The NBA’s Frisbee Problem
When I heard Zydrunas Ilgauskas was most likely heading back to the Cavs after he just got traded to the Wiz like 2 seconds ago, it just didn’t sound right. I mean, the NBA doesn’t allow this sort of frisbee maneuver, does it? Well, actually it does unless you are stupid enough (see: Stackhouse, Jerry) to tell the media all about the secret plot. Two years ago, Stackhouse was set to be traded to the Nets before he bragged that he’d just go back to Dallas shortly after the trade. Stack’s only mistake was telling the media about it because plenty of other guys have returned to their original team via buyout shortly after being traded. Does the NBA turns a blind eye or do they ask Joey Crawford to turn both blind eyes? Either way, collusion is a-okay in the NBA.
The question is why does the NBA allow this? Clearly, it’s collusion, but the NBA only seems to care if you go so far as to blatantly talk about it. Even admitting it after the fact doesn’t seem to bother the league as Doc Rivers gave this tongue-in-cheek remark about the Z deal: “I have a problem with that. I loved it three years ago when we did it with Gary Payton if you remember, but now I think it sucks. I think it’s a terrible deal.” Terrible for Boston maybe, but great for the ratings when the Cavs see the Lakers in the Finals. But, that would have nothing to do with why you allow this, right Mr. Stern?
For a league that has seemingly constant credibility problems with the refereeing, it might not be a bad idea to actually come up with a clear rule on these situations (you know, so we don’t get the wrong idea that you’d prefer stacking the good teams while the bad teams free up cap space). Here’s a suggestion: once you get traded, you don’t get to go back to the team you were traded from that season!
But, alas, this is the NBA, so with a wink and a nod, look for Big Z to head back to Cleveland next month.


