The 2009 NBA Trade Deadline and You

The NBA's trading deadline is now only eight days away, and this means it is time for all those teams that have been debating whether they want to go for the playoffs or begin their rebuilding process to make a decision.

Already there have been plenty of rumors and rumblings surrounding some big name players and there has even been one trade (granted the players involved were decidedly mediocre).

I'll give a brief rundown of how the NBA's trade landscape sits right now, and I will also be writing about where I think it could go. Read more after the jump...



As I already stated, there has been one deal already involving the Los Angeles Lakers and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Lakers sent forward Vladimir Radmanovic to Charlotte for forward Adam Morrison, his stache, and guard Shannon Brown. Again, this deal doesn't really shake the world and was mostly a salary dump by the Lakers.

You know a deal is uneventful when the best known guy in the deal hasn't been relevant on a basketball court since he was crying at the end of a college game.

The best part about this deal is that now that Morrison is in Los Angeles he can now pursue the career he was destined for, porn star.

I wouldn't expect the rest of this trade deadline to be this bland. There are plenty of big names on the block (Amare, Shaq, Iverson (good call on that one Joe D.), Bosh, Kaman), and there are also plenty of teams with the assets to make these trades happen.

Amare has had the most press regarding his availability and at this point I think it is safe to say he is all but done in Phoenix. There has been a lot of discussion about where Amare might land, but if there is one thing I have learned about superstar deadline deals it is this, they usually end up on a team that comes out of left field at the last second.

Amare's case is particularly difficult to handle as his true value is hard to gauge. On the one hand, you have an incredibly gifted 26-year-old power forward who is capable of putting up 40 and 10 on any given night.

However, Amare is a bit of an enigma with his teammates and has a sense of entitlement that could scare teams off. There is also the issue of Amare's contract. As far as NBA max deals go, Amare's is relatively appealing, he is due 16 million dollars next year and has a player option for the 2010-11 season for 17 million.

The option is the scary part for many teams going after Amare. He could easily walk after next year, and he has the personality to do it. Detroit, Chicago, Portland, Miami, Indiana, and Memphis have all been rumored as possible destinations.

With Detroit and Chicago, getting by far the most run by ESPN and other major sporting networks. I think it is much more likely that he will land somewhere that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Now, you didn't think I'd get through a whole post without mentioning the Pacers did you? The Pacers have some of the most versatile pieces of any team in the NBA this trading deadline, and really need to make a deal. The main reason for this is simple, their two biggest trading chips are expiring contracts belonging to Marquis Daniels and Rasho Nesterovic.

The two of them make a combined 14 million dollars that will be coming off the books at year end. (Note: Daniels has a team option for the 09-10 season that could be picked up, but if the option is not picked up he functions essentially as an expiring deal) If the Pacers do not make a move, they would allow both of these deals to expire and see no return for these players.

Yesterday ESPN floated a rumor that the Pacers were in discussions with the Bobcats regarding troubled point guard Jamaal Tinsley. The rumored deal is Tinsley, Jeff Foster, and a third player yet to be determined (Stephen Graham or Brandon Rush most likely) for Raymond Felton, Nazr Mohammed, and Sean May.

Now this deal makes a lot of sense to me if two things are true about the Pacers deadline strategy...

1.) They have a follow up deal to this one
2.) They include Graham and not Rush

If the Pacers do this deal without a secondary deal to follow then they are left with a logjam at the point guard position. However, there is the possibility that if they include Rush, Pacers coach Jim O'Brien could view Jarret Jack as a long term player at shooting guard, which is horrifying to say the least. I have to believe that this would never fly as a long term strategy with Larry Bird, and therefore a follow up deal would happen.

That follow up deal could, in theory, be a move for Amare. A deal centering around an expiring contract, the Pacers 2009 draft pick, and an existing talent could be appealing to Phoenix.

That is about all I have for you today, if anything really ground breaking occurs look for a post from me giving my thoughts on it. If not, tune in soon for another update to what I will be calling Amare Watch 2009.

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