InsideHoops on the Recent Failed Trade

I claim that the big trade that would have sent Ewing and co. away and brought Vin Baker and Glen Rice in return would have been terrific for the Knicks. Gary Payton says that as well. Therefore, no other opinions are valid.

Baker declared last week to be the most traumatic of his life.

Allan Houston has declared those who claim the Knicks are better without Ewing to be insane. That's a paraphrase.

Of course, statements like Houston's may serve to help keep Ewing's trade value high, and therefore bring back higher returns should he get dealt after all. Not that we're accusing Allan Houston of even thinking that, but with the NBA these days, you never know. I know that if I ran a team and wanted to trade a guy, and it was all out in the open, I'd certainly encourage my players to make positive statements about that player to the media. Wouldn't you?

Gary Payton was upset about the deal, for several reasons. For starters, he knew nothing about it. Remember when you heard that the deal was about to be made official? That's when Payton learned about it as well. You'd think management might have thought to speak with the team captain and superstar guard to hear his take on it. Again, hypothetical situation - if you were the General Manager of the Supersonics, wouldn't you ask Payton for his opinion before making a major move? I sure would.

One problem, though - conflict of interest. Payton and Baker are very good friends. Payton referred to Vin as "his best friend" in many recent quotes. You don't want your best friend traded away from your team under any circumstances. Perhaps that's why team management didn't discuss the deal with Payton - they were doing what they thought was best for the team. And perhaps they thought Payton might try to sabotage the deal in an effort to keep his buddy in town.

One could also argue that trading away the best friend of the team superstar would never be best for a team. Perhaps it would result in a slightly subpar season from a disillusioned Gary.

When a guy like Payton carries your team, it's hard to claim that any deal that would upset him is a good deal.

It should also be mentioned that Vin Baker is in his best shape in recent years, having dropped a lot of excess midsection baggage. He's 28, a former NBA All-Star, and he just worked his ass off (both literally and figuratively) to prepare for a hopeful return to all-star form. This is a weird time to deal him away for a 38 year old center with constant injury problems.

Had this deal gone through, the Knicks would have given up Ewing, Dudley and rookie (due to lack of playing time in New York, no one would have known his name, so we'll just call him "rookie.") and gotten Baker and Glen Rice.

While Rice is 34, he's still got game left. He'd play small forward for the Knicks, and either Sprewell or Houston (probably Houston) and perhaps Camby would have been traded for a center (they wanted Mutumbo), or point guard.

Rice and Baker would be weird additions to the Knicks when you consider that the team lacks physical size and strength, and need rebounding help. Neither Rice or Baker are great rebounders or particularly impressive defensive players (Rice can't guard doors, let alone players).

Bottom line for the Knicks? This trade might not have helped the team this coming season, but it would help tremendously starting in 2 or 3 years when Ewing will need to hire Herb Williams and David Wingate to carry him around while Baker is in his prime and Rice is still contributing. New York would have no hope of being under the salary cap, but, really, it's practically a given that they'll always be way over it.

Bottom line for the Sonics? Unless they think that adding Ewing means they can compete with this or next year's Lakers, Blazers, Spurs and Suns for a spot in the NBA finals, they should hold onto Baker. 

And don't piss off Gary Payton.

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8/29/2000
InsideHoops.com

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