The Boards – Week 18

Volume 21 Number 5 2014-2015 Season	The Boards
	The Irregular Publication of Hoopstaz Online

 

 

 

Trading Deadline

The Hooptaz trading deadline has… yawwwnnn…. come and gone… totally opposite of the NBA equivalent. ZERO player movement via trade; so moving on…

The Whammy

The once thought retired fiend from Press Your Luck is doing just fine in the NBA. If you do not know his work, ask Paul George, Joel Pryzbilla, Josh Howard, Andrew Bogut, and Shaun Livingston. A host of free agents were signed to shore rosters and deal with the rash of injuries. Thus, in review of the top 60 drafted players – we will see that the evil Whammy has been working overtime this season. BTW, some say behind the mask, The Whammy looks a lot like Kermit Washington…

Dr	Player Name	Games Lost As of Mar-01
7	Al Jefferson	8
9	LaMarcus Aldridge	1
11	Dwight Howard	9…
12	Carmelo Anthony	Done
13	Kevin Durant	9…
14	Kobe Bryant	Done
15	Kawhi Leonard	3
16	Chris Bosh	Done
17	Damian Lillard	9 CD
18	Blake Griffin	1…
24	Kyle Lowry	1
27	DeMar DeRozan	10
29	Klay Thompson	8 CD
30	Dwyane Wade	3…
32	Joakim Noah	2
34	Kenneth Faried	6 CD
39	Kemba Walker	19…
41	Nicolas Batum	20 CD
43	Michael Carter-Williams	19…
45	Chandler Parsons	6…
47	Larry Sanders	Done
49	Lance Stephenson	11… and CD
52	Jrue Holiday	14…
53	Marcin Gortat	14
56	David Lee	29 CD
57	Derrick Rose	5…
58	Wes Matthews	17 CD
59	Dirk Nowitzki	8 CD
60	Brook Lopez	14… and CD

 

Others season outs: Jarred Sullinger, Anderson Varejao, Shabazz Muhammad, Jabari Parker, Tony Wroten, Alec Burks, Paul George, and now maybe Jimmy Butler TBD.

Other notable underutilized (injury and/or CD): Nerlens Noel, Ricky Rubio, Tobias Harris, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Knight, David West, Jeff Teague, Darren Collison, Draymond Green, Gorgui Dieng, and Hassan Whiteside.

 

There are a many relevant impacts that could make the list for one reason or another, but need to draw the line somewhere… Thus that brings us the questions, why no movement on the trading deadline given all of the aforementioned? Let’s deliberate and offer some … conjecture.

 

CMC is historically on the conservative side of trade execution. CMC has fallen from The Green after suffering injuries to the frontcourt. The Brow (Davis) is losing games and Sullinger is done. M. Gasol’s miles have piled on while CMC navigates alternatives. CMC has been fairly successful in Free Agency; thus good reason to keep rolling along and hope The Brow, the new additions, and a locked in Lowry can return CMC into the Green.

ATM is often known for a late-season deals. But ATM vaulted into 1st in week 17, thus it likely narrowed number of offers to ATM (not really). And ATM was likely to be more selective given team status (more likely). No surprise no deals played out.

BSH is well known for late season deals, so it’s a little surprising some deal did not come out of this camp. However, utility is not a concern and the roster looked pre-prepped to close out as it.

BNG is often involved in TD deals, but this time around BNG lost their top asset (Butler) for what could be the regular season the day before the TD. On top of the other injuries and middle 30 scoring – trying to assemble the right mix was likely energy lost.

GBC is not particularly known for TD dealing. However, GBC is in the heat of The Green. It’s not shocking no deals were done, but it would be a surprise if GBC did not evaluate opportunities. Utilization is on par, thus GBC may have chosen to ride it out as the conservative option.

GLA has already shown a propensity to go after what they want. Either by design or circumstance GLA utilization is well aligned; and GLA looks ready to close out the season as is. Hence it would be unsurprising if GLA stood pact intentionally or if they went after some upgrades, and found deals difficult execute… with narrow standings margins.

DCB is not known for executing deals in general; thus no shocker that no deals were pulled off at the TD. Utility is unbalanced – hence the table was set for DCB to find and execute various types of deals… if the right combination could be lined up. However, as the other 11 teams, DCB held the course.

NYJ has a long history of conservativism around trades. It would be a shock if NYJ initiated or accepted any TD offer. Utilization is mixed, thus a glance, a shake-up may have been better than deploying coasters… bit is it NYJ history to hold – so no shocks.

NNN is historically involved in TD discussions at least. This season, NNN has only posted 4 weekly scores of 35+ (not good). The loss of Bosh may have de-winded the sails and put the franchise into coast mode, settling for LA in the Bonus Season. It is surprising there wasn’t more noise from the camp, however not surprised no deals were executed.

BUC was able to be the benefactor of The Trade of the Season. But they get zero credit here as GLA pre-published the deal and taking The Best Offer as of stated time. Hence, no expectations BUC would either initiate or action any offers, TD or otherwise.

MCB is not known for trades and there was no expectation this season would be different.

GFC was active going back to The Draft. After taking Melo and KD 12^th and 13^th GFC successfully unloaded Melo to MAC before Melo shut down after ASW. GFC has the most untidy utilization in the league in both directions. Thus looking towards the TD, GFC seemed the most likely in need of a deal. However, player valuations likely made crafting any deal challenging – so no surprises nothing came from this camp.

Yawn….