Before the season began, most observers felt the favorites to win the NBA title this season were going to be the teams at the head of the top heavy eastern conference (Boston, Detroit,Orlando). Those squads made offseason moves to solidify their rosters and sprinted from the gates giving notice to the rest of the east that it was a three team race for the No.1 spot come playoff time. In the western conference, it has taken more than half a season to figure out who the front runners are in a much more tightly contested race but the flurry of deals at the trade deadline have shown us once again that one right or wrong move can change the whole landscape in an instant.
When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired center Pau Gasol from Memphis a few weeks prior to the deadline, it sent shockwaves throughout the West. Finally after facing constant double teaming, Kobe Bryant was given an inside presence to occupy the defense for the first time since Shaquille O’Neal was sent out of town and the Lakers dynasty crumbled. The Lakers could now pair Gasol with emerging big man Andrew Bynum and playmaking forward Lamar Odom to give Bryant a full compliment of options each time down the floor while also shoring up their rebounding on the defensive side. However, even with this move paying immediate dividends once Gasol took the court, The Lakers still could not be considered clear cut favorites in the West. The Suns with the three headed monster of Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire and Shawn Marion, the Spurs with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and the Mavericks with MVP Dirk Nowitzki also had legitimite designs on that title. With the deadline fast approaching and the balance of power possibly shifting, nobody was sure what these teams would do and surely no one expected the moves that would come next.
The Suns were the first to react to the Gasol move by making a deal which I for one still don’t understand. The Suns sent perennial all-star forward Shawn Marion to the Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. If this trade was made 10 years earlier, it would have been a highjacking by Phoenix (not to mention Marion would have been a high schooler) but this was not the same dominant, immovable franchise player O’Neal they had acquired, this was the oft-injured, frequently lumbering and seemingly on the downside of what has been a brilliant career O’Neal. This deal made no sense considering the type of run and gun, up and down tempo game the Suns employ on a nightly basis. It was obvious that this move was a knee-jerk reaction to the Lakers adding Gasol and the Suns thinking they needed a big man to compete in the postseason. In reality, what the Suns accomplished was breaking up a team that although it had not been a postseason juggernaut was playing some of it’s best basketball in years and whose chemistry could probably only be matched by San Antonio. After two weeks with Shaq, the Suns have lost 3 of 5 games he has played with the team including an embarrassing blowout by the Pistons at home on national TV in which O’Neal looked old and tired against a team without a dominant inside force.
The Mavericks responded to these moves as well by moving what looked to be a big piece of their future in an attempt to win now when they traded point guard Devin Harris as part of a large package of players (including the RETIRED Keith Van Horn) to New Jersey for Jason Kidd. The deal was held up for a few days due to no trade clauses and contractual issues but finally went through following the All-Star Game. Kidd is one of the best point guards in the game and his late game defense and rebounding will definitely help the Mavs. Another thing to remember about Kidd is he led the Nets to back to back NBA finals appearances without having the luxury of a supporting player with the talent of Nowitzki (yes Vince Carter is great but he’s no Dirk!). The Spurs, Jazz and last year’s surprise team, the Warriors opted to make only small moves or stand pat and the Nuggets, a team which most everyone thought would and should add a piece was deafeningly silent at the deadline.
The other two teams in the west considered to have a shot come playoff time have experienced opposing fortunes over the last few weeks. The surprising New Orleans Hornets who have been led by the stellar play of legitimate MVP candidate Chris Paul have continued to win and win convincingly (as evidenced by last night’s rout of the reeling Suns) as they make their run towards a division title while the Houston Rockets all but watched their hopes of contending go down the drain when center Yao Ming announced he would have season ending surgery on tuesday. The Rockets loss of Ming might be the saving grace for the Nuggets who have the inside track for the spot which will probably be vacated by the Yao-less Rockets.
While there is alot of basketball yet to be played and anything can happen in the NBA as we’ve seen many times before, it looks to me like the team that struck first in making the big move and not the teams that reacted later, will be the team to beat come playoff time, especially if they gain home court with the No.1 seed. Getting Gasol will probably bring the Lakers the closest they’ve been to an NBA title since Shaq left but will it be enough to conquer the “Boston 3 Party” or Detroit’s “Bad Boys”, my prediction is that it won’t be but it sure will be exciting to watch.
