NBA Finals preview

By Rick Morris

From the "frozen envelope" to the Tim Donaghy scandal, David Stern's marketing-obsessed reign over the NBA has led to a plethora of conspiracy theories over the past quarter-century. The sudden revival of the league's greatest rivalry in the form of this year's championship series will do nothing to quiet the "Oh, isn't THAT convenient" crowd.

Ultimately, though, the biggest reason that the Lakers and Celtics will renew their epic historical struggle in the NBA Finals is the fact that two players from the 1980s glory days in this rivalry got very, very lucky. Mitch Kupchak absolutely swindled the Memphis Grizzlies to pick up Pao Gasol in one of the most disgraceful deals in league history. Gasol became an absolutely vital part for the Lakers when their budding star center Andrew Bynum ended up on the sidelines for the rest of the season. On the other side of the country, Danny Ainge got out the credit card, completely mortgaged the Celtics' future, but ended up with exactly the short-term jolt that was necessary to save his job when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce to form a "Big Three" for the ages.

[SIDE NOTE: This is the ultimate test of sincerity for fans of a downtrodden team who say, "Man, if they could just win it all ONCE, I'd never complain if they went back to being horrible again." Boston fans have suffered ever since the final remnants of their destiny evaporated in the early '90s when Larry Bird's retirement and Reggie Lewis' tragic passing combined with the earlier Len Bias tragedy ended the dream. The Celtics have an awesome short-term window in these Finals and probably even next year. If they get over the top, will fans cry when they end up back in the lottery when these aging stars can no longer live up to their Hall of Fame legacies? We shall see.]

The four best players in this series are, of course, Kobe Bryant, Garnett, Pierce and Allen, probably in that order although some might still rank Allen ahead of Pierce. The fifth-best player is undoubtedly Gasol; in the unlikely event he comes close to matching Pierce and/or Allen over the course of the series, the Lakers should win in five. In the much more unlikely event that Gasol and Lamar Odom come close to matching Allen and Pierce collectively, the Lakers should win in a sweep.

Given their progress over the course of the season, the Lakers have to be considered the favorites notwithstanding Boston's superior record and home-court designation. They broke less of a sweat against generally superior competition in the West bracket. They also have a huge edge in three critical areas: the best player, the best coach and the best depth.

However, ignored in the flush of LA's big win over San Antonio was the fact that the team offense really fell off in that series. With the league's best defense awaiting them in the finals, Kobe has to work to keep all of his teammates involved in the scoring and not fall into his bad and selfish habits that have held back his teams in the past. Paradoxically, he could end up falling into that trap because of how easy scoring may come to him in the Finals; Allen is coming off of a sub-par performance guarding Rip Hamilton in the East Finals.

For the Celtics, the key balance in the series will be resting their precious troika enough while not letting the bench squander the series. James Posey continues to be one of the best role players in the league, but he doesn't have much help, especially relative to LA's deep roster of matchup possibilities. Sam Cassell in particular has been an absolute disgrace down the stretch.

Ultimately, in one of those magic touches that make so many conspiracy nuts start foaming at the mouth, this series appears poised to end with one of hoops history's greatest ironies. Given the enmity that existed between Red Auerbach and Phil Jackson, how odd will it be for Big Chief Triangle to surpass the old master, in Boston no less, by being the first NBA coach to garner ten titles? We should get to find out. Lakers in six.

Grading the final NBA trades of the year

By Rick Morris

ESPN.com’s John Hollinger has broken down the recent NBA trades and he has delivered grades to all teams involved. I’m going to limit my own grades to the teams in serious contention this year, because the quest for a title in the short term was the most dramatic element involved in this remarkable flurry of deals. Having said that, though, if I were going to grade Seattle, I’d give them an A+ for clearing out insane cap room to put together with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and whichever amazing stud from the top of this year’s draft class that winds up with them – it’s just a shame for their great fans that the people in Oklahoma City will be the ones watching up-close when they’re making serious title runs in the next decade. Likewise, I’d have given an A+ to Miami for setting themselves up to have the league’s best nucleus in the next few years: Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley.

Los Angeles Lakers A Coach Pop is right; the league does need a trade review committee. Memphis got absolutely nothing in return for a legitimate star who poses matchup problems. Clearly, the Grizzlies are worshipping at the false altar of cap space. They should go ask Crumbs Krause how that ends up sometimes. The Trevor Ariza deal also helped the Lakers in terms of having enough usable depth to make the Gasol deal.

Atlanta A- The Hawks gave up absolutely nothing to add Mike Bibby, thereby solving a longtime need at point guard and procuring a shooter who can spread the floor. What’s not to like?

Cleveland A- I agree completely with the grade that Hollinger assigned. The Cavs had three main deficiencies for the past few years: point guard, an extra shooter and frontcourt enforcer. They upgraded substantially in all three areas, while not parting with anyone indispensable. Hilariously, the idiot-basher part of the Cleveland fanbase, which is one of the worst in sports, represented strongly prior to the trade in priceless fashion as no less than 16 different brain surgeons bashed outstanding Akron Beacon-Journal beat reporter Brian Windhorst for correctly indicating that a big move was underway.

San Antonio B+ They won a title with the same nucleus last year – well, scratch that, they won with much less production out of Manu Manu. Now, they add Mighty Mouse Stoudamire and Kurt Thomas to the mix. Right now, they are stronger than last year at a point when they definitely needed to be better.

New Orleans B- Once again, I agree exactly with Hollinger’s grade. Bonzi Wells fills a hole at two-guard, the only one that the Hornets have had, but the bench remains suspect. The starting lineup is very good, but not as top-heavy as other Western competitors, notwithstanding Chris Paul’s ascension to megastar this year and the fact that he’s second only to Lebron James in MVP worthiness this year.

Phoenix B- The Suns took a ginormous risk by turning their system upside down, but there’s reason to believe they will see some approximation of the Shaq of old rather than an old Shaq. Shawn Marion’s an excellent real player and an even better roto one, but he’s a small price to pay as the key component of a deal for one of the greatest centers of all time. Phoenix will now be a bit more balanced offensively and more able to play the half-court game that is so important in the playoffs.

Utah B- On the nights when “Bad Korver” materializes, the team won’t be any better off than it was before. On the nights when “Good Korver” is in the house, the Jazz will be much more frightening.

Dallas C+ Aside from Devin Harris, I don’t feel that the Mavs parted with anyone individually of any consequence. But collectively, they lost a lot of depth. Everyone points to the Phoenix as an example of a team that threw its approach of the last few years out of the window because they can’t run as much with Shaq in town. But the top-heavy Dirk/Kidd/Howard approach represents just as dramatic and risky of a break from the past in Big D.

Detroit, Boston and Orlando C- In this climate, if you’re not moving decisively forward, you’re falling behind. Granted, Danny Ferry didn’t complete his deal until the 11^th hour and many doubted whether he’d be able to get anything done with the Cavs’ plethora of bad contracts, but the gamble that he would not be able to by the Pistons and Celtics greatly reduced the chance of a late ‘80s throwback in the Eastern finals. Much as I was unimpressed by the Pistons’ moves, I don’t think the Magic sufficiently addressed their hole at two-guard or their overall need for depth.

Houston D- They’re even more of a two-man team than before and firmly on the periphery of Western relevance.