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Shoals Unlimited: An NBA Revolution Is Coming

Oct 1, 2008, 8:15 PM UTC

Welcome to Shoals Unlimited, where Bethlehem will post a long-form piece on basketball once a week.

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â†µThe problem with starting over is that, duh, you're always stuck with some of the past. If you end a relationship, you've got memories and furniture. When you move out of an apartment, or switch jobs, there's still that all-important reference to worry about. And when you're an NBA team on the verge of a renaissance, you've got some dead weight that could stand in the way.â†µ

â†µâ†µTake that, multiply it a few times, and you’ve got the mystery of the 2008-09 Knicks and Heat in a nutshell.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Knicks are certainly the more dramatic case. On the one hand, there’s Mike D’Antoni promising to bring the excitement—and winning—of his Suns to Madison Square Garden. That’s all fine and good, except his three highest-paid, most prolific players are Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry. A more perfect Marbury could work just fine in D’Antoni’s world, but that’s not the way this story is turning out. And Randolph and Curry, despite their protestations, are slow, surly, bigs and who can’t pass and can’t get up and down the floor. â†µ

â†µâ†µMarbury may or may not be released soon, but he has to be at some point. Teams would love to trade for him, but then New York would lose that cap space. For a couple weeks this summer, a Randolph-to-Memphis deal seemed imminent. But with training camp official on, and D’Antoni having to put together a plan, the three are still there, soaking up all the light on the roster. He could try and work around, or with them, and compromise his vision. He could reason that, despite their flaws, at least one or two of them have star-level skills that are worth having in the starting line-up.â†µ

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â†µThen again, D'Antoni could just bench them all and wait for Donnie Walsh to get rid of them. Granted, it would totally devalue Randolph and Curry on the open market, but both are already, to some degree, going to be seen as rehab projects. Forget about the sloppy transition, or the compromise—just go ahead and let more than $40 million in payroll sit out a few months in purgatory, or maybe even suspend them from the team. It's bold, and a little stupid. But with those three gone, the Knicks, who are going to have a bad year anyway, could start experimenting with their confusing stable of young talent, to see who actually can play and has a place in the new philosophy. And when Walsh works his magic and makes Marbury, Curry, and Randolph disappear, they'll have cap room to go with good draft position and, most important, a good sense of what's ahead of them.â†µ

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â†µâ†µOver in Miami, things are less drastic. For one, the core of that team is dazzling. In addition to the reborn Dwyane Wade, there’s the perennially-underrated, do-it-all high-flyer Shawn Marion and monster-in-the-making Michael Beasley. And no second-round selection may have gotten a better shot at a starting point guard slot than Mario Chalmers. For good measure, the reliable power forward Udonis Haslem and pleasantly tall Mark Blount are still around, too. It’s an unconventional team, and one that, if turned loose, could become the charismatic story of the league—the Suns of 2008-09. Who knows how many games they’d win, but fans would eat it up. â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd it’s not like this non-traditional model is without precedent here. In 2003-04, a young Heat team based around emergent rookie Wade, a Lamar Odom who had finally put it all together and the thoroughly rugged swingman Caron Butler made noise in the playoffs despite an unconventional, and unexpected line-up and style of play. There are still those who wish that, ring or no ring, that team had never been broken up. Now, the virginal, super-young Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra has the chance to bring back the spirit of ‘03-04, to take his intriguing set of chips and have some fun trying to come up with new, fresh answers. The only problem is, Pat Riley still looms large, and as you may recall, he masterfully acquired Shaquille O’Neal and then coached him to a championship. In fact, just this week, Heat general manager Randy Pfund resigned and Riles stepped in to take the post.â†µ

â†µâ†µThat’s not to say that the Slick One is averse to up-tempo, mind-bending ball. But he also invented Rileyball, and the Showtime Lakers are, by today’s standards, fairly conventional. With Riley sitting in the GM’s seat, he could upend things by bringing in another Shaq at any moment. What remains to be seen is just what the Heat will look like on the floor, how much it will vex Riley, and whether he ends up seeming like an old codger blocking progress or the one sane guy in the room.â†µ

â†µâ†µOne thing’s for sure: The Knicks have the luxury of being able to go ahead and move away from the land of the losers. But to do so, it’s going to take some serious organizational chutzpah. And in Riley’s case, maybe even a little bit of humility. If this happens, 2008-09 just got much, much more interesting.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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