When one thinks back on the historical significance of
some of the mega-deals that have gone down in the name of basketball in this town,
it almost leaves a guy breathless. Ponder for a moment the fact that two teams
with origins in Philadelphia traded away Wilt Chamberlain when he was in the
prime of his career…
Not once, but twice!
Imagine that—arguably the greatest individual talent ever
to play basketball was traded from the Warriors to the Sixers for Connie
Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash before going from the 76ers to the
Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff. The first trade
came a season after Wilt led the league in scoring with nearly 35 points per
game and 23 rebounds, while the second one came two seasons after the Sixers
won their first NBA title (third for a Philly team) and the big man went for
24-24 and led the league in assists.
But just like that, he was gone. Poof!
Trading away Wilt Chamberlain was hardly the most dubious
deal in the history of Philadelphia NBA teams. Nope, not even close. Ever hear
the story about how Maurice Cheeks was traded in August of 1989 to the Spurs,
only Mo didn’t know about it until he arrived back at his house and found a
reporter there waiting at his doorstep. Go ahead and ask Michael Barkann about
that one sometime because he was the guy who broke the news to Cheeks.
No word if Michael B tracked down Christian Welp and
David Wingate, too, to tell them they were packaged with Cheeks to get Johnny Dawkins
and Jay Vincent.
Charles Barkley was traded simply because he had outgrown
Philadelphia and probably would have been arrested for aggravated assault on
Armen Gilliam if he had to stay another day longer. The Barkley deal returned
the Sixers Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry, which is the basketball equivalent
to trading Curt Schilling for Travis Lee, Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla and Nelson
Figueroa.
Sometimes trades have to be made for the sanity of
everyone who remains. Barkley and Schilling had to go for just that very reason—we
needed to stay sane and so did they. However, on the scale of trades that
should have warranted the state to step in and send owner Harold Katz upstate
to the nervous hospital for a little vaca, the deal on draft day of 1986 is an
all-timer.
Whenever I think about the Deal of ’86, I think of it two
different ways. In one I look at it kind of like Robert E. Lee meeting Ulysses
Grant in the courthouse at Appomattox in 1865 to sign the papers signaling the
end of the Civil War. Then Lee slowly rode off on that white horse of his and
wandered around in the wilderness until it was time to check out.
The other thing I think of is the Saturday Night Live sketch from the ‘90s when Kevin Nealon and
Victoria Jackson play interviewers who ask dumb politicians deftly worded
questions about just how far they can shove their heads into their derriere.
Always gets a giggle, though in real life it’s not so funny.
Think about it—in one day the Sixers traded Hall-of-Famer
Moses Malone and solid frontcourt man Terry Catledge to Washington and then
sent the No. 1 overall pick of the deep (yet cursed) 1986 draft to Cleveland.
The pick turned out to be perennial All-Star Brad Daugherty. Maybe the Sixers
somehow knew that Daugherty’s Hall-of-Fame career would be cut short at age 28
because of back injuries? Or maybe they didn’t want a guy who got 21-and-11
during the last four years of his career?
Either way, the Sixers turned away Moses Malone, Brad
Daugherty and Terry Catledge, plus two first-round draft picks and got back Roy
Hinson, Cliff Robinson and Jeff Ruland…
No, there’s no punch line. That really happened!
I still can’t believe the Spectrum wasn’t overrun with an
angry mob out of an old movie like It’s a
Wonderful Life with folks screaming for Harold Katz as if he were the
miserly Old Man Potter. Why weren’t there riots?
So it is above the din of discontent that we recall the
inglorious days of yore when our NBA team out-smarted itself and ruined things
for a while. In the aftermath of Wilt going to the Lakers, the Sixers set the
record for the worst season in the history of the sport with just 9 wins in
1973. And, perhaps, maybe it’s even reasonable to think that the Sixers have
never really recovered from Draft Day of ’86. Why not? In addition to losing
two Hall-of-Fame quality players, they also gave up two first-round draft picks
and picked up Jeff Ruland, who went on to play just 18 games over the course of
five years. Current Sixers’ GM Ed Stefanski knows that if he puts his hand over
an open flame and keeps it there for a bit, it’s not going to end well.
Smart right?
Maybe. But then again, maybe not. After all, at 20-33
these Sixers are going nowhere fast. They are too good to benefit from the
draft and too bad to do anything of note in the playoffs. Moreover, two players—Elton
brand and Andre Iguodala—have contracts that aren’t very conducive to a team
hoping to rebuild in the current salary-capped NBA. I think I called it NBA DMZ
a few days ago. Basketball limbo might be a better term.
With the majority of fans hoping the team would unload a
valuable player, but cap-unfriendly guy like Iguodala for any number of teams
we heard about on the rumor mill (and confirmed by the GM) in order to acquire
the coveted expiring contract so favored in these crazy times, it was funny to
hear the reaction to an actual deal. No, funny is not the right word there
because it implies that a good time was had by all. Let’s just say it was
fascinating to couch the reaction from the fans against the words from
Stefanski. See, the GM thinks his team is underachieving and isn’t as bad as
the 20-33 record indicates.
No argument here.
However, if the GM makes a deal he doesn’t want to give
up Iguodala for Jeff Ruland. Sure-and-steady Eddie wants some talent back in a
trade, too. Why wouldn’t he? Good for him.
“For us to take back expiring contracts for talent didn’t
make much sense, and it would not have gotten us close to a lot of the team
[much further under the cap],” Stefanski explained.
Fair enough. So when the only deal at the trade deadline
is one which the Sixers sent Royal Ivey, Primoz Brezec and a second-round pick
to the Milwaukee Bucks for guard Jodie Meeks and center Francisco Elson, well,
let’s just say it feels a bit underwhelming. In fact, it feels a bit
disappointing, too. I mean, think of all those little kids out there talking
about, “Roy-al with Cheese!” and sporting those Primoz jerseys with ol’ number
whatever he was on the back.
Nobody ever thinks about the kids.
In light of the mega-deal, I solicited opinions from the
man on the street (via Twitter) for thoughts on the deadline blockbuster… this
is what I got back:
A fellow named Robert from Philadelphia asked, “Who are
the Sixers?”
Oh come on, we know… but
do we really know them. They never let us get close enough.
A man who calls himself Kevin from Philadelphia seemed
most distraught, writing: “Just when I got my Royal Ivey jersey...”
Isn’t that how it always works?
A guy named Dan from Delaware astutely pointed out that
Francisco Elson speaks five different language, including his native tongue,
Dutch, says this fact will help him in Philly: “He can translate DNP-CD however
he likes.”
After that the responses just got weird and I kind of
checked out after the one from a guy who describes himself as a “Philly
Phanatic,” who asked: “Is the real Ed Stefanski in a cave somewhere and
actually Billy King has pulled a 'Face Off' switcheroo?”
When we start comparing the 2009-10 Sixers to a Travolta/Cage vehicle, it's time to stop.
Yes, the trading deadline can send us all off the deep
end, but at least this time we didn’t have to go for the torches and pitchforks
to storm whatever it is to strom.
