2018-19 NBA Bric-a-brac (Week 15)

Trades
Bulls gets Carmelo Anthony, the rights to Jon Diebler, cash; Rockets gets the rights to Tadija Dragicevic
Bulls waived Melo immediately, this was just a chance to get him back out to the free agent market  for...whoever might actually want him (can you see him on the Nets? Maybe the Clippers?). The teams wisely threw in some draft rights guys just to make it look like an actual trade happened and the Bulls got well paid to make Melo disappear from the memories of Rockets fans. (Haven't been able to confirm reports that heartbroken youths throughout Houston are burning their Jon Diebler jerseys)


Mavs get Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr, Courtney Lee, Trey Burke; Knicks get Dennis Smith Jr., Wesley Matthews, DeAndre Jordan, two Mavs 1st rd picks (likely 2020, top 10 protected 2023)
Hmmmm.....okay. The Knicks dumped two of their three largest contracts and a PG that was never gonna hang to clear cap space for the summer and all it cost them was their best player, an intriguing youngster who could still become the best player in the game. They get a coupla vets that will be gone soon without any hope of contributing, a coupla vague 1st round picks (no reason to think those picks will be particularly good--especially considering how remarkably bad the Knicks have been at drafting over the years) and an intriguing young headcase that never fit in Dallas.  Okay, so what do they have going forward? After they clear house they'll have a top 5 pick, a shit ton of money to spend and a batch of intriguing young talents (Dennis Smith, Kevin Knox, Alonzo Trier, Mitchell Robinson, Damyean Dotson, (their largest contract next year is currently Lance Thomas which is not guaranteed and I can see them trading Frank Nkilitina any day now (how about to the Hornets straight up for Frank Kaminsky?))). I can see them bringing back Noah Vonleh and Emmanual Mudiay (though not if they're expecting big raises) and maybe DeAndre Jordan (if he's up for a big ol' pay cut), to go with Durant and Kyrie (I mean....right?). Sure, that's a playoff team in the East but are they really better than the Celtics, Sixers, Raptors or Bucks? Ehhh, maybe, but these New York teams don't care about getting good, they only care about box office and TV ratings, which is driven by stars--even mediocre stars that don't contribute to a winning environment--more than a youth movement. Is this a good deal for the Knicks? Well...yeah, I'd say it is. The bottom line is the franchise is still in excellent shape even if the team on the court isn't actually any good....so why bother to be good when you're mostly rewarded for being controversial? (My dad's example: Ben Affleck can meticulously put together a masterpiece film that grosses $105m or he can toss off a dumb piece of shit in 1/10 of the time and effort that makes $104m at the box office. When quality doesn't make a difference to the audience, why should it matter to the producer?)

As for the Mavs, well this kinda tanks them for this year but sets them up well going forward. Their 1st rd pick this year is already promised to Atlanta, so this felt like a good chance for them to charge hard for the playoffs, go ahead and get the youngsters some post-season experience and get back in the habit of winning; they were probably planning on a deadline deal that would strengthen the roster for this year but when a deal for the future came along, they had to go for it (though wouldn't it be cool to see Dirk getting one last crack at the #1 Warriors as the #8 seed?). This deal doesn't make them wildly worse right away but it makes them different enough that I don't anticipate they'll make a playoff run (though if KP can play, I'd go ahead and play him--he's a Mav now, play him). So let's look ahead: feels like we've finally hit the end of the line for Dirk, Barea, Devin Harris, and Mejri, I don't see any reason to bring back Trey Burke and I can see them keeping Finney-Smith and Kleber at the bottom of the roster but not for big raises; they'll have to re-sign Porzingis but he's not in crazy-money territory til his next contract (they're getting him at just the right time). They'll have money in the summer, so who do they add in the summer? I don't see them being in on Klay Thompson (though he'd be a great fit), the buzz is that they'll be going after Nikola Vucevic (good call) and if I were them I'd take a run at Julius Randle (player option with the Pelicans) and see if they can get a deal with Ricky Rubio, after that they'd do well to round out the second string with guys like Jeremy Lin, Patrick Patterson, and/or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The squad is built around the Luke/Zingis combo now, packing defensive minded rebounders for Coach Carlisle to mold. It'll take a while and they're missing their next two 1st rd picks, but they'll wheel and deal and once they get the winning back, they'll be attractive to free agents. 

Weird to say but I think I like this deal for both teams. Granted, it could go badly sideways for the Knicks but that's always true for them so it's an interesting gamble (also worth noting that Porzingis is whispered to be kind of an annoying dick in real life and seemingly injury-prone so it's not exactly money in the bank that he's a hall of famer). The Mavs have made a bold move and it's a good one.


Waivings
Cam Payne (Cavs), Quincy Acy (Suns), Stephan Hicks (Pacers)
Are the Pacers clearing space to take a run at someone?


Signings
Rockets sign Kenneth Faried (1yr/$?)
Dang, he's been great! Why wasn't he doing this for the Nets? Seems like they really could've used a rebound sucker-upper down low that can block shots and finish on the break.

Knicks sign Kadeem Allen (1yr/$?)
Had to fill the roster after that 4-for-3 trade. The upside: he'll get an NBA paycheck and some playing time for a very thin squad; downside: the Knicks aren't looking to win so if he's actually any good, he might get benched!


10-Day Contracts
Gary Payton Jr (Wizards), Bruno Caboclo (Grizzlies), Corey Brewer (Sixers), Mitch Creek (Nets), Kobi Simmons (Cavs), Emmanuel Terry (Suns), Isaiah Canaan (Wolves)
Still waiting for Brewer to make an impact with the Sixers but I reckon he will eventually (wonder why he's still on 10-days? Seems like they'd just up him for the rest of the season, right?).


Retirings
Pero Antic announced his retirement
I was ready to write something snarky, researched him to refresh my memory and--wait, oh shit, I loved that guy! Played with those really good Hawks teams a few years back, big sweaty European guy ran the floor better than you'd think, used to chuck 3's, kinda Nurkic-like but with more skill on the ball. Yeah, I remember that guy, I totally dug his game, wish he'd had more of an NBA career (seems like he should've been with either the Spurs or Jazz the last few years). This is why you do your research, kids, I was all ready to bag on a dude totally worthy of a toast (unlike, say, Jon Diebler, who I threw under the bus without hesitation).


Fined
Anthony Davis (Pelicans) $50k
Why? What did he do other than announce that he wouldn't be signing his extension next summer? Jimmy Butler actively, openly sabotaged the Wolves and sat out for weeks but gets no fine and the Knicks make a trade obviously (tamperingly obvious) meant to signal an aggressive push toward this summer's big free agents (ahem, Kyrie and Durant) but Davis simply does the polite thing of announcing his intentions ahead of time and he gets tagged? Makes no sense.

An odd observation on the Davis trade situation: The Pelicans will obviously be fielding trade offers but until they're ready to make a move, I think they just should play Davis like normal. They absolutely should NOT trade him until the end of the season and shouldn't necessarily trade him this summer. They still have another year to get the best deal and until then, they should treat Davis as they always have. (But wouldn't they risk him getting injured?) Yeah....so? (Duh, that would lower his trade value!) Oh really? Teams are not gonna want Anthony Davis any more if he gets hurt? I don't think an injury would make any difference at all to his overall value. (What if he gets a career-ending injury?) Well, that's what the Pelicans have lived with since the moment they drafted Davis, it isn't a function of trade demands.

Something everyone seems to be forgetting: the Pelicans don't want to trade Davis. If they play him and that lowers his value, then that max deal from the Pelicans looks even better, doesn't it? The Pelicans would be foolish to not gauge his trade value but they're not likely to find any package out there that would be better than Davis by himself (at max money), so they should just keep playing him like normal. Weird to say but if a calamity befalls Anthony Davis, that probably works for the Pelicans rather than against them.