Kobe Bryant to the Dallas Mavericks? Links
Saw this one coming a mile away...
After news broke that Kobe was demanding a trade if Jerry West wasn't brought back (which he denies saying), it was a no-brainer that the Kobe/Dallas talk would spark up. JJT devoted an entire article to the subject today, saying that Dallas needs to trade Dirk for Kobe.
It's not that Nowitzki isn't a great player. Winning the MVP proves that just in case you weren't impressed that he averaged 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds for a team that won 67 games.
But we all know he doesn't always embrace the moment and deliver in the Mavericks' most important games. We all know he has a reputation for being soft, perhaps because he didn't learn the game on inner-city black tops, where you call your own fouls, or spend a summer playing at Rucker Park in New York.
JJT fails to mention that this is a trade neither team would ever make, or look at it from the Lakers point of view, but who cares? It works on the ESPN Trade Checker.
There isn't.
Kobe is scheduled to earn a little more than $17 million this season, while Nowitzki is supposed to get about $15 million. According to this Web site, the deal is fine. Just to make sure, I proposed a deal of DeSagana Diop, Greg Buckner and Jason Terry for Bryant and the computer GM promptly rejected it.
Tim MacMahon is also on board with a Dirk for Kobe trade, and Jeff Caplan has another idea.
The Lakers aren't remotely ready to consider trading him and starting over.
In a year, a lot of things might have come to a head and the Lakers might feel different. Now there's no way.
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The NBA has decided not to fine Cuban for his comments regarding Michael Finley.
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This is one of the most cynical quotes from Dirk I've ever read.
"Once you reach a certain level, you don't really make any big leaps," Nowitzki said. "It's more about small improvements. My defense can be better, but also my center (low post) game."
Del Harris is indeed done on the Dallas bench, but he's not going too far. Mike Fisher with the exclusive.
Harris, voted the NBA’s top assistant in three of the last four seasons by NBA general managers, is credited with serving as an important buffer between the high-profile owner and the strong-willed former coach Don Nelson. For the last three seasons, he’s served as a mentor (and probably a buffer, too) for volatile young head coach Avery Johnson. And all the while, he’s been an invaluable resource to Cuban, from front office to locker room.
For that reason, Harris – who was already the NBA’s highest-paid assistant – will now be a highly-paid consultant. Cuban essentially politely refused Harris’ offer of retirement, countering with a handshake offer that allows Del to remain with the organization in a capacity of his own design.
"For Mark to show this sort of appreciation towards me,’’ Harris says, "it’s overwhelming, really.’’
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this is genius
by zkmavz on May 29, 2007 3:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Ridiculous Column by JJT
The article is full of contradictions. He says it's not a knee-jerk column -- of course it is! Dirk had a bad playoff series, Kobe (supposedly) wants to be traded...voilà -- let's trade Dirk for Kobe!
The funniest is the part where in the span of two paragraphs he says that Dirk doesn't deliver in big games and then mentions how he did deliver in big games:
He's had huge games in the playoffs before - 37 in Game 7 against San Antonio in 2006 comes to mind as does a 50-point performance against Phoenix - but pro sports is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business.
The poor guy had nothing of substance to write about I guess. It's times like these I miss Kevin Blackistone. JJT should stick to covering the Cowboys. Too bad all teh great writers like Marc Stein go on to ESPN.
by dirk41 on May 29, 2007 4:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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