Luka’s Corner

It has been a relatively quiet two weeks since the NBA title was handed to the San Antonio Spurs. There have been no major transactions between teams, only trade talks (and rumors) involving either Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant, which are most likely not going to happen. The only event worth mentioning now that the season is over is the NBA draft. The first two picks by Portland and Seattle went as expected (Oden and Durant), and Horford was then taken at #3 by Atlanta. While the picks went as planned, there were a few interesting (and somewhat unexpected) trades involving some marquee names. I will talk about two: the Zach Randolph transaction and Jason Richardson swap (I will elaborate on the Ray Allen deal to Boston in a later article).

The first major deal was Randolph coming to the New York Knicks, along with teammates Fred Jones and Dan Dickau. New York also received the draft rights to Demetris Nichols, a 6-8 senior from Syracuse. In return, Portland received Steve Francis and Channing Frye, along with a 2008 second round pick. I believe that this is one of those few trades where both teams will improve because of it. For Portland, the loss of Randolph (their best player in 06-07) will free up the starting power forward position for LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge, who (in my opinion) will develop into a consistent 15-8-2 player, will create a dangerous frontcourt alongside the impressive Greg Oden. Also, with the addition of Francis and Frye, the Trail Blazers will now have a solid starting PG (in Francis) teaming up with ROY Brandon Roy. Frye will also turn out to be a good sixth man, coming off the bench to replace Oden or Aldridge when they’re in foul trouble or simply need a break. New York, on the other hand, dramatically improves its frontcourt with the addition of Randolph. He will team up with Eddy Curry (another 20-10 guy) and David Lee (a very good rebounder), which will finally bring New York’s name into discussions of teams with the best frontcourts. The Knicks also get Jones, who is a very athletic guard capable of developing into a possible sixth or seventh man behind Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford. All in all, both teams will profit from the trade.

The deal which brought J-Rich to Charlotte in exchange for Brandan Wright (the #8 pick overall) and Jermareo Davidson (the #36 pick overall) is very one-sided, in my opinion. Charlotte got the better part of the deal by adding Richardson, a very athletic two-guard who can create his own shot. He excels in the open floor (witness his spectacular dunks against Dallas this postseason) and is capable of putting pressure on opponents’ guards with his great stealing ability. This is exactly the type of player Charlotte needs because their go-to-guy Gerald Wallace has already opted out of his contract and will most likely go to another team. Now, Raymond Felton and J-Rich will form an explosive backcourt and will turn Charlotte into a running team, which is what they should have been last season. Golden State, on the other hand, received Wright, an athletic forward from North Carolina. I do not think that he will emerge as the explosive forward many predict he will be in the NBA. I have rarely seen him create his own shot with a post move or off the dribble, since the majority of his points come in a fast break situation. Wright is incredibly slim, and it will take him at least a year just to bulk up and prove that he can play on the block with physical NBA forwards. This trade does not fill the Warriors’ need, which is a low post scorer who can consistently rebound the ball and block shots. That is why Charlotte got the better end of this deal.

This draft is the deepest in recent years (other than in 2003), and it was very exciting to see mediocre teams satisfy their team needs by getting a young player. The trades in the draft were also critical for the franchises involved, with three stars (Ray Allen, Randolph, and Richardson) switching teams and bringing their games to a new city. All of this excitement makes it very hard to wait for the start of next season.

We all know about how dominant the Spurs have been in the Finals, with the Big Three playing at a superb level and leading the team to three straight wins. We also know about LeBron James’ struggles in the series and how dismal the Cavs offense has been. Despite all of this, I want to point out two bright spots on the Cleveland roster: Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic.

Daniel Gibson had been absolutely phenomenal in the Conference Finals and has been very solid in the Finals as well. He has come from a first-year player averaging 4.4 PPG and 0.2 SPG during the season and first two rounds of the Playoffs (while getting only 16 MPG) to a starter averaging 12.3 PPG and 1.2 SPG in the last two series he played. "Boobie" is an offensive spark and relentless defender, unfazed by the task of running the team at the point guard spot. Nobody expected him, a 21-year old drafted 43rd overall, to even be on the roster during the postseason. Instead, he is a starting PG for a Finals-caliber team. Not only is this an amazing feat for Gibson, but this is exactly the type of thing LeBron needs to eventually win a title. LBJ has never played with a reliable point guard throughout his first four years in the league, including Larry Hughes (who is always injured or under-performing). Gibson changes all that by giving James an opportunity to rest once in a while on the offensive end of the floor, because of his scoring ability. He is also a quick defender who can guard the NBA’s premier point guards, such as Tony Parker. Cleveland now has a bright future with this rookie feeding LeBron the ball and running the offense.

Sasha Pavlovic is another Cav who has enormous potential playing alongside LeBron. I believe that he can become the reliable second offensive option (to LBJ) for Cleveland, and will also continue to be a consistent one-on-one defender in years to come. He already possesses a smooth perimeter shot, and with LeBron drawing constant double teams, he will receive the ball often for a shot. But, the one thing that has really surprised me is his incredibly quick first step. It is one of the fastest (behind Dwyane Wade) in the league, and it helps him get inside so easily. Time and time again, Pavlovic blasted by Manu Ginobili (a very good defender) and Brent Barry to attack the basket and possibly draw the foul. If he was just a little better at finishing in traffic, he would be able to rack up 25 points on a consistent basis. This surprising first step is what makes Sasha so dangerous to defenders because he can drive inside or step back and knock down the three. Also, he has improved his defense tremendously from last year, and has even become a sort of defensive stopper (witness his defnse on Manu in game 3). Pavlovic is the second guy that I believe can help LeBron get over the hump and win a title for Cleveland.

Forget about San Antonio dominating Cleveland in these Finals. If these two players can develop even more for the Cavs, and with LeBron playing well as it is, Cleveland has a bright future ahead of them. I do not think it will be long before the city of Cleveland witnesses another championship game in their arena.

Now that Cleveland has been dominated in the Finals (at best) by San Antonio, it has forced me to think about what would happen if Detroit was playing instead of the Cavs. Now…I am not taking anything away from the Cavs, but my gut instinct tells me that the Pistons would fare better against the Spurs. On paper, they have one of the deepest teams in the NBA, with a superb starting five and two consistent bench players. Chauncey Billups, one of the premier point guards in the league, along with Richard Hamilton, the best shooter in the league (in my opinion), form a nasty backcourt. Tayshaun Prince, the reliable defender, along with Chris Webber, one of the best low-post passers in the NBA, and Rasheed Wallace, the team’s anchor, combine to make a dominating frontcourt. In addition, you also have Antonio McDyess, a former All-Star, and Jason Maxiell, a high-energy high-flyer to come off the bench. With all these pieces, it should be a Finals-caliber team, but Detroit has one major problem: chemistry.

While watching the Conference Finals against the Cavs, I couldn’t help but notice the Pistons just running isolation plays for one individual player. This is completely different from what they did in 2004 and in 2005 (when they reached the Finals both times), which was play efficient team basketball. This year in the postseason, I rarely saw Rip come off a screen for an his patented mid-range shot, or Webber get the ball down low and give Billups a sweet backdoor pass. Billups and Hamilton looked to be playing two different basketball games, with Mr. Big Shot rarely giving Rip the ball on a set offense. The only Detroit offenses I saw were Chauncey trying to penetrate by himself, Prince get an iso on LeBron, or Wallace attempting to fade away. Also, there was little communication on the defensive end. Detroit played very individualistic defense, with nobody ever stepping over to help on LBJ when he tried to drive (which was completely unlike the Spurs in the Finals thus far). The Pistons simply let James go inside and pick them apart down low (witness his 48-point performance).

I think there are two main reasons why the chemistry was lacking in this postseason. First, I believe that Flip Saunders does not do a good job of keeping his players together. He lets them do whatever they want, with no sort of punishment. Larry Brown, on the other hand, kept Detroit together and brought them to the Finals twice. Even last year (Flip’s first year as Detroit coach), when Detroit was eliminated by Miami, there were team problems which Saunders never even attempted to solve. The second reason is Rasheed Wallace. Although he is a good player on both ends of the floor, he will still go down in the history books as one of the most controversial players ever. When people think of "Sheed", they think of his many technicals and ability to always express his feelings openly. He often loses his cool on and off the court, and does little to mentally lead his teams (Portland or Detroit). Those are the main two causes, in my opinion, of the Motown meltdown this time around.