Oh, Doyel Rules

Haha Ive got my clever title hat on today.  Anyway, Doyel youre completely right.  I mentioned this in my blog yesterday.  I think anytime you add a superstar midseason it is a disaster.  It ruins team chemistry and usually your teams depth and rotation, and most of the time the superstar doesn't fit into your team concept. 

Now I understand what both the Suns and Mavericks were trying to do and I have no problem going that route, in the offseason!  If the Suns feel that adding a guy like Shaquille O'Neal will help against the bigger centers in the West like Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol then start making that transition before the season starts.  Same with the Mavericks.  If they felt like they were a veteran point guard away from a championship then thats fine.  But don't bring a guy like Jason Kidd in halfway through the system and then expect him to be able to run the show.  Dallas was 16-13 after the Kidd trade and I know an injured Dirk Nowitski was part of that, but they werent that good when Dirk wasnt hurt and Kidd was at the point.

Bringing in a superstar in the offseason, the way the Celtics did with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, allows you to give up a ton for them, but also time to replace them before the season starts, instead of scouring the waiver wire for some also-rans to fill out your rotation.  It also gives you time to have the new players gel without it being in the middle of a playoff run.

Kudos Mr. Doyel on a fine article.

Good thoughts but not always true.  Case in point...Gasol to the Lakers mid-season this year.

Well - the Pistons added Rasheed Wallace, commonly considered the malcontent of all malcontents, and ended up winning a title.

Also, the Nuggets, Suns, and Mavericks were NOT going to go much further with the teams they had before they made those trades.  So, I don't see this as a move that "backfired" or anything....  they took a risk, and likely ended up about the same place they would have anyway.  I think the GMs should have been commended for taking a chance...  or maybe you think it's better to lose with what you know or take chance and lose with what you don't know...  the end game was still going to be the same.

I totally agree with Pau Gasol going to the Lakers but he didn't really fit the mold of adding a new piece/trading key parts of your team.  Gasol pretty much slipped right into the role Andrew Bynum had, there was really no adjustment from a team standpoint that had to be made.  Also the Lakers got him for nothing.  They traded their overpriced backup C in Kwame Brown, their third string PG in Javaris Crittenton, and a fossil in Aaron McKie, who wasn't even in the league.

So I agree that Gasol was a great addition...I guess I should have said that adding a superstar in midseason is only a good move when you steal him