This was supposed to be the appetizer for the highly awaited main course of NBA free agency next summer.
But if it wasn't already obvious to interested parties, it became painfully clear on Thursday that the eventful last nine days around the league have expanded well beyond a mere first course. And if you want to keep the food analogy going -- and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with Shaquille O'Neal's draft-day trade to Cleveland -- just look at the latest bloated deal. Also known as The Trade That Ate the NBA.
Actually, this blockbuster was more like a snowball getting bigger and bigger as it rolled down the mountain, eventually expanding to an eight-player, four-team deal involving Toronto, Orlando, Memphis and Dallas.
The linchpin of the deal was a familiar face to Lakers fans, 6-foot-10 Hedo Turkoglu, who helped lead the Magic to the NBA finals, averaging 15.8 points in the playoffs. Turkoglu moves north of the border, joining Chris Bosh and Co. in Toronto as the Raptors pulled off a couple of sign-and-trade deals.
Forward Shawn Marion of the Raptors goes to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for forward Devean George and swingman Antoine Wright. The Mavericks also acquired reserve forwards Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai from Toronto.
Additionally, the Mavericks traded swingman Jerry Stackhouse to Memphis (and the Grizzlies received payment to buy him out) for guard Greg Buckner.
But it wasn't all a total loss for the Magic, at least not monetarily.
The sign-and-trade move enabled Orlando to receive a $7-million trade exception, meaning the Magic has up to a year to use that money in a future deal.
Turkoglu was this summer's Elton Brand, a man of misdirection who ended up causing all sorts of ripple effects around the league. Last summer Brand, as you'll recall, lured Baron Davis to the Clippers from the Warriors, pitching visions of a great buddy show in Los Angeles and abruptly bolted for Philadelphia, and the Clippers and Golden State are still feeling the aftershocks. Free agent Turkoglu, whose deal with the Raptors is for a reported $53 million over five years, had reached a verbal agreement with the Trail Blazers and then abruptly changed his mind with reports suggesting his wife preferred the cosmopolitan nature of Toronto.
That triggered a chain of events. Portland then moved to pursue restricted free agent Paul Millsap of the Jazz. In addition to Millsap, other big name free agents on the outside looking in, as of late Thursday night, were Lamar Odom, Andre Miller, Glen Davis and Allen Iverson.
