NBA Trade Deadline and How it Affects UK

Today is the day where NBA teams come together to make moves that help their teams win games, or their owners try to dump salaries to save some money. The biggest deal of the day saw Tracy McGrady, the highest paid player in the league, sent to the Knicks. TMac is probably not the best player to move in this deal, or even the second best, but his expiring contract adds to the intrigue going into the Free Agent class of 2010. For those that live under a rock, teams have been jockeying for contracts that expire after this season in order to court the best free agent class in sports history. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, and Amare Stoudemire are the headliners of this talented group, and teams have went to great lengths to position themselves for their services.

Now to how this McGrady deal might affect UK. There has been some speculation that Calipari could be recruited to coach LeBron James as a part of a package to entice James to join Team X (usually either the Nets or Clippers, but could also include Miami or Chicago). This trade allows the Knicks to offer two Maximum contract players. That means the Knicks can get Batman (LeBron) as well as a really good Robin (Bosh/Amare?). Plus they have Gotham to offer for their crime fighting appetites. Best of all for UK, the Knicks already have their Commissioner Gordon in Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni is an assistant on Team USA and has a good relationship with LeBron and the other star players. He has enough juice to keep Calipari out of the equation for coaching LeBron.

Also, the Cavs made a move of their own to bolster their championship hopes yesterday. They traded for Antawn Jamison for what might be basically nothing. It was a salary dump for the Wizards, as they acquired the expiring contract of Zydrunaus Ilgauskus. Most believe Big Z will be bought out and end up back in Cleveland. LeBron grew up in Akron, Ohio. Cleveland is home to him, and it might be really hard for him to leave home if they are able to win a ring this year. The Cavs have the best team camaraderie in the NBA. They look like a high school or college team more than a bunch of Millionaires with huge egos. I am sure they still have inflated ego's, but they don't let it affect team chemistry. That kind of team unity is rare in pro sports, and further complicates his departure. More importantly, if the Cavs win it all that will give their coach, Mike Brown, job security that would keep Cal away coaching the Cats. Jamison might not be Robin, but LeBron might just be in the Dark Knight version of his career where he doesn't really need a sidekick.

The TMAC deal also saw the Kings trade out of Kevin Martin's over-sized deal. Martin wasn't grossly overpaid, but he didn't fit in with their new franchise player, Tyreke Evans. The Kings were able to get a good young post player in Carl Landry and gain financial freedom from the deal. They now have a core of Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, and three good young big guys in Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, and Carl Landry. It will be interesting to see how this move will affect the Kings on the court this year. Their record was better when Martin was out of the lineup, and now they have two more talented big guys to insert into their rotation in Carl Landry, as well as former a Calipari player Joey Dorsey. The Kings could be in position to draft either John Wall if they are fortunate enough to get the top pick, or possibly Demarcus Cousins if he enters the draft. The Kings have a lot of good young big guys, but you can never have enough size in the NBA. It will be interesting to see if this trade makes the Kings immediately better, and whether or not they would see Cousins being a fit for their team as a high draft pick.