I felt genuine sympathy for Nerlens Noel last night. His tragic facial expressions did not help the situation or his cause. When the majority of a sports community- fans, experts, and random people that all of a sudden care about the NBA draft- reaches a consensus that you are being drafted either first or second and you go sixth it crowns your shoulders with a chip. David Stern taking his sweet time at the podium helps extend your agony but he won't be around long enough to watch you come full circle with a roundhouse kick called Regret.
Regret is the feeling Noel wants the teams that overlooked him to experience. Settling for some playing time will probably do for now, and he's definitely getting some of that on the Sixers. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that he was drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, a franchise that drafted Noel's college teammate Anthony Davis last year. Talk of a reunion quickly became a trending topic until the Sixers decided they would begin the Atlantic Division's mutating process by trading Jrue Holiday (point guard/ All-Star/ multimillion dollar contract) to the Pelicans for Noel, a 2014 first round pick, and the 42nd pick in last nights draft.
Without Holiday the Sixers subtract $9.2 million from their 2013-2014 team salary leaving them with roughly $37 million in commitments if everyone else with a contract sticks around. Now they have Noel, which puts a lot of wind in Andrew Bynum's very expensive sails. The end result is a very young half-team (they need to fill out a roster) with plenty of rupees to spend.
Then the Nets/Celtics thing happened. I have to defer from speculating as to how successful the Nets will be due to my single handed jinx of the Lakers after their Howard and Nash acquisitions. This guy (me) is in no need of negative energy coming his way. What can be etched out is the situation created by this enormous trade. With former Knick Jason Kidd at the helm the Nets have someone very familiar with the inner workings of MSG's ball team. The depletion of a Celtics team through this trade and the loss of Doc Rivers eliminates an Atlantic Division rival for next season, at the very least. If the Celtics do contend, as unlikely as it may seem at the moment, it will not be for an Atlantic Division title. The Raptors are another team I will make no speculations about. While their roster has some bright spots they recently hired the highly touted Masai Ujiri as their General Manager, which can only mean they're not settled as to their direction. The resignation of former GM Bryan Colangelo insinuates that the Canadian team is in for some future changes.
Any team Kevin Garnett plays for becomes a Knicks rival because the Knicks are synonymous with Carmelo Anthony. Any team Paul Pierce is on is unwelcome at MSG. With a single trade the Nets have created a rivalry while dismissing a contender. The most competitive Eastern Conference division (as discussed here with number magic) has been genetically mutated in the process. Supremacy in the Atlantic Division has become a question of which New York team is best. The rivalry will take time to flourish, but just to stir the pot here's a picture of Melo unveiling basketball courts in Red Hook, Brooklyn:
Defend your turf.
-Alex Moran
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