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Julius Erving took the time to speak in Philadelphia prior to the premier of “The Doctor,” a documentary on his life, to address some of the ongoing trade patterns that are occurring in the NBA — and have always occurred for that matter.
Erving is of course referring to the Philadelphia 76ers‘ trade last summer with the Los Angeles Lakers for one of the NBA’s rising centers, Andrew Bynum. The 76ers acquired Bynum and took a risk, but Dr. J says that Bynum is “damaged goods” and the Philadelphia should have been wary about dealing with the Lakers.
He also mentions the Boston Celtics alongside the Lakers’ past deals in saying that those are the two most traditional-rich franchises in NBA history, so they are always going to be looking for the higher-end of the deal, regardless. Erving is right, teams should be paying attention to these sort of situations, but then again, that doesn’t mean that they can’t win in the deal themselves. Let’s be serious, the Bynum situation was a unique one, in which he will be a free agent here in 2013. Bynum never suited up for Philadelphia with a list of injuries including one from an off-the-court bowling incident.
The 76ers got the wrong end of the stick on that one, obviously. It speaks for itself.
Teams should be wary about specific deals, especially when dealing with some of the top franchises in NBA history. They boast that historical aspect that makes them appealing to players in the NBA. It’s that simple.
With that being said, the Lakers and Celtics are two of the top teams to keep an eye on this summer, mainly if Los Angeles decides to deal Pau Gasol or if a domino effect in Boston unfolds as the organization awaits the decisions of both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
