The trade deadline is coming. I know this because people on the internet are talking about moving RJ Barrett for a center again. It happens every year, like the return of the geese or that one neighbor who insists on shoveling his driveway at 4:30 in the morning.
We are currently in the middle of a ritual. Fans are posting photos of backup centers from the mid 2000s until a trade happens. Today it was Pape Sow. I remember Pape Sow. He wore number 22 and played with a level of enthusiasm that was, quite frankly, a lot to handle before my second coffee.
The Big Names and the Small Hope
Bleacher Report has a list of people they think we should want. It is a nice list, full of names of people who play basketball very well. Domantas Sabonis is the name currently floating around the local rumor mill.
There is talk of a deal involving RJ, Gradey Dick, and Ochai Agbaji. This would leave us with very few players who can shoot the ball into the hoop from far away. But we would have Sabonis, a man who rebounds the ball with the solemnity of someone folding laundry on a Sunday afternoon.
Reports say the Timberwolves are looking for a third or fourth team to help move Giannis Antetokounmpo. I do not know how many teams you need to move a person that large. It sounds like moving a piano up a narrow staircase in a walk up apartment. We are often that fourth team, the one that stands in the hallway holding the door open while everyone else does the heavy lifting.
Running Out of Time
Then there is James Harden. He is looking for a new home, which is something he does with a certain rhythmic consistency. Some people think we should make a run at him.
I am tired, though. The thought of watching another superstar trade saga makes me want to go lie down in the middle of a frozen park. We are always looking for the one piece that fixes the puzzle, but sometimes I think we are just buying more puzzle pieces for a box that already has too many.
My uncle says we should just keep what we have and see what happens. He also says the squeak in his floorboards is actually a ghost, so his talent evaluation might be skewed. For now, we wait and look at pictures of Pape Sow. It is a living.