Keeping Up with the Jones'

We've seen the West follow trends this season that have been both wild and wacky. Anything to try to get wins to improve playoff position/ make sure they get in. First, we thought that the trade fad was the way of the West. We saw Pau Gasol go to the Lakers and then all hell broke loose. Shortly before the trade deadline we also see Shaq head to Phoenix to hoop for the Suns and J-Kidd become a Maverick again. Even the Spurs got in on the moves trading for Kurt Thomas. The Warriors coaxed Chris Webber out of retirement. The Jazz pried Kyle Korver from the 76ers. The Rockets even made some less noteworthy moves.

Now we're seeing a new trend. This one, you could say, was also started (way after the fact) by the Lakers. Andrew Bynum went down over two months ago with a knee injury. They've gone 25-11 since then. The Rockets followed their lead and Yao Ming was injured and now is out for the rest of the season. Houston ripped off 10 straight after his season ending injury to cap off one of the most incredible runs in NBA history.

It seems counterintuitive to take one of your big men down as a way to improve your chances of winning. That said, so does adding huge contracts for future Hall of Famers past their prime (Shaq, Kidd, and Webber*) who don't seem to be doing much for their current teams/ in retirement. That didn't seem to slow down GM's in the West. However, since the Ming and Bynum injuries, two other playoff contenders in the West have had big guys go down and/or out. Dirk wrenched a knee just recently and is expected to be out two weeks at least. The Warriors ended Chris Webber's career and he is expected to retire later today. Certainly Dirk's injury wasn't planned by the Mavs but with the way the West has played follow the leader this year, it wouldn't be surprising to see Mark Cuban gleaming over this tweak. Add to that the Lakers had their rented big man, Gasol, go down with a twist in the last week or so. Trend starters/whores.

I guess the biggest thing that comes from all of this is that if I were Fabricio Oberto or Shaq I'd be looking over my shoulder in parking lots and dark alleys. There's no telling when the next "big man down" episode will pop up in the West. And if GM gets desperate enough, when these two will pop up too.



*Before you say Webber isn't a Hall of Famer hear me out. ESPN put up a stat either 7 or 8 guys ever have had 20-9-4 stat lines for their careers. All of them are currently in the Hall of Fame but two: Webber and KG.