[Izulde]

Detroit Pistons receive
C Murray Alexander

New York Knicks receive
SF Jeff Green

What this means for the Pistons
Alexander is, for the most part, an average all-around veteran, but his specialties in ferocious defending and shotblocking make him a worthy role player, so much so that he steps in as Detroit's new starting SF. Phillip Gill takes over at C, a curious choice given that Dan Jacobson is still the better option there, even at 34.

What this means for the Knicks
Green does a little bit of everything, but isn't really special. On the other hand, he's had occasional outburts of success in the playoffs and it's that and the expiring $6.9 million contract that make this an attractive deal for New York, particularly since Alexander didn't fit in their plans anyway.

Winner: Draw
If Jacobson was staying at C over Gill, this edge would go to the Pistons. As it stands, each side gets something worthwhile out of it, though from a pure team improvement standpoint, Detroit gets the nod.

Dallas Mavericks receive
SG Charles Arnold

Miami Heat receive
Dallas Mavericks 2022 1st round pick

What this means for the Mavericks
Dallas just guaranteed that they won't have a 1st round pick for 3 years in a row, but they don't care. Not when they've got Marcelino Augusto, Devone Allen and now Arnold, a sharpshooting 24 year old in his 5th season who gives the Mavericks 3 topflight scorers all under 25 years old. No legit C? No problem! Arnold's respectable on the defensive end too.

What this means for the Heat
Miami continues to try and rebuild, but this isn't the right way to about. It's going to be a late 1st round pick and Arnold was the type of player to help build up a team.

Winner: Dallas
The biggest highway robbery we've seen. In fact, this even trumps the Augusto trade. Have the Mavericks somehow gotten ahold of Denver GM Jestor's playbook?

San Antonio Spurs receive
SF Jon Wilson

Miami Heat receive
PG Kevin Carter
San Antonio 2022 2nd round pick

What this means for the Spurs
Wilson's fairly smart and can score and rebound some, but that's about it. Still, he represents an upgrade for San Antonio in their frontcourt and takes over as the starting SF.

What this means for the Heat
Miami tacks on a 35 year old PG who is the very definition of mediocre, a mid-2nd round pick and an extra $400k off the books next summer. This team's in such disarray, Carter's one of the first guards off the bench. It's going to be a long, long year in South Florida.

Winner: Draw
Fair value on both sides and neither player will make all that monumental an impact on their new teams.

After seeing Dallas's move and having all the worries and anxieties that have plaguing me over this whole too many frontcourt players, not enough time thing, I call around the league and pull off yet another blockbuster, the third biggest one I've done in Denver.

Denver Nuggets receive
SG Nigel Abel
Miami Heat 2022 1st round pick
Miami Heat 2024 1st round pick
Miami Heat 2023 2nd round pick
Miami Heat 2024 2nd round pick

Miami Heat receive
PF Mike Vines
C Victor Gipson
PG Jameel Williams
PG Javaris Crittenton
Denver Nuggets 2024 1st round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
Abel's got a broken foot and he'll be out for another two months, but those first round picks should be lottery selections, particularly next year's 1st rounder. This also means that Denver's going to be over the rumored $15 million cap. But once Abel comes back, the Nuggets will have one of the most electrifying scoring tandems in the league in Abel and Mateen Yeaton and with Jonte Jones as a third option, Denver's offense just got that much scarier. Of course, their defense is going to suffer without Vines and they no longer have a scary shotblocker now that Gipson's gone. Viston Henry slides in as the starting PF and while the 22 year old has talent, he's extremely raw and undersized.

What this means for the Heat
The shakeup continues but in this case, they're actually getting quality back. Vines is an erratic scorer, but he's one of the best lockdown defenders in the league and legitimatizes the frontcourt as the new starting PF. Gipson slates as the starting SF, giving Miami a big, big body at the 3 who can shotblock with the best of them and bring toughness and accurate shooting to the Heat. Williams and Crittenton were cut.

Winner: Miami
Denver's defense is going to be horrific, they're over their self-imposed cap and they won't really start getting the benefit out of this deal for another couple months. Meanwhile, Miami is so much improved, both now and the future, we wouldn't be surprised to see them turn into a late lottery team this year, rather than a probable Top 5 pick like it seemed they originally would be.

It was a ballsy move, I admit and yes, our defense is going to suck, but if we start losing, I'm not afraid to pull the trigger on something else to bring in another defensive body. We're short on players, so I re-sign Jameel Williams, bring back Al Thornton and pick up Kyle Acani, who's a great FT shooter with some scoring instincts, decent ballhandling and some good fundamental defense.

As fate would have it, our first game with this new look is against the Heat and we come out of it with a 120-104 win. Mateen Yeaton scores 36, Jonte Jones doubles for 25 points and 13 rebounds and Jeremy Bellairs and Carlton Goree contribute 13 and 12 points off the bench respectively. Mike Vines scores 26 in his Heat debut and Victor Gipson's first game in black and orange is good for 15 points and 12 rebounds.

David Jackson rewards my faith in him with 23 points and 12 rebounds in our next game, a 110-100 win over Orlando. Louis Mertens passes out 13 points and 18 assists and Jeremy Bellairs and Carlton Goree ignite the bench again with 10 and 14 points a piece.

Mark down another victory for us since the trade, 115-97 against the Wizards. Jonte Jones is the man of the night with 30 points and 15 rebounds, Mateen Yeaton scores 25 and Carlton Goree picks up 12 points and 9 assists off the bench. It's our first huge margin win of the new lineup and it feels great.

Perhaps the biggest signifier of just how much the trade has positively affected our team is the 110-96 rout... of... the Raptors. In Toronto, no less. A far cry from the 110-88 beatdown they gave us in Denver in November. The weird thing is, we're doing it a balanced offense, as we have just two statistical stars tonight; Jonte Jones with 28 points and 11 rebounds and Jeremy Bellairs with 13 points in reserve time.

That means we're 2-0 to start our annual brutal 7 game road trip stretch in the East. Make that 3-0 after we edge the Knicks 99-91 as Jonte Jones stays hot with 20 points and 24 rebounds, Carlton Goree rockets off the bench for 22 points and Jeremy Bellairs trails in Carlton's cosmic wake with 14 points himself.

I don't know how Philadelphia is off to the hot start they are. They're not that good and their success is one of the biggest mysteries of the season. They beat us 104-90 on the front end of a doubleheader, giving us our first loss since the trade. It's also only the second time we've failed to score 100 points since then. David Jackson doubles with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jonte Jones has 12 points and 14 rebounds and Carlton Goree scores 10 off the bench, but we stunk it up tonight. Happily, we rebound to bounce Boston 95-82 the next night and guarantee ourselves a winning record for the road trip. Jim O'Brien experiments with Vinston Henry at SF and Jeremy Bellairs at PF and Henry pulls down 15 points and 14 rebounds after being moved to his more natural position of the 3. Mateen Yeaton leads all scorers with 26 points, Jonte Jones plugs along with 16 points and 13 rebounds and David Jackson is magnificient off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds, though he's peeved about the demotion.

We flat-out stink the final two games of the road trip. Miami destroys us 118-93 and nevermind Mateen Yeaton's 20 points, Louis Mertens's 12 points and 12 assists or Carlton Goree's 10 bench points. David Jackson gets the nod at PF against Orlando, but we're just as bad in getting spanked 111-95 to the Magic in spite of Mateen Yeaton's 31 points and Jeremy Bellairs's 10 points as a reserve. Jonte Jones has been struggling with a strained toe and that, combined with the jet lag from a marathon road trip, has us just playing exhausted those last two games.

It's when we drop the ball and lose 105-101 to Phoenix at home that I start getting worried. Vinston Henry scores 23, Louis Mertens manages 10 points and 11 assists and Carlton Goree scores 10 off the bench, but Jim O'Brien keeps toying with the lineup, inserting Jeremy Bellairs at the 4 and pissing off David Jackson.

The losing skid hits four as we lose to lowly Seattle 108-96. Mateen Yeaton may have scored 30 and David Jackson might have gotten 13 bench points, but this is just ridiculous. I don't give a damn about Jonte Jones's toe injury; he's dragging ass out there and so is the rest of the team.

David Jackson is furious at being kicked out of the lineup and he barges in my office demanding to be traded to a team that will appreciate him as a starter. Now, I could've called Jim O'Brien and told him to put 50 Ninja back in the lineup, but this point, I'm so sick of his moodiness that I call his bluff and grant his wish.

Denver Nuggets receive
C Martin Beerbohm

New Orleans Hornets receive
C David Jackson
Denver Nuggets 2023 2nd round pick
Miami Heat 2023 2nd round pick
Sacramento Kings 2023 2nd round pick
Miami Heat 2024 2nd round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
50 Ninja's public temper tantrums over playing time finally caused GM Jestor to get rid of him and bring in Beerbohm, who, like Jackson, is excellent at drawing fouls. Unlike Jackson, Beerbohm can actually convert the chances he gets at the charity stripe. He's also a good defensive rebounder and becomes the replacement shotblocker when Victor Gipson went to Miami. Not a bigtime scorer and as foul-prone as the recently departed Ninja, but Beerbohm's an extremely intelligent player, one who tired of the losing environment in New Orleans and politely asked to be given a new team. Time will only tell if he becomes as popular in Denver as Jackson was before wearing out his welcome.

What this means for the Hornets
One thing that Jackson brings to the table is the ability to really pound the offensive glass. He's also a significantly better ballhandler and passer than Beerbohm. But then again, he's not going to like going to a losing squad, even one where he could be a loved celebrity like New Orleans and he's certainly not going to be happy about having the same 6th man role in Denver, as he's initially projected to have.

Winner: Denver
Even though the trade bloats their payroll a little more, from a locker room standpoint alone, this deal makes sense for the Nuggets. Beerbohm also matches up better with Denver's weaknesses and the team can now hopefully reverse course of its four game losing streak.

I hated doing it, but I had no choice. Jackson didn't care much about the Rings Quest; he only wanted a starting job. His obsession with it cost him, pushing even me, one of his most ardent supporters, to the breaking point.

It's also depressing because he was one of the guys I drafted and right now, Tzvetan Kishishev is our only player on the active roster selected by me. Super trader, crappy drafter. Yep, that's me.

At least Christmas is happier this year, as we snap our losing streak by beating the Mavericks 109-97. Mateen Yeaton scores 29, Vinston Henry grabs 17 points and 12 rebounds at PF, our newest Nugget, Martin Beerbohm, playing the 3. Carlton Goree tops the second team with 14 points. Golden State tries their damnedest to spoil Christmas Day, but Mateen Yeaton and Jonte Jones, our only 2 players in double-digit scoring, prevent that fate with 33 points and 26 points and 17 rebounds to secure the 100-93 win.

We -finally- solve the 76ers riddle, dropping them 113-103 as Mateen Yeaton rips through them for 35 points, Jonte Jones hustles for 23 points and 15 rebounds and Louis Mertens is unstoppable all night for 15 points and 13 assists.

It's a miserable New Year as we blow a fourth quarter lead, falling 106-104 to the Lakers. Jonte Jones has 33 points and 19 rebounds and Mateen Yeaton scores 29, but so fucking what? The Clippers add to our misery, beating us 93-87 the next night. Way to ring in the New Year. I can't cheer Mateen Yeaton's 20 points or Louis Mertens's 17 points and 12 assists or Jeremy Bellairs's 10 bench points.

Martin Beerbohm hasn't done shit since he got here and I blame him for a large part of why we're 21-10, two games behind Portland for the Northwest lead. Dallas has a ridiculous 8 game lead on the Spurs at 21-8, while the Clippers are living up to the preseason hype, 22-8 and a game ahead of the Kings.

Orlando's claimed the top seed in the East at 21-8, the Hawks four back in the division. The Knicks are 21-9, 3 games in front of the slowly climbing Raptors in the Atlantic. 20-10 Cleveland enjoys a two game advantage over the Bulls, who are finally starting to something with all that talent they've had lying around.

The only, lonely happy news is that Miami's got the worst record in the NBA at 5-28. In fact, the only game they won this month was against us.

No unhappy players, but a very unhappy GM who's going to trade Martin Beerbohm away at the trade deadline. I'm also not adverse to trading away Jeremy Bellairs or Vinston Henry if I can get something good enough for them.

We're the worst damned 21-10 team in the history of the league and it's all my own damned fault.

I'm too depressed to post comparisons.

I do have a plan for the deadline, if the guy I'm targeting isn't traded of course.