Bleacher Report - Articles by Ryan Welch

Lakers, Heat, Bulls: Trades That Should Happen!

Ryan Welch — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:23:11 -0400

I have been doing some thinking about what trades should happen before the draft later this month. I want to specifically talk about three teams and two trades that would make all three teams significantly better next year.

Trade 1: Miami Heat trade Dwyane Wade for the No. 1 pick in the draft and Ben Gordon.

Trade 2: Miami Heat trade Shawn Marion to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum.

Now, I will tell you why these are good trades for all three teams.

Miami would field this lineup:

PG Derrick Rose

SG Ben Gordon

SF Michael Beasley

PF Udonis Haslem

C Andrew Bynum

That team would be an immediate contender in the East, and in a couple years, could be the best team in the league—hands down.

Chicago would get a major draw and a go-to scorer to go with a lineup that is filled with role players and defensive-minded guys. Plus, the NBA would get what it wants with Wade in a top three city.

The Lakers (who would be risking the most here) would field this lineup:

PG Fisher

SG Kobe

SF Marion

PF Odom

C Gasol

Plus, they would have the same young bench they have now.

In the NBA, it should always be about winning immediately without losing the future.

With Fisher being the only guy on that team over 30, and Gasol not getting clogged in the lane when Bynum comes back, that could be the most dominate team in NBA history over the next four or five years—when, eventually, they would give way to an impending rivalry between Miami and Portland.

What do you think?

NBA: Kobe or LeBron? Not a question worthy of debate!

Ryan Welch — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:20:25 -0400

The never-ending debate of who is the greatest has been discussed everywhere lately.

I recently wrote an article describing my all-time team, which to me is the best way to debate anything having to do with basketball. It is impossible to say who is the best, simply because it depends on the other players on the team.

Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player of all time, but if given the chance, I don't think the 1980s Lakers would have traded Magic for MJ. LeBron verses Kobe is not a question we should be asking because it is impossible to answer.

If you break down the matchup into smaller parts—shooting, on the ball defense, ball handling, rebounding, passing—you inevitably find that one is better than the other. But how do you weigh what talent is more valuable? How do you decide whether defense is better than passing, or shooting better than rebounding?

To me the team is the deciding factor.

Something else to consider: These two guys are not at the same place in their careers. Kobe is a veteran who has probably plateaued when it comes to physical improvement. That is not to say he can't become a more cerebral player, it is just rare for a guy about to turn 30 to get quicker or suddenly jump higher.

Kobe is a bonafide hall-of-famer right now. If he breaks his leg tomorrow he is in without question. If LeBron broke his leg tomorrow and never played again we would all think about how sad it was for him to never get the chance to gain the legacy that he so clearly is on track for.

They also don't play the same position. They have different roles on their respective teams, and they don't really play a similar style at all.

The only people debating this issue are the fans. LeBron defers to Kobe anytime the subject is brought up to him in interviews. He knows he has a long way to go before the discussions can truly begin.

Having said all of that (which makes it look like I am favoring Kobe), LeBron is the guy I would pick if I were starting a team today. He is 23. That's it. He has a good 10 to 15 years left, while Kobe simply doesn't have that much time.

There is no question that Kobe belongs in the conversation for greatest players of all-time, and there is no question in my mind that LeBron will someday very soon deserve of the same accolades.

Today they are the two best players in the league for completely different reasons so my choice is both. They are the co-best player because one is not head and shoulders better than the other, but they are both head and shoulders better than everybody else.

Allen Iverson: A Detrimental Superstar

Ryan Welch — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:50:55 -0400

A popular opinion over the last 30 years in the NBA has been that, in order for a team to win a championship, they need two or more superstars. The evidence surely points to this conclusion in almost every case except the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons. (One could argue that Rasheed Wallace is a vastly underrated player, but none of the other players would really be considered superstars.)

I am here to contend that from time to time, some superstars can actually hurt their team more than they help them.

Case in point, Allen Iverson.

I am not going to pull out the argument of selfishness, because I don't think that is accurate when applied to superstars. They already have the contract, the accolades, and the personal awards. I believe that they simply want to win so badly that they forget the fundamental principles of team basketball.

I am not going to argue that Iverson does not put forth the maximum amount of effort when he steps onto the court, because no one plays harder.

I certainly would not call A.I. overrated, because he is a rare talent on the offensive side of the ball, and defensively, he is a steal machine.

The Denver Nuggets have the unfortunate task of deciding whether to use him in his natural position of shooting guard, allowing the other team to score at will with a much larger lineup, or using him at point guard, and lessening his offensive potency because he has to facilitate for his teammates.

Denver may be the worst defensive team in the NBA this year, even before you factor in that Iverson can't defend his own position. No matter how many points you score, if you allow Luke Walton to get 16 and Kobe to score 32 on a terrible shooting day, you can't win.

Here is where I get in trouble. I think Denver made the right choice in not trading Kleiza for Artest. They should have traded Iverson instead.