Please, Reggie, Don't Do It

I don't know how much stock to put in this, but word out of Dallas is that Reggie Miller may be considering joining the Mavs. From the Dallas Morning News:

No way of knowing how serious it is yet, but Reggie Miller could be a candidate for the Mavericks' vacant roster spot.

Owner Mark Cuban brought up Miller's name before Monday's game against the Hawks. The former Indiana Pacers star is the No. 1 3-point shooter in NBA history. He retired after the 2004-05 season, but remains in excellent physical shape.

And joining the Mavericks would give him the chance to do about the only thing he never did in his illustrious career – win a championship.

Avery Johnson said he and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson have been discussing options for the open spot, but are not close to any decisions.

Miller currently is a member of TNT's broadcast team.

First of all, this move makes no sense for the Mavericks. They've won 13 in a row and are a league best 48-9. They've got a good team down there led by a good coach. You don't want to go messing around with that.

But what I really don't like about this idea is that Reggie Miller would be playing for a team that is not the Indiana Pacers. I prefer the Reggie Miller of my youth - the one who scored 25 points in the 4th quarter against the Knicks in the 1994 Playoffs, the one who scored 9 points in 8.9 seconds against the Knicks the next year, the one who could always be counted on to sink the big shot when it was needed. Until his retirement, Reggie spent my entire life playing for the Pacers. It would really sadden me to see an aging Reggie out trying to hoof it up and down the court, being a step or two too slow. It'd sadden me even more if that happened in a Mavs jersey.

Pacers-Warriors Trade: 1 Month Later

On January 17th, the Pacers and Warriors swapped 4 players each. Here's how things have worked out since.

Pacers Get
Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
Troy Murphy
Ike Diogu
Keith McLeod

Warriors Get
Stephen Jackson
Al Harrington
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Josh Powell

Record at Trade
Pacers: 20-18
Warriors: 19-21

Record Since
Pacers: 8-6, 28-24 overall
Warriors: 6-8, 25-29 overall

The Players Involved
Pacers: Mike Dunleavy has been scoring 13 PPG (up 1.5 PPG) and Troy Murphy is scoring 9.4 PPG (up only 0.5 PPG). Ike Diogu's rebounds are down almost 1 PG. Keith McLeod has only seen 5 minutes of PT in 1 game since coming over.

Warriors: Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson have nearly identical stats since going to Golden State. Both are both averaging around 18 PPG, with 3 APG, 1+Steals PG, and 0.5 Block PG. Harringtons's PPG has increased by about 2, while Jackson's has increased by 4. Jasikevicius is getting about 15 Minutes PG in, comparable to his PT in Indiana. Powell's PT has gone up by 3 MPG, and his scoring has increased about three-fold (1.7 PPG vs. 4.7 PPG)

The Verdict
The Pacers didn't turn out too much worse for having lost their major offseason acquisition. I don't know what Donnie Walsh thinks about Al Harrington. First they draft him, then ship him off to Atlanta for Stephen Jackson, then sign in back, then trade both of them. I suppose the bottom line is that the Pacers went from 2 games over .500 to 4 games over. And, the Pacers ended up +1 in the white boy department. Because if it's one thing the Pacers have always lacked, it's white boys.

The Bowl That May or May Not be Super

I'm not too worried about the game. In face, this is as calm as I've felt since the playoffs started. My previous worries -

Chiefs: LJ running amok
Ravens: McNair steps up against the Colts historically
Patriots: Don't even get me started.

But the Bears? As much as I enjoy reading Kissing Suzy Kolber, the Rexstacy doesn't really scare me. Adam and I have been getting along just like always up until now, but tomorrow's another story. I'll do a big BTMOMNBS recap Monday or Tuesday, and depending on what kind of party I end up at there might be pictures.

A Little Something Extra - my favorite KSK article: Fuck It. I'm Throwing Downfield.