It's mid-February, which means my favorite time of the year is upon us. No, not Valentine's Day, you weirdos &mdash Trading Time, that magical part of the NBA season where half the teams realize they have no shot at the title and desperately cash in their chips in an attempt to salvage the season. The Sonics, of course, must be feeling deja-vu, having spent the better part of a decade in "salvage" mode.
The only time one of these February Hail Mary trades actually worked was in 2003, when the Supes traded Gary Payton (whose tank was about three minutes from empty) to the Bucks for Ray Allen. And now, four years later, it's Allen's turn to take one for the team.
One place Ray-Ray has been rumored to be heading is NYC, which would be great except for one thing: the Knicks have no talent to trade:
"To read that stuff about us looking to move Ray is laughable," said Sonics GM Rick Sund. "We've had a disappointing season, but we've had big injuries to guys like Rashard Lewis and Ray. Nobody's called me about Ray because he's not available."So, where does that leave Ray-Gun? Should the Sonics ship him off somewhere in hopes he can grab a late-career ring like Payton (while trying to land anything they can in return), or should the team cling desperately to the one thing that will bring people to the game?
For Sund to pick up his phone to discuss a deal, he wants a hefty price for Allen, seventh in the NBA in scoring at 26.9 ppg entering last night. That would entail a package including a great young player, expiring contracts and draft picks. The Knicks don't have the assets.
"Nobody likes their talent," one Eastern Confernce GM said. "The problem for the Knicks is that they don't have expiring contracts to offer. They got rid of Jalen Rose, so that didn't help their cause."
from the New York Daily News
UPDATE: Ray Allen was just named to his fourth straight (and 7th overall) All-Star Game. Congrats, Ray!
