Catching Up on NFL and NBA

NFL:

The New York Giants are celebrating their Super Bowl win with their ticker tape parade today.  I have to say congrats to them for a hard fought win against a good New England Patriots team.  I will say this though, I am not on board with this Eli Manning to the Hall of Fame and how he's become a top QB in the league.  I think a lot of that should be tempered as this great year that Eli had was the outlier.  His previous body of work has been somewhat middling (he's averaged 16+ INTs a year vs. 23+ TDs a year).  He's a good guy and has definitely grown as a leader, but let's all just hold off of this Eli is THE MAN for now.  (Take a look at the other QBs that we're talking about being the best in the game).

QB	Avg TDs (since 2004)	Avg INTs (since 2004)
Eli Manning	23	16
Drew Brees	31	14
Tom Brady*	28	9
Aaron Rodgers**	16	4
Ben Roethlisberger	20	12
Philip Rivers	20	9

*Includes a year of 0 TDs and 0 INTs due to injury

**Includes spot duty behind Favre; started in 2008

NBA:

LA Clippers - Count Chauncey Billups as the first person to encounter the Clippers Curse.  Billups has torn his left Achilles and will miss the remainder of the year (my opinion, but you'll see later today).  Mo Williams, now it's your turn to step in and see if you can help this team as a starter.  The big question is whether the Clippers can reach out and get JR Smith.  If so, let's just hope that he leaves his sister and girlfriend at home. 

LA Lakers - Kobe passes the Big Speed Bump (Shaq) on the Lakers all-time scoring list.  Shaq was effusive in his praise for the young Kobe, and maybe there is hope that the two of them can kiss and make up after a few years.  More importantly is Kobe is wishing for some kind of move that will get him Championship #6.  Can the Lakers pull a Howard trade, or maybe steal Deron Williams from the Nets?  If the Lakers get one or both of these deals done, look out for the Black Mamba in the playoffs. 

New York Knicks - Run out and get your Jeremy Lin jerseys now.  The Ivy League grad is actually balling for the Knicks and just helped them beat a Jazz team (above .500) without Amare and Melo (for most of the game, UPDATE - Melo will be out for 1-2 weeks with hammy injury).  I can easily say that Lin is the best POINT guard on the team.  Baron Davis is a shell of a shell of himself and no one knows if and when his back will work correctly.  Douglas and Shumpert, both ACC guys, are more scorers than true point guards.  I think going forward the Knicks gotta start Lin and bring Shump off the bench for scoring and defense. 

Dallas Mavericks - Jason Kidd is still shelved and although no one is rushing him back, one thing we can see is that this compacted schedule is no joke for these older players.  Dirk has been chided for being out of shape and we've seen from an overall level that the NBA off-season, really means what it says it means.

Denver Nuggets - Just as the creamy Nuggets were finding their legs in this compacted season they've been dealt a blow with the injury to Danilo Gallinari.  Gallinari chipped a bone in his foot and we're not sure how long he'll be out.  Gallo was ballin up until this point and although the Nuggets say they don't have that go to player, I think Gallo was that guy.  He's averaging a little over 17 pts per game and with his height and mobility he can provide several mismatches for opposing teams.  Get well soon Gallo, the Nuggets need you. 

Let's Hear it for New York!!!!

The deed is finally done and the Knicks have pulled the blockbuster to get the slightly disgruntled Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets.  The Minnesota Timberwolves were pulled into the deal at the last moment to facilitate. Here are the particulars:

New York Knicks
Get: Carmelo Anthony, Renaldo Balkman, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Corey Brewer

Denver Nuggets
Get: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 1st round pick (2014), the Warriors 2nd round pick (2012 and 2013), and $3M in cash.


Minnesota Timberwolves
Get: Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry

My take on the Knicks:  On the surface, this was a lot to give up.  I'm with Charles Barkley on this one, Melo ain't Jordan, why would you give that many players up?  We know that the Knicks HAD to do this deal to get Melo because if it would have gone down that the Knicks lost out on this because they didn't want to part with Mozgov (a piece the Nuggets wanted) they would have revolted in the streets.They finally got their guy, but it also seems as though they'll lose Walsh and gain Zeke (once again).  I'm not sure that everyone should be excited about that end of the deal.  Billups and Anthony make this team a little dangerous right now.  They are going to have to gel, but until the wheels fall off or they're able to convince a PG to come to New York, the Knicks will be alright.  

My take on the Nuggets:  Well, I have to admit that the Nets deal was a better deal, but with the uncertainty that Melo would have signed an extension with the Nets, they had to do this.  Chandler is a restricted free agent and may end up being a fall back if the Nuggets chose not to re-sign the mercurial J.R. Smith.  Raymond Felton makes George Karl a collector of former UNC point guards, and Felton can be 'the guy'.  He's a bigger version of Ty Lawson.  Gallinari can step in and provide some scoring, but I'm not sure how much of a 'player' he'll ever be.  I actually like Mozgov and when given time in D'Antoni's system he's actually played well.  You can't teach height.

My take on the Timberwolves:  They were the facilitator and got a good talent in Anthony Randolph and they got Eddy Curry's expiring contract.  Randolph has not yet been put in a position to succeed in the NBA, but maybe the Timberwolves can find a way.  Plus the cap relief for the Timberwolves will be big since they are going to have to overpay for someone to actually want to come there and play. 


Who got the best of this trade?  Is Carmelo worth it?  Can they win if they aren't able to get anyone else because of the new collective bargaining agreement?  Why did this thing drag out like this? 

Detroit's Answer

Well, Joe Dumars promises a shakeup and he has done that. Only a few games into the 2008-2009 NBA Season, the Pistons have made a blockbuster. The Pistons have traded Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and little used Cheikh Samb to Denver for Allen Iverson. This trade raises a lot of eyebrows. Let's weigh out the good and bad for each team.


Pistons

Good: They get a bonafide scorer, albeit on his last legs. They have a better team around Iverson than Iverson had when he took the Sixers all the way to the Finals under Larry Brown. The Pistons get this jump started early enough in the year that by the end of the year this team should mesh together and be pretty formidable in the East. With a defense behind him, AI may creep up that leader board in steals. AI is always a draw and he will be loved by the fans of Detroit as he was by the Philly fans. Maybe just maybe Dumars is positioning himself to bring in LeBron in a few years. AI's contract is $22M and it comes off the books at the end of the year.

Bad: They get a bonafide scorer, albeit on his last legs. AI has already come into this season a little banged up, but he is playing well so far. AI has never enjoyed playing team defense and may hurt the Pistons from that standpoint. How is he going to mesh with Rasheed, Tayshaun, and Rip? AI is a volume shooter/scorer, so how does this play with the team concept that the Pistons have built over the years.


Nuggets

Good: Finally the Nuggets have a true point guard that can get Melo the ball when and where he needs it. Someone who won't be concentrating on getting 'theirs'. This true point guard will also allow the Nuggets bigs to finally show what they can do without having to depend on getting their points from the scraps that AI, Melo, JR Smith, and Kleiza were throwing up. The Nuggets also get someone who can do more than spell defense. Maybe Billups' calming play and leadership can turn this team around. The best part is the Nuggets have someone who can get someone else a shot or make a clutch shot in a big game.

Bad: The Nuggets get another personality to go along with the several that they have. McDyess will add to the already deep lineup of bigs, but will he show up (he only wants to play for a Championship and we know the Nuggets don't qualify)?

Conclusion:

This is a calculated move by both teams. The Nuggets , in my opinion, have scorers and need a good point guard to get them the ball. They also get an extra big with Antonio McDyess (and Cheikh Samb). Detroit, well Dumars, gets to say that he did what he said he would do with the shakeup and he gets to clear some salary cap space if/when they let AI walk. The winner in this deal would have to be the Nuggets, but not by a large amount. We'll see how this works.

Who got the better deal, the Nuggets or the Pistons? Are you happy that AI is out of Denver?