NBA Mondays: Duane Rankin takes a look around the league,
Every Monday, Phoenix Suns Insider Duane Rankin discusses all things NBA.
Smoke will continue to rise, but the real fire won’t escalate until February.
Right now, teams are seeing who’s available, who’d they be willing to deal and get in return as the trade deadline is Feb. 6.
Names like Kevin Love, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jrue Holiday, Tristian Thompson – and Dewayne Dedmon have surfaced.
Dewayne Dedmon?
The backup big came out publicly and told the Sacramento Bee he wants out of Sacramento and the league fined him $50,000 for “public statements detrimental to the NBA and its teams.”
Let’s reword that statement.
Public statements detrimental to the image of the NBA and its teams.
The league doesn’t want a player openly chatting about what he wants even though everyone in the league knows who wants to be traded.
If they don’t dig deep into Dedmon’s pockets, which are abundantly full, by the way, with that three-year, $40-million contract, then others will speak out, too.
The problem here is Dedmon has pushed the Kings in a corner where they have to do something or they’re going to have a player on their hands who doesn’t want to be there, isn’t playing and could potentially give off bad vibes.
He’s not the only one who wants out of their situation. He’s just the only one bold enough right now to talk about it on the record.
The league knows who desires a trade. Just want to keep it on the hush.
No Love in Cleveland
Then there’s the Love situation. See him just literally implode on the court in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma City?
The way he approached Collin Sexton with his hands up like a security guard taking control of a chaotic situation was hilarious.
This is after reports Love snapped on Cleveland General Manager Koby Altman in the shootaround before the game. Love apparently is upset about a $1,000 fine for showing out during a Dec. 31 loss at Toronto.
Seems like chump change for someone making $28.9 million this season, but it’s about the principle right?
John Beilein must be thinking what the hell did he get himself into leaving Michigan for this mess.
Everyone knows Love wants out of Cleveland, too. Love can tweet he loves his teammates, but that has nothing to do with him wanting to be in a better situation.
However, who wants to take on that hefty contract for a player who is still productive, but past his prime?
Love has three years, $90 million left on his contract – after this season.
A young team needs to develop talent.
A veteran team that’s a contender doesn’t really need him.
Who will show him enough love to help Love escape from Cleveland?
Five or six
Speaking of Cleveland, I remember covering Cavaliers’ game during LeBron James’ first run there and interviewing Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
This was back in 2008 or 2009 after Cleveland had reached the 2007 finals. He told me there are only five or six real NBA title contenders every year and everyone else in the league knows it.
So when I hear a player wants to be traded to a contender, that’s a small number of teams to consider.
❚ Los Angeles Lakers ❚ Milwaukee Bucks
❚ Los Angeles Clippers ❚ Denver Nuggets
❚ Houston Rockets ❚ Philadelphia 76ers
You’ve got Boston and Miami, too, but that’s about it. And if you’re a contender, do you really want to break up the chemistry for a player who may or may not work out?
These moves are calculated ones. There is so much to consider when deciding to add player who may or may not pan out or you’re doing it for a one-year rental.
Expiring contracts. Cap space.
Chemistry. Salaries.
Having a deadline puts even more pressure on that decision.
Stern’s Dream Team contribution
James called David Stern a “great visionary” after the passing of the former NBA commissioner at age 77 on New Year’s Day.
Don’t know if he saw this, but Stern’s idea to have NBA players compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona changed the sport forever.
Everyone knew America had the best basketball players in the world, but having Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and what turned out to be 11 Hall of Famers on one team go out and just pummel the rest of the world by an average of 43.8 points in winning the gold medal confirmed it.
What it also did was inspire players overseas from Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginóbili to Tony Parker, whom inspired the latest crop of international talent like Luka Doncic to become great players.
This factored in helping the NBA become global.
It’s one thing to market the league overseas.
That was sheer genius by Stern, but when the international players started becoming some of the league’s best players, it took the global interest to another level.
The fans not only could root for Kobe Bryant, but root for Ginobili going up against him.
The international players patterned their games after the NBA stars.
Doncic plays like James. Then there’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
He has the height and ball handling of, say, Kevin Durant combined with the athleticism of James and the attitude of Bryant or Russell Westbrook.
He’s also old school.
No love for anyone else except his teammates. Not pairing up with another elite player.
Now the latter may change if Milwaukee can’t win a title in the next couple of years, but he has a mentality of an NBA superstar in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Stern couldn’t have envisioned that, could he? If so, he’s the ultimate visionary.
By the way, there’s chatter about how the league should honor Stern.
How about this: “Welcome to the 2020 David Stern NBA All-Star Game.”
Must-see matchups
Games to watch this week:
Monday: Oklahoma City Thunder at Philadelphia 76ers (NBATV). Winners of its last five games, Oklahoma City is trying to solidify itself as a playoff team. Let’s see how the Thunder fare at Philadelphia, which is 16-2 at home.
Tuesday: Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors. Toronto’s 5-4 in last nine games without leading scorer Pascal Siakam (groin). Can the Blazers get one here as they wind down a fivegame road trip?
Wednesday: Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers. Erik Spoelstra and Nate McMillan should be in the running for league coach of the year honors. Could be playoff preview.
Thursday: Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City (TNT). Russell Westbrook makes first trip to OKC as a Rocket with James Harden by his side. The two were part of the perhaps the best Big 3 ever when considering Westbrook, Harden and Kevin Durant each won NBA MVPs. Should be a wild scene.
Friday: New Orleans Pelicans at New York Knicks (ESPN). Could this be the return of Zion Williamson? He’s practicing now after missing all season with the knee injury. The game is in New York. ESPN is televising it. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Might as well do big in the Big Apple.
Saturday: Philadelphia 76ers at Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs went into Philadelphia without Luka Doncic and took one as the 76ers were booed. Turnabout is fair play?
Sunday: Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets. First matchup between the Clippers and Nuggets. Who is going to guard Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for Denver?
Any volunteers?