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Farewell Gordon

Itâ€™s been awhile since I wrote an article. A lot has happened. The Rockets lost to the Spurs in Game 7 of the first round. Isaiah Thomas got hurt. Gordon Hayward got hurt. Hayward got traded. But before we get into all that, I want to tell you the story of Michael Redd:

The Story of Michael Redd

In 2003, the Milwaukee Bucks traded away Ray Allen who was in the prime of his life to the Seattle Supersonics for a very old Gary Payton. It was a very lop-sided deal. But why would the Bucks do this trade? The main reason was because of Michael Redd. They didnâ€™t want to give Allen a huge contract. Redd and Allen were similar players but the team believed Redd was going to be the franchise player of the team.

Long story short, he was a good player and the star of the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 2007, at the age of 28, Redd strained his left patellar tendon. He was forced to sit out for nearly 2 months. When he came back, he was back to his usual averages, but you could see that he was a bit slower and less explosive than before. This is reasonable because injuries do affect players mentally.

The next season he had just turned 29. He did not progress the way that the Bucks wanted him to. And mid-way through that season a terrible accident happened which would mark the end of Reddâ€™s career. Michael Redd went for a layup and landed on the foot of teammate Luke Ridnour. MRI revealed that Redd had torn both his ACL and MCL in his left knee. This was the same knee that he had problems with the year before. This was a bit strange because the impact of his landing didnâ€™t look that serious enough to tear the ligaments in his knee. It was probably the damage inside that gradually built up over the year from his previous injury and finally snapped.

Redd had to do surgery and when he came back for the 2009 season, you could see he wasnâ€™t a good player anymore. And then 18 games into the season, Michael Redd tore the same ACL and MCL again. I donâ€™t know if something went wrong with his surgery or his recovery, but this was just awful. Redd stated, â€œYou never expect it to happen and it happened againâ€¦ I had worked so hard to get back to where I wasâ€¦ As soon as I tried to explode, I heard a pop.â€

Hayward Injury

And now on to Haywardâ€¦

Lookâ€¦ people think athletes are these genetically gifted superhuman beings with top notch doctors. I donâ€™t believe that. I think they are just as human as you and me. They chose basketball as their craft, worked at it every day, and are now really good at it. Just look at Chris Paul. He wasnâ€™t born with any kind of genetic gifts, but he wanted the NBA dream more than anybody.

Most of us here in the NLL are at least 30 years old. And we all have experienced that physical decline that comes with the age 30. When we were young we could do whatever we wanted. But starting around age 29 or 30, we all started feeling some kind of pain whether it be back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, shin splints, you name it. I donâ€™t think it is any different for athletes. The fact that they put their bodies through stress everyday probably generates even more wear and tear than the average human being.

With that said, Hayward dislocated his ankle at the age of 27. It was really nasty to watch. I cried when I saw it. Not because Hayward was on my team, but because I know that feeling you get when you have to start thinking about how important your health is vs. the things you love to do. Hayward loves the game of basketball. Heâ€™s incredibly good at it. But right now, he has to think about his health. Does he want to keep making millions of dollars and risk further damaging his body or does he want to live life forever raising his kids not stuck in a wheelchair?

Probably one of the first people to reach out to Hayward was Paul George. George can relate to Hayward the best because he too was paid big bucks to be the face of a franchise, and he too had a devastating injury like Hayward did. The difference between George and Hayward is that George suffered his injury earlier at the age of 24. He was back by age 25, and in full force by age 26. Hayward suffered his injury at the age of 27. Heâ€™ll be back by age 28, and hopefully will be in full force by age 29. They both had similar injuries. George broke his leg mid shaft. So the doctors only had to install a rod in his leg for his recovery. Hayward, on the other hand, suffered injury closer to the ankle. This is tricky because the ligaments are involved, and they canâ€™t use a rod for this. Haywardâ€™s injury would require plate and screws.

Knowing how complex Haywardâ€™s injury was, combined with my feelings about the health of human beings near age 30. And then to top it off, stories of Michael Redd ending his career at age 29 told me that I had to trade Hayward.

Hayward Trade

So Hayward is out. I donâ€™t know if heâ€™s coming back. And when he does come back, is he going to be explosive like Paul George or is he going to be slow and beat up like Michael Redd? Without Hayward, I was going to lose a lot of games. I wonâ€™t tank unless I absolutely have to. I had to find a replacement, and I needed one before the NLL season started.

I put up Isaiah Thomas and Hayward up for sale and these were the offers I got:

Isaiah Thomas and Cole Aldrich for Trevor Ariza, Kyle Oâ€™Quinn, and Dorian Finney-Smith
Gordon Hayward for Tim Hardaway Jr, Wilson Chandler, and 2nd round pick
Anything for Ryan Anderson

Ariza was the first offer I got, and I love Ariza, but my friend who writes for the Houston Rockets says that Ariza looks slow now. The guy is 32. He hasnâ€™t had many injuries in his career, but maybe this is his regression year.

Penny hinted that he might trade Tim Hardaway Jr. for Hayward. His preseason performance definitely increased his value with me. He has the same archetype as Zach Lavine and Victor Oladipo. He is an athletic finishing sharpshooter. Anyone who knows me knows that I only go for shooters. If the player canâ€™t shoot, Iâ€™m not interested. So pass on the Justise Winslows, Rondae Hollis-Jeffersons, and Andre Robersons of the world. I knew Hardaway will never be Hayward, but heâ€™s good enough to fill the void to keep my team competitive this year. This was the best offer I could get right now. And the key word is â€œright now.â€ Keep in mind that I didnâ€™t want to tank. A good season record is what I will shoot for every year. Fighting over NYK, SA, SAC, and PHIâ€™s scraps has taught me that season record is the most important thing. So this was the sell low trade that I went with. Am I high on Hardaway? No, I am not. To me, he is a mystery box that has a better chance of being good than bad. So far though, he has looked bad to start the season. I'm routing for him to pick his 3PT shooting percentages back up.

So Whatâ€™s Next?

The lineup is not as strong as it was last year, but as GM, I have a better understanding of the 2K engine and how the players react to each other. I have two very erratic players in Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr, but I believe I can make it work. The main weakness of my team is that while Yogi Ferrell and Tim Frazier are good caliber point guards, they are not starters on a good team. I put up Isaiah Thomas back up for sale in hopes that I can get a starting caliber point guard. I saw that Reggie Jackson was for sale who I am very excited about, but Iâ€™ve received no response from New Orleans about a trade. Iâ€™m currently talking to Minnesota about Jeff Teague, but his team doesnâ€™t have the salary flexibility to make a trade that I like. Iâ€™m still exploring options with Minnesota. I donâ€™t even know if Jeff Teague works for my team. The thing is if you have very erratic wings like Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr, you need a very confident point guard to keep them from their erratic tendencies (holding ball too much, dribbling too much, playing hero ball). If I canâ€™t find a startable point guard, I will just roll out with Yogi & Frazier until IT comes back. This could be very tough though.

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