NBA Free Agents: Top 5 Potential Moves and Why They'll Never Work
If you’re reading this, you’re most likely aware that the NBA lockout has ended. Training camp will start on December 9th. That is also the day free agency begins, which means that teams and players will have a total of 16 days to do what they should have had five months to do.
That is, nearly every team in the NBA will be scrambling to figure out a way to sign free agents such as Chris Paul, Shane Battier and Nene. What players will be sacrificed? How much money will be spent? Which team will create a new "Big 3" or "Big 4"?
In the week since the lockout "unofficially" ended, trade rumors have been swirling. Every NBA writer or analyst worth their salt has picked up on some of the hearsay.
The same few names and teams keep coming up in every Twitter rumor or podcast conversation. With a little bit of research and some speculation of my own, I’ve come up with a list of five potential free agent moves—and why they’ll never happen.
5. J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler to Anywhere in the Lower 48
Whoops. You can’t really blame these guys. Honestly, they were on the same page as many NBA fans in that they were pretty sure there would not be a season this year. Hence, they signed contracts overseas that—barring a season-ending injury (like the one Smith may or may not have faked last week)—they are stuck with until March.
Chandler, a restricted free agent, and Martin and Smith, both unrestricted, could have signed with any number of teams this year. Sorry guys, you might have escaped a 'Melo-less Denver but you’re stuck eating strange food and speaking a second language for the next four months.
All of these teams have supposedly expressed interest in signing Jordan—who is now a restricted free agent after the Clippers extended an offer to him this last week.
First of all, given the offer made to Jordan, most of the teams involved won’t be interested in matching it. Those same teams are also vying for bigger players, namely Nene, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
Plus, Deandre has stated that he loves playing for the Clippers and that he and Blake Griffin are BFF(FFFF)s. THere's no way he’s leaving unless he gets a huge offer from a serious contender. He’s staying in LA.
3. Grant Hill to Anywhere
Sorry, I know this one is vague but there are just some players who are not going to be traded, regardless of their free agency status. Hill is a staple in the Phoenix Suns lineup. Despite his age, he never fails to carry his team on that bony back of his.
He and Nash are a killer duo and trading him for a fresh face might hurt the Suns more than help them. The team already has issues gelling; trading a veteran leader is not the answer here. I’m looking at to you, Robert Sarver.
2. Chris Paul to Celtics
CP3 wants to play in New York. End of story. Can you imagine a Knicks team with Paul, Stoudemire and 'Melo? Spike Lee would lose his mind and New York would have a revived basketball team to root for. Let’s make this happen. Oh wait, we were talking about the Celtics…
1. Rajon Rondo to the Thunder (for Russel Westbrook)
What?! Rondo on the Thunder? Westbrook a Celtic? Preposterous. No, really, this is insane. I’m not saying that Rondo won’t end up on a different team this year—it’s highly likely given the amount of speculation regarding him leaving.
But for Westbrook? No chance. Rondo might not be the most mature point guard in the game, but he knows what it takes to play with a group of veterans.
Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have a serious respect for Rondo and that’s the reason why the "Big 3" (or the "Big 4", as it should be known) works so well most of the time.
Now imagine those three legends playing with the sometimes selfish and often irrational likes of Westbrook. If you can’t imagine it, that’s OK—it’s a terrifying thought if you’re a Celtics fan. Danny Ainge should know this, as should the rest of the NBA.
Rondo, despite his youth, has been whipped into shape. Westbrook has yet to be initiated into the big boys club and I’d hate to see it happen during one of the last seasons of the Celtics "Big 3".
Maybe we can get Nate Robinson back to Boston.
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