NBA Draft: The Storm Is Making Landfall

↵I wouldn't say "Rap Is Out of Control" is my favorite EPMD track ever, but it's the one whose title I most often say to myself in time of crisis. With that in mind, THIS DRAFT IS OUT OF CONTROL. The trade winds are roaring, and are about to drop a big one down upon us: Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.↵
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↵Jefferson is a borderline All-Star who is always sort of injured. Decent guy, not a franchise player but somewhere between a first and second option. Him and Michael Redd would make a good one-two punch -- that is, unless his offense now makes Redd expendable. Yi hasn't gotten consistent yet, but was strong in stretches last season; Simmons was brought in after a breakout year with the Clippers, and proceeded to get bad again. Maybe he just needs a change of scenery. The Nets are going young, develop talent, and experimenting. So while Jefferson is the better player, the trade makes basketball sense for both teams.↵
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↵The real incentive for New Jersey, though, is that Jefferson makes a decent amount of money ($13.2 million for 2008-09, under contract through 2010-11). Yi and Simmons, not so much so. So for all the talk of the Nets looking for a new identity, they're really just trying to open up cap space for you-know-who. Which, if they aren't careful, will become their identity before it's come true.↵

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