The NBA landscape continued to shift on deadline day.
You have to give it to the NBA on trade deadline day. Teams only having a 15-man roster and 12 active players on any given night and when they decide to make a deal, it usually involves players of some significance.
There were a number of trades over the final days before the deadline and a flurry of deals on the last day. The trades fit into either one category or the other. Teams like Charlotte, Portland, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Memphis and Boston make moves with either an eye toward a deep run in the playoffs and there were others squads like Houston, New Jersey, Utah, Cleveland, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers where the future was squarely in the cross-hairs.
There are a couple of trades in particular that may become typical of the NBA unless the new collective-bargaining agreement can help address the situation where players are doing their best to congregate to form "instant contenders".
Now this is nothing new in the NBA as there have always been marquee franchises. Heck the Lakers and Celtics have almost half the NBA banners that have ever been sewn together and since 1980 only eight teams have won titles. But during that time span it was general managers making moves to put teams together as opposed to the current state of affairs where players with the help of their agents seem to be filling out the dance cards as to who will be with whom.
The Celtics trade of Kendrick Perkins brings them a good young player in Jeff Green and he will fill a need on the perimeter but how much did Perkins rejecting a contract extension factor into the equation. Perkins figures he can get more on the open market than the Celtics were offering and depending on what happens with the new CBA, he just might. So instead of losing a player and getting nothing, teams have taken notice of what happened in Toronto and Cleveland last summer and didn't want money to spend. Not that the cash isn't helpful, but money on its own can't rebound or play defence.
While Perkins and Deron Williams dropped hints that they might leave, their former teams refused to get into a bidding war with themselves and pulled the trigger on trades. Green is a restricted free agent and the Celtics, under the current agreement, can make their own decision if they want him in a Boston uniform next season.
Hand it to Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti as it looks like he made another good move on paper. In Perkins, the Thunder acquired a proven inside defender. The system might be different but if he can guard the paint and defend one on one the way he did in Boston. The Thunder, who are 28th in the NBA in points in the paint allowed, should improve defensively. In Perkins and Nate Robinson, suddenly OKC are not as "inexperienced" as they were in last campaign's post season and have a legitimate chance to win more than one round if things come together.
Speaking of the post season, don't look forward to what some people think will be a Miami-Boston conference final. The Chicago Bulls just might have something to say about it, particularly if they draw the Heat in a second round match up. Chicago under Tom Thibodeau, who was seen as the architect of Boston's vaunted half court defence, is going to be a tough out. Miami's offense, with the ball primarily in the hands of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade currently sits 27th in the NBA in assists and if there is no ball movement, teams like Boston and Chicago can lock in them.
In Chicago's win on Thursday night, the Heat had only 12 assists in the entire contests. It didn't help Miami that Chris Bosh made one more field goal than I did last night putting up seven points on 1/18 from the floor.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra needs to find a way to have others handle the ball more to get the opposition defences moving. If not, when it comes playoff time, defensive-minded teams with anchors like Kevin Garnett in Boston and Joakim Noah in Chicago can make it awfully difficult for a dribbler or a single-minded screen-and-roll game to flourish.
