Around the Association

Around the Association will be a weekly post about the happenings around the NBA

- The Golden State Warriors finally dropped some dead weight by trading Stephen Jackson to the Charlotte Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Basically the Warriors traded a head case for two expiring contracts. This deal makes all the sense in the world for the Warriors. They finally rid themselves of Jackson, who made it no secret that he was tired of playing in Golden State.

This deal makes no sense on multiple levels for the Bobcats. First, they are bringing a head case like Jackson on board with a head case of a coach in Larry Brown. Second, for a team that made a contract dump in Emeka Okafor earlier this year, they sure don't mind bringing on extra salary with Jackson. And third, Jackson's style of play won't help the Bobcats. He's a defensive specialist on a team where they need offensive help and their slow down style won't mess with Jackson's fast paste. Just a puzzling deal by the Bobcats.

- So Brandon Jennings is kind of good. He did score 55 points, but that was against a no-defense Golden State team. I would like to talk about how well Jennings has played and how going to Europe instead of college gave him a greater advantage, but I can't. I have to talk about the teams that passed on him. Most notably the New York Knicks.

The Knicks desperately needed a point guard at the start of the season. And who do they draft? A stiff named Jordan Hill who isn't even on the Knicks depth chart. Hill has only played 7 minutes in five games for the entire year so far. You think they could have used Jennings? You think Jennings would have fit in perfectly in D'Antoni's system? It's no wonder the Knicks haven't won a championship since the early 70's.

- From jumping out of the gates red hot, to getting smacked around. That's what happened to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers started the season 7-1 and had that look of a team that will be playing for a championship. Then this weekend happened, which saw them get smacked by Denver then lose to a Houston team without Yao and Tracy McGrady. Sure Pau Gasol is injured and now Kobe is banged up, but let's stop talking repeats and championships for now.

- For how gritty the Phillies were this season, the opposite affect has happened to the Sixers in Philadelphia. This team flat out quit against an injury-ravaged Utah team on Friday. And they were at home! No wonder the Sixers are dead last in attendance. Who wants to watch a team that quits? No wonder JFein hates this team. And the $80 Million Dollar Man Elton Brand isn't helping matters with his paltry 10 points and 5 rebounds a game. What a disaster of a team.

- The most surprising team that a lot of people are starting to notice is the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are 8-2 so far this season and went to Boston and beat the Celtics on Friday. The Hawks in the past were pretty simple to figure out. Stop Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, and Josh Smith and you stop the Hawks. But now this team can bring Jamal Crawford off the bench to give them support. Crawford is averaging 17 points off the bench, something this team desperately needed. The Hawks have definitely turned into one the best teams in the NBA.