In my 12-day-on-delay mind, the most mystifying trade at the deadline was the Nuggets’ deportation of Nene to the Wizards for JaVale McGee.
Why would they outbid ($65 million over five years) stiff competition for a registered adult and, 43 games into the season, exchange him for an acute adolescent?
OK, Nene was unavailable for duty 15 times. But it’s not as if he didn’t have a reasonable explanation for showing up out of game shape. The late-arriving center/forward hadn’t played during the lockout for fear of hurting himself and diminishing his value.
OK, Nene’s field-goal percentage was down from a league-leading 61.5 percent to 50.9. How many NBA players can you name that wouldn’t mug a monk to hit half their shots?
OK, Nene’s turnovers were a career-high 2.8. I’m clueless how often he touched the ball or whether he was trying to exceed his limitations. But if that number warrants banishment rosters would be remodeled relentlessly.
In his post-trade story, Nuggets beat writer Benjamin Hochman mentioned Nene’s “mental toughness” had been questioned (by management). If that’s the assessment of owner Josh Kroenke, general manager Masai Ujiri and/or George Karl, can’t wait to hear their opinion of McGee, who celebrates triple-doubles after 20-point losses, once they spend some quality time together.
Yeah, I realize the 7-foot-1 greyhound is young (24) and averaged 11.5 points, eight rebounds and 1.8 blocks in Washington. Shouldn’t the Nuggets have been moderately nervous the Wizards were motivated to part with such an apparent upside for Nene, five years older?
The reality is, the Nuggets recognize McGee is both physically equipped and an emotional midget. They know what they bargained for — though Karl got somewhat carried away when he likened JaVale defensively (“a little bit”) to Kareem … when a Marvin Webster comparison would have more than sufficed.
An unstable restricted free agent, whom the Nuggets can monitor up close for a couple months and decide whether to re-sign come summer. Inevitably, no matter where McGee winds up, he’ll command a much lower contract than Nene ($13 million per), yet provide similar production.
Question is, do the Wizards know what they got?
Team president Ernie Grunfeld broke down Nene’s acquisition this way: “We want to have guys that are competitive, that care about winning and losing … that come from a winning situation.”
Grunfeld craved veteran leadership, in other words, something his very young, exceptionally pliable players sadly lack.
I repeat: Do the Wizards know what they got?
Nene played nine seasons with the Nuggets. He was a 12.4-point, 7-rebound good guy. They handsomely rewarded him, figuring he would contribute in terms of guidance and production once Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith were off the lot.
They weren’t boys with Nene — Martin punched him out during a scrimmage after they’d been teammates about a day — and the Brazilian never remotely related to them. Still, Nene performed well. The more capable his teammates, the better he played. Management invested heavily in him, thinking there was more to come, dreaming about what was next. It never left the waiting room.
After nine years plus, management decided to stop killing time. His injuries and complaints suddenly got old.
So, a judgment was made to go even younger (every player except Andre Miller, Al Harrington and Chris Andersen is 25 or under) by turning the power forward slot over to rookie Kenneth Faried. That meant ceasing to imagine they were good enough to chase down a championship and to grow as a team. Karl wasn’t thrilled about the change in course or the trade, but understands what needed to be done and is accepting of it. At the time, though, his mood was dark.
“I can’t deny that my head has felt like it’s ready to burst a little bit,” he said soon after it happened. “Trades of guys who have been with you for a long time always cause some turmoil. Nene has been a heck of a part of what we’ve done here. He’s been through some tough situations with the cancer — there’s a connection there that I hopefully will always have with him.”
When I heard about the trade, I instantly deduced the Nuggets had re-signed Nene to protect their asset. I felt for sure they must have planned to move him for someone special. In view of what happened, that doesn’t make sense because McGee wasn’t exactly in demand.
Fact is, re-signing Nene simply did not work out. He wasn’t particularly helpful to his young teammates. And every day became a grind for both Nene and the team. Who knows, had the Wizards not come a-calling, things might’ve degenerated to such a degree, the Nuggets would’ve been stuck with his contract for the whole five years … or forced to swap Nene for someone else’s damaged goods or overpaid cap albatross.
That’s one of the things that’s so intriguing about trades. Here are the Wizards, excited and delighted they got a player they’re convinced solves their leadership chasm. Everything they want Nene to be is everything he didn’t do for the Nuggets.
Obviously, when a trade is made, both teams know one or more things about the player they dealt that sincerely turns them off. Both teams will try to rejuvenate and/or rehabilitate their acquisitions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
FYI: Nene already has missed two of six Wizards games.
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LeBron James (six) and Chris Bosh (two rebounds in 36 minutes) accounted for 10 of the Heat’s 17 errors in their 105-90 loss at Indiana Monday night. That explains a lot about the Pacers’ forceful coup, but not all. Miami managed a feeble 11 assists.
Moreover, Dwayne Wade (4-8) and James (2-4) hoisted a dozen 3s. Remember when they weren’t taking any…for numerous games in a row?
You win battles at the front line with grunt work, hand-to-hand, not from mortar range.
If you want to underline in Magic Marker one good reason why (35-13) Miami has dropped four of its last eight, it’s that reinforcements are contributing little (13 points vs. the 29-19 Pacers) and commissioned officers have been lying in the tall grass unwilling to get their dress blues dirty.
Think Pat Riley might calmly remind the importance of attacking before their next game?
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Rick Pitino, his Louisville Cardinals up three late, did not order a foul against Florida. That the Gators missed two treys is irrelevant. What’s important to realize is that Pitino is strategizing his way back into the NBA.
On the same subject, a few nights after Cavaliers coach Byron Scott refused to foul when up a Kingston Trio late against the Hawks (Joe Johnson deep-dished the game into OT, where he decided matters), Utah’s Tyrone Corbin played that very same sorry tune against that very same opponent…and was burned by the very same guy.
Sunday night, at the conclusion of the second session, Johnson again delivered from downtown Dixie (the third time this season in that exact situation; he beat Pistons same way), sending the game on and on. Atlanta got an A in the 4-credit course, the league’s longest affair since ’97 (Suns-Blazers).
Corbin, it says here, has lucked into more wins this season than any other coach. Despite an endless procession of thoughtless substitution mistakes, the Jazz are 27-33, the west’s seventh highest record. The 4-OT loss is a perfect example of his inanity.
The Hawks were playing their third straight game. Their shots already were short coming down the back stretch of regulation, their legs were dead and Josh Smith was on the bench with six fouls in 30 minutes.
So what does the cunning Corbin do? He matches weakness with weakness. He played his five starters 50-plus minutes (Devin Harris was 4- for-18 and Gordon Haywood was 4- for- 15 and they still stayed in), and scarcely used his subs (11-21 minutes) in the bonus rounds…and only then because Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson fouled out.
The good news is, Corbin never has to worry about getting out-coached. He does that without any outside help, with ease.