Rodrigue Beaubois Could Be On NBA Trade Block

you would be selling VERY low.

You’ve lost me if you’re out on pursuing Deron or Dwight (or both).

Nothing matters for Carlisle and the existing team and most of management except how we play this year. If they think there is a move that will improve their chances THIS YEAR, and Cuban can be convinced that the move will not impact their chances in free agency, I believe they will make a move. But I don’t see that as likely. They have a very deep, very effective group (when healthy) that is starting to come together very nicely just as last year’s team did. Their defense, with the loss of the mighty Chandler, is # 1 in the league in FG%. Haywood may not be putting up Chandler numbers, and doesn’t have as many “kick your legs in the air” slam dunks, but he and the rest of that three headed Center monster are doing a damn good job of moving on. Marion is playing like the defensive POY. Why get rid of him? When Dirk was out, he was also lights out on offense. He’s a legit post scoring presence, something this team lacked so much before he arrived. I’d say his post offense (and the presumable Odom post offense, with Carter’s skills backing down other guards) are much more of a boost than anything Chandler brought offensively. We’re deep, and this team is just as hungry to repeat (and the newcomers West, Carter that haven’t won rings and Odom, who I would hope will get a wakeup call and decide he wants to show LA up and win another one here)…this is a perfect storm. And you don’t think OkC is ripe for the plucking? Without a freak shot by Durant, we have won that first game; we dominated the second game; and the third game, no matter how biased I am, was decided by poor referees. We have their #. They can’t beat us in a Best-of-7 series, is my bet. Stay healthy, and this team will be there in the end.

Now – Cuban’s mindset, and Donnie’s, are probably different. They DID put this team together, which in my opinion, is more talented than last year’s was when you look from top to bottom. But they did so sneakily keeping a really good opportunity intact to acquire top-end talent in Deron and/or Dwight next year. I don’t handicap our chances at landing one or both of those guys at a very high level against “the field,” but I think when you look at them individually, it just makes sense that they come here. Deron’s from this city and unlike Bosh, he embraces it. I was in the locker room after Game 5 of the Finals, and guess who was in there with a Texas Rangers hat on, BSing with all of the guys, biggest smile in the world on his face? Deron Williams. You think he doesn’t want to light up the home crowd and play next to Dirk? Dwight Howard doesn’t get traded before the All Star Break (which I hear is unlikely), and he has LA, Orlando, New Jersey and Dallas on his radar. You think he wants to go back to Orlando? No – cross them off the list (in red pen). Does he want to play second fiddle to the Knicks, especially if Deron doesn’t sign an extension there? No. So for all intents and purposes, cross them off the list (in pencil). That leaves the Lakers and the Mavs. Two teams with aging top 20 all time scorers that have won titles, and haven’t left their teams. One of these teams is on a high and potentially could keep that high going for years. The other will never fall so far, but after the 4 game sweep and the Odom fiasco, the Gasol rumors, and with Bynum’s shaky knees and Kobe’s future health a legitimate concern as his athleticism (unlike Dirk’s strengths) will eventually start to fade, and I think the Mavs are a bigger attraction. Dwight will have to see what happens with Bynum and/or Gasol in LA before he commits, as I doubt they can take on that contract. Sign-and-trade? Either way, LA as a city is more attractive. But does Dwight think he has a better chance at a championship there? Who knows…