It was one of the more shocking trades that I had ever seen. I almost couldn’t believe that I saw Gary Payton, a legitimate franchise player, and Ray Allen, another dream-teamer superstar, leaving the only teams they had played for in their NBA careers. The trade didn’t make sense as I picked up the phone to call my closest basketball colleague. I informed him, and then it hit me: positions and loyalties don’t hold too much weight on decisions in the NBA.
Payton can play the one or the two man position. Sam Cassell, Payton’s new backcourt mate in Milwaukee, is a scorer at heart. This duo works out almost better than having Allen in Milwaukee. Payton doesn’t only look to score, but also to feed his teammates the ball and defend the opposing team’s best guard and well.
What the Bucks wanted was another guard who had the capabilities of doing all these things, and who at the same time was able to run with guys like Cassell and, of course, Tim Thomas. The other piece that didn’t hit me until later: George Karl, who took Payton and the Sonics to the finals, well, he happens to be the head coach of the improving Bucks. Payton, or GP, has found a new home and a new conference.
On the other side, we have Ray Allen, a born scorer and one of the prettier jump shots we’ll ever lay eyes on. Obviously he doesn’t bring the defensive presence that GP had, but Allen can do many other wonderful things on the court. Allen is athletic, smart and a shooter.
The Sonics needed another shooter, and desperately. Allen can bring the 20-plus points consistently every night that Payton did, and at the same time be a younger, athletic body on the defensive end. The chemistry is always a toss in the air with any trade. However, I think the Sonics will benefit with Allen’s company on the court. Just the other night, the Sonics showed what they could do by beating a quality Detroit team at home, with Allen scoring 23 in his first home game.
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A team that is looking for its playoff spot floating between three teams in the seventh, eighth and ninth spots is the Los Angeles Lakers. It is now five games above the .500 mark and gaining ground. Phoenix has dropped behind in ninth place, as Houston sits in the eighth spot at 30-27. Kobe Bryant has finally gotten the green light to take any shot and score lots of points, as simply as I can put it. With Shaq around, this is a different Kobe taking up to 40-plus shots a night. At the beginning of the season, Kobe was shooting and shooting poorly. He was shooting many shots, but his team wasn’t benefiting from it. Now he has the biggest low-post presence in basketball as his second option, if one can believe that.
Bryant took the rope Phil gave him and ran with it. He’s now sitting at nine straight 40-point performances. The guy is flat-out on a tear. I hate the Lakers, but I’ve gained a certain respect for Kobe. Some of the stuff he pulls out there is ridiculous. Some sickening dunks and even an around-the-back reverse on a defender. The only question I have is, can he keep this scoring up, and for how long? Maybe an even bigger question is if this new offensive scheme with Kobe as the first option is going to benefit the Lakers and its chances this season? I suppose time will only tell.