If I read that in the right light, I believe de Saint-Exupéry would have made an excellent NBA GM. But in its original context, the author of The Little Prince was commenting on why we're never alone. Sometimes, it's just so damned good to know you're not alone, even when it comes to attempted rosterbating…
My friend and colleague Jeff Morton wrote a hilarious and heartfelt piece a couple weeks back detailing his trials and tribulations in dealing with potential Denver Nuggets trades on the ESPN Trade Machine. I was glad to know I wasn’t the only person who had approached the beast and failed, as my trade proposals always come back with something to the tune of, “Well, that gets rid of J.J. Hickson and Randy Foye, but I am not sure how the ham sandwich made it into the bargain…”. Suffice it to say, when I can finally get the numbers to work, they’re usually trades which one side or the other would hate.
For most of you far better suited to such things, this is a glorious time of year, as the clock is ticking. The last time you can (seriously) rosterbate to your heart's content. Even better, you can watch the GMs who can actually pull the trigger on a deal take their best shot at improving whichever season they are focused on. The lack of trade motion over the past two days has elicited collective screams of anguish from hoops geeks and pundits across the league, leading up to today's trade deadline at 1 p.m. MT.
The two deals that have gotten done thus far (as of midnight MT) have been minor changes for all teams involved, as the soon-to-be-expanding salary cap has GMs across the league unsure of their next move – when most, if not all, teams are looking at a cash surplus in the upcoming season. Suddenly contracts that are typically terrific trade bait have become more attractive to keep in the fold. Adding to their reticence is the surety of all but a few teams that they will not be able to mount a serious challenge for the title. Of the few that do harbor serious championship aspirations, most are not looking to make any major changes at the deadline, resulting in the tepid list of trades thus far.
Beyond that, many of the potential trades reported have been heavily weighted in favor of one team, with no foolish takers just yet. If reports are to be believed, Denver was asked to trade away their best scorer (Danilo Gallinari), their best rebounder (Kenneth Faried), their surprising rookie savant (Nikola Jokic), and their Sixth Man of the Year candidate (Will Barton) for Blake Griffin‘s busted mitt and an ear dryer…
If the trade was actually proposed by the Clippers as reported, my only hope is that both laughter and cursing were heavily involved in Tim Connelly’s declination. But for those of you looking for action, it’s been utterly quiet for all but five of the league’s teams thus far. Does it pick up before the cutoff this afternoon, or will this go down as one of the least-interesting trade deadlines in league history? Beyond that, why are teams so reticent to take a chance or shake things up? Is it the impending cap boom? Better education amongst league execs? Sheer fear of failure? Tell us why you think this has been such a mediocre year for trades thus far. And if you’re out there rosterbating, here are a few places you can go for help… NONE OF WHICH ARE SAFE FOR CLICKING ON AT WORK:
What's on your set of roster changes, Nuggets Nation? Give us your best Tim Connelly impersonation below. Are we better off sitting this one out? Is any change from here a long shot? Speaking of long shots, rookie Jokic has a few thoughts on the matter:
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