Smack / Jun 21, 2011 / 1:50 am

NBA Trade Talk Includes Pau Gasol & Kevin Love; Vince Carter Is Nearing The End

By

Vince Carter

Vince Carter, Dime #21

Who’s excited to see Ricky Rubio finally play NBA basketball? We’re trying to see what the fuss is about. Rubio, who arrived in Minnesota yesterday, has great court vision and is adept at dribbling. The pluses – that we’re sure of – pretty much stop there. He defers and avoids creating for himself with no steady jumper. At 16, he was a phenom. But now at 21, what is he? Did he already peak? All is not lost for Rubio though. He could flourish if he develops his midrange game and incorporates floaters into his repertoire. You don’t have to be a five-star athlete to be a problem. It remains to be seen but, in the long run he can make things work in the NBA … Speaking of Rubio, we’re ripe for a discussion about which position “runs” the NBA. The “it’s a point guard’s league” motto has popped up more than a few times in the past year. Stars, vets and emerging 1’s left their mark throughout the season, from MVP Derrick Rose to long-time pro Jason Kidd to developing youngsters like Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison. Kyrie Irving’s potential #1 status would perpetuate the trend. He may not be as good as his forerunners but it’d nonetheless be a symbolic gesture for the importance of the point … Swingmen, pure off-guards and traditional 4’s trail the league’s court generals. Yet things get really ugly when you get to the centers. The complete dearth of quality 5’s has us wondering what happened to the big man? Now, they’re mainly used to clog the lane, grab boards and get garbage points. Dwight Howard’s far and away the best center in the league. We’re not holding our breath on seeing a revival via this year’s draft either. Enes Kanter is the most notable center prospect, but he hasn’t had many opportunities to shine against great competition. How much better would the league be if the center spot ever came back in a big way? … With a draft devoid of big names and big talents, you can expect trade rumors to take over Thursday night. Pau Gasol, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis, Chris Kaman, Jonny Flynn and Kevin Love are just a few of the names that have been mentioned as potential movers. At least give David Kahn credit for being aggressive. He got Rubio when no one ever thought he would. Now, he’s shopping the second pick in the draft and there also appears to be some truth to the rumor that Kevin Love could be had for the right cost. Kahn is interested in teaming Rubio with another Spaniard, Pau Gasol, and there are rumors a proposed trade had Love and the second pick in the draft going to L.A. for Gasol. We have a hard time believing that. But could the two teams meet somewhere in-between? … The Warriors are denying that Ellis is being shopped. Yet no one believes them. At some point in the next year or so, whether it happens now or at the trade deadline, Ellis will probably be gone … Perhaps the craziest trade rumor so far comes from Milwaukee where sources say the Bucks offered Andrew Bogut and the 10th pick to Minnesota to move up to the second spot. If Kahn pulled that off, he’d be off the hook for Kaaaaaahnnnnn jokes for at least a few months … While he more than likely won’t be traded, Vince Carter is on his way out of Phoenix. With his contract next season only partially guaranteed, the Suns plan to kick him to the curb within the next few days. Is this the end of an era? And if it is, what will be your definitive VC memory? At the time it happened, who would’ve ever thought the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest would be that? That was supposed to be just the beginning … And it looks like Toronto will hire Mavs assistant Dwane Casey as their new head coach … Check out the stories of some of the guys who came through Los Angeles this weekend for the Red Bull King of the Rock tournament … We’re out like VC.

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  • iCARNACKi

    No way anyone can tell me that the #2 pick and Kevin Love for Pau Gasol is anything but daylight robbery for the Lakers… and some of you suggest Minnesota throw in Jonny Flynn too? How about Michael Beasley and their first born too?

    And Derrick Williams being 2-3 years away? How exactly?

    The Lakers are old and won’t win a championship with this core again. The Gasol for #2 and Gasol trade almsot single handedly rejuvenates their core with talented young players.

    Ya’ll are tripping if you value Gasol THAT much… you LA fans have got so used to ripping other teams off in trades that you expect too much. I’ve seen people genuinely suggesting that an Artest for Jennings trade wouldn’t be good enough for LA.

  • LABaller

    do y’all watch ball? i fell like most of the people here want this pau for love trade cause they WANT the lakers to fail. seriously?? someone said he avg’ed only 5 points less than pau. umm yeah when you have a team w beasley jackin and NO ONE else then you should avg 15 more. who else on that team can actually score?? Pau gets the board, gets the blocks, and the stats dont show it but his length will bother WAY more shots than love can ever. It’s not just about stats, its about the actual player. Pau has a 15-17 foot shot too btw, incase y’all forgot. His post moves are some of the best in the league for a big man.

    This all goes back to our short term memory vs. our long term memory. People just look at the current and even tend to forget about the recent past. seriously tho, Pau is NOT the one you wanna trade on that team even with his softness and mental fuck ups these playoffs. Keep in mind the lakers record since he joined the team and how much he impacted the championships we won. Also keep in mind the fact that for A LOT of those games HE played the starting center cause bynum was out!

    As a diehard life loving laker fan, this is NOT a good trade, sorry. and Big Island said it, Jim Buss is the dumbest F^*&in person to hand over the reigns to. Jeanie is and has always been a lot smarter. Jim’s ONLY claim is he was the one who pushed to have Bynum drafted. Now, I’m not saying i dont think Bynum is a quality 5, cause in this day and age is in the top 5 centers in the league when healthy. BUT, to mark him as untradeable and build around a dude that has this history of injuries just seems like someone (JIM) is trying to push his pick and not admit his fault. I would have drafted shaun may that day so it shows how much i know, but bynum at this point is a great starting center. HE IS NOT THE CENTERPIECE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM.

    why arent we concentrating on our 1 spot btw? that, to me, is the ONLY thing we really need to address. damnit, im done typing…but i know im right.

  • Skeeter McGee

    @Austin Burton

    Actually my good friend’s college roommate used to be VC’s personal assistant during his New Jersey days, and let’s just say from what he has told us, Vince was more about chillin’ than willin’ his way to a championship. Not to say he didn’t work hard, but he didn’t work Kobe hard, or at least as hard as ESPN says Kobe works…

  • Phileus

    VC had the greatest in-game dunk in history, leaping over the 7-foot French dude the Knicks were stupid enough to draft once upon a time.

    That alone was worth all his lost potential.

  • D-NICE

    Anytime there has been some kind of defense for VC, there’s always some kind of asterisk attached to it hahaha…stop making more excuses for a guy who already has a million of them….he’s wasted every opportunity he’s had on good teams…even when tha raps had a pretty decent team and could have advanced to tha eastern conf finals, he made a hard shot even harder and lost tha game….if you’ve watched a bronx tale you should know that….”There’s nothin worse than wasted talent”

  • Bear

    @ K Dizzle

    I’m not saying Shaq NEEDS a fall back plan, but alot of players do. I think everyone can agree that Vince had crazy athleticism, but that can only last for so long in a career, his mom wanted to see him graduate. Vince has always gone on about the love he has for his mom, so he obviously wanted to do that for her. I used Shaq as just an example for players setting themselves up in the future.

    I agree players should be alot more careful with their money, but the majority aren’t. That goes back to what i was saying about players having back up plans. Not all are going to become coaches, anaysists or “ambassadors” (especially since vince has not spent the majority of a career getting a team to the next level)

    I’m not trying to convince you that vince hasn’t wasted his career, he could’ve been alot better, but that’s down to him no one else. What gives anyone else the right to hate on him because he never got to the point that you wanted him to get at. Loads of players in history are like that, some had problems (shawn Kemp, Vin Baker) others made wrong career choice’s (Marbury, Spreewell) and others injuries (Tim Hardaway’s knee, Larry Johnson’s back). This happens in sports, i just feel there are plenty of players that could’ve been better, but weren’t because of various reasons. Hell, Vince may have chosen to not conform to whateveryone wanted him to be just to prove a point (unlikely, but still possible).

    I don’t think anyone is blaming (or trying to blame) T-Mac for what Vince became. T-Mac left because he wanted to be the “man” on a team not the sidekick. The Raps felt Vince was that “man” (and not to mention one of the most marketable players in the league back then), the wanted McGrady to stay he wanted to go. End of story, it’s not like he said Vince is not a “give all” player, so see ya. It was more like, “i’m good and no one notices because my cousin is throwing down on the dream at the buzzer to win games. When am i getting some love!”.

    Vince is what he is and it’s never gonna change no matter how many people (including me) want him to.

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