Rondo, Rajon

Subterms

    Latest story

    150 Shares169 Views

    This Time, the Cavaliers’ Revival Has Nothing to Do With LeBron James

    by

    Two All-Stars, a surprising rookie and savvy trades have Cleveland among the best teams in the Eastern Conference. “Everybody is doing something,” one veteran said.For most of the last two decades, the Cleveland Cavaliers could be defined by two things: LeBron James or irrelevance.James, a hometown hero, breathed new life into the city upon being drafted in 2003, and made the Cavaliers a must-see attraction. And then he devastated the fan base by leaving for Miami in 2010, before returning like Odysseus in 2014 and delivering one of the most storied championships in N.B.A. history in 2016. Two years later, he left again, leaving the franchise without a clear path forward.“Everybody felt a little bit weird after that year,” said Cedi Osman, a fifth-year guard for Cleveland.The Cavaliers were starting from scratch and staring into the abyss. They had past-their-prime veterans and no track record of luring top free agents. But a funny thing has happened. Fast forward through some quality draft picks, a savvy trade and a key player’s unexpected resurgence, and there is a basketball renaissance in Cleveland.Four seasons after James’s exit to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cavaliers have confounded expectations to become one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference with one of the best defenses in the N.B.A. For the first time since James left in 2018, the Cavaliers will be represented in the All-Star Game, which is this weekend in Cleveland. Rajon Rondo, the veteran point guard traded to Cleveland from the Lakers last month, said the Cavaliers this season have “a chance to do something special.”Their status as a contender was cemented last week when they acquired Caris LeVert, a 27-year-old swingman and Ohio native, from the Indiana Pacers. LeVert told reporters the team seemed to have “such positive energy everywhere.”Positive energy has been in short supply in recent years. Over the past three seasons, the Cavaliers went 60-159. The rebuilding process post-James, helmed by General Manager Koby Altman, has been bumpy.Cleveland is on its fourth head coach in four years. One of them, John Beilein, apologized to his team of mostly Black players in 2020 for calling them “thugs” in a film session. He resigned later that year midseason with a dismal 14-40 record.N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver chose Jarrett Allen, center, to replace James Harden in the All-Star Game as Harden recovers from an injury.Chris Szagola/Associated PressThere was also the trade for Andre Drummond, a slow and expensive center who rebounded well but didn’t fit with the team’s quick perimeter guards, and the extension for another center, Larry Nance Jr., who never quite lived up to a contract worth more than $40 million.“We’ve taken some time and had to be really patient through some difficult times to get to where we are,” Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who replaced Beilein, said during a news conference last week. “And when you’re talking about legacy, I think those are discussions that you have after the season or, you know, two years from now when you can look back at a total body of work and see what you’ve truly done.”The core for the Cavaliers’ resurgence has come through the draft. Point guard Darius Garland, selected with the fifth pick in 2019, was a highly-touted but risky pick given that he played in only five games at Vanderbilt because of a knee injury. The Cavaliers had drafted point guard Collin Sexton only the year before, which made the selection of Garland raise some eyebrows.The team instead started Garland and Sexton as one of the more dynamic backcourts in the N.B.A. Now, in only his third year, the 22-year-old Garland is averaging 20.1 points and 8 assists per game as a deft floor general and earned an All-Star berth. (Sexton sustained a season-ending knee injury in early November.)With his passing skills and ability to create space for himself in the paint, Garland has outplayed at least two players drafted ahead of him (RJ Barrett and De’Andre Hunter), while the No. 1 pick from that draft, Zion Williamson, hasn’t taken the floor this season because of a foot injury.Brandon Knight, who was Garland’s teammate briefly during Garland’s rookie year in Cleveland, described him as “super, super, super unselfish.”“He scores a lot, but he also gets a lot of guys involved,” Knight, 30, said. “When you get guys involved and you get guys feeling good about themselves and feeling good about touching the basketball, I think it trickles down.”When a team isn’t traditionally attractive for free agents, hitting on high draft picks is crucial. Cleveland drafted Isaac Okoro fifth in 2020, and he has become a reliable defender and open-floor finisher. The draftee with the highest ceiling might be Evan Mobley, who was picked at No. 3 in last year’s draft. Mobley, 20, is averaging 14.7 points and 8 rebounds per game and is a contender to win the Rookie of the Year Award.Isaac Okoro, ground, has become a reliable defender and finisher in his second year. The Cavaliers drafted him with the fifth overall pick in 2020.Nick Wosika/USA Today Sports, via ReutersOne of Cleveland’s best moves was the trade for Jarrett Allen last season, part of a four-team deal that landed James Harden with Allen’s former team, the Nets. The 23-year-old Allen — a strong rebounder and finisher around the rim — is now one of the best centers in the N.B.A. and was selected as an injury replacement for Harden in this year’s All-Star Game. The Nets have a worse record than the Cavaliers and traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers last week. They’ve looked very much like a team that could use Allen.But this year’s success for Cleveland is not just because of the young players. Kevin Love, a five-time All-Star and the only James-era holdover besides Osman, has battled injuries for most of Cleveland’s rebuilding process. Love, a power forward, signed a four-year $120 million extension to remain in Cleveland entering the 2018-19 season, after James left the second time. Before this season, it looked like a mistake for Altman. When Love did play, his body language was sour. On multiple occasions, he openly showed displeasure with teammates.Deng Adel, who played 19 games for the Cavaliers in the year after James left for the Lakers, said the early stages of rebuilding were “kind of tough” for Love.“For the most part, he was still definitely a good teammate,” said Adel, who now plays for the Boston Celtics’ G League affiliate. He added: “It kind of gets frustrating, especially for where he’s at in his career. You know, you could kind of tell he kind of wants to win.”After the trade for Allen and the drafting of Mobley, it seemed that there wouldn’t be room for Love. But in the summer, his agent put a stop to chatter that Love would try to negotiate a buyout. Instead, Love came back to training and told reporters he would be a “positive force.” Now, this year is among the best in his eight seasons in Cleveland. He’s averaging 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game off the bench and shooting 39.2 percent from 3. Love is fitting in instead of fitting out, just as James once publicly preached for him to do.“He’s a great mentor for us — for young players and especially the way he’s playing this year,” Osman said. “I mean, we’re really looking up to him. Offensively. Defensively. He’s crafty. He’s trying to help us. You know, everybody is doing something.”Kevin Love, center, is in his eighth season with Cleveland, and playing some of his best basketball in years off the bench.Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports, via ReutersMentorship has also come from other sources. The veteran point guard Ricky Rubio came to Cleveland in a trade from Minnesota in the off-season and helped the team get off to a fast start with his steady hand in setting up the offense. But, in December, a knee injury ended his season, and he was traded in the deal for LeVert. Rondo has filled Rubio’s role.If the Cavaliers make a deep run this postseason, perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise. They have dynamic scorers (Garland, Allen), quality veterans with championship experience (Love, Rondo), and complementary shot-creators (Okoro, Osman). Especially this year, where there is no clear-cut favorite for the title, the Cavaliers have a real chance of making the N.B.A. finals. And they seem to enjoy playing with one another.“A lot of times you can’t predict this type of stuff, man,” Knight said. “So the ingredients just work and there’s really not an answer for it.”He added, “When you get a group of guys that are just unselfish and don’t care about which guy’s getting the points, all those type of things, I think it just works out.”Of course, the Cavaliers still have a lot of work to do. The Eastern Conference is tightly packed and one losing streak could mean being exiled to the play-in tournament — and, perhaps, out of the playoffs. But this year has been an undeniable step forward. If nothing else, Cleveland is shooting for something bigger, to be defined by more than a past association with LeBron James.“We’re trying to build something,” Osman said. “It’s all about these Cavs right now.” More

    More stories

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Basket

      These N.B.A. Contenders Just Got Better

      by

      A look at the league’s top-tier contenders after a busy period of player movement.The N.B.A.’s trade deadline on Thursday featured more than a dozen trades — some surprising, some not so much. Several players named Gary were traded (Trent Jr., Clark, Harris). Miami was the biggest winner, acquiring Victor Oladipo and, separately, Nemanja Bjelica.Many of the top teams in the league stood pat. The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t trade for Kyle Lowry. Their rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, traded backup point guards: Lou Williams to the Atlanta Hawks for Rajon Rondo. The Philadelphia 76ers added a solid veteran guard in George Hill from the Oklahoma City Thunder.But did any teams make any moves to vault themselves to title contender status? With roughly a third of the season left, a wide-open N.B.A. season is now showing more signs of a traditional hierarchy.In the Eastern Conference, entering Sunday’s games, the fourth and 11th seeds were separated by five and a half games. But the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks were ahead of the No. 4-seeded Charlotte Hornets by five and a half games, establishing a clear top tier. In the West, there was less separation between the top seeds, with the No. 6-seeded Portland Trail Blazers seven games behind the No. 1-seeded Utah Jazz, leaving room for a lot of movement.Here’s a look at the top-tier contenders from each conference and where they stand after the trade deadline.The EastPhiladelphia 76ers (32-14)Simmons, center, and Tobias Harris, right, are keeping the Sixers at the top of the East, even without the injured Joel Embiid.Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via ReutersWhy They’ll Win the Finals:The Sixers are deep and well balanced to surround Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. They’ve gone 6-2 without Embiid, who hasn’t played since March 12 because of a knee injury. In that stretch, they beat the Spurs — a likely playoff team — by 35 points and the Kings by 24. In the playoffs, they’ll have Embiid, a matchup nightmare and a candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award. They have also had an elite defense all season, and been boosted by a career year for Tobias Harris.Adding George Hill, who led the league in 3-point shooting last season, was a good move by the Sixers’ front office. He plays solid defense, has a lot of playoff experience and gives Embiid and Simmons more room to work.Why They Won’t: Health. Embiid has missed roughly a third of the season and has had conditioning issues. Also, Embiid and Simmons have struggled in past playoffs to produce at a high level as defenses focused more on them. And as good as Embiid and Simmons are, if the Nets and the Bucks are healthy, Philadelphia won’t have the best top-end players on the floor if they meet.Milwaukee Bucks (29-16)P.J. Tucker, right, gives the Bucks perimeter defense and toughness.Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersWhy They’ll Win the Finals: The Bucks made a significant acquisition with P.J. Tucker, the gritty, defensive-minded forward who gives Milwaukee another perimeter threat. The team is finally showing itself to be the juggernaut it was predicted to be in the preseason, going 13-3 in its last 16 games. The Bucks are deep, and Giannis Antetokounmpo may very well win his third straight M.V.P. Award this season. They have one of the league’s best offenses and a top-10 defense.The Tucker trade freed up roster spots, giving the Bucks room to add a free agent. (Austin Rivers and Kelly Olynyk, who were recently traded, could be great fits here if they are bought out of their contracts or released.)Why They Won’t: Once again, the Bucks are having a great regular season. Ultimately, the Bucks will only advance if Antetokounmpo isn’t flummoxed by playoff defenses, as he has been. He is shooting only 30 percent from deep, so expect opposing teams to continue to pack the paint when he has the ball.Brooklyn Nets (31-15)James Harden has been the lone member of the Nets’ starry trio on the floor many times, as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving miss games for injury and personal reasons. He has handled it just fine.Rick Bowmer/Associated PressWhy They’ll Win the Finals: The Nets are a cheat code. Since Feb. 14, they have had the league’s fifth best offense. Why is that date relevant? Because Kevin Durant has not played at all in that time because of an injured left hamstring. The Nets have an elite offense and they’re not even playing one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game. James Harden has been exceptional. He leads the league in assists, despite not having Durant to pass to for most of his time with the Nets. The team is 17-3 in its last 20 games — almost entirely without Durant.And the Nets just added LaMarcus Aldridge in addition to their recent signing of Blake Griffin.Why They Won’t: It’s one thing to navigate the regular season without Durant. But in the playoffs, that creates different challenges. Is he definitely going to be healthy for the playoffs? And even if he is, given how ball dominant he is, will there be enough time to mesh with Harden and Kyrie Irving properly?Miami Heat (22-24)The Heat have struggled with and without Jimmy Butler, but a few trade deadline moves could help them make a run down the stretch.Joel Auerbach/Associated PressWhy They’ll Win the Finals: Yes, the Heat are under .500. But they did make the N.B.A. finals last year despite being a lower seed, and they have most of the same players this year. Their record is mostly a result of health. Jimmy Butler, their best player, missed a bunch of time this season and now is actually having the best campaign of his career, averaging career highs in field-goal percentage, rebounds and assists. The team also added Victor Oladipo, another playmaker, to help share responsibility with Butler.Why They Won’t It’s tough to capture lightning in a bottle twice, and the rest of the contenders have better top-level talent. In 20 games with Houston, Oladipo played poorly — averaging 21.2 points on only 40.7 percent shooting from the field. The Heat have lost six in a row, and in general have been inconsistent. It’s hard to believe that a sub-.500 team this late in the season can win a title.The WestUtah Jazz (34-11)Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are in sync, and that has meant success for the Jazz this season.Alex Goodlett/Getty ImagesWhy They’ll Win the Finals: In the early stages of the pandemic, dysfunction swirled around the Jazz. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell had a relationship that was on the rocks. But they began to reassemble their chemistry in the bubble, and now Utah has the best record in the N.B.A. Mitchell has emerged as a star — one who is fully capable of lifting his team into title contention. The difference this season is that he and Gobert have more help, and the Jazz are overwhelming teams from the 3-point line.Why They Won’t: Aside from their pockmarked playoff history, the Jazz play in a conference packed with championship-tested players, luminaries who are identifiable by their first names (LeBron, Kawhi) and know what it takes to make deep trips through the postseason. The Jazz, on the other hand, have not reached the conference finals since 2007.Los Angeles Clippers (31-16)Paul George has rebounded from postseason struggles last summer to keep the Clippers in the mix in the West.Darren Abate/Associated PressWhy They’ll Win the Finals: The Clippers faced questions after their meltdown in the bubble. (You’ll recall that they blew a 3-1 series lead over the Nuggets in the conference semifinals.) Paul George absorbed much of the criticism for his poor play. He has had his ups and downs this season — who hasn’t? — but appears to be in better form. The Clippers are contenders because of Kawhi Leonard, but George’s postseason play will determine if they are actually capable of winning it all.Why They Won’t: The Clippers hope that Rajon Rondo, whom they acquired at the trade deadline, can provide the sort of leadership they were missing last season. But they still lack depth at the point, and the team has been terrible in clutch situations, dating to last season’s bubble implosion. Championship teams are adept at closing out games. The Clippers are not.Los Angeles Lakers (29-17 entering Sunday)Why They’ll Win the Finals: LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed the damage they could do together last season when they rolled through the playoffs in leading the Lakers to their first championship since 2010. It was a resurgent season for James, in particular, and it proved (if anyone needed proof) that a team with two of the top players on the planet is a pretty safe bet to make a championship run, no matter the complementary pieces. James and Davis, of course, are back this season — and if they are healthy for the playoffs, look out.Why They Won’t: James (ankle) and Davis (calf) are not healthy, and that is an enormous problem — for now, if not forever. Davis has not played since Feb. 14, and Coach Frank Vogel said recently that Davis was “still a ways away.” The Lakers were already struggling without him when James sprained his ankle on March 20. He could be sidelined for at least another month. At the same time, a host of lesser Lakers have labored with their shooting strokes: Markieff Morris, Alex Caruso, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol. Take your pick. Is it windy?Phoenix Suns (31-14)Why They’ll Win the Finals: In hindsight, the Suns’ nifty footwork in acquiring Chris Paul in the off-season was one of the best moves an up-and-coming team could have made. He brought experience, toughness and defense to a team that was making big leaps — the Suns closed out the 2019-20 regular season by going undefeated in the bubble — and he has allowed Devin Booker to play off the ball. The window is closing for Paul, an 11-time All-Star who, at 35, has never played in an N.B.A. finals. In this topsy-turvy, anything-goes season, perhaps this is the moment when he finally makes it happen.Why They Won’t: Inexperience. Booker, the team’s best player, has yet to get a taste of the postseason. The reality is that it’s asking a lot of a young group of players to make a very deep push in its first run through the playoffs, even if Paul is guiding the group.Denver Nuggets (27-18, entering Sunday)Why They’ll Win the Finals: Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray continue to evolve and improve, and the time is now for the team to capitalize. The Nuggets’ front office signaled as much at the trade deadline when it acquired Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee, veterans who should help improve the team’s middling defense. Gordon also gives the Nuggets another scoring option.Why They Won’t: The Nuggets have been wildly inconsistent this season, and it didn’t help that they lost Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee — two valuable role players — in free agency. Michael Porter Jr., who has surfaced as the team’s third scorer, has huge potential but has missed a lot of time and is still developing. More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Basket

      The N.B.A. Trades That Did, and Did Not, Happen

      by

      Kyle Lowry and Lonzo Ball are staying put (for now), but Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and others are on the move. Here’s what you need to know.Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry was heavily pursued by three of the N.B.A.’s presumed title contenders — Philadelphia, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers — before Thursday’s trade deadline. Yet Lowry, on his 35th birthday, did not get traded.The Raptors’ decision to hold firm and keep Lowry, even though he will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, was perhaps the biggest surprise of a frantic trade deadline day in which 16 reported deals were struck.After Toronto ultimately decided that none of the three primary bidders had met its demands for a trade package for Lowry, the league’s two Florida teams — Miami and Orlando — and the Denver Nuggets emerged from the deadline having made the most significant moves.A breakdown of Thursday’s most notable business:Why Kyle Lowry Is Still a RaptorLowry, widely regarded as the only player who both was likely to be traded this week and had the ability to affect the championship chase, acknowledged after the Raptors’ win Wednesday over the Nuggets that he might have played his last game with the franchise he helped win a title in 2018-19.Amid all of Thursday’s activity, Lowry’s fate remained the greatest source of intrigue. The Raptors appeared to be clearing roster space to take the Lowry offer they found most palatable by agreeing to three trades to send Matt Thomas to Utah, Terence Davis to Sacramento and the much-coveted Norman Powell to Portland for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood.Then the deadline passed with no trade. The Heat were unwilling to include the highly rated guard Tyler Herro in their offers for Lowry, while the Lakers refused to include the blossoming scorer Talen Horton-Tucker, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who was not authorized to discuss them publicly. Other factors contributed to the nontrade: Any team trading for Lowry naturally wanted to be sure it could re-sign him this summer, and Raptors officials went into the deadline pledging to send Lowry only to a destination he approved.“We owe him that respect as a person,” Masai Ujiri, Toronto’s president of basketball operations, said Thursday night.The Toronto Raptors did trade a guard on Thursday, but it was Norman Powell, right, not Kyle Lowry, left.Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersToronto ultimately decided to take its chances with letting Lowry finish the season as a Raptor, with the hope that it can either sign him to a new deal in the summer or construct a sign-and-trade deal that prevents the Raptors from losing perhaps the most popular player in team history without compensation.Miami Pivots to Victor OladipoAfter its best Lowry offer was rebuffed by the Raptors, Miami turned instead to Houston to make a deal for Victor Oladipo, a two-time All-Star guard and another soon-to-be free agent, according to a person with knowledge of the trade who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The Heat also agreed to a trade with Sacramento for the versatile forward Nemanja Bjelica after acquiring the veteran swingman Trevor Ariza last week.As the deadline neared, Miami signaled it was out of the Lowry hunt by packaging the veterans Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley for Oladipo, as well as granting Houston the right to swap a 2022 first-round pick with Miami.After just two months as a Rocket, and still recovering from the serious leg injury that sidelined him for more than a year in Indiana, Oladipo did not generate nearly as much trade interest as Houston had hoped when it acquired him from the Pacers in January as part of the four-team blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Nets.Orlando Blows It All UpRavaged by injuries this season after a promising 4-0 start, Orlando broke from its reputation for operating in a measured fashion by aggressively embracing a rebuilding posture and trading away three players it has relied on heavily for years: center Nikola Vucevic, forward Aaron Gordon and guard Evan Fournier. Vucevic, the only 2021 All-Star dealt on Thursday, was traded to the Chicago Bulls. Gordon is bound for Denver, and Fournier is on his way to Boston.Nikola Vucevic to ChicagoAfter weeks of pessimism in rival front offices that Vucevic would be made available, Orlando gave deadline day an early jolt by packaging Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Bulls for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two future first-round picks. Chicago is eager to team Vucevic with Zach LaVine, another 2021 All-Star.Nikola Vucevic is headed to the Chicago Bulls.John Raoux/Associated PressAaron Gordon is headed to the Denver Nuggets.Julio Aguilar/Getty ImagesAaron Gordon to DenverDenver, coming off a trip to the Western Conference finals, fortified its roster for another playoff run by outbidding the Boston Celtics to strike a deal with the Magic for Gordon. The Nuggets, who also agreed to acquire the veteran center JaVale McGee from Cleveland in a separate deal, are sending the veteran swingman Gary Harris, the rookie guard R.J. Hampton and a future first-round pick to the Magic for Gordon and Gary Clark, according to a person with knowledge of the trades who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.Evan Fournier to BostonDespite missing out on Gordon, Boston made good on its vows to shake up its roster in the midst of a disappointing 21-23 season by sending two future second-round picks and the veteran guard Jeff Teague to Orlando for Fournier, according to a person with knowledge of the trade. The Celtics were better positioned than the Knicks and other interested teams to absorb Fournier’s $17 million salary because of a $28.5 million trade exception they created in a sign-and-trade deal to send Gordon Hayward to Charlotte in November. Such trade exceptions allow teams to take in extra salary in trades rather than adhere to the league’s usual salary-matching rules.The Hawks and Clippers Swap GuardsThe Los Angeles Clippers, who had interest in higher-profile point guards like Lowry and Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans, addressed their need for more playmaking by striking a deal with the Atlanta Hawks to acquire the four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo.The Clippers had coveted Rondo in free agency last fall but lost out when Rondo signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Hawks. The trade calls for the Clippers to send the high-scoring veteran guard Lou Williams and two future second-round picks to Atlanta for Rondo, who has missed games because of injury and made minimal impact as a Hawk.Lou Williams will bring some much-needed scoring to the Atlanta Hawks.Brandon Dill/Associated PressDeals, and No DealUnwilling to go overboard in its Lowry pursuit, Philadelphia found a different path to fortifying its backcourt by assembling a three-team trade with Oklahoma City and the Knicks to acquire George Hill of the Thunder. The trade cost the 76ers two future second-round picks to each team and will also route the Knicks’ Austin Rivers to the Thunder.Cleveland and San Antonio, as expected, were unable to find palatable trades for two former All-Stars with large contracts, Andre Drummond ($28.75 million) and LaMarcus Aldridge ($24 million). San Antonio immediately agreed to a contract buyout with Aldridge that will make him an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers, with Drummond widely expected to follow the same path.The Nets did not find a trade for the injured Spencer Dinwiddie. Despite a likely season-ending knee injury, Dinwiddie is expected to decline his $12.3 million player option for next season and become a free agent, which had the Nets looking for a potential deal to add to their depth and to avoid losing Dinwiddie for nothing.It was the N.B.A.’s fourth consecutive deadline day to generate a double-digit number of trades. The frenzy hushed fears that the deadline would be quieter than usual in part because of the league’s new playoff format, which gives 10 teams a shot at the postseason instead of the longstanding norm of eight.Entering Thursday’s play, only four of the league’s 30 teams were more than four games out of contention for the No. 10 spot in each conference: Orlando, Detroit, Houston and Minnesota. Numerous league executives have said that, in past years, teams more naturally fell into place as buyers or sellers with fewer clubs in playoff contention. More