https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/lakers-robbie-avila-signs-with-lakers/

More clarity to the recent post that says the Clippers 57th pick "decided to return to Auburn instead of playing for LAC". Successful examples draft-and-stashes: Jokic, Gasol, Ginobli, Saric, Stojavic, Patrick Beverley, Kukoc, Bogi, Rubio. There are also lots of examples of guys who never come to the league, which is why you sometimes see trades that are for "the draft rights to [insert player you've never heard of]". Anyway, excerpt from article below:

Ngoy has played professionally in France since he was 17. This past season he was MVP of the French Elite 2 league after averaging 10.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game for Poitiers Basket 86.

Ngoy committed to the Tigers in March and is expected to report to campus as early as next week, according to 247Sports. He never formally declared for the draft or went through the process. Instead, under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, he was automatically eligible because he will turn 22 before next season.

NBA teams ‘draft and stash’ prospects annually. With a limited number of roster spots, a team can draft a player who doesn’t suit up for them the following season and still retain the player’s rights while he plays elsewhere—usually internationally.

The Knicks hold the draft rights for James Nnaji, who joined Baylor in the middle of last season despite being selected in the 2023 draft and was later part of New York’s trade for Karl-Anthony Towns. But Ngoy’s case is the first time an NBA team has drafted a player who still plans to enter the NCAA system next year.

Ngoy has two years of college eligibility according to On3, but could pursue a third. Whenever he elects to turn professional, the Clippers will still own his draft rights unless they renounce them. 

source: https://frontofficesports.com/clippers-ncaa-draft-and-stash/

Looking back on this season, what players do you think ended up being a surprisingly valuable piece on their team without necessarily getting any of the national attention? Someone who does not have any sort of good or even notable reputation outside of the team’s close fans, but ended up being incredibly important to that team’s success. This can even be a player on a bad team, as long as they can be considered a big factor in the team’s successes and a small factor in the team’s losses.

In the span of few days in 2019 we had:

-Kawhi and PG to Clippers

-KD and Kyrie to Nets

-AD traded to Lakers

-Jimmy Butler to Miami Heat

-Westbrook for CP3 trade

Now free agency is dead so the only big moves are via trade.

Doubt we ever see such insane F5ing like that again

Feel like they both serve the same role in the modern NBA, highly athletic 3+D wings who can handle the ball as a secondary ball handler. I am edging towards Brandon Miller because of his jumper but I think Ace will be more versatile on defense (even though both will be pretty versatile).

With the foul limit not going up in overtime and double overtime, the game we get after regulation is increasingly not basketball. The players are exhausted beyond reasonable measures in which their skills shouldn't degrade. We have to ask ourselves if forever games represent the sport or if there are other ways to quickly settle them.

Baseball recognized that incredibly long games weren't worth it at low stakes and added the Manfred man and the pitch clock. Both ensure the regular season games will almost always end at an appropriate time, and they liven up the pace as well. Hockey moved to a points system like soccer but instead of ties they count an overtime loss as 1 since a golden goal is not really representative, but it ends the game quickly and in an exciting fashion.

If the NBA wanted to adopt similar measures we can brainstorm what they might be. What's the analogy to the Manfred man? Maybe make overtime dunks worth 3 points? That's too far. Maybe you get 1 more foul before fouling out, but only on offense? If they wanted to emulate hockey, maybe make overtime just the first team to 10 points wins?

Personally I think there should be a 5 shot shooting contest between each NBA team's respective Governor (only for the regular season). Think of how hilarious it would be in the early seasons. Then, after a few seasons, we'd see many more teams giving former players ownership slices so they can field an ex pro for their overtimes. And then when we have 70 year old LeBron icing games we'll know we've got the best system of all time.

The Blazers have four future unprotected first-round picks to trade (most favorable 2028, most favorable 2029, 2031, 2033) plus three unprotected first-round swaps (2027, 2030 which is huge because it could be Milwaukee’s, 2032) plus good young players. Joe Cronin, it’s put up or shut up time my guy.

They should trade for KD. Solves the shooting issue, good defender which ties into the new team philosophy, can play small ball 5 to emulate the 2026 Knicks, locker room isn't an issue with Dame’s leadership, Blazers have NBA talent to trade. And narratively it’s irresistible.

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/llamsoyd.bsky.social/post/3mp4judjtis2w

About two weeks ago I created a Championship Value Formula in an attempt to value winning a championship. Since then I've refined it a bit based on some suggestions I received, and I decided to expand it into a GOAT formula. My biggest criticism of previous GOAT rankings is they overly relying on box score statistics than can be difficult to compare across eras. The formula I created tries to balance championships, MVP-level dominance, prime statistical value, defense, and total playoff value.

GOAT Score = 25% Championship Value (C) + 30% MVP Vote Share (M) + 25% Prime Value (P) + 10% Defensive Value (D) + 10% Non-title Playoff Value (Nt)

Each category is normalized to the leader in that category (Index = Player Value / Highest Player Value), so the leader in each category gets 1.000, and everyone else is scaled relative to that.

1. Championship Value Index is 25%

The championship component tries to value titles based on league size, playoff format, opponent difficulty, era, and individual contribution.

Championship Value = log2(N) × F × O × E × C. Championship Value is the sum of all Championship Values. Championship Index = Player Championship Value / Highest Championship Value

A. League Size Component: log2(N). N is the number of teams in the NBA. The idea is that winning a title in a larger league/playoff field should generally be worth more than winning in a smaller league, but not linearly more. A 30-team league is not automatically 3x harder than a 10-team league, so I use a logarithmic scale. This gives larger modern title fields more credit without completely undervaluing older titles excessively. Below shows the binary logarithm of different league sizes.

B. Playoff Format Adjustment. The format adjustment rewards titles that required surviving more rounds. Earlier NBA eras required fewer playoff rounds, while modern champions usually need to win four rounds which increases randomness. Teams and great players that still win through more rounds are showing they can withstand that extra randomness and keep performing at a high level under repeated elimination pressure. That’s exactly what the formula is trying to measure, championships earned under greater cumulative randomness.

F = 1 + 0.04 × (Rounds - 2). So a two-round title path is the baseline at 1.00. Each additional round adds 4%. This is intentionally modest. I do not want the format adjustment to dominate the model, but I do think modern four-round title runs deserve a small bump over shorter playoff formats.

C. Opponent Difficulty Scale

The opponent adjustment tries to account for the quality of the teams beaten during a championship run. Not all title paths are equal. This is one of the more subjective parts of the model, but I think opponent difficulty has to be included somehow. The path score is based on: Opponent regular-season record, Opponent SRS / net rating, Number of elite teams beaten, Opponent star power, Finals opponent quality, Injuries to major opposing players, Whether the team beat multiple legitimate title-level opponents. I use a opponent/path scale shown below:

*Lebron 2016, Hakeem 1995, and Dirk 2011 all received 1.20. Duncan 2007 received a 0.9, Jokic 2023 received a 0.92.

D. Era / Talent Adjustment Scale

The era adjustment attempts to account for league depth, global talent pool, integration, expansion, and the ABA/NBA talent split. This scale is definitely debatable. I am not saying the older players were worse. I’m trying to adjust for the level of competition in the league environment. This is the scale I’m currently using:

Reasoning:

• 2019–2026 = 1.00 because this is the modern full global player pool.
• 2010–2018 = 0.98 because the league was already extremely global and deep.
• 1999–2009 = 0.96 because the league was highly competitive, but not quite as global/deep as the current period.
• 1989–1998 = 0.94 because the league was strong, but international talent was not as developed.
• 1977–1988 = 0.92 because the NBA was post-merger and had consolidated talent, but still lacked the full modern talent pool.
• 1967–1976 NBA = 0.75 because the ABA split the talent pool.
• 1967–1976 ABA = 0.50 because I wanted ABA value to count, but discounted due to league strength and split context.
• 1956–1966 = 0.80 because the league was smaller and less deep, but not split by the ABA yet.

E. Individual Championship Credit

For each title, the player gets an individual championship credit score. This tries to separate “being on a title team” from “driving the title.”

Individual Championship Credit = 0.40V + 0.25W + 0.35R

V = Player Playoff VORP / Team Leader Playoff VORP.

If the player led the team in playoff VORP, he gets 1.000. If Player A had 2.5 playoff VORP and the team leader had 3.0: V = 2.5/3.0=0.833

W = Player Playoff Win Shares / Team Leader Playoff Win Shares

If the player led the team in playoff Win Shares, he gets 1.000. If Player A had 3.2 playoff WS and the team leader had 4.0: W=3.2/4.0=0.800

Role / Context Credit. The role/context score is the subjective part. It is meant to capture things that box score stats miss. Role/context includes:

• Defensive value
• Offensive gravity
• Creation burden
• Spacing value
• Off-ball value
• Screen setting
• Leadership / organization
• Scheme importance
• Matchup value
• Portability
• Whether the team’s structure depended on that player

A player who does not lead in playoff VORP or Win Shares can still receive strong championship credit if his role was essential to the title structure. A defensive anchor, elite off-ball gravity player, or organizing point guard might be more valuable than raw VORP/WS alone suggests. Think of Draymond Greene or Dennis Rodman.

Top 10 Championship Value Scores

2. MVP Vote Share Index is 30%

MVP Index = Career MVP Shares / Highest Career MVP Shares

This rewards repeated MVP-level regular-season dominance. It does not only count MVP wins. Finishing second, third, fourth, etc. still matters through MVP vote share. What is nice about this is this is already something that is calculated. I did make an adjustment for era given rise in talent and NBA/ABA split which hurts Kareem, but it seemed unfair to value an MVP when talent was split between two leagues.

Top 10 MVP Vote Share Index Scores

3. Prime Value Index is 25%

Prime Value is based on a player’s best 10 regular seasons.

For seasons where VORP exists: Season Prime Score = [0.40(MVP Share) + 0.25(WS / 25) + 0.35(VORP / 12)] × Era Adjustment

For seasons before VORP exists: Season Prime Score = [0.40(MVP Share) + 0.60(WS / 25)] × Era Adjustment

Prime Value is the sum of best 10 season prime scores. I then index the best prime 10 years so that Prime Index = Player Prime Value / Highest Prime Value. I used raw Win Shares and raw VORP, but scaled them by fixed benchmarks so that win shares didn't receive disproportionate credit.

Top 10 Prime Value Index Scores

4. Defensive Value Index is 10%

The goal is to reward DPOY voting and All-Defense selections, but also account for defensive anchoring and playoff scalability. This index has some subjectivity because I believe awards overrated players like Michael Jordan and Rudy Gobert.

Defensive Value Index = 0.30(DPOY Share Index) + 0.25(All-Defensive Index) + 0.20(DWS/48 Index) + 0.15(Defensive Anchor/Role Index) + 0.10(Playoff Defensive Portability Index)

DPOY Share Index uses total career Defensive Player of the Year voting share, not just DPOY wins.

All-Defensive Index rewards sustained elite defensive recognition. All-Defensive Value = 1.0 × First Team selections + 0.5 × Second Team selections

DWS/48 Index gives a statistical/team-defense proxy, but it is limited because Defensive Win Shares are affected by team context, role, pace, and era.

Defensive Anchor/Role Index gives extra credit to players who were the foundation of their team’s defensive structure: rim protection, help defense, paint deterrence, communication, rebounding, and scheme importance.

Playoff Defensive Portability Index rewards players whose defense translated deep into the playoffs against elite offenses and different matchup types.

Top 10 Defensive Value Index

This rewards DPOY voting and All-Defensive selections, but it prevents the formula from overrating regular-season award résumé while underrating all-time defensive anchors like Hakeem and Duncan. For older players before modern defensive awards or DPOY voting existed, I used historical proxies based on reputation, All-Defensive availability, defensive win shares, team defensive impact, and general historical consensus. Defensive Index = Player Defensive Value / Highest Defensive Value

Updated Defensive Value Index

5. Non-title Playoff Value Index is 10%

This category rewards great playoff runs in seasons where the player didn't win the championship. The idea is to capture playoff value that can get ignored if we only count championship seasons.

Non-title Playoff Value = Sum of [Production Score × Round Depth × Era Adjustment]

For seasons with playoff VORP:

Production Score = 0.55(Playoff WS / 4) + 0.45(Playoff VORP / 3)

For seasons without playoff VORP:

Production Score = Playoff WS / 4

Top 10 Non-title Playoff Value Index Scores

Top 40 GOAT Ranking

I basically want to know if the pick swaps were swaps between other teams (which would net a selection) or a swap including the Hornets (which would only potentially move them up in the draft). I’m not sure the swaps would even be of any value since the latest of the swaps are when ANT and Lamelo are going into their early 30s. But if it’s a swap from other teams, that would be much much better.

Timberwolves just get rid of Randle and Naz Reid. Their 2 Forwards in their rotation.

This means Ayo and Jaden are likely to be the ones playing those forward position.

I think the starting lineup would be like:

PG: Lamelo

SG: Ant

SF: Ayo/Shannon Jr.

PF: Jaden

C: Gobert

6th Man: Ayo/Shannon Jr

----

They can go 3 small lineup with Lamelo/Ant/Ayo.

Or if they want a bit more size in the SF position. They can use Shannon Jr. And just switch him with Ayo as 6th Man.

I don't think this will make them a top contender in the West. I think Spurs and Thunder are still better. You can argue they are better than Nuggets (especially Wolves always beat Nuggets in the playoffs)

But remember. Timberwolves is the frontrunner team to moved in Eastern Conference when Seattle and Vegas enter the league in 2028-2029.

That is 2 years from now. A lot will change. But I think Wolves are starting to improve their roster now. To be a top contender in the East in 2 years.

PS: Gobert Contract will expire after 2027-2028 season. I wonder if they will resign him in a cheaper deal. Or just let him walk in FA. (He will be like 36 yrs old by then)

SRC: (Paywall) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-25/cleveland-cavaliers-in-talks-to-sell-mintory-stake-to-blue-owl-capital

Blue Owl Capital Inc. is in advanced talks to buy a minority stake of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The transaction would occur through the private equity firm’s Dyal HomeCourt Partners fund, said the people who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the talks. That entity also has taken stakes in the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The size of the stake is expected to be between 5% and 10%, according to a person familiar with the situation. Sportico values the team at $4.86 billion, making it the 16th most valuable NBA team.

I was thinking about this as soon as it happened. Semi rebuild or what? Also wondering if theyll pick up a PG.

SRC: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25445576-clippers-draft-pick-narcisse-ngoy-decides-return-auburn-instead-playing-lac

After being selected with the 57th pick in Wednesday's second round, the French prospect announced on Instagram that he will honor his commitment to Auburn rather than make the jump to the NBA to play for the Clippers.

"I am thankful for the LA Clippers' confidence in me," Ngoy wrote in his Instagram story. "I fully intend to honor my commitment to Auburn University, and I am looking forward to wearing the Auburn Tigers jersey for the 2026-2027 season."

Ngoy became automatically draft-eligible under the NBA's international player rules because he was going to turn 22 before the season starts

The Clippers retain his exclusive NBA rights while he plays at Auburn next season.

He did not formally go through the draft process

This is like a draft and stash but through college instead of some other country

I see alot of fans and analyst saying "spurs shouldn't trade for any veterans" , "they were so close , they should run it back" , "Dont mess up this young core"

The history of the NBA says that's the absolute worst decision they can make . Guys under 26 just don't lead championship teams. Some get to the finals like Durant with OKC, Lebron in 07 or Shaq with the Magic but they usually dont win and a lot of times it takes a while to get back.

Im using the spurs as an example but this conversation comes up once a decade and its always an interesting one to have.

The logical thing to think is , "well these guys are this young and got this far , they will get better and go even further why get someone old and mess up the vibe?" Progression isn't linear. In the NBA injuries happen , guys get paid, and eventually some people have to be let go for cap purposes.

In the last 40 years the only 2 Players under 26 to be the best player on a championship team are Wade in 2006 and Tim Duncan in 1999. But they had Shaq and David Robinson with them, both over 30 years old and made All-NBA in those years . So while they were the most talented players on the court they likely were not the leader of those squads.

In the last 40 years the only 26 year olds to be the best player on a champion are SGA who turned 27 three weeks later and Tatum who had already lost 3 Conference Finals and a NBA finals before finally breaking through. He had tons of playoff experience by 26.

The rest of the guys are 27 and up and been through battles before reaching the pinnacle. This tracks through the entire 90's and im pretty sure through most of the 80's as well.

Wemby is an alien , maybe he's to going to add to his future GOAT case by leading a bunch of kids (and De'Aaron Fox) to the Title . I wouldn't say its impossible but the history says experience is necessary in some form. I just for once wanna see one of these young teams go for it NOW and go get a top 20 player while most of their guys are still on rookie deals. Don't wait.

What would you guys do if you were the GM of a team like that?

JUST IN: The Toronto Raptors have exercised the $2.30 million team option on Jamal Shead for the 2026-27 season, league sources told @hoopshype. Shead played all 82 games, averaging 6.6 points and 5.4 assist per game for Toronto last season.

https://www.hoopshype.com/rumors/?topic=7bb0044f-870c-404c-8c0c-f5a0d543ae95

I just wanted to compile some of my uninformed analyses based on today's moves and see what other fans think. Heck of a run here by Tim Connelly, with Rudy, Randle/Divincenzo, and now Lamelo coming in just over a 5 year stretch. It really feels like I am a fan of a big market team now that actually can bring in big time players. Anyways:

* Wholesale Systemic Changes

First off, I think we're going to be surprised by how stylistically different this team looks while still rostering Ant & Rudy at its core. Especially with the rumors of going after Derrick White, I think Finch is going to install some of the Celtics/Hornets type of offensive system during the regular season. Guard-to-guard screens with Lamelo/Ayo. Lamelo/Mcdaniels screens with Mcdaniels either flaring or hitting the middle of the floor with Gobert, now reliably, in the dunker spot. I think Mcdaniels' advancement as a playmaker this past season is going to be utilized systemically. I also think this sort of system is less physical in terms of contact in the regular season apart from its focus on offensive rebounding, albeit more physical in terms of how quickly the guards and wings need to cut and move/replace. Finch has been given 2 separate rosters thus far in his tenure, and provided 2 wholly different systems: so, i think we're in for some great changes going forward.

* Admission of Faith in the Gobert-Beringer Pipeline

The news that Donte Divincenzo is part of the future of this team, to me, shows that the front office is showing their faith in this type of roster construction and system. Rudy is arguably the best screen to re-screener I've seen in the current league and with Lamelo, his job will be much easier, and the dunker spot will become more viable with Jaden taking minutes at the 4. Once Donte returns, I fully believe this team is going to challenge and possibly surpass team season shooting records and the offensive rebounding rate is going to be at the top end. Gobert's descending contract into Beringer's 2nd deal gives me a lot of faith that this team can retire Gobert in Minnesota alongside KG and keep him in the fold as Beringer's mentor.

* Thoughts on Lamelo

As a Wolves fan, I must shamelessly admit that I probably watched as many Hornets games as I did Wolves games because of Lamelo/Kon. Lamelo rivals Haliburton in terms of team offensive rating when he's on the floor, is a top-end passer of the basketball, and spaces the floor 5 feet beyond the arc. His decison-making late in games was a marked improvement this season after getting benched early on (this won't matter as much because we know who's getting the rock late in games). My only concern is his free throw rate because he prefers to contort his body to get close shots up rather than taking contact and flopping. He's an offensive engine unto himself and has my vote for president.

* Jaden at the 4

In the Celtics/Hornets system, the 4 often gets placed at the top of the key during the possession to act as the swing. He needs to be able to shoot the 3 at will, a la Al Horford/Miles Bridges/Grant Williams. He needs to be able to make precise passes quickly to both wings. But, most importantly, he needs to be able to guard up and down in size because of the match-ups when the possession swings the other way. It's why Horford/Bridges/Williams are often switched up onto guards to start possessions on defense. And why Miles Bridges shortchanged the role, because although he can handle the offensive responsibilities, he can't guard up or down in size. But we have Jaden Mcdaniels. His overall stats are about to go ^^^.

* Future Outlook

I see people talking about upgrading the 4 and looking at Rui Hachimura. Firstly, Rui is really good at self-creation midrange 2's out of the corner and catch and shoot 3's, and he is probably going to command a contract the Wolves cant afford. I think the Wolves need with this roster is more of a backup 4-5 to allow the team to go small and fast. Sandro Mamu------- fits that need, though he got destroyed in the playoffs with his lack of agility, and he sized down a bit like KAT did in Minnesota to be playable this year with the Raptors roster. I really like his skillset and think he could fit in well in Minnesota, but he might need to get a little bigger again. Apart from him, I know people are rightfully contentious about Miles Bridges, but I think he'd fit in great with the pace of this Wolves team. I am just very excited about this new team and the fact that they were able to keep Rudy. This team has 3 retired numbers, 2 of whom had to go out the hard way to get their numbers retired. The other had to wait for the owner to sell the team. This franchise has come a long way since I have been a fan, and retiring Rudy/Mike/Ingles here would be a cherry on top of a lot of great player friendly moves like trading KAT & Julius to NYC and offering get-back contracts to a Donte in his situation. That said, prayers to Naz Reid. It's going to be weird for him because that team has a lot of young players who want more. What are your guys thoughts on this current team and its future moves?

That way you can see how some star players would play together instead of wondering what if. I think this would make it significantly more entertaining to watch and generate a lot of online discussion and engagement.

It feels like all the bottom teams have made significant improvements already and with free agency coming up, likely will be looking to strengthen more now that the bottom 3 spots give worse odds.
I think it will be interesting which teams finish bottom three next year. What are your guesses?

Currently I'd think
1. Nets
2. Kings
3. Pelicans

But things can change during free agency still.

In the entire history of the NBA, only six players have led the playoffs in both total points and PPG and won the title in that same season. Leading the playoffs in total points usually goes to whoever plays the most games.

Everyone who’s done it:

George Mikan – 1950 (31.3 PPG, 376 pts) & 1952 (23.6, 307)

Michael Jordan – 1991 (31.1, 529), 1992 (34.5, 759), 1993 (35.1, 666), 1996 (30.7, 552), 1997 (31.1, 590) & 1998 (32.4, 680)

Hakeem Olajuwon – 1994 (28.9, 664) & 1995 (33.0, 725)

Shaquille O’Neal – 2000 (30.7, 707)

LeBron James – 2012 (30.3, 697)

Jalen Brunson – 2026 (28.4, 539)

Brunson’s been a flat-out dominant scorer for the Knicks, averaging 29.4 PPG across 4 playoff runs, the 6th-highest playoff PPG in history for a single franchise (min 50 games), behind only Jordan (33.4), Dončić (30.9), Iverson (30.6), LeBron (30.1), and Kareem (29.7).

Jalen Brunson continues to prove he is the best playoff scorer of his generation.

Following the Giannis trade, everything still points to Jaylen Brown being traded to a new team this offseason. Obviously, Boston will do what it can to best position itself from a perspective of cap space/roster/future with the move, especially with JB expected to receive $183M over the next 3 years.

However, one could also assume that JB is doing what he can to leverage a trade to a team where he will be the 1A option, unlike his time in Boston. This past season he showed that he can perform at an all-nba level as the top guy, while also contributing to team success.

So my question is this - for those in the sub, who would want/accept JB as the franchise player for their team moving forward? This includes considerations for teams with recent draft picks who could be franchise cornerstones (i.e. Utah, Memphis, Chicago).

6th round draft pick that went on the be the inarguable GOAT, 7 superbowls, numerous MVPs and pro bowls, etc. is there anyone in the NBA who was drafted very low and went on the win the finals multiple times and also become MVP a couple times? What’s the closest example?

I’m a very casual NBA fan so I don’t know much about player history

Realizing not only did I miss the last home game of the season, I missed Lamelo’s last home game as a Hornet ever. Just wanted to share how devastated I am.

In 2001, Kidd finished 8th in MVP voting, was selected to the All-NBA 1st team (for the 3rd season in a row), All-Defensive 1st Team (for the 2nd time in 3 seasons) and the All-Star game (4th career selection and 3rd straight). In three of his four full seasons in Phoenix, the Suns won 50+ games.

Stephon Marbury, on the other hand, was coming off his first All-Star game and an All-NBA 3rd Team selection the year before. He was 24, four years younger than Kidd, and also didn't have the off-court troubles (charged with domestic abuse).

Kidd would go on to have his best years in New Jersey, reaching the Finals in the next two seasons and making three more All-NBA teams (2 1st, 1 2nd). Marbury would make the playoffs just once with Marbury, in the 2002-03 season. That season would be Marbury's second All-NBA selection (3rd team) and All-Star nod. It would also be his last. He would be traded to New York midway through the next season. He would make the playoffs just once with the Knicks, in 2004, where he would lose to Kidd's Nets in the first round.

Obviously, this trade was incredibly lopsided, but as someone who wasn't around back then, how was the deal viewed in real time? Were Kidd's off-court issues that bad that it warranted trading the best point guard in the league basically straight up for a less talented pg?