It's Tuesday, which means a brief jaunt through various offseasons and professional sports. Here goes:
-Last night, sources confirmed that Carmelo Anthony was traded from Denver to New York in a massive three-team, twelve-player deal. You most likely heard this, but in case you weren't briefed on the final details, here are the former and future locations of all nine players involved:
Carmelo Anthony (Denver to New York)
Chauncy Billups (Denver to New York)
Wilson Chandler (New York to Denver)
Raymond Felton (New York to Denver)
Danilo Gallinari (New York to Denver)
Timofey Mozgov (New York to Denver)
Shelden Williams (Denver to New York) (side note- one of my favorite college basketball players EVER)
Anthony Carter (Denver to New York
Renaldo Balkman (Denver to New York)
Anthony Randolph (New York to Minnesota)
Eddy Curry (New York to Minnesota)
Corey Brewer (Minnesota to New York)
Holy crap. Does anyone else's head hurt? But the fun isn't even over yet. In addition to all those swaps, it has also been reported that Denver will get New York's first round draft pick all the way down the line in 2014. They would also get two upcoming second round draft picks that were acquired by NY from the Warriors in the trade for David Lee last offseason. And let's not forget the big heaping sums of cash Denver is getting out of this as well.
Does anyone else think this isn't really that good of a trade for New York? I realize they're trying to clear a lot of salary space, most likely in an attempt to try and land a high profile point guard that goes into free agency soon via CP3 or D-will. Dwight Howard will also be in free agency soon, but seing as the Knicks already have Stoudemire, I don't think that's a primary route they want to take. After all, you've got a star PF and SF now, go get yourself a guard. But back to my original point, I don't think it's that good of a trade. Ignore the money and the draft picks. New York gave up a lot of their young, promising talent in order to put themself in a position where they are ever so slightly closer to being a relevant franchise again. Possibly the most potentially damning part of this trade is the acquisition of Billups. He doesn't have a lot of gas left in the tank, and if the Knicks fail to lock down a star point guard to finalize their own Big 3, they will certainly be in trouble, having traded away major draft picks and a decent portion of their young talented depth. It's certainly a high risk, high reward scenario, but even if eventually get what they want, I don't see them challenging Miami consistently in the future. Carmelo Anthony is good, but he's not LeBron James.
-Stories of late in the MLB are all about who's getting paid lots of money. While this isn't new to fans of the NFL or even the NBA, money isn't really focused on quite as much in baseball. And yet I can't feel like it's dominating storylines of late. Jose Bautista just signed a 65 million dollar contract after hitting 54 HR's for the the blue jays, who have made home run hitting their mantra. Pujols wants 30 million a year. The White sox thing thats "asinine." And why do they so mad again? I missed that part. If you ask a player what he wants in relation to a trade offer, don't get mad when he answers you. Also, in one of the funniest stories I've ever seen, the Texas Rangers captain set up a meeting with a three-year old. But I can't decide what's funnier- the story itself, or the timing which it has been published at. It's certainly a nice thing to do; it's also certainly frivoulously irrelevant with practices well underway. We're not exactly in the midst of the offseason here, sports writers. I want to start hearing about player performances!
-If you're a fan of Virginia Tech, Stinespring seems to have had one of his feet placed out the door by the school. Though he is retaining the title of offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain is actually going to take on the play-calling abilities moving forward into the next football season. Shane Beamer has also been upgraded from RB coach to associate head coach. I'm sure that decision is completely based on his merit, and not at all on his last name.
As far as the draft class goes for this year... do any of you not really put much stock in this set of qb's? Sorry, but if the highest ranked guy under center this year is Gabbert out of Mizzou, I'm thinking I'll stick out with my crap qb's I already have and pick up some nice defensive players. I'm not a big fan of Nick Fairley out of Auburn because I think he's an absolute thug and a bit of a dirty player, and those players generally don't make good, disciplined NFL players. However, I think Clemson's Bowers is a great prospect. I would definitely take him over these crap qb's, even if my team is severely offensively challenged. Not that I'm thinking of any specific team or anything. I would never presume to tell Carolina what to do... ahh. whoops.
Finally, Eric LeGrand, the Rutgers defensive tackle that fractured his c3/c4 vertebrae last season and was hospitalized for a great portion of the season, made his first public appearance on Saturday night. It's clearly a sign that his recovery continues to go well. Doctors were initially unsure if he would ever regain consciousness. He then was declared paralyzed from the neck down when he did wake up. He has since started to regain the use of his shoulders, and has started to feel sensitivity throughout the rest of his body.
Tomorrow, I'll spend some time on the ACC and Pac-10. See you all then.
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