The Last NBA post in a while

We've hit the dog days of sports when only the mid-summer moves of Major League Baseball can keep a sports fan interested. No NFL, no NBA, but there are a few of things going on with at least one of those sports.

Vinsanity to Orlando. Shaq to Cleveland. Amare to Golden State?

1. The Vince Carter deal. What a great deal for Orlando. Really, really good deal. They get an athletic wing that can play the 2 or 3, can take over games late, create shots for others, hits 3 pointers and is probably at the point in his career where he wants to play with other good players and will defer to them to win a championship. Basically, he's a poor man's Kobe Bryant. And all they really gave up is Courtney Lee, who can be a good player but will never be a Vince Carter. Now, Orlando looks like a championship contender even if they don't resign Hedo Turkoglu. If they do resign him, they have to be considered the favorites in the East.

2. Shaq to Cleveland. Another great deal for the Cavs that came about a half a year too late. If they do this deal in February, they might be celebrating a title. At least now, they get a motivated Diesel who will do the things they need: frontcourt scoring, rebounding, defense, toughness. Now they need a guard who's taller than 6'3". Even with Shaq, they won't be able to beat the Lakers if they don't have someone who can check Kobe.

3. Amare to Golden State? If this is true and it happens, then I guess the Suns have given up on trying to be a contender. They really blew it when they traded Marion for Shaq and the Shaq to Cleveland deal is a partial admission of it. They had a great core that was in contention every year but no depth. So they decided to trade the core. D'oh. This is why the NBA only has a few great teams and a lot of mediocre to bad teams. The GMs are just kind of dumb sometimes. In fairness to Steve Kerr, Robert Sarver has demonstrated time and again that he won't pay the luxury tax even if it means winning a title. So with this deal, Phoenix is saying that instead of rebuilding around an explosive 26 power forward/center, they've decided to rebuild around an aging 35 year old point guard in Steve Nash.

A few more NBA thoughts

- Derek Fisher is very quietly having a pretty damn good Finals series. He's averaging 10 points on 50% shooting from both the field and the 3 point line.

- Kobe just didn't come through. He wanted it so bad that he could shoot straight. He had the worst 31 point game a player can have. Took too many shots, was way too cold in the second half and missed free throws and an open layup that would have tied the game. The ghost of Nick Anderson was haunting Kobe of all people.

- That said, Orlando played as good a game as they're going to play in the Finals. They shot an astounding 62.5% from the field and still only won by 4. Think about that. They almost lost a game where they shot more than 60%. I expect the Lakers to clamp down better on defense in Game 4 and pull it out. Of course, I always expect the Lakers to win, so I may not be the best predictor here.

One NBA Finals thought

Hedo Turkoglu commits an offensive foul every time he brings the ball up court or drives to the basket. And that's not a bad joke about the quality of his play. He's a talented player, but he leads with his right elbow as he drives with his left hand dribbling the ball. He frequently pushes off with his elbow and then will use that elbow to get tangled up with his defender and get bailed out with a foul call. But he should be the one the refs call foul on. You just can't lead with your elbow. Other players do push off, but they do it subtly with their hands and at least try to hide it. Hedo's not subtle.