Learning from the Mistakes of Your Competitors

A lot of talk has been made about Carmelo Anthony. It's a given that he wants to leave Denver, and there are many reasons out there about why. But I think one of the biggest reasons that can't go unnoticed is Denver's inability to bring about a superstar to form a tandem with Anthony that could contend for a championship.

Allen Iverson? His Philadelphia years were past him when he came in 2007, and even so, he still demanded the ball and hogged the spotlight that rightfully belonged to Anthony. Chauncey Billups? Same sort of situation. He's a solid point guard that brings toughness and leadership to the Nuggets, but he's no Chris Paul or Deron Williams, the more elite point guards in the game today. So because of this, among many other reasons, Mark Warkentien, Denver's general manager, has found himself left with a dissatisfied superstar who wants to ditch his organization in search of something more. For Carmelo, at the core was his dissatisfaction of not being able to team with one of the NBA's elite players and later came his longing to play under the bright lights of the Garden and what not.

Before Denver was Cleveland. LeBron James didn't openly state it, but he was dissatisfied with playing alongside "scrubs", to put it bluntly. Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison sure are great players, but they are no Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh, whom James now has with the Miami Heat. Because of Cleveland's inability to bring superstars to Cleveland, James decided to ditch his hometown as well.

Now, let's talk about a case where an organization correctly satisfied its star player. Kobe Bryant openly demanded a trade in the summer of 2007. By about the midway point of the regular season that followed. Mitch Kupchak, general manager of the Lakers, brought in Pau Gasol, certainly one of the elite big men in today's game. Kobe was satisfied, and he stayed in L.A.

So, it boils down to this for future NBA organizations. Learn from your competitors' mistakes and imitate your competitors' successes. Cleveland has already felt the hit, and Denver is headed towards Cleveland's direction at about 150 miles per hour. The multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts aren't the only things that satisfy the stars like Anthony and James. Winning does as well, and to win in the NBA, you need more than one star. L.A. has Kobe and Pau, Boston has Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. So if this post means anything to anybody, it's a warning for teams, like the New Orleans Hornets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

New Orleans has already felt it a little bit this summer, as its star point guard, Chris Paul, was in trade talks. But Paul becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, so if New Orleans acts up like Denver or Cleveland and doesn't bring that superstar that Paul desires to form a tandem with to contend for a championship, he is likely headed out and probably headed east to New York.

The same goes for Oklahoma City. Since last season and this past summer at the FIBA games, Kevin Durant has become the NBA's poster child, as he graced the league with his unbelievable talent, compromised with his unmatched modesty. Yes, Durant signed a five-year, $86 million deal with the Thunder this summer (Anthony rejected that same amount of money for three years, and you're telling me he's not going to leave?). But if Oklahoma just relaxes and keeps Nick Collison as their starting center and Russell Westbrook as their starting point guard (unless Westbrook becomes as skilled as Paul and Williams in about three years), then don't think for a second that Durant won't openly demand a trade. Wasn't LeBron the NBA's poster child a couple of seasons ago as well? Well, he lost his mind as he became a star, and Durant will as well.

I understand it's easier said than done. If I'm New Orleans, I just can't go out and bring in, say a Dwight Howard or Dirk Nowitzki from their respective teams. It gets much more complicated with that as the team giving away their superstar is going to demand loads of money, draft picks, key role players, and loads of money. But Chris Paul, and pretty soon, Kevin Durant, and other superstars that are alone on their sub-par 500 teams don't care about all those complications. At the end of the day, if they're busting their butts every night and still remain the butt of the conversation when it comes to championship-contending team, they're gonna want to leave. And their organizations aren't going to have a choice when it gets that far.

Example: Denver



- Leather Head