So who hung up the phone?
If you'll remember, there were three teams involved last month in preliminary talks about a trade that would have forward Andres Nocioni landing in Boston this season. There were the Celtics, dangling a package of expiring contracts, the Sacramento Kings, Nocioni's current team, and the Philadelphia 76ers, looking to cut some payroll and save some salary cap room for next summer.
On the surface, a deal appeared to make sense for all three teams. And three weeks ago, it appeared that the pulling of the trigger was imminent, and Noc would be Boston-bound.
But it didn't happen. And while it rarely helps to cry over spilled milk and break down the anatomy of a failed deal, this one is an exception — with the trading deadline still more than two months away, this deal still could happen. It's not dead yet. Never say never.
Here are the specifics. According to the original trade proposal that floated around the rumor mill in November, the deal would send Nocioni from Sacramento to Boston; Kenny Thomas, Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine to Philadelphia; and J.R. Giddens and Sixers center Samuel Dalembert to Sacramento. It looked like a win-win-win proposition, and it's hard to put a finger on who said no.
For the Kings, it wasn't about money or salary cap space or anything of the sort. It was a basketball move, and a shrewd one at that. Nocioni isn't a key part of their future — the Kings have Jason Thompson and Ime Udoka lined up at the forward positions, giving them little reason to sink $7.5 million into Nocioni while his skills are redundant on Sacramento's depth chart. More than another scoring forward, what the Kings really need is some more size up front — and Dalembert, who's been a big contributor in Philadelphia, would have looked nice next to Spencer Hawes in Sacramento.
For the Sixers, it wasn't about putting together a winning team here and now. The Dalembert trade was a salary dump — the 28-year-old center is set to make over $12 million both this year and next, and Philly has been desperate to rid itself of that hideous contract for a long time now. The package they'd get in return fits them perfectly — Thomas, Allen and Scalabrine all have expiring contracts, meaning the Sixers could dump the dead weight next summer and have plenty of free cash to spend on the plentiful free-agent market.
And then you have the Celtics.
Unlike Sacramento and Philly, Boston is clearly in a position to win a championship. Here and now. No two ways about it. And in Nocioni, the C's had an opportunity to add another potent scorer to their playoff rotation.
Scal and T.A. are not vital pieces of the Celtics' roster. Giddens is expendable as well. In terms of playoff utility, the Celtics were giving up nothing and getting something. No one is expecting to see Brian Scalabrine pick up crunch-time minutes in the postseason — Nocioni, however, has a shot at doing just that.
But who backed out of this trade, even though it could potentially benefit all three teams involved? Gun to my head, I'm guessing the Celtics.
Celtics GM Danny Ainge is playing an elaborate game of chicken with the expiring contracts he has under his belt. With the wealth of free agents available on the market next summer, everyone wants to pick up expiring deals now so they can free up space in June.
So what's the rush? Ainge would be a fool to take the first offer he sees. There's a lot of time left between now and the NBA's February trade deadline — the Celtics are prepared to sit on their hands and wait for the best possible offer they can get.
Over the next two months, the league's other 29 GMs will have a decision to make. Are they in or are they out? Are they contenders, working on building a championship team for this spring, or are they sellers, looking to get out and find some cap room to rebuild for next year and beyond?
The Sixers are already sellers. That's why dealing Dalembert makes sense for them. But over the next couple months, a handful of other teams are bound to gracefully bow out of the title hunt. And when that time comes, the Celtics can be sure to expect a lot more offers to come flooding in for their contractual dead weight.
Nocioni is a great player. He's been a double-digit scorer his whole NBA career, and he was a two-time Olympic medalist with the Argentinian national team. He'd be a great asset for the Celtics, both now and later.
But the Celtics are in no hurry, and they have no reason to settle. The trading season is just beginning, and things could get a whole lot more interesting down the road. Today, the big prize is Andres Nocioni — tomorrow, it could be someone even bigger. The only way to find out is to wait it out.
