The Week in Hoops: December 27th, 2010

LeBron screwed the pooch. He really, really screwed the pooch.

Even though the Miami Heat are rolling right now, LeBron messed up The Decision. Even if they win it all this season, I'm here to tell you that he missed the boat. LeBron should've gone to New York.

Bear in mind that I am telling you this as a lifelong Bulls fan who was ready to jump on season tickets if he had decided to take his talents to the Windy City. After seeing the Thunder take on the Knicks last Wednesday for my first Madison Square Garden experience, it's clear to me that the Knicks should've been the spot.

I was also in the house when Oklahoma City came to Chicago a few weeks ago, so I have something to compare it against. Both games had sellout or near sellout crowds. Both games featured teams that are better than they have been in a long time. Both games featured the star power of Kevin Durant in his lone visit for the year. But the buzz at the Knicks game completely blew away the experience at the United Center. One felt like a playoff game and the other felt like a typical mid-week NBA game between non-rivals in December. The Knicks game brought out stars such as Spike Lee, Seth Meyers, Ciara, John McEnroe and Turtle from Entourage. At the Bulls game, my buddy Wego might've been the 3rd most famous person in the crowd.

The main reason for the difference is the Bulls have had some playoff experience, and us Bulls fans are still slightly spoiled from 6 titles in 8 years even if the last one was more than 10 years ago. Knicks fans, on the other hand, are desperate for their team to be relevant again. Their recent run of 13 wins in 14 games electrified the entire city. Even the guy who sold me my ticket via Craigslist, after he first confirmed that I wasn't a cop (making a reference to The Wire, thereby instantly becoming my friend), wanted to talk about the Celtics game that had occurred seven days prior. He called it "the best regular season game I've ever been to." Of course, that might not be saying much considering he was probably 13 years old the last time the Knicks finished a season above .500. Still, even I'd call it the best game of the NBA season-to-date.

Another obvious difference is the stadiums. There's absolutely nothing wrong with The House that Jordan Built. It's very nice. Very big but very sterile. It's everything that the old Chicago Stadium was not. Of course, the United Center could never touch the old Stadium when it came to noise. The Gahhden reminded me on the old Stadium in that regard. My seat for the Thunder game was in the second-to-last row of the 300-level, and three feet behind my head was a ring of cinder block encircling the entire arena. Every DE-FENSE! and LET'S GO KNICKS! cheer reverberated off those blocks and straight into my eardrums. The old-school, organ-led chants made it feel like I was watching Jordan vs. Ewing instead of Durant vs. Stoudemire.

And speaking of Amare, the city has embraced him like he's the second coming of Derek Jeter. Although I was against the $100 million signing and still feel that he's not a franchise player, I've got to admit that I was wrong about Stoudemire. In a time where the league's most talented star willingly decided to play second fiddle, one has to give Amare credit for embracing the alpha dog role. Amare's 2010-11 season has been a self-fulfilling prophecy -- if you believe you're the best player in the league, then maybe you'll actually start playing like it. He's the best player to play for the Knicks since Ewing, and the fans treat every blocked shot, slam dunk, three-point play, free-throw attempt and successful pass out of a double team as an opportunity to show their appreciation with a "MVP! MVP!" chant. In a year with no clear-cut MVP favorite, this may be another self-fulfilling prophecy that leads to him walking away with the Mo-Pod trophy.

After witnessing Amare take over the city in just a few months, I couldn't help but wonder: what if that was LeBron instead? It would've been Amare times ten. LeBron would've owned the Big Apple. The Knicks would've been his team. He would've been playing in front of rabid, passionate fans that don't need to be reminded to show up on time and trained when to stand up and cheer. And I don't think NBA fans (outside of Cleveland) would've killed him for going to New York. As much as I would've loved to see him in Chicago, I could've lived with him on the Knicks.

We know that one of LeBron's key objectives was to become "a Global Icon." He's also said that he wants people to think of him as "one of the best players to ever play in the league". One thing that sort of gets lost in the shuffle with LeBron's decision is his dramatically lower numbers in Miami during the prime of his career. We're talking about a guy who has scored 3,800 more points by the age of 26 than Kobe Bryant. He could've broken every scoring record in the book, but willingly put that at risk by playing alongside Dwyane Wade. Consider he averaged 29.7/7.3/8.6 last season on a below-average paced team, the move to D'Antoni's Knicks (2nd quickest pace in the league) would've likely driven those numbers into the 32/8/9 range, almost certain MVP numbers. Contrast that with the 24.8/6.6/7.2 he's averaging in Miami, and we're talking thousands of points and potentially multiple MVP awards lost on what was previously a career with no ceiling.

[Note: the chart below shows LeBron's career points trajectory by age compared to the most prolific scorers in NBA history. You can see how LeBron is well above his counterparts at Age 25, although Kevin Durant is right on his tail. Seeing Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Karl Malone on this page only makes me think of those ridiculous Skechers Shape-Ups commercials. Did you notice that they changed Kareem's line from "He's not that close", which made absolutely no sense considering he was in the store buying the shoes specifically to protect his scoring record. You also have to question the logic of Skechers hiring a deadbeat dad and statuatory rapist as its spokesman.]

Of course, the counterargument is that the individual records aren't important to LeBron. He's all about the rings. Although Miami might be the quickest route to one or more titles, what happens if Miami wins this season? He gets his ring, but it's still Wade's team. Who's introduced last in the Heat starting line-ups? Kobe's got five rings, but people didn't start giving him his due until he won one without Shaq. And if he wins his 6th this year, it won't suddenly put him in the conversation with Jordan, as much as Mark Jackson tries to tell us otherwise.

If LeBron were to win a title in the mecca of basketball for a fan base still clinging to the fading memory of a title that occurred the year I was born (and I'm old), we're not just talking Global Icon but Living Legend. He'd be deified instantly for bringing a title to New York. I'd go as far as to say one title as the lead dogg in New York is worth at least three titles in Miami as beta dogg on a glorified all-star team. I wonder if deep down inside LeBron is regretting his Decision. I wonder if he had taken a couple more days and thought it through, whether he would've made the same choice. And after playing in the Garden last week, I wonder if he regrets that it's only twice a year instead of 50.

The Colton Index:

Teams of the Week:

	1. Milwaukee Bucks (from 20th to 17th) - Loss at Portland; Wins at LA Lakers, at Sacramento. Fear the Deer! Andrew Bogut has it going right now. After averaging less than 12 points per game in October and November, he's up to 17.3 points, 12 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game in December.
	2. Detroit Pistons (from 26th to 25th) - Wins at Toronto; OT Loss vs Chicago. Pistons made up for blowing that huge lead at home to the Raptors a couple weeks ago by blowing them out in Toronto. Almost sneaked in a win against Chicago yesterday after the Bulls suddenly forgot how to rebound.
	3. Miami Heat (stayed at 4th) - Loss vs Dallas, Wins at Phoenix, at LA Lakers. The win streak may have ended with a home loss to Dallas, but the Heat looked pretty impressive against Phoenix and the Lakers. Right now, Dallas, Boston, San Antonio and Miami look like they're two steps ahead of the rest of the pack.

Teams of the Weak:

	1. Los Angeles Lakers (from 5th to 8th) - Loss vs Milwaukee, vs Miami. Should we start to be concerned about the Lakers chances at a three-peat? Two blowout losses at home this week. A 21-9 record so far with by far the easiest schedule to date of any team. A slew of teams looking a lot more formidable than we expected. Kobe's ready to rip his teammates a new one, so it will be interesting to see how they respond.
	2. Denver Nuggets (from 8th to 11th) - Losses at San Antonio, at Oklahoma City, vs Philadelphia. Hard to kill them for losses against Oklahoma City and Philly when they were missing their best player, but might these types of Melo-less late-game collapses be a preview of what's to come after February?
	3. Charlotte Hornets (from 21st to 23rd) - Loss at Washington, vs Oklahoma City. On Wednesday, I flipped on my iPhone to text my buddy Wego the following question, "Who gets canned first, Brown or Westphal?" but I got the news about Larry Brown before I could even open the Message app. The Bobcats are going nowhere fast, and Brown has a history of jumping right as the ship is sinking. I'm interested to see how they respond with a more uptempo style under new coach Paul Silas.

Updated with Games as of Sunday December 26th

Rk	Move	Team	W-L	Last 15	Avg Diff	SOS	SOS Rk	Colton
1	+2	Dallas	23-5	14-1	5.89	0.4937	14	64.06
2	-	Boston	23-5	14-1	8.75	0.5066	21	63.11
3	-2	San Antonio	26-4	13-2	8.13	0.5288	28	62.29
4	-	Miami	23-9	14-1	9.66	0.5122	25	61.32
5	+1	Utah	21-9	11-4	3.37	0.4961	15	55.26
6	+1	Chicago	19-10	11-4	4.83	0.5023	19	51.68
7	+2	Oklahoma City	21-10	10-5	2.23	0.4997	17	51.03
8	-3	LA Lakers	21-9	8-7	6.8	0.5360	30	50.15
9	+2	Orlando	18-12	7-8	3.7	0.5002	18	48.10
10	-	New Orleans	18-12	6-9	2.6	0.4901	10	48.10
11	-3	Denver	16-13	8-7	1.34	0.4779	4	47.52
12	-	Atlanta	19-13	9-6	1.5	0.5174	26	45.80
13	+1	New York	18-12	11-4	1.33	0.5344	29	44.40
14	+2	Houston	14-15	10-5	1.38	0.5083	23	42.49
15	-	Portland	15-15	7-8	0.07	0.4858	7	42.44
16	-3	Phoenix	13-16	6-9	-2.17	0.4649	1	39.79
17	+3	Milwaukee	12-16	7-8	-1.46	0.4738	2	39.23
18	+1	Philadelphia	12-18	9-6	-0.7	0.4923	13	39.17
19	-1	Memphis	13-17	7-8	-0.47	0.4891	9	38.56
20	-3	Indiana	13-15	6-9	0	0.5037	20	37.24
21	+1	Golden State	11-18	4-11	-5	0.4752	3	32.80
22	+2	LA Clippers	9-22	6-9	-3.74	0.4975	16	28.62
23	-2	Charlotte	9-19	4-11	-5.79	0.4922	12	28.12
24	-1	Toronto	10-19	5-10	-3.86	0.5121	24	27.89
25	+1	Detroit	10-20	5-10	-4.6	0.5079	22	27.71
26	-1	New Jersey	9-21	4-11	-4.7	0.4916	11	27.44
27	+1	Minnesota	7-24	3-12	-7.29	0.4811	5	23.96
28	+1	Washington	7-21	2-13	-6.96	0.4887	8	22.50
29	-2	Cleveland	8-22	2-13	-8.87	0.4856	6	22.13
30	-	Sacramento	5-22	1-14	-7.22	0.5261	27	17.10

Plan Accordingly:

Must watch games this week (all times ET):

Mon 12/27: Dallas at Oklahoma City (8:00 PM) - Why Grizz/Raptors is on NBATV instead of this one is beyond me.
Tues 12/28: New York at Miami (7:30 PM); LA Lakers at San Antonio (8:30 PM) - NBATV Fan Night
Weds 12/29: LA Lakers at New Orleans (8:00 PM)
Thurs 12/30: New York at Orlando (7:00 PM); San Antonio at Dallas (9:30 PM) - both on TNT
Fri 12/31: New Orleans at Boston (3:00 PM); Atlanta at Oklahoma City (8:00 PM)
Sat 1/1: Oklahoma City at San Antonio (8:30 PM)
Sun 1/2: Memphis at LA Lakers (9:30 PM ET) - 7 games scheduled, but not much to choose from

Dunks of the Week:

Here's our Top 5 Dunks from the last week, as voted on by the official Wegobomber Dunk Committee.

5. Paul Pierce gets the steal and throws down on Lou Williams, who needed to use the ol' "birth of his daughter" excuse to hide his face for the next two games from the shame.


4. There's one of these Baron Davis to Blake Griffin oops seemingly every game. Look where his head is in relation to the rim.


3. Chris Bosh with an emphatic dunk over Matt Barnes.


2. Only number two on this list, but by far the best three-step, coast-to-coast dunk by a Brazilian with one testicle I've ever seen.


1. The freight train otherwise known as LeBron James barrels down the lane and dunks with half of the Suns team hanging from him. Leave a comment and let us know if/where this one should go in the Dunk of the Year tab.


Bonus: If you ever wondered what it might look like if I tried to dunk in an NBA game, picture this but 7 inches shorter (me and the vertical).


Next Up on Wegobomber Basketball: The mid-week column is on holiday this week, but trust that we've got something in the hopper that is truly groundbreaking.

Follow Wegobomber Basketball on twitter at: http://twitter.com/wegobomber31

What's the Deal with Melo?

This past Friday, I saw Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up routine in concert for the first time. I highly recommend it to anybody who was a fan of the show. What does this have to do with basketball? Like Seinfeld's show...nothing. But in the weeks leading up to the show and everyday since, I've been driving my wife insane by inserting "What's the DEAL with..." questions with a horrendously bad Seinfeld impersonation at any opportune (or inopportune) moment. What's the DEAL with this traffic? What's the DEAL with that dress? You get the picture. In the spirit of Festivus, here's one more:

What's the DEAL with Carmelo Anthony?

This hoopla surrounding Melo's contract status and potential trade is a fascinating case study with a bunch of moving pieces. On one hand, Melo holds a good chunk of the bargaining power with his early termination clause and the ultimate say on which teams he'll agree to sign an extension with. On the other hand, Denver can trade him to whatever team they want, and if Anthony opts for free agency instead, it'll come with the uncertainty of a potential lock-out and likely more restrictive limits under a new collective-bargaining agreement. From Denver's perspective, they have to weigh getting maximum value in return for Melo with a signed extension, perhaps lesser value for Melo as a second-half rental with no long-term guarantees and losing Melo for nothing at the end of the year (see: Chris Bosh in Toronto). Then add to the mix the possibility that Carmelo is p-whipped and his wife LaLa is the one who wears the pants in the family. Like I said, a lot of moving parts.

A Festivus miracle! Melo traded to Pirates

Right now, the two most likely destinations being tossed around are either the Knicks or the Nets. Melo is adamant about wanting to go to New York, and from we can tell, he will only sign an extension with the Knicks. The issue is New York doesn't have a lot to offer other than Eddy Curry's expiring contract and a slew of potentially above average players such as Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Landry Fields. The Nets, on the other hand, are willing to throw in the kitchen sink as new owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to make a big splash with Melo as the centerpiece in their eventual move to Brooklyn. Their hope is to get a deal set in principal and then convince Melo to sign that extension, hopefully without the use of mafia strong-arm tactics.

I won't spend any more time re-hashing the potential Knicks and Nets deals. Instead, I poured over the rest of the league on ESPN's Trade Machine (as my friend Jeff called it, "Crack for Colton") to try to uncover other options that no one else is talking about. Many have little to no chance of happening, but are fun to think about nonetheless.

As I alluded to, the Nuggets really have three options:

I. Say "Suck It, Melo" and try to get whatever they can for him, extension be damned.
II. Try to find a win-win deal and convince Melo to sign the extension (like the Nets deal).
III. Cave to Melo's extension demands and try to make the most of it.

The Knicks appear the only team that fits Category III, so we'll focus on Categories I and II.

CATEGORY I: SUCK-IT MELO

1. Carmelo to the Pistons in 3-Team Trade with Sixers (see in Trade Machine)

	Pistons get Carmelo Anthony
	Sixers get Tayshaun Prince and Greg Monroe
	Nuggets get Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young

Comment: Melo finally goes to the team that should've drafted him seven years ago. Obviously, it's tough to envision Melo staying in Detroit for very long, but the Nuggets would get decent value in Iguodala, who has three years left on his deal, and Young, who'll be a restricted free agent next year.

2. Carmelo to the Timberwolves (see in Trade Machine)

	Timberwolves get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets get Michael Beasley, Sebastian Telfair (expiring) and the rights to Ricky Rubio.

Comment: This is the ultimate "Suck-It" deal. Ship Melo off to the land where stadium roofs collapse from heavy snow. Might David Kahn be crazy enough to do this deal? Since he got Beasley for a song, and Rubio may never play a minute in a T-Wolves uniform, he might view this as landing Carmelo for next to nothing. Now if they had just drafted Steph Curry instead of Johnny Flynn, a potential MeLoveCurry combination would be one the most spiciest in the league (sorry, that was awful).

3. Carmelo to the Rockets in 3-Team Trade with Thunder (see in Trade Machine)

	Rockets get Carmelo Anthony, Al Harrington
	Thunder get Shane Battier (expiring)
	Nuggets get Jordan Hill, Yao Ming (expiring), Mo Peterson (expiring) and Houston and Oklahoma City draft picks

Comment: Daryl Morey and the Rockets might be ballsy enough to try to swing for the fences with Melo and hope that he ultimately decides to stay in Houston. They don't give up much here, with Yao nothing more than an expiring contract these days. Battier will be a desirable asset to a playoff team looking for defensive help (Oklahoma City would be a great fit). Denver gets Hill, draft picks and unloads Harrington's 5-year deal (why they signed Adult Al to a five-year deal last summer when rebuilding was likely on the immediate horizon is beyond me).

4. Carmelo to the Blazers (see in Trade Machine)

	Blazers get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets get Nicolas Batum, Greg Oden (restricted free agent), Joel Przybilla (expiring) and Portland draft pick

Comment: Portland is another team that might be desperate to make a move while Brandon Roy can still stand upright. Oden might be an interesting gamble for somebody looking to obtain his rights as a restricted free agent and hope for better luck in a different city. Andre Miller-Roy-Anthony-Lamarcus Aldridge-Marcus Camby is a pretty formidable starting five.

5. Carmelo to the Mavericks (see in Trade Machine)

	Mavericks get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets get Caron Butler (expiring), Roddy Beaubois, Ian Mahinmi, J.J. Barea, draft picks and cash

Comment: You can never count Mark Cuban out of any potential midseason trade involving a big name, although his M.O. usually means waiting until the player is 3+ years past his prime before trading for him. Unfortunately, Dallas doesn't have much to offer outside of Butler's expiring contract and some potential talent in Beaubois.

CATEGORY II: SIGN-IT MELO

6. Carmelo to the Warriors (see in Trade Machine)

	Warriors get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets get Monta Ellis and Dorrell Wright

Comment: This would probably never happen, but it's fun to think about. Imagine Anthony paired up with Steph Curry in the Bay Area in those cool white, blue and yellow uniforms. No way they give up Monta without a signed extension from Melo, but this deal would finally turn the ball-handling responsibilities all the way over to Curry while giving Denver another marketable scorer in return for the one they'd be losing.

7. Carmelo to the Clippers in 3-Team Trade with Raptors (see in Trade Machine)

	Clippers get Carmelo Anthony
	Raptors gets Chris Kaman
	Nuggets gets Eric Gordon, Peja Stojakovic (expiring) and Clippers and Raptors draft picks

Comment: This is an intriguing deal to me. The Nuggets would replace most of Melo's scoring and receive a potential future all-star in Gordon. Toronto is always desperate for a big man, plus Chris Kaman played for Germany in the Olympics, so I'm sure we could convince Bryan Colangelo that he's from Europe instead of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The real question is could Carmelo be talked into signing an extension with the Clippers? On one hand, he and LaLa would be in L.A., and a Blake Griffin-Anthony duo is fun to ponder. On the other hand, it's the Clippers. Donald Sterling probably isn't doing himself any favors by taunting his own players. Who would want to willingly go there and subject themselves to that?

One other thing that makes the Clips an interesting proposition is the draft picks. First-round Clippers draft picks are always a valuable commodity. Plus, they own a first rounder from the T-Wolves from the infamous Marko Jaric trade in 2005 (how'd that one work out, T-Wolves fans?) It's top 10 protected next year but is completely unprotected in 2012. If you've seen Minnesota on their current six-game road trip (all losses), you know that there's a good chance this could be the #1 pick in two years.

8. Carmelo to the Bobcats (see in Trade Machine)

	Bobcats get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets gets Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, draft picks and cash

Comment: You know Michael Jordan is desperate to make a move. He's already played the locker-room tirade card, and the Bobcats were getting blown out by the Wizards just 10 days later. How much longer until we get the 50-year old comeback that he talked about during his terrible hall of fame induction speech? For the sake of the game, let's hope he's able to pull off a deal instead.

The problem is the Bobcats don't have any assets to work with. You think Nuggets fans would be happy with Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw? They'd riot in the streets. Charlotte already gave away their first round pick in 2012 to get Tyrus Thomas. Unfortunately, MJ's team is going nowhere and his new purchase looks like it's headed towards the bottom of the league.

Of course, most of this is MJ's doing. Two big pieces of their playoff team last year - Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler -- are gone (with little to nothing in return) and are both now integral to the success of their new teams. Jordan's putting together a resume as an executive that is almost as bad as his playing career was good. Here's just a sampling of some of the deals he's made:

With the Wizards (2000-03):
- Drafted Kwame Brown with #1 overall pick.
- Traded Richard Hamilton, Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons to the Pistons for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and some-guy named Ratko Varda. Hamilton gets a ring in Detroit.

With the Bobcats (2006-present):
- Drafted Adam Morrison with 3rd overall pick, ahead of Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy, among others.
- Trades Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown for Vladimir Radmanovic. Brown plays key role on two championship teams.
- Acquired 20th pick in 2008 draft from Denver (selected Alexis Ajinca) for future first rounder (Denver used pick to get Ty Lawson). Charlotte ultimately gives up 16th pick in 2010 draft (Luke Babbitt).
- Signs Matt Carroll to 6-year, $27 million contract in 2007.
- Signs Emeka Okafor to 6-year, $72 million contract in 2008.
- Trades Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley to Suns for Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary.
- Trades Carroll and Ryan Hollins to Mavs for DeSagana Diop, one of the worst contracts in the leagues.
- Trades Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler.
- Trades Flip Murray, Acie Law and future first rounder to Bulls for Tyrus Thomas (the guy who was picked right after Morrison).
- Trades Ajinca and Chandler to Dallas for Eduardo Najera, Carroll (again), and Erick Dampier. If you're scoring at home, they effectively traded the #2 pick in the 2004 draft (Okafor) and the 16th pick in the 2010 draft for Najera, Diop and Dampier primarily because they paid Okafor 25% more than what he was worth in 2008. They thought Dampier's small partially-guaranteed deal would be a valuable trade chip in a future deal. Charlotte waived Dampier two months later.

9. Carmelo to the Bulls (see in Trade Machine)

	Bulls get Carmelo Anthony
	Nuggets gets Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, James Johnson and draft picks (including Charlotte's future first rounder)

Comment: One would think that playing alongside Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah for the foreseeable future would be enough to convince Carmelo to loosen his stance and sign an extension with Chicago. They'd be right up there with Miami in terms of star power and already have the supporting cast in place to become an instant contender.

The issue is Chicago doesn't really have the pieces to get it done. Taj Gibson was a great late first-round find, but he's not moving the needle in Denver. If Luol Deng were worth his $12 million contract, the Bulls wouldn't need to shore up the small forward position. Unless the Bulls were willing to part with recently-acquired Carlos Boozer, who I can't imagine is a guy Denver wants to build around, Deng is the only logical answer to make the math work.

Additionally, do the Bulls really need Carmelo Anthony? Other than a desperate need at shooting guard, they look like a well-constructed team as-is. Chicago already has a franchise player and alpha dog in Derrick Rose. Melo would obviously be a huge addition, but it could create chemistry problems.


10. Carmelo to the Rockets in 4-Team Trade with Sixers and Kings (see in Trade Machine)

	Rockets get Carmelo Anthony, Carl Landry and Al Harrington
	Sixers get Shane Battier (expiring), Yao Ming (expiring), Samuel Dalembert (expiring) and Shelden Williams (expiring)
	Kings get Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Tony Battie (expiring) and Renaldo Balkman
	Nuggets get Kevin Martin, Omir Casspi, Jordan Hill, Jason Thompson and Thaddeus Young and Sacramento draft picks

Comment: This is what happens when you spend too much time on the Trade Machine. Four-team trades are way too complex to ever happen in real life, but it's a piece of cake with the Trade Machine. Sacramento intrigues me because they have $13 million dollars in cap space. It's next to impossible to get any free agents to want to come to Sac Town, so they'd have to trade to get veterans. In this scenario, they take on two contracts that Philadelphia is trying to unload without touching their core of Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins. Philadelphia gets to hit the reset button with a bunch of expiring deals. Houston wins the Carmelo sweepstakes and gets Carl Landry back, a guy that they've sorely missed since they dealt him for Kevin Martin. Martin goes to Denver and replaces nearly all of Melo's scoring, plus Denver gets a slew of young forwards and draft picks to boot. Tell me why this couldn't work.

11. Carmelo to the Hawks in 3-Team Trade with Timberwolves (see in Trade Machine)

	Hawks get Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Al Harrington
	Timberwolves get Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams
	Nuggets get Kevin Love, Martell Webster, Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Corey Brewer and Atlanta draft picks

Comment: Minnesota is the other team with a ton of cap space. This deal might just be crazy enough to work. We know Kahn has a fetish for 2nd overall draft pick mistakes (is Sam Bowie on staff?), so Marvin Williams has intrinsic value. If ESPN had five-team trade capability, I'm sure I could figure out a way to get Evan Turner and Hasheem Thabeet in Minnesota as well. Although the cat may be out of the bag on Love now, they were toying with the idea of dealing him last summer instead of Al Jefferson. Atlanta gets out of Joe Johnson's franchise-killing deal and builds an instant contender with a Billups-Melo-Smith-Horford led line-up. Might that be enough to convince Anthony to stay in the A-T-L?

The Week in Hoops: December 20th, 2010

I had this week's T.W.I.H. all set in stone on Saturday night. Then Derrick Rose went and ruined it for me.

I'll freely admit that I have very little social life. If it's not golf season, then I don't get out much. What that means is a typical Saturday night is spent watching NBA games on TV or pouring over boxscores online. This past Saturday was Christmas come early, not only because of the mega-trades involving about half of the guys mentioned in my recent worst contract column, but also because the Heat vs. Wizards and Clippers vs. Bulls were on the tube at the same time. The TiVo "Live TV" button was getting a workout.

Although the game featured two of the worst teams in the league, you wouldn't have been able to pick them out of a line-up for the first, oh, 46-47 minutes of the game. First, the suddenly-liberated-from-Agent-Zero Wizards outplayed the Heat for most of the game, with Kirk Hinrich running thangs as their only point guard. I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't watching it with my own eyes. Then the Clippers were flying all over the court and dunking on the Noah-less Bulls. By the third play of the game I openly wondered why I had missed my only opportunity to see the Freak Show otherwise known as Blake Griffin this year. For the first time in my life, I was having weird feelings in my body, like urges to call up a friend and ask, "Dude, do you want to go to the U.C.? The Clips are in town." It was like puberty all over again.

That's the interesting subplot to the 2010-11 NBA Season. Many of the worst teams in the league are among the most fascinating to watch. The Clips are an obvious example, but throw in the Wizards when John Wall is playing (which sadly is only half the time), the Warriors with Monta Ellis and Steph Curry and the oddly-compelling Minnesota Timberwolves, featuring a rag tag bunch of a cast-offs and a leader who drops 20/20's on the regular despite having an ass like my Dad. Even the Kings are mildly entertaining for just how dysfunctional they are. I'd watch any of those teams play as long as they weren't facing the Cavs, Pistons, Bobcats or Raptors (for the Sixers or Pacers, I'd flip a coin).

Despite the entertainment value and raw talent, these teams are still bad for a reason. Even while outplaying a quality opponent for most of the game, you are just waiting, fully expecting things to fall apart. You know it. The fans know it. The announcers know it. Even the players know it. It's just the natural order of things. I don't know how many times I've checked boxscores this year and saw that the T-Wolves were up 13 on somebody like the Jazz or the Suns, went to bed knowing full well that they'd eventually blow it and received confirmation first thing the following morning.

Saturday night, the Wizards found a creative way to snatch defeat from the claws of victory. After blowing a 5-point lead with 30 seconds left, their hopes of halting the Heat's 11-game win streak boiled down to Hinrich challenging both Chris Bosh and LeBron James at the rim for the game-winning basket. As you can imagine, it didn't end well. For some reason, Bosh and the others celebrated on the court afterwards like that had just beaten the Lakers in the NBA Finals, not the 6-19 Wizards in December. Although come to think of it, it may have been the biggest "W" in Bosh's career.

An hour later, I was fully expecting the same type of collapse from the Clippers. Untimely turnovers. Difficulty getting a decent shot off. Adidas jersey collar getting a little tighter. All signs pointed towards a Bulls OT victory after Derrick Rose drove to the basket and (finally) got a foul call, down two with less than a second left. First free throw...money. Second free throw...Memphis versus Kansas, part deux. Clippers 100, Bulls 99.

Had the Bulls come back and won, it would've been their NBA-leading 8th victory when trailing after 3 quarters. How do I know this? Because I spent most of the weekend researching team quarter-by-quarter performance this season. Clips loss aside, the Bulls are still one of the three best team in terms of 4th quarter performance, and are the only NBA team that hasn't lost a game when leading after three periods. Below is the season-to-date average 4th quarter (and overtime) point differential, with number of wins/losses when either trailing/leading after three quarters.

TEAM	4Q Diff	4Q Wins	4Q Loss
UTA (19-9)	+3.86	6	1
SAS (23-3)	+3.65	4	1
CHI (16-9)	+3.52	7	0
BOS (22-4)	+1.50	3	1
PHO (13-13)	+1.19	4	3
PHI (11-16)	+0.85	2	5
MIA (21-8)	+0.83	2	1
MEM (12-16)	+0.75	3	3
TOR (10-18)	+0.71	3	2
LAL (21-7)	+0.64	3	2
DAL (21-5)	+0.54	5	2
CHA (9-17)	+0.46	1	2
NJN (8-20)	+0.43	3	4
DEN (16-10)	+0.08	2	3
OKC (19-9)	+0.07	5	2
CLE (8-19)	+0.04	4	2
MIN (6-22)	-0.54	1	3
NOH (16-11)	-0.56	1	4
POR (14-14)	-0.79	4	6
MIL (10-15)	-0.96	2	2
WAS (6-19)	-1.00	2	2
NYK (16-12)	-1.07	1	3
HOU (12-15)	-1.19	2	2
SAC (5-20)	-1.36	1	4
GSW (9-17)	-1.46	0	2
DET (9-19)	-1.79	3	4
ATL (17-12)	-1.79	1	1
LAC (7-21)	-1.86	0	4
ORL (16-10)	-2.12	1	2
IND (12-14)	-2.54	1	4

Note: for a more updated version of this table, see the "Random Stats" tab.

A few observations:

- I guess it's no surprise that the teams with many of the leading MVP candidates have the most fourth-quarter comeback wins. Chicago (Rose), Utah (Deron Williams), Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki) and Oklahoma City (surprisingly, Russell Westbrook instead of Kevin Durant) all have five or more wins after trailing after three quarters. San Antonio (Ginobili) is 2nd in 4th quarter differential. We've all seen these guys on Sportscenter coming through in the clutch, by either hitting a game-winner, breaking down the defense or drawing charges that are NEVER called at the end of the game (that's for my buddy Wyatt, a die-hard Nuggs fan). You see these guys put their team on their back repeatedly, and eventually you think to yourself, "Man, that guy's playing like a MVP." I guess that's why Bulls fans have been chanting it for Rose for most of the season.

- Orlando is near the bottom of the list for fourth-quarter differential. I think it speaks to their struggles this year and probably one of the key reasons they decided to shake things up. With Howard's free-throw struggles, they are forced to play one way for most of the game and look elsewhere down the stretch. They had success when Turkoglu had the ball in crunch time a couple years ago, but will he be able to bring himself back from the dead? He was atrocious in Toronto and Phoenix. I'm not optimistic.

- I was surprised to see that the T-Wolves had only blown 3 third-quarter leads. It certainly seemed like a lot more. But if you look at halftime leads instead, Minnesota has blown six of them. Detroit (ye of two 19-point halftime leads lost) leads the category with nine blown halftime leads. I blame Ben Gordon. Other teams at the top of this list include New Jersey (7), New Orleans, Portland and the Clippers (6 each).

- 10 of Utah's 19 wins came when trailing at halftime. I do wonder how long teams like that can keep up that kind of pace. Perhaps Utah just isn't as good as their record indicates? I'll be interested in tracking these stats throughout the season to see if they're are correlated between one half of the season and the other.

The Colton Index:

Teams of the Week:

	1. Memphis Grizzlies (from 20th to 14th) - Wins vs Portland, vs Charlotte; loss at Houston, at San Antonio. Memphis is 8-7 after 4-9 start. Can they get it to .500 and battle Houston, Portland and Phoenix for that last playoff spot in the West?
	2. Los Angeles Clippers (from 27th to 23rd) - Wins at Detroit, at Chicago; Loss at Philadelphia. Two wins in a row is cause for celebration. Have we ever established why Vinny Del Negro is a head coach in the NBA?
	3. Philadelphia 76ers (from 21st to 17th) - Wins at New Jersey, vs LA Clippers, at Orlando. Loss vs LA Lakers. The Sixers are 9-6 after a 2-10 start. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the Sixers are winning ball games and are now 8th in the Eastern Conference.

Teams of the Weak:

	1. Atlanta Hawks (from 7th to 10th) - Loss at Detroit, at Boston, at New Jersey; Win vs Charlotte. I'm not sure what to make of the Hawks. They get blown out by the Pistons and looked absolutely lifeless against the Celts on national TV. They are 17-12 overall but only have 2 wins against teams over .500.
	2. Oklahoma City Thunder (from 5th to 9th) - Wins vs Houston, vs Sacramento; Loss at Phoenix. It was awfully nice of that rogue ref to decide that normal continuation rules don't apply when a player is shooting from half court. How is that not three free throws? I can't really kill the Thunder for that one, although they probably should've put the short-handed Suns away long before that.
	3. New York Knicks (from 10th the 12th) - Loss vs Boston, vs Miami, at Cleveland. We knew the test for the Knicks would start this week. They looked great against Boston despite the loss, then hung with Miami for a half before getting blown out. I guess you can forgive those two L's. But what do we do this OT loss at Cleveland? Still some work before we put them in the upper echelon. But it was great seeing die-hard fan Spike Lee back in the building for the first time in years.

Updated with Games as of Sunday December 12th

Rk	Move	Team	W-L	Last 15	Avg Diff	SOS	SOS Rk	Colton
1	+1	Boston	22-4	13-2	9.58	0.5122	23	64.29
2	+1	Dallas	21-5	14-1	6.04	0.5097	20	64.24
3	+1	Miami	21-8	13-2	9.76	0.5290	28	62.29
4	-3	San Antonio	23-3	13-2	9.15	0.5282	27	61.65
5	+7	LA Lakers	21-7	10-5	8.54	0.5395	30	55.07
6	+2	Utah	19-9	11-4	3.04	0.4901	12	55.03
7	-1	Chicago	16-9	10-5	3.72	0.4934	14	54.32
8	+3	Denver	16-10	10-5	2.27	0.4852	9	49.73
9	-4	Oklahoma City	19-9	10-5	2.04	0.5013	17	48.04
10	-3	Atlanta	17-12	9-6	1.07	0.5170	24	46.62
11	-2	Orlando	16-10	8-7	3.73	0.5203	26	46.34
12	-2	New York	16-12	11-4	0.64	0.5344	29	45.17
13	+4	Houston	12-15	9-6	0.96	0.5030	18	43.17
14	+6	Memphis	12-16	8-7	-0.75	0.4821	6	42.78
15	-1	Indiana	12-14	7-8	0.5	0.4960	15	42.16
16	-3	New Orleans	16-11	5-10	2.15	0.4880	10	41.98
17	+4	Philadelphia	11-16	9-6	0.81	0.5121	22	40.74
18	-2	Phoenix	13-13	7-8	-1.46	0.4711	2	39.73
19	-4	Portland	14-14	6-9	-0.61	0.4818	5	37.54
20	-1	Milwaukee	10-15	5-10	-1.56	0.4744	4	35.25
21	+1	Charlotte	9-17	5-10	-4.27	0.4892	11	31.86
22	-4	Toronto	10-18	6-9	-3.21	0.5054	19	31.67
23	+4	LA Clippers	7-21	6-9	-4.96	0.4843	8	29.66
24	-1	New Jersey	8-20	4-11	-4.79	0.5002	16	27.62
25	-1	Golden State	9-17	2-13	-5.81	0.4621	1	26.59
26	+3	Detroit	9-19	4-11	-5.61	0.5108	21	23.68
27	+1	Cleveland	8-19	3-12	-8.89	0.4837	7	22.62
28	-2	Minnesota	6-22	2-13	-7.11	0.4740	3	21.62
29	-4	Washington	6-19	3-12	-8.28	0.4904	13	21.56
30	-	Sacramento	5-20	2-13	-7.28	0.5195	25	16.98

Plan Accordingly:

Must watch games this week (all times ET):

Mon 12/20: Dallas at Miami (7:30 PM) - NBATV
Tues 12/21: Dallas at Orlando (7:00 PM) - NBATV Fan Night - Hopefully all physicals will have been passed by then.
Weds 12/22: Oklahoma City at New York (7:30 PM); Denver at San Antonio (8:30 PM) - There's a good chance that I'll be at the Garden!
Thurs 12/23: San Antonio at Orlando (8:00 PM); Miami at Phoenix (10:30 PM) - both on TNT
Fri 12/24: No games scheduled. Go to church instead.
Sat 12/25: Chicago at New York (Noon, ESPN); Boston at Orlando (2:30 PM, ABC); Miami at LA Lakers (5:00 PM, ABC); Denver at Oklahoma City (8:00 PM, ESPN) - There's a good chance I'll be in the dog house Saturday night for camping in front of a TV all day while at my in-laws. This slate of games is worth it.
Sun 12/26: Atlanta at New Orleans (7:00 PM ET)

Dunks of the Week:

Here's our Top 5 Dunks from the last week, as voted on by the official Wegobomber Dunk Committee.

5. Andre Iguodala seems to find his way in the Top 5 every week.


4. Dwyane Wade dunks on the break with Joey Graham hanging all over him.


3. Jordan Hill works the pick-and-roll and dumps it on Sam Dalembert.


2. Demar DeRozan cuts across the lane and throws it down over Tyrus Thomas. Impressive!


1. JR Smith flies through the air. Ride 'em cowboy! We have a new number one on our Dunk of the Year tab. James Harden held the throne for less only a week. [Negative points for Reggie Miller botching the call and saying its George Hill instead of Gary Neal. After we answer the Del Negro question can we find out why Reggie is still in the booth?]


Bonus: In honor of Vince's trade to Phoenix, here's his famous dunk over (literally) poor Frederic Weis.


Next Up on Wegobomber Basketball: What's the deal with Melo?

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