Crazy Trade of the Day

So long cowboy....

Have you ever had the feeling that your life cannot possibly get any better to only have it come crashing down the very next day? Chris Bosh knows the feeling. After a summer of sharing the spotlight with his two teammates, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, the spotlight is now solely on him and not for any good reasons.

After averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds over the course of his seven year career, Bosh is now putting up a depressing 14 points and 5 rebounds a game. Sure, sure it was expected that his production would diminish once he started playing with LBJ and Wade, but like this? Even Bosh admitted this past week that he feels, “lost” when he has been on the court this season. Not what you want to hear from what was supposed to be one of the heads of your three-headed monster.

So it’s not a mystery why Pat Riley is losing confidence and faith in Bosh eight games into the season. Sources close to Riley are claiming that he is already looking for trade opportunities to ship Bosh out of South Beach. I don’t care who these sources are, but this is not happening…not this season at least.

There is no way that Pat Riley, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going to admit that this experiment is a complete and utter failure…not now anyways. It is way too early in the season to blow this thing up; you need to give the Heat time to gel and build up some chemistry. Bosh will soon figure out how to co-exist with the King and D Wade and will be back to his old self shortly…right?

Who knows? For all we know the Heat can bring back Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, go on a 74-game winning streak, sweep the entire playoffs and bring the trophy back to Miami. Or they can continue on their current path – being a nightmarishly shallow team that is struggling to balance egos and become a cohesive basketball team.

While I don’t know what will happen, we do know that Bosh-trade-rumors got my creative juices flowing and I immediately started thinking about possible trade destinations for Bosh. I figure that since I play fantasy hoops and NBA Live, that I am certainly qualified to put together legitimate NBA trades. I mean, if David Kahn can, then why can’t I?

In combing through all of the possible destinations for Bosh, I found out there were actually very few options out there. Sure, there are a lot of teams out there that would be willing to take Bosh back, but those are the same teams that have nothing to send back to Riles and the Heat.  I thought about a Bosh for Josh Smith trade, but I thought that Miami could get more in return for Bosh, so I passed on that.

Then I thought to myself, “the Hornets – that’s it” and my mind started going nuts. After fifteen minutes of deep pondering, I was convinced I could save the Heat and the Hornets, all at the same time. Here is what I came up with:

Mission: Keep CP3 in New Orleans, Part 1

Chris Paul admittedly loves the city of New Orleans and would love to keep playing there, but only if they put together a winning team. In order to do that they are going to need to change the entire look of that team, which is where Bosh comes into play. Here’s my proposed idea:

• Miami Trades: Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony
• New Orleans Trades: David West and Emeka Okafor

The Hornets do this for two reasons: the West and Okafor combination just was not working in the Big Easy and you keep Paul happy by bringing in one of his best friends in the NBA. It’s becoming obvious that Bosh needs the ball in his hands, frequently, to be effective. Bosh instantly becomes the main scoring threat on the Hornets and is back to his regular 20 and 10 self.

By pulling the trigger on this deal, the Heat instantly make themselves a much deeper squad, especially when Mike Miller returns. Check out their starting five and bench:

• Starting Five: Lebron (PG), Wade (SG), Miller (SF), West (PF), Ilgauskas (C)
• Bench Squad: Okafor, Haslem, House, Stackhouse, Jones and Magliore

Perhaps the best thing about this trade is the versatility that the Heat have with their big guys: West, Okafor, Ilgauskas and Haslem, who could all be starters on other NBA teams. Each one of these guys is completely different from the next! All of a sudden you have ridiculous nightmare match-ups. Miami’s problems are solved…

Mission: Keep CP3 in New Orleans, Part 2

Man, I wish Iggy was throwing it down for the Hornets!

Now that I have solved Miami’s problem and made sure that Chris Paul has a reason to stay in New Orleans, it’s time for me to really help out the Hornets. Fortunately, the Hornet’s have a ridiculously attractive trade piece: Peja Stojakovic and his $15 million expiring contract. Carmelo here we come! I’m kidding….I’M KIDDING!

But what other teams out there have a star player that wants to be traded and could use the extra $15 million to help them rebuild? The Philadelphia 76ers! Andre Iguodala wants out of there and he has not been shy about it. Let the other AI leave Philadelphia as well.

• New Orleans Trades: Peja Stojakovic and Quincy Pondexter
• Philadelphia Trades: Andre Iguodala and Spencer Hawes

By trading for the expiring contracts of Peja and Pondexter, the 76ers get under the cap for the following the season, thus allowing them to pursue a stud during the off-season. They have the necessary young pieces in Holiday, Williams, Turner and Young to begin a successful rebuilding campaign. Oh yeah and the old Elton Brand is back!

This is a no-brainer for the Hornets – they get a freaky athletic player who has the ability to score, pass and rebound. They also get another Team USA buddy of Paul’s as well. And all they had to give up was a useless Peja Stojakovic.

Which starting five would you rather have:

• Starting Five A: Paul (PG), Iguodala (SG), Ariza (SF), Bosh (PF), Hawes (C)
• Starting Five B: Paul (PG), Belinelli (SG), Ariza (SF), West (PF), Okafor (C)

While I was writing this, I gave CP3 a call and asked which lineup he would prefer. I’ll give you one guess which one he selected. All I will say is that he gave me Del Demps phone number and asked me to call to him immediately.

What do you think of the Bosh/West/Okafor/Iguodala blockbuster? If you were Riley, where would you trade Bosh? What about if you were in charge of the Hornets? What would you do to improve that team? Leave us a comment…you never know when we will randomly hand out some cash for a great idea.

There you have it Hoopstopia fans – there is your Crazy Trade of the Day!