Maverick fans have to be drooling. Mark Cuban has let it be known that he would pick up the two worst contracts on the Hornets in order to get Chris Paul.

It makes the mind swirl to think of the Dallas Mavericks picking up Chris Paul to play on the same team as Dirk Nowitzki. You would have a former MVP still playing at a very high level with a future MVP candidate adding some much needed full court speed.

Chris Paul defies the laws of gravity

Dirk is still one of the top mismatch players in the league, presenting an interesting combination of size and long distance shooting ability. If you added in Chris Paul, just think of the explosiveness on the Mavericks. Chris is a penetrating point guard and they rule the NBA right now.

So why would the Hornets let this deal happen?

In a word, contracts. They have way too many dollars tied up in longer contracts.

Who would the Hornets want to get rid of so badly that they’d be willing to part with Paul? Peja Stojakovic ($13.39 million next season and $14.26 in 2010-11) would definitely be part of the deal. Chandler ($12.3 next season and $13.2 in 2010-11) probably would be included, too. Morris Peterson (due a total of $12 million over the next two seasons) or James Posey ($19.5 million over three seasons) are other possibilities.

Stojakovic’s contract ranks among the worst in the league. He’s had a very good career, but he’s an oft-injured 40-percent jump shooter these days. But he is the starting small forward for a playoff team.

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Kevin Garnett is out injured for 2 to 3 weeks and the Boston Celtics are on the hunt for victories and a replacement player.

The good news is they found a victory with Rajon Rondo leading the charge. Rondo had 32 points to lead the Garnettless Celtics against the Amare-less Suns.

On the replacement player front, the Boston Celtics are looking at Joe Smith at Oklahoma City. Joe was traded to New Orleans and then the deal was nullified with the Okies received a defective player.

“I didn’t know what to think before the trade deadline. You heard so many things. And now it’s almost the same situation. I hear my name as far as being bought out and a lot of teams inquiring about it. But I really don’t know. I don’t expect anything to happen, but I’m not sure.”

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Allen Iverson getting some love from Coach Michael Curry

So it seems funny that so many fans are suddenly all over Joe Dumars case about the Allen Iverson trade. It is actually pretty rare in sports for both teams to get quality star players in any trade.

In this case Joe D gets a trading A+.

How can this be, you ask? Haven’t they lost a ton of games since AI rode into town, you ask?

Well, it can be and yes they have lost more than they usually seem to lose.

But consider the benefits of this trade.

The transition Dumars so boldly made in dumping Billups and his $36.3 million stretching out through 2010-11 was as shrewd and forward-thinking as it gets in this what-have-you-done-for-me-yesterday league. Clearing cap space by acquiring a huge expiring contract — in Iverson’s case, $21.9 million — is a tried-and-true rebuilding tactic. When the expiring contract is attached to Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith or some other fading veteran, the case can easily be made to fans reaching deep into their pockets that it’s the right move for the future.

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Now did you really think Detroit was going to win it all this year with an aging Billups? Haven’t you noticed how he failed to produce big in the last two playoffs? No knock on Chauncey, but his better days have come and gone. Denver gets a nice boost from Chauncey, because he settles them down and calmly spreads the ball around. That was not going to help the aging Piston starters.

By the way, have you seen AI play with the Piston backups? Amir, Maxiell, Afflalo, and new starter Stuckey, can fly up the floor and blend in better with the attacking Iverson.

Hey, if the experiment fails, AI and Rasheed Wallace will be sent packing and two new young stars will be in their place.

Trading A+.

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Rodney Stuckey can fly past you, but is he ready to pilot the Pistons to victory?

Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was on the decline. He no longer dominated in the playoffs and often left the team stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Piston warrior, but they were not going to win it all with Billups.

AI will share time with Stuckey and bring more speed and penetration to the offense. This will allow more players to play, like Afflalo, Amir, and Maxiell with an up tempo style.

Is AI the answer? Probably not, but change was needed and Chauncey was from Denver. Joe D cut a deal that seems to benefit both teams.

he’s the guy who has averaged more than 40 minutes a game during his NBA career.

And he says he’s ready if the Pistons want him to revert to his old playing style.

“Yeah, that’s just the competitive nature that I have,” said Iverson, 33. “That’s just inside me. I want to be the guy with the ball. I want to be the guy making the decision. But that’s just not the case anymore, and I have to adjust.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think the bigger picture is winning a championship.”

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Philly is involved in that transition from making the playoffs to being consistently good and challenging to go farther in the playoffs.

EB is not the answer for the 76er’s but he is an important piece to the puzzle.

Philadelphia is still searching for that leader on the court and depending on leadership from the coach. Someone has to rise up and lead with their play. That was the importance of Billups to the Pistons. The 76ers need to find their Billups.

Detroit now belongs to Tayshaun and Stuckey. This will be an experiment due to the fact that neither player has an outgoing personality, a personality to get the team to follow them. This could be where the relentless play of Allen Iverson will fill that void until those players can take over.
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Ever see a trade in the NBA that benefits both teams?

Hmm, Iverson for Billups!

Denver is better with Chauncey controlling the pace, reducing turnovers and making clutch shots and free throws.

Detroit finally has found the explosiveness to go along with their great defense and half court consistency.

This has moved Detroit up to slot 5 in the ESPN power rankings from slot 9.

We figure Detroit can live with its 3-3 start to the Iverson era after going to L.A. and knocking the Lakers from the ranks of the unbeaten. But check back after this week’s back-to-back games against Cleveland and Boston.
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Denver has moved to slot 6 from last week’s slot 12.

Victory in Boston, a 5-1 start to the Billups era and now a move into the top 10, blemished only by a loss to the hottest team in the league at Cleveland? Sounds like the Nuggets are your U.S. Army Team of the Week.

stay tuned to see if these two teams can hold it together.

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Allen Iverson is a Piston

Years ago the Pistons tried to trade for Allen Iverson when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now finally they got it done trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien also spoke with the AP about the trade: “Two teams had one common problem, or challenge. I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way. We’re just thrilled with the way J.R. (Smith) is progressing, and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams.”

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That is the obvious stuff, but why did these teams make this trade?

Some say that the Joe Dumars experiment of having no superstars ultimately failed.

What the Pistons were attempting was nothing less than a paradigm shift in the NBA, like taking a NASCAR track in a Prius.

Joe Dumars built his roster by seeing value where others saw risk. The core players consisted of a point guard who had already been with four other teams (Chauncey Billups), a guy seen as unfit to play alongside Michael Jordan in Washington (Richard Hamilton), a very limited offensive player on his third team (Ben Wallace), a late first-round draft pick (Tayshaun Prince) and a volatile, technical-happy head case (Rasheed Wallace).

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Nonsense. All those conference finals were just illusion? The NBA Title was just make believe? Come on. The experiment worked and worked beyond all of our expectations.

No, it seems more likely that both teams are seeking to retool. There was no room for both a Carmelo Anthony and an Allen Iverson on the same court at the same time. That is way too much offense and way too little defense to win any NBA Titles.

For the Pistons, they get to pick up some instant offense on a team that often went stagnant the last couple of years and if it does not work out the Pistons can just let Iverson go, because he is in the last year of his contract. Remember Rasheed Wallace is also in the last year of his contract.

For the Allen Iverson skeptics out there, it all goes back to a theory of mine. When players get up in sports years the desire to win exceeds the desire to pile up stats. Allen is finally on a team that is favored to win.
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Pau Gasol takes a seat to nobody when playing basketball in the NBA

In the world of “yeah we kind of figured”, Mitch Kupchak came out and admitted the Lakers kind of stole Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies. Really? And we just kind of thought the Lakers were lucky?

Originally the Grizzlies wanted more for Pau Gasol.

The deal included Kwame Brown and weren’t the Lakers aching to get rid of him, Aaron McKie, the long time NBA veteran role player, rookie Javaris Crittenton, and two future first round picks, and Pau’s brother Marc. As you can see, they picked him up for a whole lot of nothing. Even the first round picks will most likely be low first rounders and worth very little.

The Grizzlies were asking for Monkey King…err Sun Yue, but the Lakers talked them out of it.

The Lakers had a pair of second-round picks last year. Gasol was selected 48th overall, eight picks after the Lakers drafted Sun. The younger Gasol spent the 2007-2008 season playing in Europe.

In the end, the Lakers were able to hold on to Sun, primarily because of the scouting report that assistant general manager Ronnie Lester prepared for Kupchak, after Lester evaluated Sun in Singapore, a month before the trade was consummated.
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So now you have a Laker team of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum.

Sun will be surrounded with Stars!

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Here Ron Artest thinks he is a Rocket already and leans into take off position

It does not take a rocket scientist to tell if Ron Artest at his best will improve the Houston Rockets. He will.

Artest wanted to be reunited with Coach Rick Adelman. Rick was his coach in Sacramento when Ron started playing there.

So the trade was made…

A source close to the Kings said Tuesday a trade has been agreed upon sending Ron Artest to Houston for former Sacramento point guard Bobby Jackson, first-round draft pick Donte Greene, next season’s first-round pick and cash considerations of approximately $1 million.

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Like a lot of NBA trades, one team is clearing out the trash or reducing salary cap or trying to get younger while the other team is picking up an aging NBA star. That is what we will call Ron Artest, an aging NBA star. Please don’t snicker.

The other NBA teams will have to perk up and pay attention to the Rockets. With Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest in the starting lineup, the Houston Rockets will be a team to contend with in the playoffs. That is right, the playoffs.

Now that brash prediction does not hold if Ron Artest once again self destructs.

To keep Ron from self destructing will be Coach Rick Adelman’s job.

When Artest, a mercurial small forward, was traded to the Kings from Indiana in January 2006, he flourished under Adelman. The Kings went 26-14 down the stretch with Artest after starting 18-24, then pushed the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs to six games in a competitive first-round playoff series.

As recently as this summer, Artest had shared his admiration for Adelman, saying he wished his free-agency year had come that season because of his ability to play well under the veteran coach. It is an ideal reunion for Artest, who decided not to opt out of his contract by the June 30 deadline and almost immediately expressed regret for doing so.

By the way, Donte Green, the 6′10″ forward going to Sacramento, appears to have a bright future as a scoring forward. We will have to keep our eyes on his career.

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Rasheed Wallace is expensive, but available

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Chauncey Billups? He is available.

Rip Hamilton? Yeah, him too.

Rasheed Wallace? Well, more expensive, because his rather large contract expires next year.

Tayshaun Prince? He may be a throw in on other deals, go figure.

Joe Dumars said all four are available. He wants to shake things up. Umpteen million trips to the conference finals with only 1 NBA title just does not get it done.

Still, where is the deal?

Dumars has said he wants another team’s best player. But can they get that player? I don’t think so. Reportedly, Detroit wanted Carmelo but Denver was only offering Camby or Iverson. I see that exact scenario playing out with pretty much every team in the league. There will be no Carmelos out there, just a bunch of Cambys. And for what the Pistons would have to give up, I don’t think that makes them better – just different.
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The Pistons are already over the cap, so a deal needs to be done or the 5.4 million dollar exception is to be used.

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O.J. Mayo was traded for big Kevin Love

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Hold on to your hats. There has been a trade between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ok, wake up, there may be some important stuff happening here.

O.J. Mayo was traded in an 8 person deal.

That’s good because Mayo didn’t come cheap. In addition to parting with the draft rights to forward Kevin Love, the No. 5 pick, Memphis gave up Mike Miller, a sharp-shooting guard who is extremely valued around the league. The Grizzlies were able to dump the remaining two years and $13 million on Brian Cardinal’s contract while also sending center Jason Collins, whose contract expires after the upcoming season, to Minnesota. In return, the Timberwolves unloaded Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner.

The contracts of Walker and Buckner aren’t guaranteed past the upcoming season, but Jaric has three years and $21.3 million left. Getting rid of Jaric gives Minnesota the potential to be a significant player in the bountiful free-agent summer of 2010.

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Ok, what just happened here?

Opinions were divided. Love has the potential to be a long time starter and solid player. Mayo has the potential to be a star.

Minnesota wanted Mike Miller for his shooting and wanted to get under the cap for the 2010 free agents. They got that.

Memphis wanted some star power.

Both teams have a history of mucking up the trade wars. One needs only to look at the two NBA finals teams. Pau Gasol came from Memphis to the Los Angeles Lakers. Kevin Garnett came from the Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics. This left what? Memphis – 0 Minnesota – young Al Jefferson. Of course, don’t forget the Brandon Roy for Foye Minnesota trade. Who is Foye? Who knows, but Minnesota wanted him.

So O.J. Mayo ends up playing for the Memphis Grizzlies for now and Kevin Love plays for Minnesota for now. For now being the key words.

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