:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45570120/usa-today-7233710.0.jpg)
The East is bad, bad, bad, bad and Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports Ball Don't Lie laments how three bad teams --the Nets, Hornets and Pistons-- are likely to fight it out for the eighth and final place in the playoffs and the right to face the Hawks, the NBA's hottest team who conference lead just grows and grows.
Nothing new there, but Dwyer goes after Billy King in ways and words not often seen online. Harsh. To wit: "King has made a career out of a series of Michael Jordan-type moves (usually worse) and yet still somehow manages to have a career."
And this...
King’s tenure is legendarily-bad at this point. He dealt for Deron Williams just in time to watch Williams’ career decline, giving up two lottery picks and a damn good big man in Derrick Favors away in return. He used another pick, which turned into Damian Lillard, for the right to overpay Gerald Wallace. Because Wallace made so much damn money, he was able to be parlayed into a deal for a pair of future Basketball Hall of Famers in Kevin Garnet (whose career has fallen off a cliff, due to his age) and Paul Pierce (who played well for half a season before leaving as a free agent). In that move, the Nets gave up several first-round draft picks (in 2014, 2016, 2018) along with handing Boston the right to swap picks with Brooklyn in 2017.
Dwyer's not done yet. He notes the upcoming swap of first rounders with Atlanta, the next to last payment in the Joe Johnson trade...
Brooklyn could miss the playoffs with a payroll that vaults into the $100 million mark after luxury taxes, and only end up with the 29th pick in the draft while the Hawks sneak into the lottery. Or the 30th pick.
No comment from King. As for the race for eighth, Dwyer predicts Detroit will make the grade with Charlotte and Brooklyn handicapped by a growing list of injuries. He thinks 35 wins gets it done.
-
Charlotte, Brooklyn and Detroit are all fighting for the Worst Playoff Seed Ever - Kelly Dwyer - Yahoo! Sports