messed up far worse than this). Knowing that you were so worried about “threatening” him in that situation, why would you threaten him like this in this one right off the bat? What incentive does Gil have now to make your life easier?

via We know Gilbert Arenas’ post-incident behavior was wrong, but so was the Wizards’ – Bullets Forever.

I was reading Prada’s exposition on what the Wizards have done wrong with skepticism. After all, I think that pinning criticism on anyone else but Arenas and Critt for what happened is diffusing the issue, which I’ve pointed out before. And so when I was nodding along and found this paragraph, I stopped and said “Ah ha! There’s where he goes wrong! We should be able to expect Arenas to act as a rational being! I have him!” and then I reread it and read the rest of the piece and said “Zounds. He’s bested me again, that dastardly Michael! I guess the devil really does…” No, I will not finish that joke.

Prada nails this. By reacting in such a public and dramatic way, the Wizards aren’t closing the issue or making a statement, they’re putting themselves in the little sidewalk play. Handle your behavior carefully and with measure, not by dragging out the cane and whacking whatever moves.

I don’t want to be the guy who harps on a “these guys get paid millions” agenda. But professional athletes get paid so much because fans spend their hard-earned money to watch them play. The players are obligated to earn their salary by giving it their all in an attempt to display the best product possible.

The player who said the above quote clearly lacks the honor to fulfill his contractual commitment to the game of basketball.

After the Kings game, I asked Antawn Jamison about the quote and if it was a fair depiction of the Wizards locker room. The Captain sent a pretty strong message to that anonymous player.

via Truth About It » Captain Jamison Doesn’t Play That.

I recognize that they extended Jamison, too. I do, I get that. But this was always set up to be Arenas’ team. He was supposed to be Batman, and either Caron or Jamison were supposed to be Robin. I’ll let you make the Joker joke on your own.

I don’t want Wizards fans to suffer anymore, but I can’t help but want Jamison somewhere else. It would have been so easy to tank this season, to quit trying, to not make that speech to the fans, to not take responsibility as a leader for the absolute circus this thing has turned into. He hasn’t done that. He hasn’t shirked from responsibility or shut it down or stopped giving a crap. He’s still out there hustling, trying to win, trying to earn that paycheck and do things the right way. Watching Butler backslide has been enormously painful. And if this whole Wizards team is going to represent the failed potential and what occurs when guys are too wrapped up in their own heads and not thinking of anyone but themselves, I want one guy to make it out, to succeed.

Jamison as a Cavalier has to be nauseating to Wizards fans, a last resort, nuclear option, the worst possible result. But he doesn’t fit anywhere near their future. Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ expiring contract? That fits. And Jamison belongs on the Cavs, as the underrated but crucial component to a championship team, the difference maker. He doesn’t deserve to be the parent on a squad that finds it hard to find reasons to keep trying, even if they’re on a winning spurt. Maybe they’ll make a run (I am required to mention the Ewing Theory, and for that I am sorry), maybe they won’t, but what Jamison can accomplish elsewhere after his debacle, and what the Wizards could accomplish with a clean slate is too great to hold on to out of nostalgia or a sense of mourning.

The carousel ride is broken, it’s time to let the one that’s still working get shipped off to a nicer mall, tear down the remaining piece and start over.

(A Side Note: If you’re not a regular follower of TruthAboutIt.Net, you need to get on board. Kyle “WE DIE” has taken us closer to a team than any other blog this year. I feel like I’m actually in there, actually watching the dynamics. It’s fascinating, and Kyle needs to be hired to make a documentary and book about this whole thing. Read him. That is all. Thanks.)