Network Bar

The Obligatory Post Regarding Bill Simmons Trade Value Column

by sungo on Dec 18, 2007 2:55 PM CST in Spurs News

You could argue about the quality of Bill Simmons' writing. You could point out that his opinions are often founded more on obvious biases than rational thought. But everyone has to admit nobody is better at coming up with genius ideas for articles. He's developed quite the product line and if we were to compare him to Apple the NBA trade value column would certainly be his iPod.

I don't have any complaints about his placement of The Big Three:

Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Tim Duncan

Ray Allen didn't make the top 50 and now's a good time for me to get down in writing something I've been wanting to say for a long time: at some point this season Bill Simmons will start complaining about Ray Allen's shot-selection or inability to play anything more than average defense. It's coming. Trust me.

The thesis for Simmons' article basically goes to shit when it comes to Steve Nash, who's ranked 6th. In one sense he's right, the Suns wouldn't change Nash form, say, Yao Ming (9th). The Suns have built their entire team around Nash and without him the efficacy of most of their players takes a giant hit. However, the premise of his article states the Rockets would trade Ming for Nash, which, of course, is absolute horse shit. They need a point guard, sure, but not a 32 year old PG who can't play a shit's worth of defense and needs the ball in his hands constantly to derive the most from his talents (I'm not saying he's selfish, but what's the point of having Steve Nash on your team if you're going to run your offense through Tracy McGrady?). Similarly, the Celtics would NEVER trade Garnett (7th) for Nash. In fact, none of the teams would trade the following players for Nash:

Carmelo
Durant
Nowitzki
Boozer
Bryant
Wade

I wish Bill would point out this obvious problem and just take Nash out of the list... he's definitely a top 50 player but Phoenix's unique personnel situation makes Nash a statistical outlier and worthy of exclusion.

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Bill Simmons

Come off it, really.
None of those players make the Suns better in a straight up trade.
...No, no use explaining anything, just, listen to the podcast.

by daniel @ Pounding The Rock on Dec 18, 2007 10:59 PM CST reply actions

Re: Bill Simmons

Did you actually read what I wrote?
...No, no use reexplaining everything, just reread the post.

by sungo on Dec 18, 2007 11:59 PM CST up reply actions

Re: Bill Simmons

Okay, right off the top 50 huh...
So, these trades are no go right?
Nash straight up for
Ray Felton
Ron Artest
Chauncey Billups
Jose Calderon
Kevin Martin
Rajon Rondo
Rudy Gay
Brandon Roy
Joe Johnson
Baron Davis
All guards and each one mentioned in the article, none of these teams would take Nash?
Oh, and remember salaries matter.

"We hate giving up ??????, but we definitely have to consider this deal."

(And, is reexplaining a word?)

by daniel @ Pounding The Rock on Dec 19, 2007 12:42 AM CST up reply actions

Rashard?

Daniel is just a Suns troll, he isn't worth replying to.

Also, I think Simmons left a gaping hole at not mentioning Rashard Lewis at all (he also left him off last year too). One could (easily!) argue that he is in the top 50, particularly considering what he is doing with Orlando.

Or, if you think he is an overpaid hack -- at least mention his max contract in the worst contracts section. Doesn't make sense...

by alex711 on Dec 19, 2007 9:53 AM CST reply actions

Re: Bill Simmons

Wow.

A two-time MVP point guard, (almost 3-time) who's one of the best pure passers/shooters ever and has showed no sign of slowing down at a mere $12 million/year....Not in the Top 50 trade value list??

I read your post, and I read it over and over again. But its just not there bro. `He needs the ball in his hands to derive the most from his talents'? Yes... that's because he's a point guard. His talents are shooting the ball better than maybe any point guard ever and running around at full tilt with his head on a swivel while dribbling the ball to find an open teammate in the best possible position to score. You might as well take all the pure PG's off the list then.

Agreed, the guy can't play D, and Houston wouldn't trade him for Yao, but that just means Simmons argument for placing Nash at 6 is weak, not completely erroneous.

Move him down a couple notches. Heck, move him down 20 notches, but you can't logically deny that Steve Nash is an outright bargain at $12 mil and that there are definitely 49 players on the list who's GM's wouldn't trade for Nash if they had the chance.

"Phil can kiss my asterisk"

by BigFresh on Dec 19, 2007 2:56 PM CST reply actions