From watching the all-star game, it was so clear that everyone except for Kobe Bryant was hungover. You know Kobe was sitting in his hotel room, plotting his revenge, while everyone else was out partying. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that he won the MVP in a place like Vegas, where everyone else would go for the show rather than the game.
On a different note, that was a pretty sad performance for all the Wizards at the all-star game. Gilbert Arenas was more noticeable for what he did off the court (the trampoline) than on it, and Caron Butler just looked nervous out there. Eddie Jordan didn't go with small-ball, but his team did get blown out, for better or for worse. It probably doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but I definitely had this vision of Gilbert Arenas making a statement last night. Oh well.
The more interesting news is this nugget from Adrian Wojnarowski's column Saturday (via Hoops Hype).
In terms of pure information, none of this is particularly surprising. We already know Haywood and Thomas hate each other, and after they fought last weekend, it became even more clear. We also know that, in a perfect world, Ernie Grunfeld would trade one of them, given their contracts. And while it wasn't mentioned explicitly that Thomas and Haywood were hurting the team chemistry, if you read between the lines, it seems apparent. That, also, is not really big news.
What's particularly newsworthy about this to me is the tone. Even after the fight happened, it seemed like there really wasn't a great chance that either Haywood or Thomas would go. The rumored Etan Thomas/Chris Duhon swap just seemed like pure speculation coming straight from the mind of the writer (an assertion backed by the fact that the contracts don't even match up correctly). But this is now the second place something like this has shown up, leading me to believe that a trade might actually happen. Adding to my speculation is that the column is not particularly long, and Wojnarowski probably had to cut lots of other rumors that he felt lacked substance. The fact that he didn't cut the Haywood/Thomas rumors indicates that he feels they're relevant.
Personally, I still think nothing gets done. I don't think Ernie would trade Haywood, and Thomas' contract, age, and off-court incidents will probably scare others away. But now I'm willing to think there's a real chance Etan or Haywood gets dealt, and if the return is a package like Chris Duhon/Michael Sweetney, I'm down with that.
Consider this an open thread for the trade deadline. Be sure to post your own Etan Thomas/Brendan Haywood trades in the comments, and also post some predictions for who gets dealt by Thursday. Remember to stick to the ground rules, and post, post away.