The Great NBA Conspiracy: The Celtics, Lakers, Grizzlies and Timberwolves?

    Let me get some things straight before I launch into what is admittedly a crazy theory:

1) I am not discrediting the play of any players in the NBA playoffs

2) I have no factual backing for this

The NBA is back.  The deep and interesting draft confirmed it.  The NBA Finals were certainly the first sign.  A healthy and thriving NBA means business for every team in the league.  People are watching the NBA.  A year ago, when Kevin Garnett was on the Timbs and Memphis was treading water with Pau Gasol, people were not.  It is as simple as that in a year the NBA revived its two dormant giants and reignited interest in the league.  I could not understand how it all happened until the recent trade between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies.  Suddenly I looked at the rosters of the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Lakers, and Celtics and it would be no exaggeration to say that all 4 had vastly improved their status relative to a year ago.

Celtics- There is no question an invisible hand was involved in guiding these proceedings.  The Allen trade was preparing to make the Sonics as incompetent as possible to smooth a transition to Oklahoma City that is made all the more easy by having an incompetent team with low attendance, instead of having a potential playoff team with a Kevin Durant and Ray Allen duo.  The second trade for KG is where the NBA realized the potential they had on their hands.  Whether that was Stern seeing the potential for a stacked Celtics team or Kevin McHale helping out his buddy Danny Ainge, who had been pathetic as Celts GM up to that point, there is no way to construe what Minnesota got for KG as fair.  The Celtics conveniently drop a crap load of salary and most importantly, numbers. 

    The offseason suddenly becomes an interesting proposition as the Celtics have manuevering room in order to fill out the roster.  They make cheap pickups like James Posey and Eddie House who can replace ineffective dead weight that used to be there.  And then suddenly, Sam Cassell and PJ Brown fall in their lap as veteran players who can help them at a ridiculously cheap price IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON.  Too many cards fell in the Celts lap.  I smell conspiracy.  Not to undercut the heroic effort of Pierce in carrying this exceptional group of players to the Finals, but my issue is rather with how that exceptional group was assembled.

LA Lakers- Well the Lakers would not have contended for a championship without Pau Gasol's arrival.  Look at their record before his arrival, it simply doesn't compare.  This is one of the all-time great fleecings and any non-partisan observer has to agree.  Simply put, an average Western Conference playoff team (impressive nonetheless) is transformed into an immediate powerhouse.  How could Chris Wallace agree to this trade, not that he isn't an idiot, without getting some guarantee from the NBA?  How about a guarantee of a charismatic and highly skilled player who will put fans in the seats and guarantee a face for the franchise at a cheap price that gives the team an infusion of star power?  Bringing me of course to the...

Memphis Grizzlies- Well Memphis could not get any lower than where they were once they lost Pau Gasol.  As I mention above, no GM could possibly justify that.  Unless there was a cheap Messiah on the horizon.  That cheap Messiah is OJ Mayo.  Oh it didn't matter that Memphis didn't draft him, it only mattered that their buds in Minnesota got the memo: draft OJ and we will give you a nice deal.  OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley, and Derrick Rose were the three potential superstars of the draft.  Since 7th grade OJ has been blazing up national headlines.  I can attest that his buzz in Ohio was comparable only with Lebron James himself.  After leaving his senior year to go to West Virginia, we still got updates in Ohio newspapers on what he was doing.  He even prepared his grooming as a superstar by going to LA to increase his stature.  He is a shooter and even a solid rebounder.  Believe me he will have an impact.  Memphis now has more work to do, but when you have a player like Mayo to build a youth movement around, things become that much easier.  Memphis has significant contractual freedom in addition to losing the legendary contract of Brian Cardinal.  A new setting for Marko Jaric and 'Toine could see them contribute.   They look like they have a future, especially when compared to their situation last year after the draft.

Minnesota Timberwolves-  At times it felt like a one man show last year with just Al Jefferson showing up for these guys.  No question he is a scorer and someone you can build a franchise around with several other solid pieces.  Drafting OJ Mayo was something the franchise clearly could not sustain.  Honestly, KG was a saint for staying around as long as he did.  However, the OJ situation allowed Minnesota to make some solid trades.  Instead of bringing in one solid piece to surround Jefferson, how about two?  You get the sharp-shooting Mike Miller and the sharp passing big man Kevin Love.  A big scorer in the post complemented by a big passer and a sure shooter on the outside is a situation few teams can lay claim too.  Does Minnesota absorb the dead weight of Brian Cardinal? Yes.  Do they dump the bad Marko Jaric contract?  In the end they are not much worse off financially.  The Cardinal contract is on the books a year earlier.

Too many good things happened for these four teams.  The league realized they had the potential to make it all happen.  Oh and take it all with a grain of salt, but I think every GM keeps his job after this whirlwind year.  Would the league have the audacity to alter the path of the league for ratings and to revive struggling franchises?  Ask Tim Donaghy...