Mike Dunleavy still doesn't know exactly what happened. Tuesday afternoon he got a haircut, packed for a scouting trip to the ACC tournament, then went out to a local golf course for a couple hours.
Unbeknownst to him, and still unexplained to him as of late Tuesday night, during that time he was being fired as general manager of the Clippers.
And this:
"I had no idea what they were talking about. I'm like, 'Wow. I haven't even talked to the Clippers.'"
Clearly, I need to become an NBA GM. I spent a long day at work, and spent my lunch hour trying to run errands. Mike Dunleavy got a haircut, packed a suitcase, and played golf. And yet he still doesn't understand what went wrong.
Maybe if Mike Dunleavy had spent a little more time scouting players and a little less time playing golf, the Clippers wouldn't be so horrible. I'm not trying to suggest that Dunleavy never had days where he worked, but his Tuesday doesn't exactly seem like what I expect an NBA GM to be doing.
Perhaps Dunleavy was playing golf a lot leading up to the trade deadline. How else can he explain getting nothing more than Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake in return for Marcus Camby? Camby was widely considered one of the big prizes of the trade deadline. A big expiring contract attached to a player who can still play at a high level, that's the kind of player every contender wants. That's the type of player that should net you draft picks or pieces for the future. But Dunleavy got a back-up point guard and a decent swingman.
Stan Van Gundy chimed in on the firing, saying:
"No knock on Kim or anybody else, but they haven't exactly taken off since the coaching change,"
And Van Gundy is right, it's no knock on Kim Hughes. It's a knock on Dunleavy. You know, the guy who has had the last 7 years to build a franchise. Hughes is coaching the players that were handed to him. Dunleavy chose those players.
A final quote that cracks me up:
The decision came as a total shock to Dunleavy, he said, because he'd had dinner with Sterling earlier this week.
"We'd talked about what I'd seen on my scouting trips, about free agency," Dunleavy said. "I'd told him some of my ideas on how we should handle free agency and he says to me, 'That's smart, that's a good idea, I like that.'"
Good job, Mike. You gave you former boss the last bits of information he needed before firing you. Sterling knows what you had planned for free agency, information he can share with your replacement, and now he doesn't need you.
We're back with Episode 82 of the Weekly Fix and ready to fight you NBA style.
What does that mean exactly? We're not going to actually connect on a punch. We may shove you but as we're doing it we'll be backing up the entire time, looking for teammates to hide behind. We're going to get real close to you and whisper obscenities into your ear because we know there will be no consequences.
Don't mess with us! We're feisty as long as it doesn't result in an actual fight.
After all of the commotion of the weekend on the basketball court, we're ready to talk about the real and faux altercations around the NBA and delve into a little more news on top of it. Here's what we discuss:
- Channing Frye's fight with Earl Watson. Did he even connect? Did he start it knowing it was a guy much smaller than him so he had a good chance at winning? - The Matt Barnes-Kobe Bryant fiasco. Whose side does Zach have? Is he lying? Did anything actually happen? Who would really win? - Rafer Alston has texted the Heat, "Gve up my spot huh? Well Cya Sum other t!me. xoxo" - Brandon ran a marathon. On purpose. For fun. - Let's find out if Andy can fill up two NBA divisions properly.
(Ed. Note: This is a guest post by Greg Wissinger, who is best know for his brilliant work on Sactown Royalty as Exhibit G. He posted this on his personal blog Exhibit G on Sports and was kind enough to let me post it here at Talkhoops. Enjoy his brilliance)
Allen Iverson's second stint with the 76ers is over. His career may be as well. It's difficult to imagine anyone giving Iverson another chance. It's a shame that this could be the end.
Iverson has been one of my favorite players in the league over the past decade or so. I was fortunate enough to see him play live several times during his tenure with the Denver Nuggets. If you're a basketball fan, I sincerely hope you had a chance at some point to see Iverson play live. He was truly special to watch.
Iverson is a singular talent. We'll see a dozen Vince Carters again before we ever see someone like Iverson. Iverson is built like a scarecrow, but would sacrifice his body to attack the rim. Imagine a guy like Kevin Martin taking the abuses that Dwyane Wade absorbs. It's indescribable.
Iverson is absolutely one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Unfortunately he'll be defined by "Practice?", helping to bring the hip hop culture to the NBA, and for the way he held on a little too long.
After the Nuggets traded Iverson to Detroit, he became an afterthought. He elected to sit out the end of the season in Detroit. He then let us know that God chose Memphis, but apparently God changed his mind a few games later. Iverson returned to Philly. The return of the exiled should have been a fitting resolution to Iverson's career, but again he has parted ways. This latest departure was with little fanfare.
Despite a lack of production, Iverson was almost voted to this year's All Star Game. Obviously people were voting for the memory of what he once was. I hope people maintain those memories, I hope the younger generation looks past the flaws and can see the incredible talent that Iverson has been. I fear that history won't be kind to Iverson, but with time I hope the smaller trials and tribulations are forgotten, and people can reflect on the accomplishments of one of our generations greatest players.
Above it all, I'll always remember this one thing:
It's episode 81 - the Terrell Owens and other random football players edition.
With not a lot of very important things going on in the NBA right now, we are struggling for material to discuss. And when that happens, we usually make up arguments to have and gimmicky games to pass the time. But if you've made it this far with us, that's probably what you expect anyway. In this episode, we discuss:
- Michael Jordan buys the Bobcats. - Should the Bobcats change their name and mascot? - Are we okay if Jordan is an absentee owner? - Should Zach be a player/owner? - Should their be umbrage with Jason Kidd running into Mike Woodson on the court? - We play our game, "Does Andy Know The Owner" - Which player will go bald next? - Shaq is out for two months. Is everything going to be okay for Cleveland?
Welcome the Episode 80 of the Weekly Fix - the Jerry Rice edition. Because he was #80. It's a theme. Kind of.
ANYWAY, I've caught my fourth cold of the basketball season, Andy has probably caught something entirely different and Brandon can't stop singing my praises. So you're probably in for a pretty great episode, right? We'll see. Topics we discuss:
- The parody video that got me on the radio. - Kevin Durant's scoring streak was stopped. So Jordan is better. - Big Z is being bought out and will return to Cleveland. GET ANGRY! - Josh Howard blew out his knee. Are the Wizards the most cursed team? - Stop chewing straws. It's banned. - We have a listener?
The trade rumor season is always pretty ridiculous.
Probably at least 99% of the crap you read is exactly that – crap. You’ve got trades concocted by eager fans, people that like to stir the pot, NBA front offices that are trying to trick another team into thinking they need to up their ante, and media members that need something to write about.
But what always gets me is the desperate contenders who need one more significant piece to put them over the top. A good portion of those trade rumors always seem to be absurdly one-sided and ill conceived based on what we know about NBA teams. Take the Kevin Martin trade rumors that were bandied about for the past few weeks. Kevin Martin and Kenny Thomas/Andres Nocioni to the Celtics for Ray Allen’s expiring jump shot? Kevin Martin to the Cavs for Zyndrunas Ilgauskas straight up? Maybe throw in a protected pick? How did any of this make sense?
These were rumors made up on the other side of the Kings front office desk that seemed like desperate attempts to trick fans into thinking these contenders were “trying their best” to improve the title chances. And it was all BS. Why is there always this overlying theme that makes it seem like the lesser teams of the NBA want to help out the playoff contenders with trades that fleece the bad organizations?
Well, in watching the Twitter-explosion of the Marcus Camby trade late last night, I can see why this posturing and sense of helping the rich get richer is saturated in this trade rumors. Kevin Pritchard is one of those smart GMs. In fact, he’s so smart that he continually fleeces unsuspecting GMs and they don’t even realize they’re being fleeced.
Mike Dunleavy hasn’t been terrible since he took over the Clippers GM duties. He hasn’t been re-slicing bread for the first time by any means but he hasn’t been incompetent like so many of his colleagues before him. But he did just trade Marcus Camby to the Portland Trailblazers for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. Is this a terrible trade by any means for the Clippers? Not completely.
They currently sit in the 12th seed of the Western Conference and are eight-and-a-half games behind the Blazers for the eighth seed. They are unlikely to compete the rest of the season considering they aren’t all that good/consistent to begin with and they won’t be getting the services of Blake Griffin any time soon. They also won’t be getting the services of Travis Outlaw (their new acquisition) because he might not come back from foot surgery this season. They’re sort of in limbo, much like they have been for the past 30 years or more.
The problem with the move Mike Dunleavy made in dealing Camby for Blake (a backup point guard they need with Sebastian Telfair injured) and Outlaw is that it seemingly isn’t nearly as much you would expect them to be able to get from a trade partner. Marcus Camby is a commodity in this league. He’s the second leading rebounder in the league and still a nice eraser at the basket. And you’ve just shipped him away for Steve Blake and the expiring surgically repaired foot of Travis Outlaw. That’s right. Outlaw’s contract is up at the end of this year and while holding his free agent rights might help out, you’re not guaranteeing yourself any help from him in any way.
When Outlaw is healthy, he’s one of the best sixth men in the NBA. He’s an athletic anomaly with a silky jump shot and has had good success with late fourth quarter scoring over the past couple of seasons. But you’re probably not going to get him this season and you’re going to have to overpay to get him to stay beyond July. You’re guaranteed solid minutes from Steve Blake as the backup to Baron but that’s all you’re getting for one of the best shot blocking and rebounding centers left in the NBA?
Leave it to Kevin Pritchard to help out his team much more than he helped out his trading partner. The Blazers have been reeling from the Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla trades by putting in patchwork centers and praying that LaMarcus Aldridge grows an affinity for playing in the post and grabbing rebounds. Juwan Howard has been the guy putting the band-aid over the wound that badly needed stitches. But now with Camby, they have the needle and thread to sew up what’s been ailing them for a final playoff push.
On the surface, this looks like a basketball trade and not a financial move. The Blazers needed someone in the middle and got Camby. The Clippers needed a backup for Baron and an athletic wing so they got Blake and Outlaw. It’s nice to see teams making basketball-related moves rather than economic related purges. But I wonder how much of this deal was finalized because the Blazers are also sending the Clippers $1.5 million?
Was this a case of a dirtbag owner selling away his commodities for some cold, hard cash? Or was this just another example of one NBA GM helping out another NBA GM because he had no shot at the playoffs and no clue he was being taken for more than he realized?
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The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 