The Boris Diaw Time Show (3/1)

The NFL poses strange interview questions, Alex Smith is traded to the Chiefs, and more.


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Alex Smith Traded to Kansas City

Earlier today, the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs reportedly came to terms on a trade that would send Alex Smith to the Chiefs for multiple "premium" draft picks. The trade itself is not surprising, as rumor of a Smith-to-KC deal has been making the rounds for days now.

The haul of draft picks? Yeah. Color me surprised.

Still, even considering the heavy price paid by Kansas City, this is a tough deal to figure out. Most trades produce immediate "winners" and "losers," even if those distinctions don't always end up holding true. San Francisco is clearly a "winner" in this trade, having flipped an unhappy, expensive backup QB for double the expected return, but are they alone in that distinction. Certainly, Kansas City's end of the deal is a bit more complicated. Are they a "loser" for having given up so much for a limited, game manager type QB? Or, are they also "winners" for successfully, and dramatically, upgrading the QB position? It's difficult to say, at this juncture.

The Boris Diaw Time Show (2/26)

The Combine gets underway, Alex Smith is (reportedly) traded, and Tom Brady signs a new deal.


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Final NBA Trade Deadline Questions

Here are a few final questions from the NBA trade deadline:

Should the Hawks have traded Josh Smith?

In an ideal world, yes, the Hawks should have moved Josh Smith. He'll be a free agent after the season and the team has given every indication they're tired of his antics and unwilling to give him the max contract he desires. But if reports are correct and the best offer on the table was Ekpe Udoh, Beno Udrih, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and a protected first round pick? Well, it's tough to blame Atlanta for passing that up. That's the type of offer you toss at the new guy in your fantasy league to see how dumb he is.

Assuming nothing better was on the table, Atlanta was wise to keep Smith on board. Not only do they remain a playoff team, but they'll likely get something of value in the offseason via sign-and-trade. In the end, they're better off with a late first round pick and the cap space over a mid/late first round pick and a pile of spare parts.

NBA Contenders Who Missed Opportunities

More than anything, the 2013 NBA trade deadline will be remembered for the trades that didn't happen rather than the trades that did. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, a rather large number of big ticket guys were legitimately in play. Going along with that, a rather large number of teams seemed to have the proper motivation to either buy or sell. Seems like the perfect formula for a blockbuster trade deadline, no?

Obviously, it didn't quite work out. For a variety of reasons -- cap space, future cap considerations, outrageous asking prices, pure stupidity -- none of those big tickets were cashed in...unless you want to consider Dexter Pittman a BIG ticket, which is a totally reasonable viewpoint. For that reason, it seems more relevant to discuss how the day's inactivity will affect things going forward, starting with the implications on this year's title. Three contenders in particular stand out to me as having missed a major opportunity on Thursday:

NBA Trade Deadline Reactions: How Bad was the Thomas Robinson Deal?

Happy trade deadline day, everybody! Your top prizes on the day are...

Hamed Haddadi? Sebastian Telfair??? ANTHONY FREAKING MORROW?!?!?!?

Needless to say, the 2013 NBA trade deadline was more than a bit anti-climactic, especially considering the names and types of deals floated about in the days leading up. At one point, Josh Smith was "100% getting traded," the entire Celtics franchise was being loaded up with 10 tons of dynamite, Eric Bledsoe was getting cashed in for either Garnett or Millsap, and countless other names such as Danny Granger, Eric Gordon, Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, Andrea Bargnani, and Evan Turner were being bandied about. None of those players ended up changing addresses. What we ended up with was a trade deadline highlighted by J.J. Redick, Jordan Crawford, and a controversial -- yet ultimately meaningless -- trade by the Kings. Not exactly a Who's Who of NBA royalty.

The Boris Diaw Time Show (2/18)

If you were starting an NFL franchise, which QB would you start with?


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The Boris Diaw Time Show (2/12)

Michael Vick returns to Philly, Percy Harvin nears his exit from Minnesota, and the NFL considers another radical change.


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Vick's return to Philly a mutually beneficial move

Missing the NFL already? Fret not, because games or no games, everyone’s favorite sport will remain firmly entrenched on the front page of ESPN.com and in the lead headlines of sports talk radio throughout the country. The NFL offseason is as big –or bigger – than most other sport’s regular season. Cuts, free agent signings, and draft rumors will mean as much as almost any NBA regular season result, giving us all just enough of a fix to make it through to the 2013 NFL season.

The most scrutinized offseason development is that of the QB market, of which the first major domino fell on Monday with the announcement of Michael Vick’s one year “restructuring,” of sorts, with the Eagles. Vick’s tenure in Philly has been rocky, to say the least, with Vick struggling mightily with turnovers, injuries, and general ineffectiveness the previous two years. He hasn’t been horrible, mind you………OK, I take that back, he was pretty darn horrible last year. Sort of horrible the year before. Basically, a $100M version of Tarvaris Jackson.

The Boris Diaw Time Show (2/5)

More Super Bowl reactions with Prince, and some early predictions for 2013.


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The Boris Diaw Time Show (2/4)

Super Bowl reactions with our very own dejected 'Niners fan, Casey.


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Performance and price not matching for Joe Flacco

Peyton Manning. Tom Brady. Drew Brees. Joe Flac…Joe Flacco???

While the idea of mentioning Flacco in the same breath as that of Manning or Brady seems absurd to many, it apparently does NOT to Joe Flacco. In fact, according to a recent report by Ian Rapoport, Flacco believes it to be the other way around, that the Manning’s and Brees’ of the world don’t deserve to be mentioned with him. Quoting Rapoport, “I’m told his camp believes he is playing better than Peyton Manning.” Regarding Manning’s $19.2M per year salary, he states, “Expect them to shoot higher than that.” John Clayton, among others, has confirmed this, stating that Flacco will be aiming for a salary starting at $20M annually.

While the Ravens are in the fortunate position of being able to ignore this nonsense for at least a few more days, they are eventually going to have to enter Joe Flacco Fantasy Land. Given these reports, I imagine it’s a strange, strange place where rational thoughts go to die.