Memo to Brad Stevens: You are the new Michael Dukakis in Massachusetts.
For those too young to remember, a short history lesson: Before he got trampled in the 1988 U.S. presidential election, the former governor of Massachusetts tried to toughen up his softie image by doing a photo op with Army troops, riding on an Abrams M1 tank.
The whole thing was so ludicrous, so obviously staged, that Dukakis riding a tank became a euphemism for anything that seemed so completely out of touch with reality that it bordered on the absurd. It was the epitome of a p.r. move that backfired.
Which brings us to today’s three-team trade sending Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to Golden State, Joel Anthony and a future possible first-round pick (it will turn into two second rounders if Philadelphia fails to make the playoffs this season and next) to Boston, and Toney Douglas to the Heat, who will shave about $10 million off their operating costs.
Stevens is now driving the tank.
The rookie NBA coach, who enters tonight’s game riding a nine-game losing streak, loses his third-leading scorer (Crawford was averaging 13.7 points per game) as Danny Ainge takes a gamble that the addition of Nerlens Noel and two lottery picks this June will turn the Sixers into a playoff team next season, thereby giving him an additional first-round pick in 2015. (Boston will already have its own pick, plus the Clippers’ pick. And this June, they have their own pick plus Brooklyn’s).
So that’s five first-round picks for the Celtics in 2014 and 2015 (or four if Philly can’t crack the top 8 in the East next season), plus the Nets’ first-round picks in 2016 and 2018 and the right to swap picks with Brooklyn in 2017.
That’s a lot for the Celtics to work with going forward, and I have to give kudos to Ainge for stockpiling the cupboard for the future.
As for Stevens, he’ll always have the memory of sitting in first place in the Atlantic Division in December of 2013, and now he can look forward to avoiding the longest losing streak in league history — 26 by the Cavs in their first season without LeBron.
As for the rest of the trade:
WARRIORS – They were getting very, very little from Douglas (3.7 points, 0.8 assists in 11.0 minutes) as their backup point guard, showing just how much they missed Jarrett Jack after he left as a free agent. Spellchecker enemy Nemanja Nedovic likely steps in as the backup PG, and Crawford becomes a player who can step in as a starter the next time Steph Curry rolls his ankle. As bad as Douglas was, somehow he was the Warriors’ leading backcourt scorer off the bench. They also get to take a flyer on Brooks, who has been a bust since averaging 12.6 points for the Nets as a rookie two seasons ago. A very nice trade by Bob Myers.
HEAT – Is this a signal that Greg Oden is ready to contribute? Or it is merely a way to limit the damage to Micky Arison’s wallet. Anthony became even more worthless than he already was when the Heat signed Chris Andersen midway through last season, and we can debate all day whether Anthony is better or worse than Dexter Pittman. Picking up Douglas, who is a terrific on-the-ball defender, will help the Heat on nights when Dwayne Wade is resting. The Heat will not need Douglas to score.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Chris
Are you trying to say that we’d make the playoffs by keep Crawford.? I certainly hope not! Are you aware, Rajon Rondo is ready to assume his PG role – I’m sure you are. And what Ainge did was finally clear up his backcourt surplus and make it more manageable. He gets a couple of draft picks, one could be a 1st rd pick. Let’s face it Crawford and MB were not coming back next season. So we get 2 picks for guys who were leaving after the season. Are we worse for not having them, not sure – I think I’d rather have Rondo. and once he gets back and proves he’s healthy, there wouldn’t be many minutes for Crawford, and in the past that hasn’t been good for his or his team morale.
He also add a center who is a rim protector (maybe). But at least he’s a center.
As a lifelong W’s fan who has watched the backup backcourt nearly every game, the Ws were dying for any offense from the bench; Crawford, though a gunner, at least can make some shots; if Brooks can somehow find that 12.6 ppg form, this would be an amazing trade for simply Douglas. While Miller and Hinrich are bigger names, I’ve got a feeling that Crawford, after Stevens’ coaching, is the simply better player now.
I can tell you that MarShon Brooks’ game has not declined at all. He is still an offensive machine, but he needs significant minutes for the “SWAG” to flow properly. He can always create a shot and finish near the rim. When he is forced to think too much, his game suffers.
His problem has always been poor defense, which I don’t understand why he hasn’t improved, since everyone has always been telling him he needs to improve to get more minutes. He also doesn’t always seem to be focused on helping his teammates (he’s considered selfish), even though MarShon is not a bad guy.
Dukakis lede is lame. Story fine, love the site but goodness Chris, sometimes clever ain’t happening. Take care
Sorry u didn’t like it. But you know what? I liked it. So did a bunch of my tweeps.
I liked the Dukakis photo, but its not because it looked staged that it hurt him, its that the actual video made him look like someone’s child, riding in a tank. If Obama were to have posed for same photo, he’d look like a regular soldier, which might or might not be good for his reputation. Actually, it was not showing any compassion on the Rape question in a debate that hurt Dukakis more.
Also remember how they turned the photo in 2004, of John Kerry carrying game he shot, on a hunting photo op, against him – They already had photos of Kerry Sailing and WindSurfing, something “regular” people can’t afford to do. It was OK for Bush to be seen as a Beer drinking regular guy. Kerry might have won if he had chosen General Wesley Clark as his VP, as Kerry didn’t want to believe that Foreign Policy would have been seen as a weakness.
I confess to have led the internet campaign that got Wesley Clark 1st place in the MSNBC VeepStakes for 6 consecutive weeks over 2nd place John Edwards (we knew Edwards was a prick).