The Kings And The Pelicans Make A Trade…

The NBA All-Star Game happened over the weekend and it was a pretend game of basketball just as it always is.  The only “defense” in the game is the one that keeps “de cows in de pasture”.  Nonetheless, stuff went down during the game that constitutes relevant NBA news.  The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans made a trade:

1. Pelicans get Boogie Cousins and Omri Casspi
2. Kings get Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a first round pick this year and a second round pick this year.

If – and I do mean IF – Boogie Cousins and Anthony Davis can figure out how to play the “Twin Towers Game” to a similar degree of competence as did David Robinson and Tim Duncan, the Pelicans will be significant contenders in the NBA Western Conference for a long time.  Davis is 23 years old; Cousins is 26 years old; both are immensely talented.

Anyone who follows the NBA even peripherally knows that Cousins is a volatile person who often allows his feelings/temper to take him out of games.  They should also realize that Cousins has never had to share the spotlight as “star of the team” with anyone else in Sacramento.  Can this work in New Orleans?  Only time will tell if the Pelicans went panning for gold and came up with a 7-foot solid gold nugget or if they came up with an attractive looking hunk of quartz.

The interesting part of this trade is that the Kings have been saying for months now that they would not ever consider trading Boogie Cousins because he was the future of the team.  And then, they not only traded him, but they traded him as the All-Star Game was in progress.  Cousins only played 2 minutes in the game to be sure he did not get injured even in that mockery of a basketball game.

As of now, neither the Kings nor the Pelicans would be in the playoffs in the West if the season were over.  The Pelicans are 1 game behind the Kings and the Kings are only 1.5 games behind the #8 team in the West (Denver); both teams have 25 games to play.  Alvin Gentry is the Pelicans’ coach; if he can get Davis and Cousins to blend even a little bit, the Pelicans should be able to make up a couple of games on the 8^th place Denver Nuggets and make the playoffs.

The Kings’ outlook looks far less rosy to me.  They just traded their only really marketable player and got back some complimentary pieces but no one of star talent.  I suspect the Kings will be settling back to their accustomed place on the lower rungs of the NBA for this year and for a few years to come.  Then again, we are talking here about a team in Sacramento; what better place for an NBA team to render itself irrelevant than in that outpost.

A sad story broke about a week ago.  Jeffrey Sandusky – an adopted son of former Penn State football coach, Jerry Sandusky – was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with a variety of sex crimes involving minor females.  Jerry Sandusky has been in prison for the last 5 years or so after a conviction for child molestation; Jeffrey Sandusky – 41 years old – is out on $200K bond as he awaits the next step in the legal proceedings against him.  The report linked above will delineate the half-dozen or so charges facing Jeffrey Sandusky.

I said this was a sad story; here is what I mean.  The report says that Jerry Sandusky’s wife – Dottie – who stood by her husband through all of his hearings and trials is now in the midst of standing by her adopted son as he goes through his processing.  Until and unless even a shred of evidence turns up to indicate that Dottie Sandusky has done something that remotely merits this level of grief in her life, I think she is a pathetic figure and this is a sad story.

Do not misinterpret here.  I am a hardass when it comes to crimes against children; anyone who did such things does not want me on the jury that would hand down sentencing for such behaviors.  But I can feel sorry for Dottie Sandusky this morning and the emotional burdens she has had to endure in the last 5 years of her life.

In another “crime story” from Western Pennsylvania, Jets’ CB, Darrelle Revis was arrested in the aftermath of a fight in the Pittsburgh area that left a couple of people hospitalized.  There are 5 charges pending against Revis including 2 charges of aggravated assault terroristic threats, robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.  The way the events unfolded here is more complicated that I would prefer to spell out here; so, if you are interested, here is the AP report that ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

I am not an attorney so I would not try to evaluate the merits of the case against Revis nor would I be able to speculate about how this might affect his contract with the NY Jets.  Fortunately, I ran across an article at SI.com written by Michael McCann who is an attorney and a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire Law School.  Obviously, he is qualified to assess the legal ramifications here and I suggest that you read his article in its entirety.

Just a couple of highlights from Professor McCann’s piece:

1. Two men who accosted Revis were knocked out and remained unconscious for about 10 minutes and one suffered a “serious facial injury”.
2. The charge involving “terroristic threats” is serious but is not synonymous with a “terrorist threat”.
3. These ongoing charges give the Jets a reason to release Revis notwithstanding the fact that he has not been convicted of anything.  The Jets could also seek to nullify the contract and avoid paying him the balance of the $39M that is guaranteed in this contract.

Finally, Brad Rock of the Deseret News has this item recently about another potential “lawsuit” involving a former athlete:

“UNC-Chapel Hill student body presidential candidate Joe Nail dressed up as Duke’s Grayson Allen, pretending to trip fellow students they passed.

“Bill Laimbeer is allegedly suing both Allen and Nail for unauthorized use of his signature moves.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………