The Forgotten Part of the Trade

Let me preface this by saying, it is very difficult to feel sorry for a millionaire; especially a millionaire who earns his living playing a game.

The trade deadline in the NBA ended last week, and several players and stars are getting acquainted with their new teams. As a fan, it is hard not to think of how these trades effect the teams we root for. (Side note... As a Cavalier fan, I am very happy with the trades the Cavs pulled off and am excited about the short term results it may bring.)

The Cavs were part of a three-team, 11-player deal that beat the trade deadline by exactly one minute. And in that one minute, eleven players were affected by this one trade. And that includes their families, friends, etc.

Take Joe Smith for example. For years, that has been a favorite line of NBA GMs. Smith was the number selection in the 1995 draft. Talent-wise, he has never lived up to the billing of being number one. At the start of his career, he had all the potential in the world. Now on the downside of his career, Smith has been shipped off to so many teams he may want to apply for UPS having seen so many different cities.

Joe Smith was drafted by Golden State. He then played part of a season in Philadelphia.  Smith then spent some time in Minnesota, Detroit, Minnesota again, Milwaukee, Denver, Philadelphia again, Chicago, and now Cleveland.

Again, it is difficult to feel sorry for a millionaire athlete.

But when you look beyond the fact that these guys are just athletes, you realize many of them have families and loved ones that now have to deal with the trade beyond just switching jerseys.

Kids that are in school. Family and friends living in one city. Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West were living and playing in Seattle as recent as last week. Now they reside in Cleveland.

Again, hard to feel sorry for them. They make a lot of money, right?

As the number one selection, Joe Smith was supposed to stand out and move a franchise in the right direction. As the years have shown, Smith has turned out to be, for a lack of a better term, just an average Joe. 

Most average Joes will play for several different teams over the course of their careers.  From that standpoint as well, Joe Smith is just an average Joe.

Just an average Joe who makes a lot of money playing a sport.