Oh the Vinsanity

I promised a gig about Vince Carter and so here it is. Most people remember him as a Raptor, because as a Raptor, he completely redefined the Slam Dunk Contest, and that's all anyone will remember him for. Well, that and jumping over a 7-foot Frenchman. Vince Carter is a good guy, he really is, he's opening a chemical addiction treatment center, he saves cats from trees and stops robbers stealing purses, the whole 9 yards. Ok, ok, in all seriousness Vince Carter's antics can always be limited to the basketball court, which unfortunately, as his profession dictates, creates something of a problem. You'd think that he and little cousin Tracy McGrady on the same team, at the same time would've been insane, but they both hated Toronto, Carter wanted to play for a winner. So, T-Mac goes to Orlando where he catches some chronic injury from Grant Hill and Vince ends up in New Jersey next to Jason Kidd.

Upon his arrival New Jersey was coming off of 3 playoff appearances, 2 of those losses in the Finals to the Lakers and to the Spurs. Vince Carter helped them get 3 more, but they always got knocked out second round. Some people say that Carter got complacent, for a guy playing complacently 21 pts, 5 rbds, and 6 assts per game isn't too shabby. I like his performance, but I would agree, he doesn't really have the fire in him anymore. So trade him. What's the problem? Well, I would guess $14 million per year for the next four years might be one of them, or rather, 56 million of them, depending on how you're counting. A lot of people view Carter as a highly talented player, but a washup that isn't really worth the money. He just doesn't have that edge that makes him a winner. That makes him hard to market. Especially since most teams can't really afford to pay star power money for someone who isn't necessarily going to bring star powered game to the court night in and night out.

A lot of people, Yahoo! BDL included, think that Carter will be traded very soon, very, very soon, as in, before the February trade deadline, which in terms of basketball talk, is pretty quick. We all know that the Nets are in the running for the LeBron James sweepstakes as many of the star-studded 2003 rookie class becomes free agents. Joining LeBron in the free agency would also include Olympic teammates Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. Amare Stoudemire would also be a free agent in the upcoming summer. So, there's a lot of All-Star talent out there, and you need a lot of money to throw a max contract out there that one of them will take. So New Jersey, has long been enamoured of LeBron James, and is hoping to somehow draw him to the Nets (with a few hints from Jay-Z maybe) come free agency. So the Nets have been shedding talent for cap space left and right, picking young players with "upside" over proven veterans. They obviously don't really care if they win or not this year, because it's all about when LeBron gets to town.

The only problem; Vince Carter and his $56 million contract.

So, again, trade him. Well, given that fat of a contract, what kind of team would take him? We're looking for a team that has a weak SG slot, and is looking for an immediate solution, they are just that one SG away from being a winner. In fact, they'd be willing to give up an expiring contract or something just so they could fill that slot with effective talent. If we look at VC's contract, because it's 4 years, no rebuilding team wants him. Out go OKC and Memphis, the usual spots to dump bad contracts. So contender material... Spurs? No, Pops still likes Manu. Lakers? They got Kobe. Boston? Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. New Orleans? No, no contracts to make even close to matching. So you see the problem?

We see that the problem isn't that VC doesn't fit anywhere, or that he's a bad player, it's just that, there's no where that can use him that is able to pay him his contract. Except... Well, Wally Sczerbiak seems to have a $13 M expiring contract... That works... Except... VC to the Cavs might just make Cleveland good enough for LeBron to want to stay. Hey, I'm all for VC to the Cavs, get LeBron some more help. Seriously though, the Nets would be shooting themselves in the foot if they went for Wally just because he's an expiring contract, unless they're really going for Dwayne Wade all this time...

UPDATE: Yahoo!'s very own KD on VC for Wally Sczerbiak:

8:32	[Comment From Jaceman] I don't know that Carter will be that easy to trade. The quickest solution would be for Wally Sczerbiak's expiring contract, but then, would that make Cleveland good enough for LeBron to stay?

8:32	KDonhoops: Yeah, that's one of the weirdest non-trade scenarios I can remember for years. It would help both teams, but both teams would be wondering if it would be helping the other a bit TOO much.