Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2020 16:51:08 GMT -8
The Boston Celtics entered the season with talk that they were bound for a Contract Year expulsion after GM Brian H. stood pat with and watch his mediocre roster fall short of the playoffs in 2001. Brian didn’t do that speculation a disservice early in the season, trading the Boston 2004 first for Jamaal Magloire, nobody’s idea of a starting big man. Things seemed to get worse from there. The season prior, Brian needlessly swapped his 2002 first for the contender Hornets’ 2002 first. Come this season, with the Hornets shopping Zo for a rebuilding package, Brian looked a gift horse in the eye and somehow missed out on landing the star big man. He righted the ship by acquiring turnover-prone, inefficient, but solid-enough Rasheed Wallace, and the Celtics ended 2002 with 45 wins and first-round exit.
The Miami Heat stole PG Chucky Atkins, signed Euro sexman Dejan Bodiroga to a 6-year, $36 million contract, acquired little-big-man-with-high-stocks-and-high-turnovers Bo Outlaw for a pick, and looked well on their way to building a contender around Ricky Davis and Tracy McGrady on the eve of the 2002 season. A lot changed! GM Kobe, famous for j/oing to Mariska Hagirty, flipped T-Mac to San Antonio for Alonzo Mourning, who had a stopover in San Antonio after Spurs GM John landed Zo for a haul of picks. Kobe then dealt Bodiroga, Atkins, and Antonio Davis to Dallas for Jason Kidd, a kitchen-sink of a point guard whose value was an endless source of debate. Wildest of all, though, is that the Heat and Mavs agreed to a third trade involving Jason Kidd at the trade deadline—this one landing Chucky Atkins and Jamal Mashburn in Miami. Woof! Anyway, the Heat were very good, winning 58 games and losing to Greeme’s Nets in the conference finals. Here’s a fun thing: they averaged exactly 9 steals, 7 blocks, and 56 rebounds. Very fun.
Something I didn’t understand was why New Jersey Nets GM Greeme offered me Glen Rice for Mike Miller in the 2001 offseason. Value wise, it was pretty good for the Nets, but Rice was the leading scorer on a contender short on scorers. The Nets had two of four bigs with A or better defense and rebounding and had just lost the finals in seven games. The deal made a bit more sense when Skillz lovingly gifted Greeme Michael Jordan, whose BBS revival was inspired by the Last Dance and would last at least three seasons. The Nets were really fucking good all year. The only drama, it seemed, was whether Charlie Ward would get hurt and Spencer would need to post “DC changed to due to PG injury.” How good were they? 62 wins, a nearly +12 point differential, and 18 stocks (cool term for this: high equity) in a league starved for blocks. MJ poured in 29 and 8 on 47/83/41 when IRL he would’ve been shooting 31% and forcing Kwame Brown to go on a five-month juice cleanse. The Nets won it all, but my Mavs were the people’s champ.
The New York Knicks entered the season in flux. A favorite for the 2001 title, they lost Hakeem Olajuwon to retirement and dumped Michael Jordan for a package centered on James Posey. The biggest splash of their offseason, though, came when Skillz put his money where his mouth was and dealt superstar Steve Nash for Jamal Crawford. To some, Crawford was the prototypical low-passing, high-handling, volume-scoring PG. To others, his numbers were inflated and dozens of other point guards could’ve put them up. The doubters reveled in Crawford’s ugly TC, which featured no gains and a drop to C- defense, but Skillz got the last laugh, riding Crawford—28 ppg, 1.5 tpg, 47/79/39—and spare parts to 53 wins. Even more impressive for the fact that Skillz dumped Jamal Mashburn for non-factors Kenyon Martin and Vladimir Radmonovic early in the season.
The Orlando Magic were another team with a whirlwind season. They took flack for passing on Gerald Wallace and Tony Parker to draft Joe Johnson in a league full of scoring wings, but JJ jumped to A- outside in training camp and looked to sim well. Other positives: they added promising shotblockers Eddie Griffin and Steven Hunter, and Antoine Walker, their top creation, erupted in volume while lowering his handles. All told, it was the start of something promising, setting aside Break’s thickheadedness and the myriad “my picks for your superstar” offers the Magic sent. And then Kobe got hurt for the ascendant Kings, and with the American segment of BBS cozily in bed, dreaming of Jason Kidd’s turnovers decreasing, the Magic pounded. They flew Joe Johnson, Antoine Walker, and the Magic’s 2002 first economy to Sacramento for Kobe, already a superstar at 22. Not much else to say: the deal left the Magic with Kobe and a bare cupboard, but it was an exciting move and I liked it!
Stephon Marbury was a tanker’s dream for Stevie B. and the Philadelphia 76ers. Not great, considering he was the entire return for dealing Jason Kidd to the Heat a season prior. Things looked bleak. Steve kept Steph and Antawn Jamison despite tanking in an extremely thin draft, but the Sixers were able to rack up the losses. They finished the season 21-61 and looked destined to draft mixed-bag prospect Amar’e Stoudemire, but the lotto gods smiled on Sweet Stevie and he landed the first pick. Yao to the rescue!
Washington Wizards GM JAH drafted a venerable cadre of young wings in the creation draft for a core of Michael Redd, Peja Stojakovic, and Jason Terry. He entered 2002 with several uninspiring big men to round out his core, and round it out they didn’t. The Wizards managed just 3.7 blocks and 50.2 rebounds per game, but scratched out a positive point differential and the eighth seed, resetting JAH’s contract year.
It’s important to focus on the positives. Atlanta Hawks GM George “Styro” Losanglife is a great guy. Very funny and lighthearted. I get paid by the word, though, so let’s open up the trash and really live in it for a second. The Hawks’ creation draft was a disaster. Steve Francis busted and Stephen Jackson never took the leap. The men were too good to land the Hawks a top draft pick in the ’01 draft, and they came away with Samuel Dalembert, a promising but modest defensive-minded big. The story was the same in 2002: the Hawks were bad but not bad enough, losing 29 games and landing the seventh pick. The Hawks parted the 2002 season as the odds-on favorite for the Contract Year. Get this man LeBron.
You’ve heard some of the New Orleans Hornets’ saga already. They were elite in 2001 and lacked their 2002 first, but GM Pigpen could smell a rebuild on the horizon. Oink, oink baby. After leaving Alonzo Mourning on the block for eternity and a day (it may have just been a day), Pig cut off talks to land his pick back from Boston and shipped Zo to San Antonio for a haul of other picks. Could he have gotten more? Hotly debated—so hotly, in fact, that Pig did an interview on his thought process. He passed on deals like (1) one of Jermaine O’Neal or Jason Kidd + NOH’s 2002 first and (2) star wing Ricky Davis+ for Zo. The Hornets’ return looked worse when San Antonio turnstiled Zo for T-Mac. Pig recovered nicely, though, convincing the Wolves to add their ’02 pick in a swapping an awful veteran wing (Latrell Sprewell) for an awful young wing (Jerry Stackhouse). The Wolves then dealt Vince Carter for picks, landing Pig a lotto he used to draft Caron Butler. So it was picks galore and Caron Butler for the Hornets as the entered the 2003 season. Tune in next year to see if they got LeBron!
The Chicago Bulls were a hard team to judge coming into 2002. No stars, but a lot of very good players. They won plenty of games in 2001 but outperformed their scoring margin and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The house of cards looked to be crumbling early in 2002, and that sound you heard was me repeatedly begging them to take Jermaine O’Neal for Marcus Camby. Play and Insane righted the ship, though, with smart moves at the trade frenzy. They unloaded Juwan Howard to give a bigger role to promising wing Courtney Alexander, who delivered to the tune of 48/86/61 shooting splits. They also shored up their rebounding, dealing a first for Dale Davis. All told, they climbed out of an 11-16 hole to win 47 games. They even had a playoff series victory in the palm of their hands before blowing a 3-1 lead to the Knicks. The Bulls didn’t answer any questions about whether they could contend with their core, but they at least kept the faith and proved they had a perennial playoff squad.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were desperate for a point guard in the 2001 offseason, and they took a considerable haircut in shipping stud forward Larry Johnson to the Clippers for Gary Payton. Payton was a bit of an enigma for the Cavs at first, with high turnovers and underwhelming offense. Svedda seemed close to breaking up his core of Kevin Garnett, Keith Van Horn, and Grant Hill. After maddening talks with the Magic about the Cavs’ picks, though, Svedda kept the gang together. They rewarded him with a dominant second half, easily overtaking the Raptors for control of the central division. The Cavs rode high stocks and dominant rebounding to 55 wins, but their lack of depth and second-tier offense cost them in the second round. Only four Cavs reached double-figure scoring in any game vs. the Heat, and the Cavs fell in six.
The Indiana Pacers started out the season committed to the tank, having dealt Elton Brand for Lakers picks and unloaded Glenn Robinson for cheap at the 2001 trade deadline. They looked to have found a gem in Rashard Lewis, who they got for picks 17 and 18 in the 2001 draft. After an underwhelming year in Milwaukee, Lewis burst through in TC looked like a foundational piece. Who could blame Sargo for soon undermining his tank, given that the Wolves were somehow offering up Vince Carter for a package of picks highlighted by their own ’03? Highway robbery! All told, the Pacers landed two late lottos with their and the Lakers' picks. They flipped one for Kenyon Martin and took a developed scorer in Milos Vujanic with the other. Low stakes stuff in a very successful season. Also of note: the briefly held the DEN ’04 before flipping it for shotblocking rookie Steven Hunter. That Nuggets pick seemed promising; Royal had surrounded Shaq with the staff of a nursing home. By the end of the year, though, the Nuggets had flipped Shaq and landed a solid core of players in their prime. Final note: the very many Corey Maggette+picks for a superstar offers that Sargo imposed on the league.
Toronto Raptors’ GM Game took over for Caper during the 2001 trading frenzy and made the team his own with a friend trade of Scottie Pippen and John Stockton to Nuggets GM Royal. With a freebie season for Contract Year purposes, Game was playing with house money. He landed a late lotto and snagged Jason Richardson. Would J-Rich prove a successor to franchise player Ray Allen? Not so fast! The Raptors raced out to a division lead behind Ray’s dominant scoring, and it seemed Game would sit tight with a fine playoff team. Rewind to the offseason. The Raptors and Mavs were in trade talks for Ray Allen, but the Raptors insisted on both Jermaine O’Neal and Tony Parker in the deal. Fast-forward to a midseason Ray Allen injury, and the Mavs and Raptors re-engage in trade talks. The Raptors first demand extra pieces with Parker, and talks break off again. With the deadline looming and Jason Kidd gone from Dallas, it seems clear Parker will remain the franchise PG and the Ray trade won’t happen. After a change of heart from Game, the teams agree to Tony Parker and Adonal Foyle for Ray Allen and Shawn Bradley. Raptors get their franchise point guard to pair with J-Rich. Oh, Game also sent Raef LaFrentz to the Nuggets for a late lotto that he used on high-potential tweener DaJuan Wagner.
The story of the Detroit Pistons’ season was whether they’d miss the playoffs without their pick. That’s all, really. Galo shifted parts around during the year but had little to show around superstar PF Chris Webber. At the last minute, he landed shotblocking big Jim McIlvaine and passable wing Tim Thomas from the Sonics at virtually no cost and secured a playoff spot. They lost to the Cavs in the first round and headed into the 2002 offseason in need of a rebuild.
Galo is a mensch and one of the great BBS old-timers, but it was time to trade me Chris Webber.
The Milwaukee Bucks entered 2002 with Rasheed Wallace, a blown draft pick in Jamaal Tinsley, and nothing to do but tank. GM Chipper, somehow already on his second lap in BBS, took his time holding Rasheed, and the Bucks won just enough games to fall out of the race for Yao. Chipper ended up taking the Hornets ’02 from the Celtics and watching the Hornets far outperform expectations to the tune of a near playoff spot. Good news came in the offseason, though, as Chipper used that Hornets pick—the last pick in the lotto—to select taleneted European scoresman Arvydas Macijauskas. The face of hope in Milwaukee before local man Dwyane Wade joins Cream City? Find out next year!
Gary Melvin Jarvis is a senior writer for ESPN.net. When he's not writing, Gary enjoys restoring old cars and collecting internet pornography.
The Miami Heat stole PG Chucky Atkins, signed Euro sexman Dejan Bodiroga to a 6-year, $36 million contract, acquired little-big-man-with-high-stocks-and-high-turnovers Bo Outlaw for a pick, and looked well on their way to building a contender around Ricky Davis and Tracy McGrady on the eve of the 2002 season. A lot changed! GM Kobe, famous for j/oing to Mariska Hagirty, flipped T-Mac to San Antonio for Alonzo Mourning, who had a stopover in San Antonio after Spurs GM John landed Zo for a haul of picks. Kobe then dealt Bodiroga, Atkins, and Antonio Davis to Dallas for Jason Kidd, a kitchen-sink of a point guard whose value was an endless source of debate. Wildest of all, though, is that the Heat and Mavs agreed to a third trade involving Jason Kidd at the trade deadline—this one landing Chucky Atkins and Jamal Mashburn in Miami. Woof! Anyway, the Heat were very good, winning 58 games and losing to Greeme’s Nets in the conference finals. Here’s a fun thing: they averaged exactly 9 steals, 7 blocks, and 56 rebounds. Very fun.
Something I didn’t understand was why New Jersey Nets GM Greeme offered me Glen Rice for Mike Miller in the 2001 offseason. Value wise, it was pretty good for the Nets, but Rice was the leading scorer on a contender short on scorers. The Nets had two of four bigs with A or better defense and rebounding and had just lost the finals in seven games. The deal made a bit more sense when Skillz lovingly gifted Greeme Michael Jordan, whose BBS revival was inspired by the Last Dance and would last at least three seasons. The Nets were really fucking good all year. The only drama, it seemed, was whether Charlie Ward would get hurt and Spencer would need to post “DC changed to due to PG injury.” How good were they? 62 wins, a nearly +12 point differential, and 18 stocks (cool term for this: high equity) in a league starved for blocks. MJ poured in 29 and 8 on 47/83/41 when IRL he would’ve been shooting 31% and forcing Kwame Brown to go on a five-month juice cleanse. The Nets won it all, but my Mavs were the people’s champ.
The New York Knicks entered the season in flux. A favorite for the 2001 title, they lost Hakeem Olajuwon to retirement and dumped Michael Jordan for a package centered on James Posey. The biggest splash of their offseason, though, came when Skillz put his money where his mouth was and dealt superstar Steve Nash for Jamal Crawford. To some, Crawford was the prototypical low-passing, high-handling, volume-scoring PG. To others, his numbers were inflated and dozens of other point guards could’ve put them up. The doubters reveled in Crawford’s ugly TC, which featured no gains and a drop to C- defense, but Skillz got the last laugh, riding Crawford—28 ppg, 1.5 tpg, 47/79/39—and spare parts to 53 wins. Even more impressive for the fact that Skillz dumped Jamal Mashburn for non-factors Kenyon Martin and Vladimir Radmonovic early in the season.
The Orlando Magic were another team with a whirlwind season. They took flack for passing on Gerald Wallace and Tony Parker to draft Joe Johnson in a league full of scoring wings, but JJ jumped to A- outside in training camp and looked to sim well. Other positives: they added promising shotblockers Eddie Griffin and Steven Hunter, and Antoine Walker, their top creation, erupted in volume while lowering his handles. All told, it was the start of something promising, setting aside Break’s thickheadedness and the myriad “my picks for your superstar” offers the Magic sent. And then Kobe got hurt for the ascendant Kings, and with the American segment of BBS cozily in bed, dreaming of Jason Kidd’s turnovers decreasing, the Magic pounded. They flew Joe Johnson, Antoine Walker, and the Magic’s 2002 first economy to Sacramento for Kobe, already a superstar at 22. Not much else to say: the deal left the Magic with Kobe and a bare cupboard, but it was an exciting move and I liked it!
Stephon Marbury was a tanker’s dream for Stevie B. and the Philadelphia 76ers. Not great, considering he was the entire return for dealing Jason Kidd to the Heat a season prior. Things looked bleak. Steve kept Steph and Antawn Jamison despite tanking in an extremely thin draft, but the Sixers were able to rack up the losses. They finished the season 21-61 and looked destined to draft mixed-bag prospect Amar’e Stoudemire, but the lotto gods smiled on Sweet Stevie and he landed the first pick. Yao to the rescue!
Washington Wizards GM JAH drafted a venerable cadre of young wings in the creation draft for a core of Michael Redd, Peja Stojakovic, and Jason Terry. He entered 2002 with several uninspiring big men to round out his core, and round it out they didn’t. The Wizards managed just 3.7 blocks and 50.2 rebounds per game, but scratched out a positive point differential and the eighth seed, resetting JAH’s contract year.
It’s important to focus on the positives. Atlanta Hawks GM George “Styro” Losanglife is a great guy. Very funny and lighthearted. I get paid by the word, though, so let’s open up the trash and really live in it for a second. The Hawks’ creation draft was a disaster. Steve Francis busted and Stephen Jackson never took the leap. The men were too good to land the Hawks a top draft pick in the ’01 draft, and they came away with Samuel Dalembert, a promising but modest defensive-minded big. The story was the same in 2002: the Hawks were bad but not bad enough, losing 29 games and landing the seventh pick. The Hawks parted the 2002 season as the odds-on favorite for the Contract Year. Get this man LeBron.
You’ve heard some of the New Orleans Hornets’ saga already. They were elite in 2001 and lacked their 2002 first, but GM Pigpen could smell a rebuild on the horizon. Oink, oink baby. After leaving Alonzo Mourning on the block for eternity and a day (it may have just been a day), Pig cut off talks to land his pick back from Boston and shipped Zo to San Antonio for a haul of other picks. Could he have gotten more? Hotly debated—so hotly, in fact, that Pig did an interview on his thought process. He passed on deals like (1) one of Jermaine O’Neal or Jason Kidd + NOH’s 2002 first and (2) star wing Ricky Davis+ for Zo. The Hornets’ return looked worse when San Antonio turnstiled Zo for T-Mac. Pig recovered nicely, though, convincing the Wolves to add their ’02 pick in a swapping an awful veteran wing (Latrell Sprewell) for an awful young wing (Jerry Stackhouse). The Wolves then dealt Vince Carter for picks, landing Pig a lotto he used to draft Caron Butler. So it was picks galore and Caron Butler for the Hornets as the entered the 2003 season. Tune in next year to see if they got LeBron!
The Chicago Bulls were a hard team to judge coming into 2002. No stars, but a lot of very good players. They won plenty of games in 2001 but outperformed their scoring margin and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The house of cards looked to be crumbling early in 2002, and that sound you heard was me repeatedly begging them to take Jermaine O’Neal for Marcus Camby. Play and Insane righted the ship, though, with smart moves at the trade frenzy. They unloaded Juwan Howard to give a bigger role to promising wing Courtney Alexander, who delivered to the tune of 48/86/61 shooting splits. They also shored up their rebounding, dealing a first for Dale Davis. All told, they climbed out of an 11-16 hole to win 47 games. They even had a playoff series victory in the palm of their hands before blowing a 3-1 lead to the Knicks. The Bulls didn’t answer any questions about whether they could contend with their core, but they at least kept the faith and proved they had a perennial playoff squad.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were desperate for a point guard in the 2001 offseason, and they took a considerable haircut in shipping stud forward Larry Johnson to the Clippers for Gary Payton. Payton was a bit of an enigma for the Cavs at first, with high turnovers and underwhelming offense. Svedda seemed close to breaking up his core of Kevin Garnett, Keith Van Horn, and Grant Hill. After maddening talks with the Magic about the Cavs’ picks, though, Svedda kept the gang together. They rewarded him with a dominant second half, easily overtaking the Raptors for control of the central division. The Cavs rode high stocks and dominant rebounding to 55 wins, but their lack of depth and second-tier offense cost them in the second round. Only four Cavs reached double-figure scoring in any game vs. the Heat, and the Cavs fell in six.
The Indiana Pacers started out the season committed to the tank, having dealt Elton Brand for Lakers picks and unloaded Glenn Robinson for cheap at the 2001 trade deadline. They looked to have found a gem in Rashard Lewis, who they got for picks 17 and 18 in the 2001 draft. After an underwhelming year in Milwaukee, Lewis burst through in TC looked like a foundational piece. Who could blame Sargo for soon undermining his tank, given that the Wolves were somehow offering up Vince Carter for a package of picks highlighted by their own ’03? Highway robbery! All told, the Pacers landed two late lottos with their and the Lakers' picks. They flipped one for Kenyon Martin and took a developed scorer in Milos Vujanic with the other. Low stakes stuff in a very successful season. Also of note: the briefly held the DEN ’04 before flipping it for shotblocking rookie Steven Hunter. That Nuggets pick seemed promising; Royal had surrounded Shaq with the staff of a nursing home. By the end of the year, though, the Nuggets had flipped Shaq and landed a solid core of players in their prime. Final note: the very many Corey Maggette+picks for a superstar offers that Sargo imposed on the league.
Toronto Raptors’ GM Game took over for Caper during the 2001 trading frenzy and made the team his own with a friend trade of Scottie Pippen and John Stockton to Nuggets GM Royal. With a freebie season for Contract Year purposes, Game was playing with house money. He landed a late lotto and snagged Jason Richardson. Would J-Rich prove a successor to franchise player Ray Allen? Not so fast! The Raptors raced out to a division lead behind Ray’s dominant scoring, and it seemed Game would sit tight with a fine playoff team. Rewind to the offseason. The Raptors and Mavs were in trade talks for Ray Allen, but the Raptors insisted on both Jermaine O’Neal and Tony Parker in the deal. Fast-forward to a midseason Ray Allen injury, and the Mavs and Raptors re-engage in trade talks. The Raptors first demand extra pieces with Parker, and talks break off again. With the deadline looming and Jason Kidd gone from Dallas, it seems clear Parker will remain the franchise PG and the Ray trade won’t happen. After a change of heart from Game, the teams agree to Tony Parker and Adonal Foyle for Ray Allen and Shawn Bradley. Raptors get their franchise point guard to pair with J-Rich. Oh, Game also sent Raef LaFrentz to the Nuggets for a late lotto that he used on high-potential tweener DaJuan Wagner.
The story of the Detroit Pistons’ season was whether they’d miss the playoffs without their pick. That’s all, really. Galo shifted parts around during the year but had little to show around superstar PF Chris Webber. At the last minute, he landed shotblocking big Jim McIlvaine and passable wing Tim Thomas from the Sonics at virtually no cost and secured a playoff spot. They lost to the Cavs in the first round and headed into the 2002 offseason in need of a rebuild.
Galo is a mensch and one of the great BBS old-timers, but it was time to trade me Chris Webber.
The Milwaukee Bucks entered 2002 with Rasheed Wallace, a blown draft pick in Jamaal Tinsley, and nothing to do but tank. GM Chipper, somehow already on his second lap in BBS, took his time holding Rasheed, and the Bucks won just enough games to fall out of the race for Yao. Chipper ended up taking the Hornets ’02 from the Celtics and watching the Hornets far outperform expectations to the tune of a near playoff spot. Good news came in the offseason, though, as Chipper used that Hornets pick—the last pick in the lotto—to select taleneted European scoresman Arvydas Macijauskas. The face of hope in Milwaukee before local man Dwyane Wade joins Cream City? Find out next year!
Gary Melvin Jarvis is a senior writer for ESPN.net. When he's not writing, Gary enjoys restoring old cars and collecting internet pornography.
