Bulls-Kings Trade: Anatomy Of A Scoop (?)

   *3:50: I drive away from my suburban oasis to make the trek to Mavs HQ.

   *3:56: I get a text from an NBA source. It tells me Salmons and Miller are going to Chicago.

   *4:02: I call ‘Dave T’ of the DB.com staff and ask him to slap up a quick ‘breaking news’ item. Because, you know, I can’t upload while I’m typing.

   *4:10: It’s up on DallasBasketball.com. It’s not complete. … but it’s up. Yay! We win! I vow to give myself a raise.

   *4:21: ESPN’s Chris Sheridan posts his story, complete with the details: Gooden/Nocioni/Simmons to the Kings for Salmons/Miller.

   So. … we won! DB.com wins! In the grand scheme of things, who cares, but, I vow to give myself two raises!

   *3:40: Wait. … Looks like the Sacramento Bee published its report on this trade at 3:40.  Dammit! There goes my two raises!

   And, of course, there’s another reason why am I not celebrating. …

   Because the Mavs couldn’t match Chicago’s expiring junk.

   The Kings turned away Dallas’ Stack-based offer to instead accept with Gooden and Simmons, a combined $9 mil in disappearing money. They lose the best player in the deal, Salmons, and replace him with Nocioni, who is a financial burden through 2012.

   If this works right, and if I’m figuring this right, both Chicago and Sacto get cap relief of a sort. And the Mavs find themselves on the outside looking in.

   Maybe there’s a continuation to this deal (an ensuing trade?); my original source mentioned “logjam-breaking,’’ but I didn’t take it that way. Rather, I assume he meant that the expirings dealt here will create a domino effect as other teams have some parameters set.

   So DallasBasketball.com settles for a silver medal. The SacBee gets the gold. ESPN gets the bronze. … and the Mavs are still out there searching for their prize.

520pm feb 18 2009