When Kevin Garnett’s name came up about a trade — wonder where? — the Bulls were mentioned as the most likely suitor because they have the pieces to make a deal.
It’s the same situation with Kobe Bryant, though that misses the point because a deal for Bryant would gut the Bulls and leave them with as much talent as the Lakers. Of course, the Cavs have proved that one superstar and a bunch of pieces is enough to get to the Finals from the East.
Garnett has an option to become a free agent after next season, which would seem to make him almost untradeable — how much could a team afford to give up knowing Garnett could leave after one season? And how little could Minnesota afford to take for its last (only) true asset?
The place to look is Phoenix, which has a bulging payroll and some apparent chemistry issues. It’s hard to believe new general manager Steve Kerr would be the guy to trade Amare Stoudemire. But I can see him trading Shawn Marion, perhaps to the Bulls. (More on Kerr later.)
It’s no secret around Phoenix that Marion is unhappy with his situation and wouldn’t mind going elsewhere. Because he is scheduled to make $16.4 million in 2007-08, and has two years remaining on his deal, moving him isn’t that easy, especially because he seems to fit best playing with Steve Nash.
Marion is hardly the interior player you’d dish to for inside scoring. He’s an energy, hustle player, and he does get his points. That would seem to make him a fit for the Suns — and the Bulls.
Marion would nicely complement the Bulls’ defensive, active style of play. Pairing him with Ben Wallace might be the Bulls’ best option because they seem unlikely to make a deal for any of the big-name interior players like Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Zach Randolph, Pau Gasol and Stoudemire.
The Suns are not about to give away Marion, who has averaged 18.6 points and 10 rebounds in his eight years in the league and is just 29. He’s listed at 6 feet 7 inches, but with Wallace, Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas in the rotation, the Bulls could field a formidable defensive frontcourt. And though Kirk Hinrich isn’t quite Nash, the Bulls do push the ball, which would give Marion the open-court chances he has now with the Suns.
The key for Phoenix probably would be Ben Gordon. He’s in an uneasy position with the Bulls with a contract extension on the horizon and questions about whether he should start. Imagine the openings he would have playing with Nash and Stoudemire. And Phoenix has always liked Andres Nocioni, who could play the forward positions Marion played, make a shot and provide toughness.
With Nocioni, Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas, that hardly would be a soft team. Nocioni is a restricted free agent and the Bulls likely would match any offer. Perhaps a sign-and-trade?
The Bulls appear to be leaning toward giving more backcourt time to the bigger Thabo Sefolosha. They could wind up with the kind of versatile lineup to switch on pick-and-rolls and take advantage of new perimeter defensive rules. And Marion, despite that awful looking shot, can make a three and pretty much make up for the loss of Gordon’s scoring.
The Bulls could make that kind of deal — maybe they throw in Chris Duhon, a backup point the Suns need — without giving up their first-round pick (No. 9 overall). Then they’d be able to take a chance on a project center like Washington’s Spencer Hawes, who worked out for them Friday.
It’s likely the Suns will consider other possibilities — Boston’s first-round pick already has been speculated.
Celtics alive at 5
Other teams need help, and I do have some time between discussions of what great figure in world history LeBron James is most like.
The top two picks in the draft are set, Ohio State’s Greg Oden to Portland and Texas’ Kevin Durant to Seattle. No one ever is quite sure what Atlanta will do, and Memphis seems to prefer Florida’s Al Horford. At No. 5, Boston seems most likely to trade out of the top 10 (as previously noted, Marion has been mentioned) because it’s not certain Paul Pierce will even introduce himself to yet another rookie. And because Pierce averages almost $20 million a year for the next four seasons, it’s unlikely he’s going anywhere.
Boston is said to like Florida State’s Al Thornton, who figures to be available around No. 10 and the Celtics could trade down.
Golden State of mind
One of the most intriguing players remains Yi Jianlian. The 7-foot Chinese would appear to be a natural for Golden State, which could attract the large Asian population in the Bay Area. Yi is a good shooter and could eventually fit into an open-court game. The talk all season was Jason Richardson would be the odd man out with his big contract and overlap at wing positions. The Warriors could package Richardson and something for Boston’s fifth pick — Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract and maybe Sebastian Telfair. Keep an eye on the Warriors.
Noah’s arc
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I was talking to an NBA big man’s coach and asked about Florida’s Joakim Noah, whom the Bulls looked at Friday. “I see him as a mid- to low first-round pick,” the coach said. That’s not exactly where most of the mock drafts — which Noah generally scorns as uninformed — have the Florida center. The coach likened Noah to Mark Madsen, the Timberwolves reserve. And though Madsen is listed two inches shorter, they did have similar statistics in college with Madsen averaging 10.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in his Stanford career and Noah 12 points and 8.4 rebounds. “Their skill is energy,” the coach said. If given the choice between Noah and Hawes, the coach said he’d want Hawes for his NBA potential. He likened Hawes to Clippers center Chris Kamen.
Magic acts
With Stan Van Gundy its new coach, it’s sounding more like Orlando will keep restricted free agent Darko Milicic. Said Van Gundy: “You’re sitting on a great situation with that. I remember saying to Otis [Smith, the general manager] in the interview, ‘You’ve got two great assets here [Milicic and Dwight Howard]. You’ve got two young big guys in a league where everybody else is searching for one.’ Can they play together? Yeah. As a coach, that’s your responsibility. You’ve got to take your best players and figure out a way to make it work. But there’s certainly no reason they couldn’t play together.” The Magic was displeased that Brian Hill didn’t use the two together much. If Orlando keeps Milicic, it probably puts it out of the free-agent bidding for Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis.
Heat is on ’em
You’ve got to love the stipulation in the Orlando separation agreement that Billy Donovan can’t coach in the NBA for five years. (I’m signing one as well because I had the same chance of being hired after the Orlando fiasco.) As compensation for Van Gundy, Miami gets the No. 39 pick in this year’s draft and the right to swap first-round picks in 2008 as long as Orlando isn’t in the lottery.
Sidebar: The exchanging of first picks is known as the Irwin Mandel clause because it was popularized by the Bulls’ vice president in the Eddy Curry deal.
Miami initially sought a first-round draft pick and $1 million for Van Gundy, the same compensation the Heat paid to free Pat Riley from his Knicks contract in 1995.
“We started this off-season targeting two guys, and we actually hired them both,” Smith quipped. The most amazing part of the Donovan saga: He pursued jobs with the Magic and the Grizzlies. Seems like the perfect guy to guide young minds.
Like what they see
Suns coach Mike D’Antoni on Kerr taking over as GM: “He hasn’t made a mistake in four years, just like you (media) guys, so I hope that streak continues.” D’Antoni was a reluctant GM when Bryan Colangelo left for Toronto and received Kerr’s support. Kerr said he didn’t plan “sweeping changes. There are good teams in the NBA whom I would not pay to see play. Entertainment is a huge part of this. This is an incredibly entertaining team and a team that’s gone deep in the playoffs the last three years. When people say, ‘Well, they can’t win this way,’ I laugh.”
Tip-ins
Former DePaul coach Joey Meyer was in the mix to be a Bucks assistant. But that job went to Tony Brown after Lester Conner left for Indiana. Pacers coach Jim O’Brien also is bringing back retired defensive guru Dick Harter, 76. It would do some team well to do the same with former Bulls assistant John Bach. …
Former Bulls coach Bill Cartwright interviewed in Sacramento. Lakers assistants Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw, New Mexico State’s Reggie Theus, Kings assistant Scott Brooks and Pistons assistant Terry Porter remain candidates. … Seattle stripped Lenny Wilkens of his authority after hiring Sam Presti from San Antonio to be general manager. …
Lots of questions remain in Memphis with Gasol and the No. 4 pick. “The draft [lottery] didn’t go our way, and now other things are going to have to happen to be a better team,” Gasol told the Memphis media. “I don’t know how much this affects my situation. Let’s see how the franchise reacts.” The consensus lately is the Grizzlies will keep Gasol, though Spanish reporters at the NBA Finals say Gasol probably would renew his trade request. …
Despite speculation the Mavs would try to lure back Jason Kidd, Devin Harris insists he can be the team’s point guard. “I really want it,” Harris told Dallas media. “I want to take this by the horns, and I want to be a 40-minute player for this team. I think I need to be that kind of player to allow Jet (Jason Terry) to freelance more and for us to get back where we were. Last year, this same backcourt got us to the NBA Finals. We know what we’re capable of.” …
The Spurs’ Brent Barry, who turns comic in his blog for NBA.com, relates that on the eve of Game 2, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich stopped the game film and talked about two miracles. Said Barry: “One was Tony Parker getting involved in help-side defense. The other was [the birth of] Bruce Bowen’s baby.”
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