The following is a list of NBA stars who for a variety of reasons are finding the lustre of their once promising NBA careers, considerably starting to fade and who are in need of a fresh start. The following is a list of NBA players in desperate need of a change and recommendations for where they should end up:
Jason Terry: One would think that after winning an NBA championship, that any player would feel on top of the World. Unfortunately, after a year of losing key players to free agency, a general malaise that came after winning a title and management’s focus on the future not the present (i.e. trying to lock down Dwight Howard and/or Deron Williams in the summer) and, things have not been great for Mavericks guard Jason Terry. In fact, things have gotten so frustrating for Terry (and his lack of a contract extension) that he even stated a few weeks ago that he waseffectively auditioning for 29 other teams with his on court play and that every game was like an “interview”.
Recommendation: Given Terry’s skill set and trademark over-confidence he would be perfect going back to his old team the Atlanta Hawks. With Josh Smith desperate to leave Atlanta, Jason Terry would be perfect to pick up Smith’s offensive slack (when Al Horford comes back next season he can pick up the defensive slack).
Steve Nash: Although Steve Nash is too nice of a guy to request a change of scenery, after watching another year of him carrying the Phoenix Suns I will ask for one for him. Despite Suns’ management continued refusal to bring in a quality player (never mind one who can also play defense), Steve Nash at 38, almost managed to get a rag-rag bunch of back-ups into the playoffs. Enough is enough Steve, its time to go.
Recommendation: Although the logical choice would be to bring Captain Canada back home, the Raptors are terrible at the moment and unless they could get another solid player this summer have no shot at landing Nash. Miami however is an attractive right now as they are in win-now mode and are in desperate need of a PG. If they don’t win a title this year do not be surprised to see Nash in a Heat jersey next year( I know, I know, I’ll be sick too).
Ray Allen: Ever since Ray Allen went down with an ankle injury in the latter part of the regular season, the Boston Celtics have played their best ball since the terrible trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to OKC. With Allen out, the Celtics were able to focus on defense with the insertion of promising rookie Avery Bradley into the line-up and everyone has played better for it. The chances of this being Ray Allen’s last season in Boston are currently resting comfortably at 99.99999%
Recommendation: I do not know exactly how much Ray has left in the tank, but it does not look good. As such only a small market team mired in losing and in desperate need of both attention and veteran leadership could conceivably offer something to Ray. A team like the Minnesota Timberwolves seems about right.
Amar’e Stoudamire: Even before his disappointing and incredibly stupid decision to punch glass at the end of game two in the Knicks-Heat Series (which reports says will cause him to miss at least playoff game), Amar’e’s time in New York appeared to be drawing to a close. On top of playing no defense and being injury prone , the overpaid Stoudamire never played well with the team’s other zero-defense no-championship prima donna Carmelo Anthony. Couple this with the fact that Amar’e hand punching incident was the third his stupidity will cost his team in the playoffs (the others being the infamous leaving the bench incident in Phoenix and injuring his back will showboating in Boston last year) and its time for Knicks to dump this particular 100 million dollar man.
Recomendation: A trade to Orlando and here’s why…
Dwight Howard: The NBA’s self-anointed Superman really was super as he was faster in changing his mind than a speeding bullet, more powerful than commitment to his team and able to leap over the head of his coach in a single bound. Unfortunately, these are not qualities you want out of your franchise player and for these and many other reasons it is way past time for Dwight to leave Orlando. I do not know what the point was for Orlando to obtain that commitment waiver from him except that it might give Orlando a little more time to orchestrate a better deal in exchange for him over the summer. If the magic are foolish enough to think that keeping Dwight Howard in Orlando is a workable situation in the longrun they deserve another year of (even worse) drama and to end up with nothing in the end if he walks at the end of next season.
Recommendation: A trade to the New York Knicks is the absolute best spot for all parties involved. For the Knicks they are getting a star player who can finally play defense and be relied upon to consistently help Carmelo Anthony carry the offensive load. For Dwight, he can finally play in a big market situation and put him in a fantastic position to both maximize his income and chances to win a title. For the Magic Amar’e Stoudamire, despite his issues, is probably the best thing you are going to get for Dwight Howard especially now that other teams are weary of the destructive force he can be and his now questionable health status. And finally for Amar’e, it is a chance to return to his home town and get back to the type of no expectation, all offense environment where he played his best ball. Plus, from what I hear the Amway Center is packed with fire-extinguishers. Perfect.
